Cork band Crystal Swing’s new song and crazy video.
I recognise Eddie Rocket’s in Blackpool but what school is that? (via)
Quick, Unlock your Galaxy S4 ASAP!
If you have a carrier locked Galaxy S4 you can sim or network unlock it using the instructions here but only if you’re using an older modem firmware. You have to downgrade to “ME2″ to unlock it as Samsung have removed those menus. You can find older firmware roms here that you can flash using Odin.
It’s scary because you could brick your phone, but use the firmware checker to find the letter code for your phone (my international i9505 is XX) and search that roms page for “me2″ to get the right one.
Why the urgency? The latest update from Samsung that came out a few days ago locks things down tighter. Android 4.3 is supposedly coming in October but I have it on my Nexus 7 and the good stuff is in the Play Store apps. It might be worth disabling the automatic update checker (System Settings->More->About Device->Software update) just in case you update by accident. If only I didn’t like the Samsung camera app so much I’d put the Google Edition rom on there..
Get out and make some memories
It can get pretty crazy at live performances can’t it? I’m 100% guilty of taking photos at concerts and I recorded video of my son’s stage performances at school. I even sneaked a camera into the Irish Bruce Springsteen and Take That concerts.
Meanwhile, this is what Louis CK has to say about posting videos of your kids on Facebook. It’s very NSFW obviously so be warned!
Do you wonder if you’ll ever watch any of those videos again? You need to make it easy for your family to do. Grab Plex, install it on your PC and tell it where your family videos are. It will do the hard work of indexing them. You can browse them from a web interface, on your phone in their app, on PS3 or Xbox 360 even. I’ve rediscovered videos taken when my son was only two years old that make me smile and laugh all over again!
I found the video above on fstoppers where Mike Wilkinson mentions a singer named Mayer Hawthorne who told people to get out their phones and cameras and he and his band posed for photos. Apparently everyone put their cameras away afterwards and enjoyed the show. Good idea. Taking that one step further it’d be great if performers put photos and videos of their shows online for fans to download. Put that URL on the ticket. Could schools do something similar? Most schools must have a reasonably competent (or enthusiastic) photographer and videographer as a parent. Delegate the job perhaps?
Finally, keep making memories and recording them but as I’ve been reminded many times, get your face out from behind the viewfinder too!
How to Make a Paper Origami Cube
I used to take the bus to school. I would spend about 2 hours every day on busses or waiting for a bus so there was plenty of what I would now longingly think of as “down time”. Time for talking, fooling around, staring into space, reading, whatever.
Back in the day, bus tickets in Ireland were almost square pieces of paper. I was sorely disappointed when a few years ago I took public transport for the first time again and I was handed a long strip of paper. Once I’d cut off the extra bit of paper to make a square I used to make tiny little Origami waterbombs or cubes or even a flapping bird if the mood suited me.
I still use Origami, I made a cube for my son yesterday but I was shocked when:
- I couldn’t remember how to start it after the initial fold.
- I hadn’t blogged about it here before!
I made an Origami camera too. It was quite hard to make and in the end not great. I’ll have to try my hand at some more of the the traditional models.
Gamers who drive while texting…
Addicted to texting? Driving the car getting in the way? Then SMS Racing is for you. Drive around the track while responding to text messages. Complete one lap and you win. The catch is, you have to respond within 10 seconds each time. (via)
A Lament for the Living
Well, look what stumbled into my house the other day. No, not a zombie. It was the postman, he almost tripped on the sticky-up-bit of the door before handing me a box from Amazon. Inside was a signed copy of David Nicol’s latest book, Lament for the Living. I gave the postman a quick look to confirm that he wasn’t bitten or moaning and sent him on his way. He looked a bit frightened.
The book is a great read. If you like zombie books you’ll love this one. One scene in particular had me laughing out loud as I imagined it in my head. Unfortunately it turned really grim shortly after so I was, “Errm, oops. Yikes! That turned nasty quickly!”
I liked how the story progressed, even if revelations later in the book were quite disturbing. Nicol twists the story around making me identify first with one lot, then another, then I find they’re .. well, you’ll have to read the book now, won’t you?
Get it on Amazon (US), Amazon (UK) or even itunes. The official page for the book also lists a few more local Amazon sites and other sites where the book can be bought. Amazon let’s you have a sneak peak of the start of the book if you want it.
Disclaimer: I was sent a review copy by the author and I’m friends with him. The links above are not affiliate links. Whether that clouds your judgement of my post or not is up to you. I enjoyed the book.
Like a dog and his ball
That there is Oscar, my shih tzu. He loves chasing tennis balls but his activity these days is limited as he suffers from joint pains and has a heart complaint. I did however notice a spring in his step this morning and I think it may have to do with the newly released WordPress 3.6 or “Oscar” as it has been named. Matt says the release was named after the famous jazz pianist Oscar Peterson but we all know the cute little dog that really inspired the naming of the release, now don’t we?
Regardless of naming inspiration, the new version has fixed a ton of bugs, added new features and has the amazing Twenty Thirteen theme I’m really looking forward to trying out. Make sure you upgrade ASAP!
Euro Truck Simulator 2 needs Yorkie Bars
There’s something about watching this video that got me thinking I need to eat a Yorkie. Dunno why.
Photos of Bruce Springsteen in Cork
Yesterday evening Bruce Springsteen played in Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork City. It was a glorious summer evening and with gates due to open at 5pm I headed down there early with my wife. We had to queue along the Marina for more than an hour but we had the shade of the trees and brought along a fold up chair too. Unfortunately when we eventually got to security they told us the chair couldn’t be brought in and we hid it in the bushes hoping it would be there later. Bags were searched too so I’m glad I didn’t bring my DSLR!
While we waited we heard Bruce singing for a sound check. I’m not that familiar with all his music but they were some beautiful melodic songs I need to try and find and listen to again. We were probably among the first few hundred in so we got to within about 3m of the pit barrier. Beyond that were the early birds who had camped the previous night and VIPS (I presume) who were right up next to the stage. Pretty close eh?
We were really close but right in front of us were 3 tall gentlemen who blocked my view almost entirely. I had to lift the camera in the air or squint in between heads to see the stage at all unfortunately.
Bruce Springsteen puts so much energy into his performance it’s amazing. He collected placards from the audience, got 2 kids up on stage to sing, went shaking hands with the front row, encouraging everyone to sing along. He knows how to work a crowd!
It was of course really crowded so after 40 minutes we decided to retreat. Apologies to those in our way but thank you for being so kind as to move out of our way. I don’t think I’ve ever said “Excuse me, sorry, excuse me, sorry” so many times. The crowd just went on for ever and ever!
Near the other end of the pitch there was a lot more room and we met up with some friends there.
We left early to avoid the crowds and found quite a crowd outside. Local residents and others had gathered on the Marina, in boats and across the river to hear Bruce play! We looked for that fold up chair we left outside earlier but someone had taken it.
We walked around the Atlantic Pond and up that narrow path/road at the other end. It was so nice to see people sitting or lying on the ground just listening to the sound coming from the stadium. Perfect evening for it.
Shortly after, we got into a taxi in Ballintemple, headed into town where we relaxed for a bit before heading home.
A great night, if he plays in Cork again I’ll go but I’ll want to be more familiar with his back catalogue next time!
Photos are from my Samsung Galaxy S4 and a now ancient Panasonic Lumix FZ5 that was small enough to fit in my pocket, even with a 12x zoom! Please leave a comment if you’d like to use these photos.
Edit: I recorded a 24 second clip of the band playing “Wild Thing” but here’s a longer clip!
