tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37129737741073222322024-03-19T00:17:53.834+13:00Gadget Girl FilesTechnology for better...Mx5Pixiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730985945756398267noreply@blogger.comBlogger91125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712973774107322232.post-36588404972589418192020-10-07T17:00:00.004+13:002020-10-07T17:35:38.769+13:00Virtually fit<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ4RjKydoIs8rVcJMOIdkxlb76tGGJXJS-bJsAs4E7U70D4lYuWpM01UXl1UbQ62Dy7FZXRvXupYtpJOtGeKmQUj_Qi4U6hVWYyxx0ShAEz_IHlHpWzCmVfiABycwvfGXHS3wY7DMLMkM/s4032/5470939D-FFEA-42BE-9C8A-771750D3E4B5.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ4RjKydoIs8rVcJMOIdkxlb76tGGJXJS-bJsAs4E7U70D4lYuWpM01UXl1UbQ62Dy7FZXRvXupYtpJOtGeKmQUj_Qi4U6hVWYyxx0ShAEz_IHlHpWzCmVfiABycwvfGXHS3wY7DMLMkM/s320/5470939D-FFEA-42BE-9C8A-771750D3E4B5.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>In one of life’s odd coincidences, I happened to be watching the news last night when they featured FitXR - a game development start-up co-founded by kiwi Sam Cole. The pandemic lockdowns have boosted the company’s user base as people attempt to stay fit from the safety of home. FitXR is the virtual fitness game I’d been using while on holiday and I was all set to write this when they came up on the news.<div><br /></div><div>Full disclosure, I still think the XBox Kinect is a better overall experience than the Oculus Quest if you’re using gamification for fitness but where the Quest really comes into its own is the portability.<div style="text-align: left;">I was tossing up whether to take the Quest with me on our roadtrip holiday last week when my other half said “we’re driving so there’s plenty of space: just throw it in.” So I grabbed its carry case and added it to the pile. I ended up using it twice a day - my intentions to walk a lot fell pray to the weather - and really sampled FitXR as a result. </div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhws0YplRL5yfXOHlol_SFTtByeUZoBJoXBOVsEqhn9ZSNmGgZrZHtJY8vdiHl2y5NsojdNWjPqHEmQhrGXfDKSaIRIwEc9YTbFU8B4fp41WXDq2QuL6CmTEJsP1BDEZp97o3S19zkS1X0/s4032/C7E8E056-432E-4E29-B709-C565CF2B75B8.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhws0YplRL5yfXOHlol_SFTtByeUZoBJoXBOVsEqhn9ZSNmGgZrZHtJY8vdiHl2y5NsojdNWjPqHEmQhrGXfDKSaIRIwEc9YTbFU8B4fp41WXDq2QuL6CmTEJsP1BDEZp97o3S19zkS1X0/w320-h240/C7E8E056-432E-4E29-B709-C565CF2B75B8.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>What was transformative, however, wasn’t that I used it as a convenient travel fitness option; it’s that since the holiday’s been over, it’s been re-homed to the gym where I have used it as part of my day-to-day fitness regime. It’s just so convenient to pop it on, grab the controllers and choose a class of appropriate length either to serve as warm-up or the day’s exercise. The Quest has really made a positive impact to my day-to-day.<div><br /><p></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">FitXR</h2><div>FitXR is a boxing game: you hit the lights as they reach you with a combination of jab, cross, hook and uppercuts. You can add squats as an option which allows for some lower body workout and decide whether you want to do classes solo or with other players from around the world. Since I’m competitive, having classes with other people really incites me to punch fast. </div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Pros</h3><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Very portable: you can purchase a travel case for the Oculus Quest so it’s easy to grab and go.</li><li>A good workout: even if you choose a light intensity, 3 minute class, you will work up a sweat and feel muscle fatigue.</li><li>Can work by yourself or in a class setting. I really enjoy both options and it’s cool to look around and “see” your classmates punching and squatting with you.</li><li>Can do anywhere you have space to punch and step for the side squats so even a hotel room would do and you don’t need to plug in to anything so long as the battery is charged.</li></ul><h3 style="text-align: left;">Cons</h3></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Scoring is based on a combination of accuracy in hitting the ball and the speed of the punch. Whilst this is good for encouraging you to use your hips as you’re meant to in boxing, I did find my form getting lax in the pursuit of enough speed. The Kinect’s form correction capability is much better in this regard.</li><li>My muscle memory places my guard up - years of practice to come back to guard - and I find myself banging the controllers against the VR unit.</li><li>You can quickly become uncomfortable - the sweat builds up on both the visor and the controllers. Half-an-hour or so tends to be my limit.</li><li>Goggle-face: my other half tells me I look like I’ve been swimming with deep impressions of the VR unit on red, sweaty face that takes about half-an-hour to fade.</li></ul></div></div></div>Mx5Pixiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730985945756398267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712973774107322232.post-40672848538174999852020-09-16T16:19:00.009+12:002020-09-16T20:40:25.226+12:00Adapting <div class="separator"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddRxgdV3i9J0mLi2pO_mlKbiWM_-xNK0uNU71xWUoMzUAwremxH0f2pptUlbkzITfalihq-1FN_ihGytUf4Y7s9ZF5YSi2gSyGua9SE3Gz0ICR7H0bZPZm0Ljx7WXIbrJAK3bYTMe5Ts/s4032/ACS_0013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddRxgdV3i9J0mLi2pO_mlKbiWM_-xNK0uNU71xWUoMzUAwremxH0f2pptUlbkzITfalihq-1FN_ihGytUf4Y7s9ZF5YSi2gSyGua9SE3Gz0ICR7H0bZPZm0Ljx7WXIbrJAK3bYTMe5Ts/w200-h150/ACS_0013.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>As with many households around the world we've had to up our work from home game. For my other half this means his own workspace in a separate room to ensure we can both attend meetings without annoying each other. The changes wrought by the pandemic actually coincide with my return to independent consulting after a couple of years doing the Big 4 thing and a need to reinstate a fully working office capable of supporting my management and technology consulting practice as well as my blogging, photography and other creative pursuits.</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxYGU15ra5DVQT9Dw-KvoMtLB1NbkqduDzPeRLVE0n8eoKlXQJBw3TH5ggeoK5o3afxRBooof7uXnT407IfZDxl0f3-5SetuZEhV50R8cSnPasf3JYwgmiicvbQYNjDteqpknB0seuVVY/s4032/IMG_0751.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxYGU15ra5DVQT9Dw-KvoMtLB1NbkqduDzPeRLVE0n8eoKlXQJBw3TH5ggeoK5o3afxRBooof7uXnT407IfZDxl0f3-5SetuZEhV50R8cSnPasf3JYwgmiicvbQYNjDteqpknB0seuVVY/w200-h150/IMG_0751.jpg" width="200" /></a><br /></div><div>One of the things that has come up is the need for a more modern docking station capable of supporting 4k display and a plethora of accessories. My choice of dock is a musing for another day but what really gave me pause as I looked at the different options was how future-proofed I wanted the purchase to be. Everything is moving to USB-C but I use multiple laptops and some of them don't have a USB-C port. I was facing the need to retire perfectly capable computers or buying a dock I may need to upgrade sooner than desirable.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqjLi03pHiMYn14qddYE_BAMQQ8Eko3wamVhltTtyVmBwWS-oEvvU8AA3EDdkopCEDKA-2xrriKIhaNYMRHrHwA3-neCyv2teMmvnz9rFWsnK1FOxLME_fDksJLTvXP6RTMxOyBpGvDtg/s4032/IMG_0756.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqjLi03pHiMYn14qddYE_BAMQQ8Eko3wamVhltTtyVmBwWS-oEvvU8AA3EDdkopCEDKA-2xrriKIhaNYMRHrHwA3-neCyv2teMmvnz9rFWsnK1FOxLME_fDksJLTvXP6RTMxOyBpGvDtg/w200-h150/IMG_0756.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I decided instead that I would try one of the USB-C to USB-A adapters before I took the plunge because for NZ$7.95 I could well have the best of both worlds. The adapter arrived within a couple of days of purchase from TradeMe and was immediately tested. The first attempt didn't work but the supplier had helpfully noted on the product description that the USB-C male connector inserted one way was USB 2.0 and flipped over was USB 3.0. I duly flipped the USB-C connector and lo and behold the USB-C dock I'd borrowed from my partner installed. Mice, keyboard and dual monitors all working! </div><div><br /></div><div>If, like myself, you are in a transition with your tech then this could be a useful widget to have. We now have a few of these so that my partner's matching laptop to mine (without the USB-C port) can still use his docking station.</div>Mx5Pixiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730985945756398267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712973774107322232.post-65973436899792185302017-02-07T14:37:00.000+13:002017-02-07T14:37:42.414+13:00Telling time<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqXIA8k3Rv5eRE-69oma1hmZB1KLGLIgWa0zTNJK9bmYRlemxouDLUKtt3cgOhwRmjh_3ihXnMaUlFYvqgNywvBvmlQ50NUQEVlmI3z-hvMYe4n9qINsSF1YWjA3n1s9qpBYKLqqBdtgQ/s1600/Nelson+Mandela.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqXIA8k3Rv5eRE-69oma1hmZB1KLGLIgWa0zTNJK9bmYRlemxouDLUKtt3cgOhwRmjh_3ihXnMaUlFYvqgNywvBvmlQ50NUQEVlmI3z-hvMYe4n9qINsSF1YWjA3n1s9qpBYKLqqBdtgQ/s320/Nelson+Mandela.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nelson Mandela: http://ti.me/2liBhXG </td></tr>
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Some stories have a strong element of time to them: someone’s life, a series of events. A timeline is often a wholly appropriate method for describing what has or will happen.<br />
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A client recently wanted to use exactly this method of storytelling to share the peaks and troughs of activities covering a period of just over 5 years. They wanted to be able to give a rich experience of photographs and videos from that time and to provide links to useful resources.<br />
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In helping them find a solution to their requirements we explored both the possibility of building from scratch or an off-the-shelf solution. I was most impressed with an open source project I found, TimelineJS.<br />
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Knight Lab, stemming from Northwestern University, is a cross-discipline collaboration best known for delivering a suite of tools for media makers. TimelineJS is one of their mature products - already on version 3 - and is widely used by respected news outlets such as Time Magazine, CNN and Le Monde.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyB7MNsQfV-bN1VF0q_zRWztFW9cLmaQOa-mkSxGGQV6tz2D8zOZYqF9qFfb68ycWomDs3fTP7lwyqFEL6emyJf0B4kjhrGGt9DzNWiHUrW6Fvk9MvcunxrNBLyeyrPywjVuTcmhh5_MU/s1600/Screenshot+2017-02-07+14.24.30.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyB7MNsQfV-bN1VF0q_zRWztFW9cLmaQOa-mkSxGGQV6tz2D8zOZYqF9qFfb68ycWomDs3fTP7lwyqFEL6emyJf0B4kjhrGGt9DzNWiHUrW6Fvk9MvcunxrNBLyeyrPywjVuTcmhh5_MU/s320/Screenshot+2017-02-07+14.24.30.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Revolutionary Interfaces: http://bit.ly/2kfPS56</td></tr>
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Whilst there are other tools available, some for a subscription fee, I found TimelineJS to be very elegantly designed and developed and all for free! It is highly customisable and - depending on your technical and security requirements - can be used in hosted mode, embedded into your own webpages or downloaded and hosted on your own infrastructure. Customisations can be made to styling and functionality: so if you’re a little more technical (or have access to developers) you can make beautiful timelines that adhere to your branding guidelines.<br />
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This kind of tool can be so useful for public communication, journalism, and education.
