If you would like a free giffgaff SIM with £5 of extra credit when you top up then click this link.
http://giffgaff.com/orders/affiliate/stadium
Hope it is of use.
If you do order and activate a SIM I also get a £5 bonus.
I'm quite a fan of giffgaff, other than for very light use it is a reasonable offer in the UK mobile market.
To price your usage on giffgaff try:
http://giffgaff.screet.co.uk
To see if giffgaff suits you see:
www.paygdeal.co.uk
Sunday, 23 March 2014
Sunday, 16 March 2014
Windows 8.1 and the Maplin LAN Disk
I have a couple of old IDE drives which were surplus from old computers in Maplin LAN Disk cases.
These make an IDE drive into a NAS device but don't play nicely with Windows 7 or, it seems Windows 8.
We have a new, rather plastic, Compaq laptop and after a degree of culture shock I've got the printers etc. working with only a bit of a tussle.
The Buffalo "herd" was found straight away (as curiously was the TV) but no sign of the LAN Disks.
My guess is that you have had a similar problem with these slightly anonymous devices.
Mine has firmware NAS-BASIC45, LOADER 67 and when you log in says "Network Storage Series".
Anyway, following the approach used for Windows 7, the way to deal with this seems to be to put the IP address of the device then the folder name so, if the unit has IP address 192.168.1.230 and the folder PUBLIC then open Windows Explorer (the file explorer not the browser) and enter \\192.168.1.230\PUBLIC the folder will open and you will see your files (I don't have passwords on the folders).
You can drag the shortcut from Windows Explorer to the desktop so you can get there again without further faff.
Hope this helps.
These make an IDE drive into a NAS device but don't play nicely with Windows 7 or, it seems Windows 8.
We have a new, rather plastic, Compaq laptop and after a degree of culture shock I've got the printers etc. working with only a bit of a tussle.
The Buffalo "herd" was found straight away (as curiously was the TV) but no sign of the LAN Disks.
My guess is that you have had a similar problem with these slightly anonymous devices.
Mine has firmware NAS-BASIC45, LOADER 67 and when you log in says "Network Storage Series".
Anyway, following the approach used for Windows 7, the way to deal with this seems to be to put the IP address of the device then the folder name so, if the unit has IP address 192.168.1.230 and the folder PUBLIC then open Windows Explorer (the file explorer not the browser) and enter \\192.168.1.230\PUBLIC the folder will open and you will see your files (I don't have passwords on the folders).
You can drag the shortcut from Windows Explorer to the desktop so you can get there again without further faff.
Hope this helps.
Sunday, 13 October 2013
Windows Phone 8, Sky Drive and getting your photos back !
I've a nice new Windows Phone 8 Nokia 920. Another family member has a Windows Phone 7.5 Nokia 800.
In both cases the most convenient way of interacting with files on the phone on a day to day basis is Sky Drive. The Windows Phone 8 device will mount like a USB drive, the Windows Phone 7.5 device needs "Zune". The last thing I wanted to install was another iTunes like program on my Windows 7 desktop.
So... from a quick Google it appeared possible to map Sky Drive as a drive under Windows 7 but not massively easy.
I tried the "recommended method" which (summarised from the Microsoft website) is:
1. Right-click Computer.
2. Select Map Network Drive from the resulting menu.
3. Use the Drive dropdown to select the desired Drive letter.
4. In the Folder textbox, input
\\docs.live.net@SSL\your_skydrive_id_number\^2Documents
Where your_skydrive_id_number is the ID number you copied back in step 2. This will map the drive to your My Documents folder on SkyDrive.
To map the drive to your Public folder, use
\\docs.live.net@SSL\your_skydrive_number\^2Public
5. Click the Finish button.
6. After a few seconds, Windows will ask you for your credentials, input your SkyDrive username and password, click the Remember my credentials checkbox and click the OK button.
The skydrive ID is a long random number like 0009FEEE3C3DF71D
This didn't work for me.
What did work was the following (lifted from a comment on the Microsoft Website):
Go into your SkyDrive online. If needed create a dummy Excel document on the PC and upload it to SkyDrive. Select the Excel document you have uploaded and click the "Open in Excel" Link to the left.
Once it's open in Excel, click on the Windows button on the top right and put your mouse on the most recent document opened. It will show a web address, like https://d.docs.live.net/yourIDhere/^.Documents - write this down.
(the yourIDhere is replaced by the long random number as above)
Go to the Windows button on the bottom left of your computer, right click "My Computer" and click "map network drive". Then click the link that says "Connect to a website where you can store your documents and pictures" then click "next", then select a Custom Network, and "next". At the next screen type in the address you wrote down.
