An Unlikely Holiday Souvenir

You go on holiday. You buy a tacky souvenir. An ornament of an animal
holding the country's flag, or maybe a tea-towel from the destination
in question.
Not so for me.
I got back from visiting Sunny in Texas last week, and came back with
two main souvenirs.
The first is a pool ball that we stole from a bar.
The second is the one I'll be focusing on - a love for a particular
radio station, called Octane. It plays some shit-hot music.
However, it's part of the Sirius XM satellite radio service, which
means that to pick it up you need to be somewhere on earth inside of
the satellite's footprint - basically the US and Atlantic Ocean...
Which I'm not. If you're over there, you can have a recieved plumbed
into your car for about $70, and then just pay a monthly subscription.
My location therefore dictates I can't do that.
So, I've gone to a couple of mildly extreme lengths.
Firstly, the Sirius XM app for iPhone. It'll let me stream most of the
Sirius stations (including Octane) to my phone. That will use the data
network quite heavily, so it's a good job my phone has an unlimited
data plan!
Next, the speaker on iPhone is pretty tinny, so I'll need a way of
getting that sound to the car stereo. The LiquidAUX kit by Kensington
ought to do that.
Finally, Sirius is a subscription service... So I'll need to pay
$12.95 a month (about £8) for it. Worth it?
Hell yes.
Sent from my iPhone

General Election Polling

The news is full of polls showing who is ahead in the race for the General Election in May, who's behind, and all that jazz. So, I've decided to post a completely unscientific poll of my own.

I asked...

Who will you be voting for at the next election? Reply comment with a letter:
A) Labour
B) Conservative
C) Liberal Democrats
D) BNP
E) UKIP
F) Veritas
G) OMRLP
H) Local Independent Candidate
I) Noel Edmonds, even though he's not running as a candidate
J) I'll spoil my ballot
K) I won't vote
L) I'll try writing ..."No Candidate Deserves My Vote" on the paper, even though I know it won't count and is essentially wasting everyone's time
M) I'll get drunk and vote for whoever my "x" lands on when I fall over in the voting booth
N) Let's Make A Sandwich!

And the votes came in thick and fast. Well, a few people voted. Here are the results:

Conservative - 30%
Let's Make A Sandwich! - 24%
Liberal Democrats - 12%
OMRLP - 12%
Noel Edmonds - 12%
Tried choosing an option that wasn't given - 12%
Labour - 0%

Says it all, really.

In related news, this is funny - the Tory party's new billboard campaign:

Late Night Blogging

As you can see from my alarm clock at my bedside, it's a little past
1am. I got back from America about 36 hours ago. And yet I still feel
wide awake, I just can't get to sleep.
Of course, this would all make perfect sense, when you work out that
my body still thinks it's 7.20pm.
Not being able to get to sleep, my mind is wandering in all sorts of
directions. One in particluar involves trying to remember different
things that I got up to while at uni. I can vaguely remember places,
people, and events, but have difficulty tying them all up to make
credible chains of events.
And this, in turn, got me thinking about something else. Maybe I
should keep a diary. Lots of people do. It helps with exactly the
issue I'm facing - it lets you look back and recall the whats, wheres,
hows, and whos from many months and years ago.
Of course, I'm not the kind of person to actually write things down -
so there's only one solution.
I should blog more.
Goodnight all.

Lady Gaga in Product Placement Shocker

The new video launched for "Telephone" by Lady Gaga and Beyonce was launched lastnight - and very good it is too.

Now, we know people are pirating music more and more, so the artists and record labels need to find another revenue stream, so occasionally they promote a product in their videos. We've seen the Sugababes with a quick shot of a Nokia phone, or Britney's "boyfriend" checking his schedule for work on, well, a Nokia phone... but Gaga's latest vid takes the piss a little.

Let's break it down...

Right from the outset, one of the extras in the video is sporting a pair of her "Lady Gaga Heartbeats by Dre Headphones" - the triangular thing in her ear with the diamantes on it:

And of course, if you've got the headphones, you'll need them plugged into something. How about this Virgin Mobile? (Notice the phone manufacturers' name at the top is blurry here)

Obviously, life in jail is quite tight on the old pocket, so using cans of Diet Coke as hair rollers seemed like the natural choice... Obviously she spent all her cash on those Chanel sunglasses.

There's that Virgin Mobile again - but with more prominent LG branding this time around.

(Bonus continutity error number 1: If the phone was open, the display should have rotated 90 degrees anti-clockwise...)

HP is then seen pimping its' limited edition Beats 15 laptop, complete the Dr. Dre Beats logo on centre stage, and a smaller logo of its' own in the corner.

But what could be on that laptop?... Of course, it's crappy dating site PlentyOfFish.com!

Nothing like a discarded Honey Bun pastry on the road for a snack...

And if you're gonna take photos, it might as well be with this Polaroid instant camera.

(Bonus continuity error number 2: Polaroid stopped making film for their instant cameras in February 2008, and with an average "shelf-life" of 18 months, given that the beginning of the video dates that it is set in March 2010, the film would most likely have degraded by now)

That road-pastry earlier didn't look very appetising, so Let's Make A Sandwich! Yes, with bread. Not any bread though... Wonder White brand bread.

And what to go in it? Of course, it's Miracle Whip by Kraft.

The branding on that camera earlier wasn't very clear, being silver on grey, so the addition of a Polaroid photo booth for no reason whatsoever seemed like a good idea.

While it probably made lots of money for Interscope Records, I get the feeling that most of the placement will get blanked out by all the UK broadcasters!

Rechargeable Battery o Rama

You know, I didn't think I had this many rechargeable batteries... But
evidently I do.

How To Mess Up Someone's iPhone

If you're stuck around someone who's always on their iPhone, and you want to exact a little revenge, try this.

(Note: this will only work on UK iPhones)

First, grab their phone. Unlock the screen if necessary.

Next, press the "Phone" button - that's the green one at the bottom left.

If the keypad isn't showing, press the "Keypad" button at the bottom.

Then, dial in the following number:
*5005*86*07973100347#
and press call.

Now, when they try call their voicemail, well... try it and see!

*Note - this post is for entertainment purposes only. Do NOT do this.

Yet Another New Work Uniform

In what seems like a weekly ritual, yet another new uniform has turned
up at work.
Presenting...

New Music Tuesday

It's time, once again, for loading some new music onto my iPhone.

For your deliberation, have a listen to the latest tracks heading to my ears by pressing play below, and leave a comment! (Full tracklisting underneath).

• Wiley ft Emeli Sonda - Never Be Your Woman
• Sugababes - Wear My Kiss
• Daisy Dares You ft Chipmunk - Number One Enemy
• Timbaland - If We Ever Meet Again
• Jaya - DJ Do It Again

Flickbook

Got bored at work today. Motorola rep brought free post-it notes and pens. Made flickbook...