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Check out TimelineJS: <a href="https://timeline.knightlab.com/">https://timeline.knightlab.com/</a><br />
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<a class="embedly-card" href="https://timeline.knightlab.com/">Timeline JS3 - Beautifully crafted timelines that are easy, and intuitive to use.</a>
<script async="" charset="UTF-8" src="//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js"></script>Mx5Pixiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730985945756398267noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712973774107322232.post-21099795686986025552017-01-30T12:20:00.000+13:002017-01-30T13:52:46.492+13:00Immortal views<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOCEP2qvSJvFjkakfegbUqldqUwH4aeZTZ_6SNZpxipDJ8zJRjZkUJcrGVCArhxhrKNPGcBi1LbLEgL4LYd13ypNxb9UD4UbX425SCwAgJFTUgMj8XAjjUXEKAhlzbpERo7YCd8W738dM/s1600/20170130_121411.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOCEP2qvSJvFjkakfegbUqldqUwH4aeZTZ_6SNZpxipDJ8zJRjZkUJcrGVCArhxhrKNPGcBi1LbLEgL4LYd13ypNxb9UD4UbX425SCwAgJFTUgMj8XAjjUXEKAhlzbpERo7YCd8W738dM/s400/20170130_121411.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
In the dark ages - my late teens - I read a book by Dragonlance writer, Tracy Hickman. The Immortals, published in 1996, is a near future science fiction wrapped around the concept that a counter-virus to HIV ravages the population creating a dystopian America that incarcerates the infected in concentration camps primarily targeting the homosexual population. The underlying message that stuck with me however, isn’t so much the science - how the cure becomes worse than the disease - nor our societal bigotry exemplified by the poor treatment of the LGBT population. The part of the story that stuck with me is how the expanding communication options available to us actually lead to an even narrower and more propaganda-driven world view.<br />
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If you read my other commentary posts you’ll know that I view technology as a tool like any other and that it is neither inherently good nor evil.<br />
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I love how social networks enable us to keep in touch in a modern reality where family, friends and colleagues can be dispersed across timezones. I appreciate the ability to photograph, write and build and then to share my thoughts and creativity in a matter seconds to others who appreciate the same things I do. I host a number of digital groups formed around the trivial - Konmari, fitness, family news - and the professional where we share job opportunities and debate various sector-related topics.<br />
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In all this I am still acutely aware that, as Tracy Hickman cautioned in his fiction, we can choose to only expose ourselves to material which aligns with our existing world views and intolerance. As readily as I can find #inspo photos to help me organise my cupboards better, I can find content that adds fodder to bias and discrimination. I don’t even have to look any further than the comments on Facebook. Our digital world enables trolls to run anonymous and unchecked through our world spreading misinformation faster than an airborne virus infects.<br />
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The main character in the books says “You can have everyone in the country vote freely and democratically and still come up with the wrong answer - if the information they base that decision on is wrong.” This statement feels all too true at the moment. He goes on to say, “We told them ... that any problem - no matter how complex - could be stated clearly in a five minute news segment; that any discussion of issues could be made clear in a ten-second sound bite."<br />
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Forget 10 second sound bites: today we summarise key information in infographics, debate in 140 characters or less, and highlight the important with a hashtag.<br />
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My belief is that we are each responsible for how we use the tools at our disposal. We can use communications technology for healthy debate, to share ideas so we can continuously improve, or to pool resources to solve problems and provide support. Or was can use it to reinforce our existing perspectives without ever looking at the other side, we can engage in Twitter wars on the frivolous, or use it to bully people safe from physical retribution an ocean away.<br />
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The Immortals is set in 2020. When I was nineteen that seemed like such a long time away but now it’s only around the corner. I had hoped that if I ever reached my forties discrimination - gender, age, sexual orientation, race - would be less prevalent. I hoped that Hickman spun a good - if somewhat dark - yarn but wasn’t really prescient. Now, I worry that maybe he was on the point.Mx5Pixiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730985945756398267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712973774107322232.post-91848030899961988392017-01-26T13:45:00.002+13:002017-01-26T13:50:54.808+13:00Story time<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT8FS2p9lD2RAurUnsMI_RrxAduuL-iKsUWwdNdO8Qo6zKM6_If_v96Re_bNcbsB5mfH6uuoJrkD7OTDjwoFTCu92Fc4JqPsiMrTgaqsvXvE9PS-Mfrd5ySor1Ua0-c_F1oWCzHb2S6_M/s1600/Photo+26-01-17%252C+1+49+27+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT8FS2p9lD2RAurUnsMI_RrxAduuL-iKsUWwdNdO8Qo6zKM6_If_v96Re_bNcbsB5mfH6uuoJrkD7OTDjwoFTCu92Fc4JqPsiMrTgaqsvXvE9PS-Mfrd5ySor1Ua0-c_F1oWCzHb2S6_M/s400/Photo+26-01-17%252C+1+49+27+PM.png" width="223" /></a>For more than a decade now my main form of recreational reading has been fanfiction. If you're not already familiar with this form of derivative writing then check out the millions of creative works available on fanfiction.net, archiveofourown.org and livejournal.com. Among the appealing things about this form of escapism is that I can find a plethora of fiction from short one shots to multi-chapter, multi-story saga: length to suit the available downtime and the mood.<br />
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Unlike traditional novels, however, when the story you're reading ends you can simply go on to another so if you’re on a roll it can become a bit obsessive. Next thing you know your entire weekend has been curled around the iPad and the dishes aren’t washed and pile of laundry that needs folding has taken over the couch!<br />
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I have found a workaround to keeping up with my menial chores and getting through thousands of Harry Potter and GoT fanfic: turning my iPhone, iPod and iPad (whichever is closest to hand) into audiobooks using the in-built screen reader accessibility tool.<br />
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There are plenty of “did you know” articles that let you know this trick about turning your iBooks library into audiobooks but what I like about iOS is that any text content even within an app can be read aloud. This means you’re not restricted to iBooks or Kindle: any website content - regardless of whether you use Safari - can be turned into an audiobook too!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTb2XAowMgzuIT-zFI1aBCn_0Zt4YUipBFbqlmTTbwSEZhTLmJSkcGrGb-FXZpF8CLzhk61BsMsmHZxCbcXvv5KKMg78PDulJW3T3NxRkCxNFjyBbrlh74utGgt9i5Lre68He8TttClfg/s1600/Photo+26-01-17%252C+1+23+51+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTb2XAowMgzuIT-zFI1aBCn_0Zt4YUipBFbqlmTTbwSEZhTLmJSkcGrGb-FXZpF8CLzhk61BsMsmHZxCbcXvv5KKMg78PDulJW3T3NxRkCxNFjyBbrlh74utGgt9i5Lre68He8TttClfg/s400/Photo+26-01-17%252C+1+23+51+PM.png" width="223" /></a>So if you tend towards higher brow reading than my (not so) closet addiction to fiction marked with a variety of warnings and filled with crack ‘ships, you can happily use exactly this method for getting through the latest journal article or RSS feed that you’ve subscribed to.<br />
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To turn on this feature:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Speech</li>
<li>Turn on “Speak Screen” (my preferred method) AND/OR</li>
<li>Speak Selection</li>
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If you elected to use Speak Screen (which is my preferred method), all you have to do when you want something read is to two-finger swipe from the top of the screen. The Speak Selection requires that you select the specific content you want read and then choose the “Speak” option from the pop-up context menu.<br />
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For those who use Android</h3>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtpiK1sLN5-PaU2_QZ8TfYMlf0SuceVpB-Tdrv7J4dV9iLNeDMGngZTyMmkMekRRbe0rupH6K38fdbdk2LGenb6JjUpLd5yFTpFubnZROhtqovJxkRB2SHrkOcPSmQDulUa-6JKXQghcY/s1600/Screenshot_20170126-131735.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtpiK1sLN5-PaU2_QZ8TfYMlf0SuceVpB-Tdrv7J4dV9iLNeDMGngZTyMmkMekRRbe0rupH6K38fdbdk2LGenb6JjUpLd5yFTpFubnZROhtqovJxkRB2SHrkOcPSmQDulUa-6JKXQghcY/s400/Screenshot_20170126-131735.png" width="225" /></a>The screen reading functionality is not as integrated as it is in iOS. You can manage the settings within Android but will need to choose from the variety of screen reader or text to speech app options to actually carry out the reading.<br />
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For those who use Windows Phone</h3>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR-iu9nKJG5vDDKG1A-GKVs8LLgymn4kiax6qDbM79-Cp6JSzdzABYgATN8Kr5H-pN7DWjmWHO5HVdDensJKp_KFw6lffoUUGXyEAYNBRgooAy95DI2Q_l443UzEBnt9Dm9IQflIHzIZs/s1600/wp_ss_20170126_0001.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR-iu9nKJG5vDDKG1A-GKVs8LLgymn4kiax6qDbM79-Cp6JSzdzABYgATN8Kr5H-pN7DWjmWHO5HVdDensJKp_KFw6lffoUUGXyEAYNBRgooAy95DI2Q_l443UzEBnt9Dm9IQflIHzIZs/s400/wp_ss_20170126_0001.png" width="225" /></a>There is a “narrator” function that you can turn on however, it is restricted to a few language packs. I had to add English (United States) to my phone because narrator won’t run with English (New Zealand). To enable narrator:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Go to Settings > Ease of Access</li>
<li>Slide the Narrator option to on</li>
<li>Slide Narrator Quick Launch to on</li>
</ul>
<br />
I warn however that using narrator is horrid and clunky and requires some dexterity to turn on and off.<br />
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So, next time you see me taking a stroll to the supermarket or the post office with headphones on, it’s just as likely that I’m listening to the latest chapter from an Olivieblake, Colubrina or Midnightjen fic as it is my current music playlist.Mx5Pixiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730985945756398267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712973774107322232.post-26525173067731217082016-07-16T23:09:00.000+12:002016-07-17T14:55:30.658+12:00Home gym upgrade<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZhajIOgvW_fJioZc2RmBcseYn4jL44x7XsF6nkUUz0PNsWjNPEtpS6j7Gz8F6JGCCkaE0p8LuAmrIGGRjRxdl80L5pY06XiaWv2Jtk1WG0PBAfVZtbIdec0c81aMQUPhXPXol0n6qHIQ/s1600/Photo+12-07-16%252C+3+34+44+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZhajIOgvW_fJioZc2RmBcseYn4jL44x7XsF6nkUUz0PNsWjNPEtpS6j7Gz8F6JGCCkaE0p8LuAmrIGGRjRxdl80L5pY06XiaWv2Jtk1WG0PBAfVZtbIdec0c81aMQUPhXPXol0n6qHIQ/s200/Photo+12-07-16%252C+3+34+44+PM.jpg" width="200"></a>One of my personal projects during this sabbatical from my usual contract work has been to set up a small gym at home. With exception of a ballet barre, the gym is now complete and today's efforts focused on the technology aspects.<br>
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I enjoy a variety of fitness activities from weights and resistance band strength to yoga for flexibility and a wide variety of dance forms and combat for cardio. So it’s important that the “gym” isn’t simply equipped with dumbbells and kettlebells, it also has to have a television for my virtual classes.<br>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN04zL2hCfV5jf1mSCmMKtVM07QXu97erccvJrbcGzWnS3MSaiOXvDuAIKyrKq8V3yAZKLaPNxyJuDcxEAkjllpcM5IMQSbLANi9o4QtYuCjoZ1FlO_OvWtBA8k6uYD0KeZKko09WaKt8/s1600/Photo+16-07-16%252C+4+45+33+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN04zL2hCfV5jf1mSCmMKtVM07QXu97erccvJrbcGzWnS3MSaiOXvDuAIKyrKq8V3yAZKLaPNxyJuDcxEAkjllpcM5IMQSbLANi9o4QtYuCjoZ1FlO_OvWtBA8k6uYD0KeZKko09WaKt8/s320/Photo+16-07-16%252C+4+45+33+PM.jpg" width="320"></a>The space is small so the TV had to be compact: mountable with no need to have large external devices, such as separate DVD player. I was averse to spending a lot money for equipment with a very narrow usage so despite my partner’s suggestion of purchasing a fully-featured smart TV and not simply getting the cheapest available, I held firm and chose something with reasonable definition, good colour, USB reader, plenty of HDMI ports and built in Freeview and DVD player without requiring a name brand or smart applications.<br>