You're done, it shows up as a folder under My Computer!!
It's much faster than Mapping an actual drive!
In both cases the most convenient way of interacting with files on the phone on a day to day basis is Sky Drive. The Windows Phone 8 device will mount like a USB drive, the Windows Phone 7.5 device needs "Zune". The last thing I wanted to install was another iTunes like program on my Windows 7 desktop.
So... from a quick Google it appeared possible to map Sky Drive as a drive under Windows 7 but not massively easy.
I tried the "recommended method" which (summarised from the Microsoft website) is:
1. Right-click Computer.
2. Select Map Network Drive from the resulting menu.
3. Use the Drive dropdown to select the desired Drive letter.
4. In the Folder textbox, input
\\docs.live.net@SSL\your_skydrive_id_number\^2Documents
Where your_skydrive_id_number is the ID number you copied back in step 2. This will map the drive to your My Documents folder on SkyDrive.
To map the drive to your Public folder, use
\\docs.live.net@SSL\your_skydrive_number\^2Public
5. Click the Finish button.
6. After a few seconds, Windows will ask you for your credentials, input your SkyDrive username and password, click the Remember my credentials checkbox and click the OK button.
The skydrive ID is a long random number like 0009FEEE3C3DF71D
This didn't work for me.
What did work was the following (lifted from a comment on the Microsoft Website):
Go into your SkyDrive online. If needed create a dummy Excel document on the PC and upload it to SkyDrive. Select the Excel document you have uploaded and click the "Open in Excel" Link to the left.
Once it's open in Excel, click on the Windows button on the top right and put your mouse on the most recent document opened. It will show a web address, like https://d.docs.live.net/yourIDhere/^.Documents - write this down.
(the yourIDhere is replaced by the long random number as above)
Go to the Windows button on the bottom left of your computer, right click "My Computer" and click "map network drive". Then click the link that says "Connect to a website where you can store your documents and pictures" then click "next", then select a Custom Network, and "next". At the next screen type in the address you wrote down.
You're done, it shows up as a folder under My Computer!!
It's much faster than Mapping an actual drive!
Monday, 17 June 2013
Bluetooth tethering an iPad to a Sony Phone (k530)
I'm getting older and so I fancied moving up from an iPod touch to an iPad Mini.
Most use will be at home but occasionally I'll take it away from home. Then I'll need some sort of Internet connection.
The cheapest version of the iPad mini is WiFi only but it will tether (via WiFi or Bluetooth to an iPhone - if your carrier supports it), however the carriers and Apple saw a way of getting more money from the customer and so this tends to be a "premium" feature at extra cost.
However, in the darker corners of the Internet, there have been suggestions that you can tether to other devices, I tried this with my Sony Ericsson k530i (a "featurephone" which is about 5 years old).
It works !
How I did it is as follows.
1) I turned on Bluetooth on the Sony phone.
2) I turned off WiFi on the iPad.
3) I paired the iPad and the phone (from the iPad).
4) Once this seems set up I needed to put the iPad to sleep (I suspect to clear the network from looking at the WiFi).
5) I woke up the iPad and opened Safari.
6) I set the iPad as "authorised" to connect to the Internet on the Sony phone (this avoids frequent connection messages).
7) It all seems to work.
Hope this helps. If you do find this of use then please leave a comment.
Most use will be at home but occasionally I'll take it away from home. Then I'll need some sort of Internet connection.
The cheapest version of the iPad mini is WiFi only but it will tether (via WiFi or Bluetooth to an iPhone - if your carrier supports it), however the carriers and Apple saw a way of getting more money from the customer and so this tends to be a "premium" feature at extra cost.
However, in the darker corners of the Internet, there have been suggestions that you can tether to other devices, I tried this with my Sony Ericsson k530i (a "featurephone" which is about 5 years old).
It works !
How I did it is as follows.
1) I turned on Bluetooth on the Sony phone.
2) I turned off WiFi on the iPad.
3) I paired the iPad and the phone (from the iPad).
4) Once this seems set up I needed to put the iPad to sleep (I suspect to clear the network from looking at the WiFi).
5) I woke up the iPad and opened Safari.
6) I set the iPad as "authorised" to connect to the Internet on the Sony phone (this avoids frequent connection messages).
7) It all seems to work.
Hope this helps. If you do find this of use then please leave a comment.
