Jun 03 2009

Lost And Found

Category: Personal,Windows MobileChrisM @ 5:11 pm

I had thought that the cracked screen on my main phone would mean at least the loss of access to the data on there, as well as the more obvious inconvenience of losing the use of the phone for audio communications, internet access on the move, the GPS and the camera for tweets etc.
The main reason for my thinking this was that I was unable to enter the PIN when turning the phone on, and didn’t want to stab at the screen randomly, in case I ended up locking myself out completely. See below for a shot of how my phone normally looks, and then how it now looks. See the ‘Should Have Dug‘ post for info on how the screen was smashed.

How It Should Look

How It Should Look

What It Actually Looks Like

What It Actually Looks Like

However, I finally remembered I had a keyboard built into the phone D'oh
Using this method of input, I was able to get the phone to the point where I could happily remote in and use a window on the PC as the phone’s visual output. I’ve also backed up and synced all the updated contacts and calendar events, so should I not be able to replace the screen sometime, I’ve not lost all the data. Apart from a few open files, all the data from the phone’s memory is also now residing on one of the hard drives here.

So… that is one lost and found (phone data), onto the next – Anna’s photos. Whilst waiting for some downloads last night, I searched through Ira’s laptop and found quite a few photos from our camera that I had not also backed up on my hard drives. This means that over the coming weeks there will be fresh photos of Anna for family and friends back in Britain (and Israel, Australia, America, over here in Kazakhstan), and Germany can see how Anna has been growing since the last batch of photos.

Finally, I need to check why the Xbox posts are not appearing in a timely manner, and when they do arrive, sometimes out of order. For now, I’m just manually adjusting the time stamps accordingly.
xbox not picking up posts

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May 08 2009

Amsterdam 2008 Photos #13

Category: Amsterdam,Personal,PicturesChrisM @ 6:40 pm

So, this is the last of the Amsterdam 2008 photos, with the 2007 batch to come sometime in the future.

Just love the red trainers visible below the hooped skirt in this picture
Amsterdam Holland Chris Merriman Irina

A shot of a tram, I think taken on the way back to the train station to leave 🙁
Amsterdam Holland Chris Merriman Irina

A split level train, used on heavy traffic routes I imagine. Probably doesn’t look too unusual to American readers, but all our UK trains are single deck, so this catches your eye the first time you use one.
Amsterdam Holland Chris Merriman Irina

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Apr 19 2009

Driving Home For Gold

Category: PersonalChrisM @ 8:43 pm

I watched the highlights from today’s F1 race earlier on (closely followed by having an unexpected ‘nap’ on the sofa… thirty years old tomorrow, and already acting like a grandad 🙂 ), and was most impressed with the drivers’ skill in negotiating high speed corners in incredibly wet conditions. When we drove back from London last week, I actually pulled off the motorway and hid from the rain in a service station, the visibility was so bad! The thought of driving at three times the speed, with other people trying to beat me in a race is a little too much. Am I completely out of touch with F1 these days, as it looks as though Ferrari doesn’t see podium finishes way too often now. Is this just since the much-publicised rule changes, or just a general down turn in their fortunes? I’m sure that if SheilaB from my old work is reading this, she will be able to give me the full run down…

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Mar 04 2009

Jimi Wallet Review

Category: PersonalChrisM @ 5:46 pm

The TyTnII/Kaiser car mount review is still waiting for some text to be entered, but to keep you going, here are my thoughts on the Jimi wallet so far.
To make things clear, this review isn’t paid for. However, after I mentioned a Jimi wallet in a separate review a while back, the owner contacted me, and offered to send one if I was prepared to give some honest thoughts on it.
The model I received was the classic design, without any memory card holders or external money clips (just the standard internal one). The idea of using a money clip has never really entered my head previously, for two reasons. Most of the time, I’m lucky to have more than a couple of notes on me, and I think it may be more of an American thing than British. Anyway, the wallet has a removable money clip, and despite being designed for US dollars (which are wider and shorter) does the job well. Depending on how many notes you are stuffing in, various folds seem to work best. The credit card holder on the other side most comfortably operates with one to three cards in it, though four is possible, if you don’t mind extraction time at a till taking longer. One of the models I received was a ‘clear’ one, which enables my driving license to been seen in the wallet, but I’d expect any official asking for ID to want it removed, so when it comes to choosing a colour, I’d not rate clear as having a specific advantage to the others.
I was highly sceptical about the main hinge on the wallet, combined with the clasp system – convinced one would snap or fail to click into place within a matter of weeks. I’ve been proven wrong… the wallet has been with me pretty much 24/7 since we arrived back in the UK – I didn’t want to be caught without the essentials on me should Ira go into labour early (how wrong could we have been there 🙂 ). The Jimi still closes correctly and clicks shut – no instances of it flying open and spraying the room with its contents.
What else can I mention? The size of the wallet is such that you can dump it in a pocket of most trousers at the front, leading to easier access when driving etc., and a little more reassurance should your stumble home from the pub go through any pick pocketing areas.
I’ll try and find the photos we took of the wallet, but for now head on over to the Jimi wallet site.