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The Veon 32” high definition LED television met my requirements for size, functionality and cost. A TV mount keeps it flat to the wall when not in use or when watching from the exercycle but swings out for better viewing angle when doing “class”.<br>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4tKnCgNTngd-GabfmQqQYWtN3dtT1DNuuqGC-3v2GW0VskcqLmdNNwX0pqKRUhQoJwuA0jhsAXSGzo7QpfzZkCeg4s4SOz4PgYoNnT-9vg5ocQziliawmRgPJ-C0O8Jji1HjTtKPUyXg/s1600/Photo+16-07-16%252C+4+24+55+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4tKnCgNTngd-GabfmQqQYWtN3dtT1DNuuqGC-3v2GW0VskcqLmdNNwX0pqKRUhQoJwuA0jhsAXSGzo7QpfzZkCeg4s4SOz4PgYoNnT-9vg5ocQziliawmRgPJ-C0O8Jji1HjTtKPUyXg/s200/Photo+16-07-16%252C+4+24+55+PM.jpg" width="200"></a>The in-built USB and DVD player takes care of a number of “classes” but I also want to use my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/gadgetgirlfiles/posts/770775436393102:0" target="_blank">Les Mills On Demand</a> subscription and the apps available for smart devices such as the <a href="http://www.gadgetgirlfiles.com/2016/01/working-up-sweat-in-7.html">Johnson and Johnson’s 7 Minute Workout</a>. A few years ago I’d purchased an <a href="http://www.gadgetgirlfiles.com/2013/08/big-screen-mini-pc.html">Android Mini PC</a> and today it was booted up for the first time in months. As the main television in the house is a Samsung UHD smart TV, it's no loss for the mini PC to be plugged into the gym television on an on-going basis.<br>
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I was super excited to plug it all in today and test everything.<br>
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Unfortunately the Les Mills On Demand app installed but crashed when opened. The Johnson’s app installed and opened but despite the functionality working as expected, the videos didn’t appear. I expect a little more debugging may solve the problem (I tested straight after installation and wonder if the videos hadn’t fully downloaded locally).<br>
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I was, however able to play the On Demand videos using the browser and the Mini PC’s wifi worked a treat even with distance from the router. A bluetooth mini keyboard enables me to operate it from anywhere in the room.<br>
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Setup:<br>
<ul>
<li>Veon 32” high definition LED television with DVD player: $299 NZD</li>
<li>Ofa 13-32” TV mount: $59.99 NZD</li>
<li>Android mini PC: $69.90 USD</li>
<li>Bluetooth mini keyboard: $38.30 USD</li>
<li>Les Mills On Demand subscription: $19.95 NZD monthly (requires a Les Mills gym membership if in New Zealand)</li>
<li>Johnson and Johnson’s 7 Minute Workout: free</li>
</ul>
I firmly believe that having good equipment and appropriate spaces for various activities enhances both the experience and effectiveness. I love going into "my gym", turning on some sounds on the bluetooth speaker dock that's in there and doing a quick workout with the weights and other equipment. Now that there's some video as well as audio, I'm certain I'll enjoy some dancing, punching, kicking and sun salutations too.Mx5Pixiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730985945756398267noreply@blogger.com116tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712973774107322232.post-9724457962620612692016-07-06T13:24:00.000+12:002017-03-10T12:21:35.050+13:00Size matters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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There’s a difference between 240 and 150. Dealing with 2000 items is less of a hassle than 55,000. Squeezing fifteen people into a room is harder than five. What am I saying? Size matters. Volume matters. Scale matters.<br />
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Knowing the size and shape of a thing is so fundamental it’s one of the first things we learn as children.<br />
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Whether it’s for a piece of work I’m about to tackle or a project I’ve been asked to review, how many things we have to deal with and their status is the first question I ask, not the methodology, not who is on the team or even how big the budget it is. All those things can only be assessed for their fit once the composition and size of the problem or task is known.<br />
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I’ve worked in the ICT industry for nearly twenty years: more than fifteen years as a project manager on a wide range of projects all with unique combinations of complexity, technologies, teams and politics. For a large number I’ve been called in because they need correction and what often leaves me aghast on lifting the lid is the number of times that the volume of change hasn’t been properly assessed.<br />
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Recently, I worked with a client to transfer all its records - stored in an electronic documents and records management system (EDRMS) - to other agencies. In five years of operation, this client agency had amassed nearly 900,000 documents each with an unlimited number of versions. One record we exported had around 200 versions of the same very large Excel document. Consequently, an export of a section of the file plan took many hours. Add to that process the manual audit check and an overnight encrypted copy of files for secure transport and it could take several days to get to the point where one agency passed the files to another. Then add at least the same amount of time for the receiver to import the files.<br />
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It’s not surprising that a request to transfer wasn’t something that could happen in the twinkling of an eye. What frustrated me was trying to make non-technical personnel and governance groups understand that the reason we could not complete all the transfers in the time given wasn’t a technical issue but a case of simple maths. There was really no reason for the typical “this is technology I don’t get it” response.<br />
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The same factors have existed for many web content migrations I have worked with. Particularly when it’s not a simple transposition of structure and content - and therefore automation is limited or infeasible - the human element comes into play. I know that a blog post or article will take me anywhere from forty-five to ninety minutes for a first draft. A business memo of around a page and a half will take forty-five minutes to an hour. So it’s reasonably easy to know that even a modest 100 page website requires seventy-five to 150 man hours to get through the drafting process alone, so long as everyone writes at my pace.<br />
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A restructure, rewrite and approval process for a redevelopment of most reasonably mature websites will take months even with multiple writers and migration personnel all working. Throughout the process, a frequent check of velocity is needed: x number at draft; y number at review; and z number at approved. Again: when the process will complete is a calculation and arbitrary deadlines will merely result in higher costs or poor quality.<br />
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Even if the project is a simple desktop deployment or an application development we are still prey to the numbers. How often is the time it will take to develop a piece of functionality not properly estimated? How often is the time taken to unpack 100 monitors from their boxes and plugging it all in not considered when a team is given only a day to roll out into an office? It happens often: far more than you would think.<br />
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In the physical world, we would never start building a high-rise without understanding how deep the foundations must go, how much concrete, steel and glass is required. Yet, it seems AOK to proceed with technology projects without quantity surveying.<br />
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Unfortunately, whilst all this seems to be very simple to understand, all too often I encounter project managers who can’t tell me how many items they are wrangling to deliver the project. They can’t articulate all the steps of the process and how long each is estimated to take. How are they surprised then that they are nowhere near finished?<br />
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My advice to customers, stakeholders, and governance groups is to test your project team’s knowledge of the volume. Test their understanding of the time it will actually take to get the job done: ensure they recalculate based on actual experience. Basic calculation can save a lot of stress.<br />
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It's not complicated; it doesn’t take a great deal of technical knowledge… After all it’s child’s play.<br />
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Mx5Pixiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730985945756398267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712973774107322232.post-40951515428603871632016-01-28T21:30:00.000+13:002016-01-29T07:20:45.558+13:00Working up a sweat in 7<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxsPgO7yijrZ4KXfvMXyz2MkCYe_7Lun-VIdCxMsc9WRY8_V9IUIvSf2OJh-HWl0t33xDCjLNnDSwpLH1qLsroHLfRq4Arv4rqHc9hzHzbxluQCdM0_GaRXWwyE7SVq7siH1RDu4641qI/s1600/Photo+27-01-16%252C+9+34+17+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxsPgO7yijrZ4KXfvMXyz2MkCYe_7Lun-VIdCxMsc9WRY8_V9IUIvSf2OJh-HWl0t33xDCjLNnDSwpLH1qLsroHLfRq4Arv4rqHc9hzHzbxluQCdM0_GaRXWwyE7SVq7siH1RDu4641qI/s320/Photo+27-01-16%252C+9+34+17+PM.png" width="179" /></a></div>
This week has been a bit hard-going for various reasons but I had managed to make it to the gym on Sunday and go for a run on Monday after work. By Tuesday however, despite the best of intentions, I was a bit overwrought to head to the gym again to do my lower body programme.<br />
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So I took it as a good opportunity to try out one of my recent app downloads: Johnson & Johnson’s 7 Minute Workout. <a href="https://7minuteworkout.jnj.com/" target="_blank">https://7minuteworkout.jnj.com/</a><br />
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I’d trolled through a few of the seven minute workout options on the App Store recently with the intent of finding some high-intensity, short-burst activities. Seven minutes seemed a logical choice given my personal trainer had put me through two cycles of seven minute circuits recently and it had been challenging but not too time-consuming.<br />
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There were many available but one of the primary reasons I chose the Johnson’s one is that it’s a completely free app with no prompts for further in-app purchases. Not that I mind paying for apps and content, particularly if I’ve tried and like them.<br />
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Johnson & Johnson is an international healthcare brand so for their reputation alone, I reasoned, they’d produce a high quality app. And indeed they have, partnering with Chris Jordan the creator of the original 7 Minute Workout: a high-intensity, body-weight resistance circuit that only requires a little floorspace, a wall and a chair. The exercises are ordered in a particular sequence and offers a full body workout in seven minutes plus optional warm up and cool down.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb5kur-OuxUwDZU6QkeKC2DylFa06eCc1uYPGmwSIvOlk9tzyezKnACwxxu_37m8D21OciIdh95ZpotYK5f3GfEpZ5HrLvVXaHQ80to96jURFrf_z-O6DNm6G-saJpI7_vA-v0MIAUVNc/s1600/Photo+27-01-16%252C+9+41+00+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb5kur-OuxUwDZU6QkeKC2DylFa06eCc1uYPGmwSIvOlk9tzyezKnACwxxu_37m8D21OciIdh95ZpotYK5f3GfEpZ5HrLvVXaHQ80to96jURFrf_z-O6DNm6G-saJpI7_vA-v0MIAUVNc/s400/Photo+27-01-16%252C+9+41+00+PM.jpg" width="231" /></a>So having booted it up and run through the original and official circuit, played around with the settings for a couple of minutes and completed another cycle, I’m now pretty certain it’s an app to add to my healthy living toolkit.<br />
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I like the user interface: it’s clean, consistent and easy to figure out even if you’re not naturally attuned to technology. Other usability features include beeps to count you into an exercise and beeps again to let you know that you’re coming to the end. There are voice prompts reminding you of your form as well as the video to show you the exercise and a time dial so you know how much longer to go.<br />
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Both seven minutes cycles flew by and I found it not too taxing but definitely enough of a workout so I had a healthy sheen halfway through the first cycle. Pushing harder and with more reps in the allotted time the second time around, I was dripping and fatigued by the end of the second.<br />