Sunday, 3 February 2013
Yahoo settings for yahoo.co.uk e-mail addresses
To get my Yahoo (yahoo.co.uk) mail to work on k9 mail on the Android it didn't have the right settings.
It took a bit of Googling and experiment to find
smtp.mail.yahoo.com
SSL Port 465
imap.mail.yahoo.com
SSL Port 993
These also worked with my Windows 8 laptop when the default settings didn't.
It took a bit of Googling and experiment to find
smtp.mail.yahoo.com
SSL Port 465
imap.mail.yahoo.com
SSL Port 993
These also worked with my Windows 8 laptop when the default settings didn't.
k-9 Mail and Windows Live Mail
It's not used a great deal, but I have a Windows Live mail account and a slightly aging Android 2.1 phone (the Orange San Francisco).
While the Orange San Francisco is not my primary device it is useful for some purposes and reading e-mail is one I use it for.
Getting the Windows Live mail settings right in k-9 mail were a bit of a challenge.
I have a live.co.uk address but after a bit of experiment I found the following.
1) Windows Live mail doesn't seem to support IMAP
2) Windows Live mail doesn't seem to support the version of WebDav that k-9 does
so.....
it's POP3 then.
The settings that worked were
Fetching mail
Incoming server settings
e.mail.address@live.co.uk
password
pop3.live.com
SSL (if available)
PLAIN
995
Sending mail
Outgoing server settings
smtp.live.com
TLS(always)
587
(require sign in - ticked)
AUTOMATIC
e.mail.address@live.co.uk
password
While the Orange San Francisco is not my primary device it is useful for some purposes and reading e-mail is one I use it for.
Getting the Windows Live mail settings right in k-9 mail were a bit of a challenge.
I have a live.co.uk address but after a bit of experiment I found the following.
1) Windows Live mail doesn't seem to support IMAP
2) Windows Live mail doesn't seem to support the version of WebDav that k-9 does
so.....
it's POP3 then.
The settings that worked were
Fetching mail
Incoming server settings
e.mail.address@live.co.uk
password
pop3.live.com
SSL (if available)
PLAIN
995
Sending mail
Outgoing server settings
smtp.live.com
TLS(always)
587
(require sign in - ticked)
AUTOMATIC
e.mail.address@live.co.uk
password
Sunday, 14 October 2012
Trouble adding an album in iTunes - No artwork and brackets ( ) in the album name
This nearly drove me mad !
I wanted to add a previously ripped to MP3 album to iTunes.
I keep a copy of MP3s for iTunes apart from my main MP3 collection so I checked the tags were fine (using ID3 Tag edit) and copied the files into the appropriate folder.
Added the files to the iTunes library and no sign of them.
I looked down the bottom of the list and after the "z" artist, there they were with no metadata.
I corrected this using the iTunes editor and added the artwork. This took a couple of goes but seemed to work.
I synced with my iPhone and..... NO ARTWORK !
So, what was odd about the MP3s ?
I found a different cover JPEG, that didn't help.
Deleted and re-imported the MP3s, that didn't help.
After a day I started to wonder if the fact that the album title had brackets could be a problem.
I changed the album title removing the brackets in ID3 Tag edit and imported again.
No good.
Then I looked at the file names in Windows, that still had brackets in the "advance data" so I deleted that and imported again.
SUCCESS !
Correctly imported, recognised the tags and the album artwork takes and transfers to the iPhone.
It seems that iTunes has a problem with album titles with brackets (Parenthesis) in them.
I wanted to add a previously ripped to MP3 album to iTunes.
I keep a copy of MP3s for iTunes apart from my main MP3 collection so I checked the tags were fine (using ID3 Tag edit) and copied the files into the appropriate folder.
Added the files to the iTunes library and no sign of them.
I looked down the bottom of the list and after the "z" artist, there they were with no metadata.
I corrected this using the iTunes editor and added the artwork. This took a couple of goes but seemed to work.
I synced with my iPhone and..... NO ARTWORK !
So, what was odd about the MP3s ?
I found a different cover JPEG, that didn't help.
Deleted and re-imported the MP3s, that didn't help.
After a day I started to wonder if the fact that the album title had brackets could be a problem.
I changed the album title removing the brackets in ID3 Tag edit and imported again.
No good.
Then I looked at the file names in Windows, that still had brackets in the "advance data" so I deleted that and imported again.
SUCCESS !
Correctly imported, recognised the tags and the album artwork takes and transfers to the iPhone.
It seems that iTunes has a problem with album titles with brackets (Parenthesis) in them.
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