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Feb 17 2009

Amsterdam 2008 Photos #5

Category: Amsterdam,Personal,PicturesChrisM @ 2:22 pm

OK, so with these photos, it is still April 20 2008, we have arrived in Amsterdam (finally, after connecting flight problems from Kazakhstan the day before), we’ve met some very nice people (fellow Amsterdam forum members) who helped chill me out the day before, and even grouped together to get me a birthday present (I’ll give you one guess 😉 ), found our apartment, been for a walk, and it is now 4.20pm on 4/20 (US date style) , and we’re heading to the 420 cafe to meet up with fellow forum members.
Amsterdam Holland Chris Merriman Irina
Continue reading “Amsterdam 2008 Photos #5”

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Jan 21 2009

Tom The Pilot

Category: Friends,Personal,PicturesChrisM @ 8:21 pm

Here we have a picture from back in May 2008, when we finally got to meet Tom #2 in Astana. We’d been in contact for a while over Skype, and this was the first opportunity he’d had whilst rostered with an Astana leg in his flights. As you may guess from the facial expression, we ensured our throats weren’t too dry whilst eating at the Face Pub, by drinking a fair amount.

Tom Chris Face Pub Astana

Tom Chris Face Pub Astana

(querying the post title? The first Tom we met in Kazakhstan was an American non-pilot person, this Tom was second in line, and so labelled Tom the Pilot in our house, to simplify matters. Oh, and yes this Tom is indeed a pilot…)

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Dec 31 2008

Almost There

Category: Friends,Kazakhstan,PersonalChrisM @ 8:17 pm

This is just a quick post to wish this site’s readers a very Happy New Year.

We currently have Marilyn & Peter over (Chris & Tim’s parents), as well as John’s son and daughter-in-law and their kids, with midnight fast approaching. To our American visitors, I hope you are warming up to the evening well, to my UK amigos, just under four hours to go. To my Kazakh readers, Snovum Goddum, hope you are already having a great 2009. (Over there, Western Xmas is barely noticed, Orthodox Xmas is observed, but New Year is the big deal.) Big HELLO to Walton, Assel, DavidG, ChrisK, The Dans & their respective familys, DrKen, lovely friendly Northern bloke I’ve temporarily forgotten the name of, Mel, the in-laws, Dana & Assen, Mira, Bayen & son and everyone else – thanks to all for your support over the last year/months (delete as applicable 🙂 ).
With Arriving to Britain, settling in, Christmas, New Year, and the baby due in February, it is possible that site will see a few less posts in the future, however the blog will remain here (assuming I remember to renew the hosting 🙂 ), and I’ll try to get back to regular posting ASAP.

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Dec 24 2008

Friends Roundup

Category: Friends,PicturesChrisM @ 1:04 am

KZBlog has recently started posting again, following a break. You can catch up on the first podcasts in Kazakh, the state’s reaction to people demonstrating and attempting to invade a mayor’s office and finally a piece on the Religion laws currently being considered by the president, including what is possibly the first publication of the American Kazakh Embassy’s reaction to criticism of the restrictive regulations.
Also, Alex has started blogging again regularly – her birthday last month is covered, as well as her new job, her new place (see here and here), a great Christmas novelty find, and a post on Nick and Roz’s visit to her place.

Mat AlexC Nick Roz Sydney

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Nov 11 2008

Awww. Cute. Or Not?

Category: PicturesChrisM @ 2:33 am

Saw this one recently over at FailBlog, and I wanted to post it here.
Although the comments go into some details on this method of postage being accepted as the norm in some parts of America a while ago, my initial reaction was that a young child has posted it, and it was just plain cute, rather than backwards/stupid…

fail owned pwned pictures
see more pwn and owned pictures

OK, further reading of the comments bring up the claim that this was actually an experiment to see if this method of paying for postage would work or not. It still reminds me a little of children’s Christmas letters to Santa, or addressing a letter to “Bob Jones, that house opposite the shop by the Church, Munington” 🙂

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Nov 05 2008

Not Much Posting Likely Today

Category: In The MediaChrisM @ 5:16 am

(OK, nor the last couple of days, but I have a real excuse this this time 😉 )


So it is 5.15am over here, and I’m watching the news channels’ (CNN, Al Jazeera International and BBC World) coverage of the US elections. The first polls have recently closed, and I’m just hoping I’ll still be awake by the time unequivocal results are officially announced, or at least until Virginia declare 🙂

To my friends who are also pulling a late-nighter/early morning to monitor the results, I hope you’ve had some sleep by the time you read this…

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