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Although the exercises in the app are similar or the same as the circuits my personal trainer gives me - squats, push ups, lunges, step ups - the way the it’s approached is a little different. My trainer had me go through her circuit as many times as I could in the seven minutes, whilst the app leaves it to you to set the number of repetitions you will go for in the time available for each exercise. The outcome is essentially the same. At first I tried to keep time with the video, a squat or a tricep dip in time with the presenter, but the second time around being familiar with the exercises and the sequence, I actually pushed for a little more speed and upped the reps.<br />
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You can like or dislike each exercise which, along with your fitness and motivation settings, helps the app design personalised workouts for you. There’s also the choice of eight, nine, sixteen, twenty-one and twenty-four minute workouts and harder routines for sports conditioning and advanced progression. You can even create your own custom one manually.<br />
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If you’re a newbie to the working out thing there’s a “learn the exercises” function too.<br />
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When you complete your workout you can rate it for difficulty. Your workout history and configuration changes are logged under “my performance” for you to review. And of course you can share the buzz through Facebook and Twitter.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE-Wv03x1wJr5VH3HIQhmVdaR3yrGnCyWQvaEjsNyd_KwCGlm3XUxMpEnfGfDPxXfmjYGS3RgGcbhRJOG2tEQvx4qaNqMYbQSD1hTaB7wVWdC6TyCTVk9UVa0yqEMyzzuzDmE4zoKu-u4/s1600/Photo+27-01-16%252C+9+36+51+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE-Wv03x1wJr5VH3HIQhmVdaR3yrGnCyWQvaEjsNyd_KwCGlm3XUxMpEnfGfDPxXfmjYGS3RgGcbhRJOG2tEQvx4qaNqMYbQSD1hTaB7wVWdC6TyCTVk9UVa0yqEMyzzuzDmE4zoKu-u4/s400/Photo+27-01-16%252C+9+36+51+PM.png" width="223" /></a>For the most part, I really liked the app and its delivery but a word of caution: I’m fairly slight and weigh just over 50kg but I was a bit worried as I stepped up and down on my dining room chair that I’d end up breaking it. I’d be very dubious about an 85kg person attempting the same. Although they say all you needs is a wall and a chair take that bit with a grain of salt.<br />
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It’s definitely an app I’ll be using more of and I expect to be using sportsgear I pack on trips away to get used every time, particularly as running in unfamiliar cities can be daunting if you’re on your own and sometimes the hotel gym isn’t great or doesn’t exist! The initial download is large but it does mean the videos are already local when you boot up the app which I prefer to apps that stream content of this type.<br />
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Tonight was another exercise at home night. I didn’t even watch the video this time because the voice prompts and beeps were enough. Having this to hand means I’ve managed exercise five days out of five this week. And in case Dalena is reading this: yes, I used a barbell on the squats and will remember my dumbbells on the lunges next time!<br />
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Available for iOS and Android. It’s a 9 out of 10 from Gadget Girl. <a href="https://7minuteworkout.jnj.com/" target="_blank">https://7minuteworkout.jnj.com/</a><br />
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Mx5Pixiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730985945756398267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712973774107322232.post-63618437904019111742016-01-25T21:19:00.000+13:002016-01-25T21:31:20.971+13:00Techscalation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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You know exactly what I mean when I say techscalation: it’s that time when you bought a new game and ended up upgrading the graphics card and throwing in more RAM; or when you finally got a UHD television and then bought a Bluray player because otherwise you wouldn’t see movies at their best quality. In my case there’s no point buying the XBox One without the Kinect; and in anticipation of moving to fibre broadband my other half has already purchased a new wireless extender to go with the modem/router shipped to us by our ISP.<br />
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It’s a phenomenon I’ve observed many a time in myself and others: when an initial purchase or upgrade creates a snowball of new and upgraded technology.<br />
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The purchase of an AppleTV or Chromecast leads to the upgrade of the wireless router; a single tablet in the house leads to one for each family member to reduce the arguments about whose turn it is; and the new smartphone with great features spawns the subscription to cloud services, purchase of new Bluetooth accessories, a mass of apps, a docking station and maybe a little bit of experimentation with VR goggles or a spectrometer.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4nqobj7Wjm1GEq2sMZk4uDTHEXReebdFtX5e_7JGKXb0OwhUV2P4mE7q8WCopB0c42ZIl5efN38UAg2uBERgGFnJi5x0y5N0RVfIEuhcv08HIRQVrDnqrfZfHdW8etkxDLJjq3EpXSDo/s1600/Photo+24-01-16%252C+11+31+53+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4nqobj7Wjm1GEq2sMZk4uDTHEXReebdFtX5e_7JGKXb0OwhUV2P4mE7q8WCopB0c42ZIl5efN38UAg2uBERgGFnJi5x0y5N0RVfIEuhcv08HIRQVrDnqrfZfHdW8etkxDLJjq3EpXSDo/s320/Photo+24-01-16%252C+11+31+53+PM.png" width="320" /></a>Given how common this is and how frequently we experience it, I’ve concluded that to name it is to own it. So here you go peeps, when you next find yourself buying all the add-ons and trawling the net for what else you can get to complement your latest purchase you know what to call it!<br />
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techscalation<br />
/tɛkˈskāˈlāshən/<br />
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n. The phenomenon by which the purchase of technology leads to the upgrade of existing and/or the purchase of additional technology.<br />
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<br />Mx5Pixiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730985945756398267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712973774107322232.post-1032835977010458922016-01-04T22:56:00.001+13:002016-01-04T23:00:47.050+13:00A blog redesign in under 3 hours<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIaeSb_tPDkaaKI95ml0tljHiVZmZFGnNKgao3kr4JBIpMkWdwy2vzea1k68UB5ZZzIqbs94A_icX0nNoa3szk-eg7NVHZsKuo5Ni_x4HVq5ApD1H9ETia9tMOyttDaDf1YBzpdW7MEEg/s1600/Photo+3-01-16%252C+10+03+25+PM+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIaeSb_tPDkaaKI95ml0tljHiVZmZFGnNKgao3kr4JBIpMkWdwy2vzea1k68UB5ZZzIqbs94A_icX0nNoa3szk-eg7NVHZsKuo5Ni_x4HVq5ApD1H9ETia9tMOyttDaDf1YBzpdW7MEEg/s320/Photo+3-01-16%252C+10+03+25+PM+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a>We've been using the Christmas break to deal with a backlog of beekeeping duties the biggest and most complicated of which is extracting honey from our mature hives. At just over twenty hives spread around Christchurch and Canterbury, we're still classed as hobbyist beekeepers and sell only a limited amount of honey each year beyond what is consumed by family and close friends.<br />
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In truth our beekeeping activities are less about commercial intent than contributing to sustainability and New Zealand's ecology and horticulture. With the goal in mind of raising awareness about bees - and maybe encouraging others to take up urban hobbyist beekeeping - we've been sporadically keeping a blog for a couple of years.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNLL63cI5OWID-boW6O_Lv7lYBluPX4RBLieV19WQtnQgZIR9UVVFwjmVAMc-jes1SmTfDUU7f-iTFqYwL8-IGWWiLRKHHDt8Gffud9p5nIkPHU3x-UZTLi82EcU9L8JE_edJcK1_g9AY/s1600/Photo+3-01-16%252C+10+03+25+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNLL63cI5OWID-boW6O_Lv7lYBluPX4RBLieV19WQtnQgZIR9UVVFwjmVAMc-jes1SmTfDUU7f-iTFqYwL8-IGWWiLRKHHDt8Gffud9p5nIkPHU3x-UZTLi82EcU9L8JE_edJcK1_g9AY/s400/Photo+3-01-16%252C+10+03+25+PM.jpg" width="148" /></a>Having designed new labels for this year's honey harvest, I decided yesterday that a redesign of the website was also in order.<br />
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Unlike the days of my youth when interest websites were often hand-coded, these days Wordpress, Blogger and other journal websites make it so easy to create and publish content. <a href="http://bees.in-tense.co.nz/" target="_blank">It's All About Bees</a> is actually a Blogger hosted site. And deciding to refresh to a responsive template, ad ready with a dynamic features and a clean minimalist design is as easy as browsing the options on various template marketplaces.<br />
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Having decided to use a new design around 3PM, I settled down for some blog administration at 8:30PM. Paying $6.95 USD for the Sinesis blogger template that I liked from the options available on <a href="http://www.soratemplates.com/" target="_blank">Sora Templates</a> using Paypal, uploading the new template, customising settings and re-coding a few display and layout styles that I wanted to tweak was done by 10PM. I edited and re-tagged some of the existing content to make the posts look good in the new design and I was all done and dusted by 11PM. Easy!<br />
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If you're a technically confident person you can carry out most of what I did with guidance from the help and installation guide that comes with the template. Tweaking the design requires at least knowledge of eXtensible Markup Language (XML) and cascading stylesheets (CSS) and is certainly a more advanced skill. On a couple of my more complex e-zine blogs (this one and The Style File) I've also tweaked some of the behaviours which meant dusting off my Javascripting skills - but that's not really required and paying for a template does give you technical support for more complicated things.<br />
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Although I paid for the premium template to remove the footer credits and to ensure I get any updates, you can get most Blogger templates for free which means professional looking online journals are only a few clicks away.<br />
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<a class="embedly-card" data-card-type="article-full" href="http://bees.in-tense.co.nz/">It's all about bees</a>
<script async="" charset="UTF-8" src="//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js"></script>Mx5Pixiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730985945756398267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712973774107322232.post-82279919124957627322015-07-04T20:16:00.001+12:002016-01-29T07:22:19.445+13:00Steaming along<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTN4wJVFOuXejnB5qdXM1hMlxDdwEIWJZZ2C172qZH8WlDP1Rg4s4DXVMdhXx1QGhFyHB02mdHkHi1lnp2VrQMQZw3QLqZG3tNACy3c5uBDqp57sZq24nSE89V5ptAY95NzkQU-claSlU/s1600/Photo+22-06-15+7+58+44+pm+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTN4wJVFOuXejnB5qdXM1hMlxDdwEIWJZZ2C172qZH8WlDP1Rg4s4DXVMdhXx1QGhFyHB02mdHkHi1lnp2VrQMQZw3QLqZG3tNACy3c5uBDqp57sZq24nSE89V5ptAY95NzkQU-claSlU/s320/Photo+22-06-15+7+58+44+pm+%25282%2529.jpg" width="310" /></a></div>
When my grandmother came for an extended visit recently, she immediately pulled out her sewing machine and overlocker and was happily adjusting as many of my clothes as I could find that needed taking in, re-hemming or changing. It became obvious that she needed reasonably easy access to the iron. When I bought her one for her exclusive use on day 2 of her visit she pointed out that it was unnecessary because we already had one. To this I responded that I love my iron. There was no need to elaborate about my low tolerance for sharing it.<br />
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That is how serious a matter it is when I say that I've found something for my clothes that rivals my Panasonic because my new favourite household gadget is this small, attractive and absolutely useful timesaver. The Kambrook Swift Steam is a hand-held clothes and linen steamer that does wonders for getting the wrinkles and creases out of clothes as well giving them a bit of a freshen up after some light wear.<br />
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What I love about it isn't just how much easier and faster it makes the morning dressing routine but also how beautiful it is to use and hold. Unlike my old TOBI steamer, the water receptacle and steam head are one unit meaning the limit to reach is the power cable rather than the connecting hose. With the use of an extension lead, you can reach up to the top of the window if you're steaming your curtains. Also unlike the traditional steamers, this one is trigger operated so it doesn't use as much water.<br />
