Category Archives: gadgets

wireless

26 Sunday Jun 2011

Posted by in computers, gadgets, retail therapy

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Remember when my wireless laser mouse went all speedy gonzales on me? Well, I tried all the various things that people suggested, but it seemed that nothing helped. And it was driving me mental. So yesterday I stopped by FNAC to see if they had a cheap wireless mouse (Speedy cost almost 50€!!) and I saw this amazing offer. A nice Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse set for just 25€! And as I had a 10€ member’s voucher to spend I got it for just 15€. What a bargain. So now I have set Nog up with my old keyboard – he’s been using Sexy Beast since his old laptop died last year – and then thought to also try it out with Speedy. And wouldn’t you know it. The old wireless mouse seems to work just fine on Sexy Beast. Go figure.

Whatever. I now have a very cute and comfortable wireless keyboard and mouse that cost next to nothing, and which makes working online all day so much easier. And as Shadow only has three USB ports it’s much better to only have one in use for both. Now I just have to try and not buy that great looking multi-media Toshiba L655-1JV with a 4.5 hour battery that I saw while I was at FNAC…

speedy gonzales

14 Tuesday Jun 2011

Posted by in computers, gadgets, geekiness, internet

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Calling all geeks – I need your help!

Why has my wireless mouse suddenly turned into Speedy Gonzales? It’s gone all hyper and double clicks when I just single click, or else takes me to pages I haven’t even clicked on. As for copy and paste – aack! Can’t get the thing to stay put long enough to select a link or piece of text and I end up with the hover thing disappearing before I can copy or – worse! – the whole text disappearing, even though I hadn’t clicked again to erase it. Other times I have to click on something five times for it to “take”.

Anyhow, it’s driving me crazy and costing me lots of lost time online.  Just writing this simple post is taking forever because Speedy keeps highlighting things when I just place the cursor somewhere to start typing, and then immediately deletes whatever got highlighted. Arrrgh. Or is it even a mouse problem?

Ayudame?

angry birds

22 Friday Apr 2011

Posted by in gadgets, games

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For ages I would just roll my eyes at all the Angry Birds mentions on Twitter and elsewhere around the internets and feel smug that I was above such nonsense, but then one day curiosity got the better of me and  I downloaded the free version of the Original Angry Birds and tried it out. And then I saw they had a free version of Angry Birds Rio and thought I’d try that one too. Then today I actually PAID FOR a seasonal version. Well, it was all of 79 cents, but I knew then and there that I was hooked.

I’m not even that good at it, which was proved beyond doubt the other night when I let the seven-year-old boy in my Sevilla Tapas Tour group play Rio … he not only got through to the last levels but upped “my” scores considerably. He then proceeded to complete level 5 on Original Angry Birds in no time flat. I was still struggling to finish level 3. And if none of this means anything to you then consider yourselves lucky.

Of course now I really need an iPad because I also got Agustín hooked and I have to say that after playing Angry Birds on his iPad it’s very hard going back to the small screen.

just when I thought…

04 Monday Apr 2011

Posted by in fashion, gadgets, iphone, retail therapy

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… that my new iPhone4 couldn’t get any sexier, I found this very cool ruby red matte iCoat. I never got around to buying a protective cover for the original Pippin, but the iPhone4 has a strange glass back on it that apparently gets scratched up like crazy, so when I saw this very pretty cover – and tried it on at the store – I knew it was for me. It actually makes the phone feel nicer to hold, more secure. And I really do love the red. It also came with a “free screen protector” which drove me nuts trying to get it on without any air bubbles or tiny bits of lint and cat hair getting stuck under it. Needless to say I didn’t succeed and finally ripped it off in frustration after a couple of days. In any case, after more than two years the old Pippin didn’t have a scratch on his screen, but the back casing was a bit scuffed up, so doubt I actually need a screen protector. Wish my photo could show the deep rich glow of the red – even the pics on the website don’t do it justice.

So now Pippin is not only protected but also looks way sexier. Win-win. And yes, I do happen to have a life, but it somehow includes being enormously pleased about little things like this.

I actually quite like the red version of this style too!

getting connected up

25 Friday Mar 2011

Posted by in gadgets, internet

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So… you may recall that with my new Vodafone service I get two VIP mobile phone numbers that I can call at any time for free. Which have to be Vodafone numbers. And so the obvious next step was to switch my second Movistar contract for the phone that Nog uses, which is set to the lowest monthly fee possible (8 euros). This also meant that I’d have to get a Vodafone phone… blah blah… and it came down to that I could get the same phone Nog got last year for free, or we could update to a smartphone for 19 euros. And well, how could I resist?

So here is Tatoo, a small HTC model (Android) with a touchscreen that Nog will be able to slip into his pocket and also access the internet by WiFi. He won’t have an internet flat rate like I have for the iPhone, but I’ve noticed that almost everywhere you go in Sevilla these days you can latch on to somebody’s free WiFi.  So this is just a little something extra. They offered me an older Blackberry model for free, but this one is so much more stylish and I think Nog will find the touchscreen more comfortable than eensy key pads. And I think that’s it for new gadgets for now!