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The best features for me are the sub-20 second ready to go start-up and the strength of the steam. Inconsistent steam used to be one of the frustrating aspects of my TOBI.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-cfmvLRlRd10op54fe0Hs_VS5UoKe-sjMqE2JvIx83NVCRQjiYPQUh0qKtdhDJ8EBfe6x3eX6bj_6o7YU6ZE-zOo14JVBI2_SyYKI2YMSYGzxoutD02rnzeaon8sap2CX6SwUhQwhGQY/s1600/Photo+22-06-15+7+45+04+pm+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-cfmvLRlRd10op54fe0Hs_VS5UoKe-sjMqE2JvIx83NVCRQjiYPQUh0qKtdhDJ8EBfe6x3eX6bj_6o7YU6ZE-zOo14JVBI2_SyYKI2YMSYGzxoutD02rnzeaon8sap2CX6SwUhQwhGQY/s200/Photo+22-06-15+7+45+04+pm+%25281%2529.jpg" width="200" /></a>There are many advantages to using a steamer instead of an iron: no burning the fabric, no heat shimmer on the fabric and there's no need for a board. Particularly when it's just a quick de-crumpling in the morning, it's a particularly efficient way to get sorted.<br />
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There are a couple of considerations, however. I find the steamer works best on slightly heavier fabrics: it does wonders on cotton shirts. It's easier and better to hang the garment on a hook so you can use your other hand to pull the fabric taught, especially if it's a lighter weave such as satin or chiffon.<br />
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My grandmother used the steamer a couple of times and decided it was very useful. She headed home earlier this week and made sure to stash one in her luggage.<br />
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Gadget Girl's conclusion? Whilst I wouldn't get rid of my iron, if I had to choose one or the other I'd definitely have the Swift Steam: it's far more versatile and efficient.<a class="embedly-card" href="http://www.kambrook.co.nz/swift-steam-garment-steamer.html">Swift Steam Garment Steamer - Ironing - In The Home</a>
<script async="" charset="UTF-8" src="//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js"></script>Mx5Pixiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730985945756398267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712973774107322232.post-15776598551288552272015-06-13T21:19:00.001+12:002015-06-13T21:19:18.372+12:00Shower sounds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyb9QNlgO_oWA8j0ifwFseWvD3p7iB_TcBM5R24_lTzARZ5BhfRKf3K94nzhDUE_FKimnJVS_J2s9CK6kiYax0_4qH4soylqE24ssQ6qREDofVhkgD1WTPD_SDJxCFGEcVQBmZg0XyWhA/s1600/Photo+12-06-15+9+40+45+pm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyb9QNlgO_oWA8j0ifwFseWvD3p7iB_TcBM5R24_lTzARZ5BhfRKf3K94nzhDUE_FKimnJVS_J2s9CK6kiYax0_4qH4soylqE24ssQ6qREDofVhkgD1WTPD_SDJxCFGEcVQBmZg0XyWhA/s320/Photo+12-06-15+9+40+45+pm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
When I mentioned to a friend that I was writing a post about Bluetooth shower speakers, his pragmatic (if not necessarily practical) response was that I should install speakers into the bathroom. Agreed, if you want to stream music into every room in the house a holistic approach might be better but I'm hoping not to be in this house for much longer and making permanent changes isn't really desirable. Besides, that's not what I'm writing about. <br />
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Anytime I carry out a mundane activity or have a quiet moment I'm prone to a downward cycling of mood. From discussion with others who suffer from bipolar disorder, I gather I'm not the only one. Driving, cleaning and sleepless nights are particularly bad. I attempt to reduce the teary moments with music: an MP3 player is plugged into the stereo in the car, there are speaker docks in various rooms of the house and Bluetooth headphones for when I others aren't participating in noise, and my bestie gave me <a href="http://www.sleepphones.com/" target="_blank">Sleepphones</a> a few Christmases ago which get pulled out when I have a bout of onset insomnia.<br />
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I enjoy my showers and it's my first retreat if I need a good bawl. I've been keen to work on not just using the shower as a way to vent but also to turn mood around. So when I saw some unbranded, water-resistant Bluetooth speakers on a run round the supermarket — not my usual one — it got me thinking. And no, I didn't just toss a speaker into the trolley, I actually left it a couple of days.<br />
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I realised after a couple of days that at least twice a week recently I'd been taking an iPod into the ensuite for my morning shower. Even at the maximum volume it's difficult to hear over the water and annoyingly skipping through the playlist is a bit of bind. Considering that a trifling $18NZD was worth an experiment, I headed back to Countdown and nabbed one.<br />
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What I like about this particular gadget is that it has an inbuilt rechargeable battery and it has AVRCP — meaning it can play, pause and skip forwards and backwards through the playlist, and control the volume. It also automatically reconnects to the last connected device if in range, and (less important) it has Headset Profile so I could answer the phone if I wanted. The suction cap on this is actually quite good.<br />
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I no longer take my iPod Touch into the steamy bathroom: even with the doors closed the speaker connects just fine. Hitting the power button is the thing I do straight after I turn the shower on in the morning. As expected, it provides sufficient distraction during my shower to make the mundane enjoyable. An unintended consequence is that I also have a better sense of time: one song, two songs.<br />
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To be fair, I tend to use it only for my morning shower. The pre-bed wash, I prefer not to get revved up for.<br />
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So... if you're not up for wiring up the bathroom, this is a cheap and functional alternative to shower sounds.<br />
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<a class="embedly-card" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Bluetooth_profiles#Audio.2FVideo_Remote_Control_Profile_.28AVRCP.29">List of Bluetooth profiles - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</a>
<script async="" charset="UTF-8" src="//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js"></script>Mx5Pixiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730985945756398267noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712973774107322232.post-51661113082807367022015-06-07T06:53:00.000+12:002015-06-08T06:54:09.245+12:00The right form<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDSvmXh0q9GCu5Q4gq-RO5uzz1y2oxhO_avkKVi0kGHktQaxLQ7VdC_H52xmM8w5MJXR2Oc0t4ZhDvl6DN6PFaVosfUEA4DBHYoQEz-bmd9Z4cpgVnJyn0FPseS2vB8nLefMHvL78E7-w/s1600/IMG_3428.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDSvmXh0q9GCu5Q4gq-RO5uzz1y2oxhO_avkKVi0kGHktQaxLQ7VdC_H52xmM8w5MJXR2Oc0t4ZhDvl6DN6PFaVosfUEA4DBHYoQEz-bmd9Z4cpgVnJyn0FPseS2vB8nLefMHvL78E7-w/s320/IMG_3428.PNG" width="320" /></a>In my youth I seriously considered pursuing a dance career. It wasn't unusual for me to be in the studio more than 3 hours a day with professionals overseeing me and drilling the importance of correct form and technique. Hours were spent in front of the mirror with my ballet teacher instructing me to move limbs by degrees and perfecting timing.<br />
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Given how important I find watching myself exercise to ensure that I'm programming muscle memory correctly, I find it odd how many gyms and studios don't offer mirrors or recording facilities. It's one of the reasons I appreciate the XBox Kinect: it's like having Miss Peters and her stick hooking under my ankle and pushing my leg 10 degrees higher or banging the floor to accentuate the beat.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyMTdYYE2Z2GB3Brhib6PN3loJ7z9NXqcJy-T0GI-5RHrQ4WWygQ4j_-tTR02CxaEguuxZMSU8yid7sc2uHa_xzfuaouCQsEHvCRGTDaUgXCScIQvREiUWL5T48-iiGZ7aEBTMDvEQTfA/s1600/IMG_3426.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyMTdYYE2Z2GB3Brhib6PN3loJ7z9NXqcJy-T0GI-5RHrQ4WWygQ4j_-tTR02CxaEguuxZMSU8yid7sc2uHa_xzfuaouCQsEHvCRGTDaUgXCScIQvREiUWL5T48-iiGZ7aEBTMDvEQTfA/s320/IMG_3426.PNG" width="320" /></a>Smartphones and tablets can be great for recording and then analysing your sporting and exercise pursuits and yet most of us don't think to record ourselves running to figure out why our knees and ankles are hurting, to watch ourselves serve the ball, or to the see whether our downward-facing dogs are correctly formed. There are plenty of apps to help with that kind of thing - the photos are from Ubersense.<br />
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So whether you're just wanting to exercise correctly so as not to injure yourself or you're wanting to push your performance, I recommend you think about your devices for more than Facebook! It's just as handy for team performance: a way to analyse game play and tactics.<br />
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For my part, I'm usually satisfied to record using the onboard camera but it can sometimes be useful to have a few more tools to hand. Apps such as Ubersense and Coach's Eye can help with that.<br />
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<a class="embedly-card" href="http://www.ubersense.com/">Video Analysis & Sports Coaching App | Ubersense</a>Mx5Pixiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730985945756398267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712973774107322232.post-53721223706289753942015-05-05T23:41:00.001+12:002016-01-29T07:22:19.434+13:00Get embedded<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWYG_nTtXyD2e9jphzrHis4pviCP33GF3tovyy56v-oUh5sWkxcMcaeuUwCpJMA5TXP0nWNZ13kD2wejBzm6gS-fh06R-Ct_s5-iY400ZWxxgEhtayoUkKBqivXuUBprHIB2Q7obflph8/s1600/Embedly+makes+your+content+more+engaging+and+easier+to+share+++Embedly.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWYG_nTtXyD2e9jphzrHis4pviCP33GF3tovyy56v-oUh5sWkxcMcaeuUwCpJMA5TXP0nWNZ13kD2wejBzm6gS-fh06R-Ct_s5-iY400ZWxxgEhtayoUkKBqivXuUBprHIB2Q7obflph8/s320/Embedly+makes+your+content+more+engaging+and+easier+to+share+++Embedly.png" width="320" /></a></div>
One of the nice features when you use some social media services - such as Facebook or Google+ - is the automatic generation of link previews complete with image and short snippet. From a user's perspective, I believe it's always reassuring to be able to see where a link will take you and if you're a website owner it definitely helps make links more appealing to click on.<br />
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Unfortunately most content management systems and blog services do not offer a link preview feature.<br />
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Fear not! There are online services which offer this functionality for free and, so long as you have access to edit the HTML source code in your chosen editor, you can include link previews in your pages.<br />
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The service I use is embed.ly which offers not only link previews for free but other services such as cards, bookmarklets and sharing buttons as well.<br />
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<a class="embedly-card" href="http://embed.ly/">Embedly makes your content more engaging and easier to share | Embedly</a>
<script async="" charset="UTF-8" src="//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js"></script>Mx5Pixiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730985945756398267noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712973774107322232.post-71103456572955825502015-05-03T22:51:00.002+12:002015-05-05T23:23:31.609+12:00A bit random<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvyDLhl1c6FwCe9iFKREZAmewqoXCSz_RjzxMB65Y4zKQhMBQ2bje0Of6GbI2egBoUK6f-hQoHET5GZIIfJXjDA5gYDe6lGW7NMbfg6bsjGq3PpQhsaVkhf6FtUjw4-JF0MzTwnp1VeB4/s1600/Photo+3-05-15+10+31+19+pm.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvyDLhl1c6FwCe9iFKREZAmewqoXCSz_RjzxMB65Y4zKQhMBQ2bje0Of6GbI2egBoUK6f-hQoHET5GZIIfJXjDA5gYDe6lGW7NMbfg6bsjGq3PpQhsaVkhf6FtUjw4-JF0MzTwnp1VeB4/s1600/Photo+3-05-15+10+31+19+pm.png" width="180" /></a>I recently started a new challenge for my style blog, <a href="http://www.stylefilelog.com/" target="_blank">The Style File</a>, and wanted to randomise a set of values to create unusual combinations for the challenge. As usual, I went looking for an app to help.<br />
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Having tried a few, I chose Hamad Alfarsi's free app Random Picker. This randomiser has both a name picker and number picker. Whilst there were many options which could do the job, the feature that distinguished this particular app was the ability to save and edit lists for use again and again. Given the challenge repeats every month this year that was important for me.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvPc3SFrp27dBKQARRjcjQmV3mLUS3GIMGDAeeyICsCyBuSIHW2W7GahHA-vsF4ZiffOt_OdWH8w3zjI9Znn0JjTrDh097G3hs0R253OElscRLW_pf8HS_RNCtl0bBRq5OUJAi3qlwSRE/s1600/IMG_0494.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvPc3SFrp27dBKQARRjcjQmV3mLUS3GIMGDAeeyICsCyBuSIHW2W7GahHA-vsF4ZiffOt_OdWH8w3zjI9Znn0JjTrDh097G3hs0R253OElscRLW_pf8HS_RNCtl0bBRq5OUJAi3qlwSRE/s1600/IMG_0494.PNG" width="112" /></a>The app interface itself is pretty basic but it does the job well enough that anything fancier really isn't altogether necessary.<br />
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Unfortunately Hamad doesn't offer an Android version but there are may to be found on the Play Store.<br />
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A randomiser app such as this a good addition to your phone's toolkit, particularly if you participate in activities, such as sports, games or raffles, where either a result from a list, a randomly ordered list or a random number from a range is used.<br />
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<a class="embedly-card" data-card-analytics="1" href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/random-picker/id703780925?mt=8">Random : Picker</a>
<script async="" charset="UTF-8" src="//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js"></script>
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<a class="embedly-card" data-card-type="article" href="http://www.stylefilelog.com/2015/04/colour-challenge.html">Colour challenge</a>
<script async="" charset="UTF-8" src="//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js"></script>Mx5Pixiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730985945756398267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712973774107322232.post-62094911368093493022015-05-03T19:40:00.002+12:002015-05-04T14:03:14.265+12:00Let's replay<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLtMmSknbJpbIi1HU5eM3eLQprVzaJNDoxs2ydLFVMoDtIH9yuVNYz2WWxRjxxXKlqgtZgtciEd3lX6K79g3hFOhsc9gMowijezs-tIF0DBnXNczlwvjoIePEzXp5WIG4YU-2nQAUoAtY/s1600/Photo+3-05-15+6+55+17+pm.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLtMmSknbJpbIi1HU5eM3eLQprVzaJNDoxs2ydLFVMoDtIH9yuVNYz2WWxRjxxXKlqgtZgtciEd3lX6K79g3hFOhsc9gMowijezs-tIF0DBnXNczlwvjoIePEzXp5WIG4YU-2nQAUoAtY/s1600/Photo+3-05-15+6+55+17+pm.png" height="320" width="179" /></a>One of my other blogs is a style and lifestyle blog. Given the subject matter there are literally thousands of photos. For the most part these feature on Instagram and most don't warrant a post of their own. However, there are times I like to demonstrate how a single item is used in multiple outfits and other times to pick a theme, such as monochrome, and feature similar looks.<br />
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Until recently I've used picstitches as static images to do this but there's something nice about having a richer, dymanic experience.<br />
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I actually tracked down a video slideshow app in order to make a digital card for Christmas but saw the potential for more than my personal use when the result turned out so nicely.<br />
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There are plenty of options for converting a stack of photos and videos easily and quickly into a slideshow video but I wanted something which had nice transition effects and not just typical, Powerpoint-esque fades and wipes.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUD3ssRQ8bMaiRAfGtE-tNk7e3q-jwpfz8USoOf8JR8xnKr6lGeiLz_fO6r7YPY8RWS0G7y3YAITi9OynJ52m0xCCryAGUIJsOH_N2KrzV9lA2V2WDZKVc2dDW95hyxgikXwbbHeGiOuo/s1600/Photo+3-05-15+6+54+19+pm.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUD3ssRQ8bMaiRAfGtE-tNk7e3q-jwpfz8USoOf8JR8xnKr6lGeiLz_fO6r7YPY8RWS0G7y3YAITi9OynJ52m0xCCryAGUIJsOH_N2KrzV9lA2V2WDZKVc2dDW95hyxgikXwbbHeGiOuo/s1600/Photo+3-05-15+6+54+19+pm.png" height="200" width="111" /></a>Initially I tried <a href="https://animoto.com/" target="_blank">Animoto</a> but the inability to download the video without having a paid subscription, and in fact having to upload my photos to a website, didn't suit. I was therefore very pleased, after trying a large number of app options, to find Replay.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlNvHzan2Px9ti2hpsvsYwYxFexFPCTh6yuvD5oKUQ8wDhlOUWHrS1SR23uiNDm76isv9GM5bJStilmL3C_vF0xMkzAqnMcnB8faAQGsAsWpw_3YLvomk-yom9gcY6VUU6CEj9d20ZgfI/s1600/Photo+3-05-15+7+27+42+pm.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlNvHzan2Px9ti2hpsvsYwYxFexFPCTh6yuvD5oKUQ8wDhlOUWHrS1SR23uiNDm76isv9GM5bJStilmL3C_vF0xMkzAqnMcnB8faAQGsAsWpw_3YLvomk-yom9gcY6VUU6CEj9d20ZgfI/s1600/Photo+3-05-15+7+27+42+pm.png" height="200" width="111" /></a>Available free for iOS with watermark and in-app purchases for premium themes, it was easy enough to try. Very pleased with the quality of resulting product, I paid $12.99NZD to get all eight additional themes and remove the watermark.<br />
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What I enjoy about Replay is the simple interface which allows me to add title slides as well as overlay text on photos. There are over twenty themes each with variations. You can select music from the app library or use your own. It offers a cinematic widescreen format or square for Instagram and three transition speeds.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFlLUnAi6qLKZwHxL3xZ6Kok6kJzNw-xcMCVRnEKJz8bYDAm3HlPNRbF8ec7IyYn3YchtDNJ68UBfYrolkCMkQpxSN7Bv7C6P6q1SDSRIPjOIVCu3RBBTQCHeaw7XlPtCYqbGgvN7m50g/s1600/Photo+3-05-15+7+26+08+pm.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFlLUnAi6qLKZwHxL3xZ6Kok6kJzNw-xcMCVRnEKJz8bYDAm3HlPNRbF8ec7IyYn3YchtDNJ68UBfYrolkCMkQpxSN7Bv7C6P6q1SDSRIPjOIVCu3RBBTQCHeaw7XlPtCYqbGgvN7m50g/s1600/Photo+3-05-15+7+26+08+pm.png" height="200" width="111" /></a>Whilst my use is quite specific, I do recommend this approach, regardless of app if you're someone who works with a lot of images. My day job exposes me to academic staff, for example, many of whom could benefit from converting old slides into a video for playing at lectures, or uploading to YouTube or a learning management system. It's also handy for sharing your favourite photos, whether from an event or holiday or the embarrassing collage of baby pics for someone's birthday.<br />
<a class="embedly-card" href="http://replayapp.com/">Make videos, faster than ever - Replay App</a>
<script async="" charset="UTF-8" src="//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js"></script>
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A caveat on Replay: my newest and therefore most powerful iOS device is my iPhone 6. I find that videos with a large number of high resolution photos can only be rendered successfully on this device. My iPad 3 and iPad Mini are both too under-powered to get the job done.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-JngM-mNz9o/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-JngM-mNz9o?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />Mx5Pixiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730985945756398267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712973774107322232.post-88092527243227597332015-01-03T15:32:00.001+13:002015-01-03T18:05:19.453+13:00Chromecast-ing<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDGhcPLCiBeIXtPevszjGASUVZEbsw8zxBhS-GYbmo67OJxiAuZLL9YPWmjUTc_dvEy4fdHQesmDr467K012xU46jBftSxg8dN7DjtzWRQ-67kHve3lhIvN75o0EYCgYBZWiEYqFHo6_s/s600/IMG_2068.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDGhcPLCiBeIXtPevszjGASUVZEbsw8zxBhS-GYbmo67OJxiAuZLL9YPWmjUTc_dvEy4fdHQesmDr467K012xU46jBftSxg8dN7DjtzWRQ-67kHve3lhIvN75o0EYCgYBZWiEYqFHo6_s/s1600/IMG_2068.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a>16 months ago (or so) I tried to purchase a Chromecast whilst on holiday in the Hawaii. But the island of Oahu was sold out, pretty much as was the case throughout the United States. Granted, during the intervening months I could have ordered one using YouPost or bought on TradeMe or eBay but I wasn't inclined to pay premium for something that I had no pressing need for. I was excited, therefore when it "officially" came to NZ a few weeks ago.<br />
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Now I have hands on one, I find it to be somewhat fussy compared to the other wireless audiovisual equipment in my kit. Granted the AppleTV requires particular versions of iOS or OSX for mirroring and iTunes for PCs to stream; and the Netgear Push2TV requires Miracast or Widi capable hardware but the Chromecast setup took a couple of goes for me and you need apps and browser plugins to make it work. It's most equivalent gadget in my pre-existing library is the iPush.<br />
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All that aside, and still with more playing - ahem, I mean testing - to do, I have already decided that it has a purpose and a place in my life.<br />
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One of the many frustrating things for me with Miracast and Airplay is the need for specific hardware. After eighteen months, my HTC One M7 is still the only Miracast capable device I have and I have no Widi devices at all. Which means that if I want to use any of my Windows devices on the TV that's not really an option with my wireless AV receivers.<br />
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So the first thing I tried when I unboxed the Chromecast was to see whether for non-OS mirroring purposes it could be a workable method for using a computer on the TV. The test? Logging into our SkyGo account and playing an episode of Madam Secretary.<br />
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Success!! So long as you use Chrome and have the add-in installed, SkyGo works with reasonably high quality audio and video.<br />
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There were a few gotchas: the Telecom - yeah, yeah, I know they rebranded to Spark - router we were sent as part of our broadband package has AP isolation that I can't turn off. Replacing the router is a holiday job so I had to switch to using a mifi for the test. The result was sluggish and glitchy. I can't 100% say this is a great solution until I've tried it on a dual-band router connected to a high-speed connection but I suspect the lag would be negligible if my network was configured correctly.<br />
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It's definitely not using Miracast standards: although it has direct wifi and uses a Bluetooth style handshake during setup. It's more like AirPlay direct setup than Miracast. And once it's running it has the same requirements as the old AirPlay in terms of relaxed network configuration.<br />
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At $59NZD (less through some other retailers) it's not bad. I still prefer Miracast and AirPlay because they give full mirroring but this works pretty well and there's a client for most of my kit. If your requirements are the web browsing and entertainment sort it's a great solution for that.<br />
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If you're wanting to use a big screen wirelessly with all features and apps on the computer then ensure that your next desktop or laptop PC is Miracast or Widi capable - as I will be - or a Mac and check out the other articles on the blog and YouTube channel for Miracast and Airplay how-tos.Mx5Pixiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730985945756398267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712973774107322232.post-40591915597699403222014-12-23T08:53:00.000+13:002016-01-29T07:23:36.419+13:00Photobooth fun<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzZ1CPqPwbdmMmdNmxO6BHzOYaDlSKDIWsMjKMm_rhX2h5GGUeJIiXqGTk6oI33LG8aIdZfSCZ5PVZgPmp49o9kKMLGQYEimwwogic4FhoRFi4u4WTjQyK3Wx061WPdnNCiPgdfoJIfV0/s600/Photo+25-04-14+11+20+38+am.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzZ1CPqPwbdmMmdNmxO6BHzOYaDlSKDIWsMjKMm_rhX2h5GGUeJIiXqGTk6oI33LG8aIdZfSCZ5PVZgPmp49o9kKMLGQYEimwwogic4FhoRFi4u4WTjQyK3Wx061WPdnNCiPgdfoJIfV0/s1600/Photo+25-04-14+11+20+38+am.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Last year, one of my BFFLs — best friends for life — began planning her wedding. Fellow gadget girl, Ness and I, were the bridesmaids and there
began "The Committee" of bride and bridesmaids, as we were referred to, meeting regularly to discuss venues, music, outfits and entertainment. Ness proposed that we
should have a photobooth, but given the cost of renting a commercial one, she thought that it was worth setting up one of our own. Over the
year, we did just that, setting up booths at events, refining the setup for the big day.<br />
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Ness is the photography buff between us and wanted to use an SLR for a better result than we could get out of a tablet or PC webcam. She
volunteered her equipment, complete with external flash attachment, hooked up to her Acer ultrabook and controlled through DSLRBooth. She even used a wireless SD card to automatically transfer photos to her iPad so people could look at the pics throughout the evening. We chose not to worry about print-outs, although there are instructions on the web if you'd like to go that far.<br />
<a class="embedly-card" href="http://www.dslrbooth.com/">Photo Booth Software for DSLR Cameras - dslrBooth | Photo Booth Software for your canon/nikon dslr camera & pc/mac laptop. FREE Trial. Most straightforward and loved photo booth software out there.</a>
<script async="" charset="UTF-8" src="//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js"></script>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRVy5L1N-A9pke50TQ5l3CM2ptE0YSI0gySjjIi5M4_uL1n3OnfNpoSI39s1qJw4jAsuuRA9iiP2MI-nCyIRGsxbMv3249Ld1rtlovUs6JIZdHsV5UaipFnExCeAs8T7LGxuHWMFQEIN4/s600/Photo+12-12-14+6+00+21+pm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRVy5L1N-A9pke50TQ5l3CM2ptE0YSI0gySjjIi5M4_uL1n3OnfNpoSI39s1qJw4jAsuuRA9iiP2MI-nCyIRGsxbMv3249Ld1rtlovUs6JIZdHsV5UaipFnExCeAs8T7LGxuHWMFQEIN4/s1600/Photo+12-12-14+6+00+21+pm.jpg" width="320" /></a>There are many how-to articles if you do a google, so I'm not going to do that over. What I wanted to discuss was more around the environmental aspects of making this a success.<br />
<ol>
<li>Create a dedicated space: by the time you have the tripod(s), the masks and hats, a nice backdrop, the camera and controlling computer that's a lot of paraphernalia. We learnt early on that having a walled area to create the booth hides
a lot of mess and also releases the participants to really get into the fun out of sight of non-participants. </li>
<li>Lighting is important: even if you have a flash, reasonable lighting is helpful so the quality of the pics is good and you won't need to do a lot of processing after. </li>
<li>Have signage: tell people where to look or they have a habit of looking at the laptop screen instead of the camera. </li>
</ol>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQU9FbEsNLOq7pOxnl2drWER4Bb_N5QvnSKUI-mjsTRCqbBsZEM9drZpTFxXHbeImKeP_151WANfOONf3pv3ylS6UGM4hnEvJAsdtN3tPyTxfFuHpp41-nXHrL49xF-bqkp2lfvJ_C79E/s600/Photo+12-12-14+6+02+41+pm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQU9FbEsNLOq7pOxnl2drWER4Bb_N5QvnSKUI-mjsTRCqbBsZEM9drZpTFxXHbeImKeP_151WANfOONf3pv3ylS6UGM4hnEvJAsdtN3tPyTxfFuHpp41-nXHrL49xF-bqkp2lfvJ_C79E/s1600/Photo+12-12-14+6+02+41+pm.jpg" width="320" /></a>Over time we've improved it. The wedding booth photos were great and everyone had a lot of fun but Ness has continued to set up
booths at parties and now it's looking pretty slick. But for a one-off, family event, you don't have to get as fancy as we have to get a lot
of fun and some pretty awesome mementos.<br />
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Some of the additional kit we've added include three backdrop stands, of the kind used by photographers, that you can purchase for around $50NZD each from online stores on TradeMe and eBay. Although it's fun to use colourful backdrops, if lighting is poor, try using a lighter background: recently we resorted to an off-white blind. Ness has also added a foot-pedal trigger purchased from DealExtreme.
<a class="embedly-card" href="http://www.dx.com/p/usb-foot-switch-keyboard-mouse-control-foot-pedal-58167#.VJhvPF4AKA">USB Foot Switch Keyboard Mouse Control Foot Pedal</a>
<script async="" charset="UTF-8" src="//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js"></script>Mx5Pixiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730985945756398267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712973774107322232.post-9004568895267350132014-12-21T22:56:00.000+13:002014-12-22T22:39:24.163+13:00Local data sharing<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg27MS6UUtoSWKto58bh_nAoza01GG2EM3qCK1imOK_c8fQV-Gw2rQ-TsbVVfDxmVgGiel5-cSNFimKPGAEOhkndsCHnRsoI83uyDiJpuzEBG0ivQTA47IaKwsToWoeyYUXQD-YJpebgeI/s600/10347480_537020396435275_587832542631791567_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg27MS6UUtoSWKto58bh_nAoza01GG2EM3qCK1imOK_c8fQV-Gw2rQ-TsbVVfDxmVgGiel5-cSNFimKPGAEOhkndsCHnRsoI83uyDiJpuzEBG0ivQTA47IaKwsToWoeyYUXQD-YJpebgeI/s1600/10347480_537020396435275_587832542631791567_n.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a>Family from Ireland are visiting and one of them used €27 in data just navigating to the beach. Ouch!!!<br />
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If you're visiting Aotearoa this Christmas (or any other time) and don't want to switch the sim on your phone remember that NZ pocket wifi devices can be purchased for as little as $79NZD, they are unlocked, so can be used in other countries or with any mobile provider, and in NZ we don't have the tethering restrictions on our burner/prepay plans as many other countries do. Even better, your data plan can be shared with up to 5 or 10 devices (depending on model) and the pesky teenagers can still Snapchat their friends back home.<br />
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It's worth checking out what plans are available in countries your travelling to in case this trick can work for you. Burner plans in the US tend to prohibit tethering — although I did find one in Hawaii through a local provider — but some countries, such as Australia, are as relaxed as New Zealand.<br />
<h4>
Addendum</h4>
A reminder if you do this that your devices will consider themselves to be on a normal wifi network which means that all those wifi only activities, such as backups, updates and sync-ing will run. Remember to disable these if you don't want to burn through 2GB of data overnight as your iPhone backs up while charging, or after your Windows ultrabook has downloaded the latest patches ready for installation.Mx5Pixiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730985945756398267noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712973774107322232.post-13733409648724546182014-11-26T07:47:00.000+13:002014-11-26T07:58:13.929+13:00Teleprompter solution<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVHbzQ35i1UUOe-j4C1Iy6Fe56t0ADwjTcSCSTCH8WXr3eETcVWCEfnESmLNJOx68md-X3zfW737fiDRI3fPJYswbAN_8H8mRTcKFN-KxTfaYJjQHX_ytZIcymma6lVnEB8IhozqdfI9E/s1600/Photo+26-11-14+07+49+04.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVHbzQ35i1UUOe-j4C1Iy6Fe56t0ADwjTcSCSTCH8WXr3eETcVWCEfnESmLNJOx68md-X3zfW737fiDRI3fPJYswbAN_8H8mRTcKFN-KxTfaYJjQHX_ytZIcymma6lVnEB8IhozqdfI9E/s1600/Photo+26-11-14+07+49+04.png" height="171" width="200" /></a>As I've been creating more video content for many of my blogs, including <a href="http://www.gadgetgirlfiles.com/">Gadget Girl Files</a> and <a href="http://www.stylefilelog.com/" target="_blank">The Style File</a>, I looked at options for a low-cost teleprompter. Listec Promptware Plus, which has apps for iOS and Android, is free and although it's not the nicest looking app and has crashed a couple of times during edits, the teleprompter function is stable and works exactly as expected.<br />
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Having hooked it up wirelessly to a screen, I think it's a pretty neat solution for small events or video bloggers.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/kk_uj-RDvfg/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/kk_uj-RDvfg&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/kk_uj-RDvfg&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
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For iOS:
<a class="embedly-card" href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/promptware-plus/id492096225">PromptWare Plus</a><br />
<script async="" charset="UTF-8" src="//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js"></script>
For Android:
<a class="embedly-card" href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.psegina.teleprompter&hl=en">PromptWare Plus - Android Apps on Google Play</a>
<script async="" charset="UTF-8" src="//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js"></script>Mx5Pixiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730985945756398267noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712973774107322232.post-83785725292289213812014-11-24T08:26:00.001+13:002014-11-24T10:12:26.042+13:00It's here!I am excited to have finally launched the new look for Gadget Girl Files. This design improves delivery to a wider set of devices including tablets and smartphones, and makes it easier to find and navigate the more than 70 posts already on the blog.<br />
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But the changes aren't only to the look-and-feel: there's a whole new classification schema too that groups related content by type, topic and even series such as <a href="http://www.gadgetgirlfiles.com/search/label/Better%20you?max-results=10">Better You</a> and <a href="http://www.gadgetgirlfiles.com/search/label/Wireless%20world?max-results=10">Wireless World</a>.<br />
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I hope you enjoy using the new layout.<br />
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Mx5Pixiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730985945756398267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712973774107322232.post-26735822340757195332014-11-23T20:44:00.001+13:002014-11-23T20:44:26.184+13:00Accessible options<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqAJKMWR-q96XYyR2CkenlQNmueEQk3fxNfQTsxM7xTBj7FAkcm_UnGxau1xluhzX99FpeodXejz8bmOWayG6odryjpnTSqabQnNeEZ4ToZCBLivhDfqTJm4DbnO2rgq01n7qhe1GZesQ/s1600/Photo+12-08-14+14+44+41+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqAJKMWR-q96XYyR2CkenlQNmueEQk3fxNfQTsxM7xTBj7FAkcm_UnGxau1xluhzX99FpeodXejz8bmOWayG6odryjpnTSqabQnNeEZ4ToZCBLivhDfqTJm4DbnO2rgq01n7qhe1GZesQ/s1600/Photo+12-08-14+14+44+41+(1).jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
When my other half went to the optometrist a few years back to get his first prescription of reading glasses he almost hit the bright young optometrist when she glibly told him "don't worry, it's only age-related". Although his prescription has stayed fairly static, even with retina displays and so on, he has found the increasingly high resolution phone displays make texts and emails that are difficult to read. He was tempted to upgrade to an iPhone 6 for increased screen real-estate. Surely, he posited to me, there must be an existing workaround for this.<br />
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Accessibility options, I replied. Say what?!<br />
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We often think of accessibility issues being about blindness, deafness, or a physical impairment of some sort. The simple fact of getting older doesn't typically fall into the 'accessibility' category but it does. As do a raft of other things such as language, reading age, etc... which we may not consider fall under that classification.<br />
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<ul>
<li>On iOS you can find the full suite of accessibility options in Settings > General > Accessibility</li>
<li>On Android go to Settings > Accessibility</li>
<li>On Windows phones under Settings > Ease of Access</li>
</ul>
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Since enabling large font, Drew's been able to receive and send txt message without having to reach for his specs. Now converted to the value of this little known configuration he intends to set up his parents' devices with similar customisations.Mx5Pixiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730985945756398267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712973774107322232.post-4610790158515902942014-11-23T20:38:00.003+13:002014-11-24T10:11:49.039+13:00Clearing my inbox clutter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My inbox has been annoying me of late with the number of unread emails the majority of which are promotional. We've all done it, I'm sure: signed up for a store discount, purchased online, subscribed to the new service or created an account and forgot to uncheck the "send me other crap several times a day" box. Granted there are times I've been so engrossed in a particular thing that I've wanted those emails but now they're just part of my digital clutter.<br />
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This week I've implemented the unsubscribe mantra. I force myself to open the emails as they come in, scroll to the bottom and click that unsubscribe link. It will take a few weeks for me to reap the rewards of this but really, I think the 30 seconds I'm spending on each one will save me so much time later. It's also good for my mental wellbeing and may even save my credit card a bit of use. Yes, NZSale and TreatMe were among the culled.<br />
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There are some that I want to keep: my daily drool over the heavily discounted refurb computers from Laptopbattery.co.nz, for example are still welcome but at least I've made that conscious choice.
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Go on - you know you're being a little lazy right? A few ask you to complete a short survey but most of these unsubscribes are pretty painless. Your inbox will thank you for it and your days will start a little lighter.<br />
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As a side note, a growing number of countries have anti-spam legislation. Check out Wikipedia for what applies to yours.
<a class="embedly-card" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email_spam_legislation_by_country">Email spam legislation by country</a><br />
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And in New Zealand, we have an anti-spam unit to whom you can report email and txt spam.
<a class="embedly-card" href="http://www.dia.govt.nz/Services-Anti-Spam-Index">Anti-Spam - dia.govt.nz</a>
<script async="" charset="UTF-8" src="//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js"></script>Mx5Pixiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730985945756398267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712973774107322232.post-6812022842346126352014-10-04T15:14:00.004+13:002014-10-16T11:23:30.042+13:00Snap-happyHello from wet and windy Nelson. I'm on holiday at the moment and holed up inside with showers, rain and even hail making an appearance outside. But earlier in the week it was beautiful if chilly spring weather and we took a drive to Kaiteriteri where the school holidays meant that even a weekday had families on the beach.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbSXF-Njv0CdVlXA3GHw-jlnffyvpsTusHnQHlF8EB8XMJJJ193hMCBXX5GpiZcvQTnRHuPEhcFkbp1XbRKNSsLoKMHK_Emmmumf-1rHDpXdJOg-RuKzFsJY_I2I8XMqGtjnVcuxqrAtU/s600/IMG_0931.JPG" imageanchor="1" rel="lightbox[multi]" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbSXF-Njv0CdVlXA3GHw-jlnffyvpsTusHnQHlF8EB8XMJJJ193hMCBXX5GpiZcvQTnRHuPEhcFkbp1XbRKNSsLoKMHK_Emmmumf-1rHDpXdJOg-RuKzFsJY_I2I8XMqGtjnVcuxqrAtU/s1600/IMG_0931.JPG" height="200" width="200" /></a>I enjoyed pulling out my camera and taking a few pics but among my favourite photos of the day was one I snapped with my iPhone of a bird perched on a flax bush within reach of where I was sipping a single-shot latte. In less than 2 minutes I'd snapped a pic, cropped and applied a pretty filter using Instagram and posted to the followers of my personal account. In less than ten minutes a couple of my friends and even some strangers had seen and liked it. Technology has certainly made it easier to share every moment of our lives. I'm currently enjoying the daily posts my friend is sharing from her trip to the States.<br />
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Looking around at Kaiteriteri beach I spotted a couple of the next generation of gadget girls with a 7" android tablet out taking beach bunny pictures of each other. "Do that pose... you know... the one with the hair," one directed the other who, through teeny-bopper telepathy, knew exactly which one and promptly did it. They were talking about a pose similar to <a href="http://instagram.com/p/Y3alzWsIoY/" target="_blank">this Roxy one</a>.<br />
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<a class="embedly-card" href="http://instagram.com/p/Y3alzWsIoY/">Prep your body for your next adventure with easy #yoga stretches #ROXYOutdoorFitness Have a great weekend everyone! @amymurphree</a>
<script async="" charset="UTF-8" src="//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js"></script>
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We drove over the hill, parked and walked down to Split Apple Rock and as I stepped onto the sand, yet another gadget girl, all of about twelve years old, had an iPad on a tripod and was busy taking video of the beach while her parents sunned themselves. During our short stay for me to snap more pics, she'd moved her 'camera' equipment and was busy taking video of herself narrating. I'm certain she'll have edited and YouTubed the resulting video before the day was done.<br />
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On the one hand we could despair about the saturation of technology into our daily lives but I was pleased and excited about seeing how well and how naturally these younglings were using the devices available to them. They were playing, creating and enjoying and although what they produced may be derivative and clumsy in the way of children, one day they could be the innovators in photography and video journalism.<br />
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During teppenyaki dinner the other night a mother and her daughter were out for a celebratory meal and were sat next to us. Mum complained that Michaela was always on her phone, Facebooking and messaging her friends. After chatting with us for about ten minutes she turned to her daughter and apologised for ignoring her. Michaela hadn't been bothered and as I mentioned to her mum "she's not alone; she has hundreds of her friends here with her whilst you are speaking to a couple of strangers".<br />
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Technology will inevitably change the way we live and the way we interact. But progress in any area will always create a flow-on effect to other parts of our lives. I'm certain that every generation before has worried about how technology affects us and what we do. I like to think that it isn't by creating an absence of technology but by making conscious decisions about how, when and what we use that makes change positive rather than damaging.Mx5Pixiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730985945756398267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712973774107322232.post-9915276658838855522014-09-11T23:37:00.002+12:002014-10-16T10:57:55.369+13:00Take your pic... Bluetooth remote shutterOne of the other websites I maintain is a <a href="http://www.stylefilelog.com/" target="_blank">blog on style</a>. It's not so much a fashion blog because I don't bother to follow the trends, more a compilation of random thoughts interspersed through tips, tricks and photos of cool shoes. But despite the lack of fashionista, I do take photos of my outfits — <a href="http://www.stylefilelog.com/2014/06/where-are-ootd.html" target="_blank"> over 400 of them across various social media channels</a> — and very few are mirror-selfies or have been taken by other people.<br />
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<a class="embedly-card" data-card-type="article" href="http://www.stylefilelog.com/">The Style File</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXIdZhn8ctpZxP3rZz-Di48EWhPtfwY00H9VQf-nw8Z4_daLeq_gS1Sz0SC3U0u54PbWK2rwX065F8PARTawXVRT2jL-8_f-IjfEaT0EEwHJGJWWgN0hriwrUYU5T_PTFQXaHqZUskD4U/s600/Photo+8-07-14+6+31+13+pm.jpg" imageanchor="1" rel="lightbox[multi]" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXIdZhn8ctpZxP3rZz-Di48EWhPtfwY00H9VQf-nw8Z4_daLeq_gS1Sz0SC3U0u54PbWK2rwX065F8PARTawXVRT2jL-8_f-IjfEaT0EEwHJGJWWgN0hriwrUYU5T_PTFQXaHqZUskD4U/s1600/Photo+8-07-14+6+31+13+pm.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a>So how do I manage to get these increasingly arty shots without a photographer? It's this handy little Bluetooth gadget that helps me out these days.<br />
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In the past, I used a couple of apps and used my iPod Touch as a remote for my iPhone. This worked fairly well but since an iPod Touch is fairly large it's quite obvious when my hand isn't tucked behind me. So when I spotted this when looking for studio lights in the photography section of TradeMe, I thought it was worth a try for a mere $18NZD.<br />
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Being designed for use with either iOS or Android Bluetooth capable devices, I was quite excited at the thought that I would be able to use the remote shutter with my HTC One because the camera on the HTC is so crisp and the colours always look great. However, although it worked (using the iOS button, not the Android one) it was rather sporadic and had a tendency to drop. I'd end up taking maybe a couple of shots before I had to reconnect the devices. This was the case regardless of using the native camera app or the Camera360 one that's suggested by the manufacturer of the remote. Frustrating.<br />
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I decided that I would try it with my iPhone 5s before setting it aside. Now that was a game changer. Using the native iOS camera, this works very well. The Bluetooth auto-connects easily and the camera's auto-focus works so the majority of photos are quite clear. The lack of auto-focus function had been a real challenge with both <a href="http://www.gadgetgirlfiles.com/2013/08/take-your-pic-ios.html">Remote Shutter Pro</a> and Camera Plus with Airsnap: a number of each set of shots would always come out blurry.<br />
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That's not to say it works perfectly. Occasionally it triggers a rapid shoot and I'll get 20 versions of the same pose but the majority of the time it works really well and is now my primary method of #ootd capture.<br />
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You can find these types of remotes from a variety of resellers including through eBay, TradeMe and DealExtreme.<br />
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<br /><script async="" charset="UTF-8" src="//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js"></script>Mx5Pixiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730985945756398267noreply@blogger.com0