What puzzled me is their choice of examples as to where this may be used. I am all for their idea that catching up on your emails whilst on the train is a good way to spend the journey, that is OK; but I was saddened and shocked at their two main selling points :

“surf the internet whilst on the beach “ - NO, on the beach you should play frisbee, swim or just frikkin read with a large beer and

“shop online in the park“ - NO, in the park you should be watching your kids, running around, playing frisbee ( again - yes ), kicking a ball or just reading with a beer if you deserve it.

I ( as I am getting lardy ) firmly believe that the government is trying to seduce us all into a lazy fat lifestyle where will will soporiphically accept a life of avid consumerism and die once we are no longer contributing to the tax coffers.

Apart from that, I am chilled and feeling poetic….

The ipod fits into the DVD player perfectly and, once there is a selectable source ( of many ) for the Philips 850 screen and speakers. You can select from MMC ( memory card via slot ), DVD, AV-in or Ipod. This is most lovely as you can synch up your itunes with the best of You tube and suchlike. YOu can also RIP movies to play on an ipod so you have gigabytes of films selectable and layable through your DVD player.

Another beauty of this device is that it plays DivX movies, I have many Divx movies in my collection and many DVD’s with 5-6 films on them ( which I have bought from shops and converted - I would not condone illegal downloads ). Not only is this perfect for holidays : 3 DVD’s will carry almost 20 full length feature films, but as the Philips 850 has an AV out socket you can use it to watch DivX films on your normal household TV.

The MMC slot comes into its own when wishing to view pictures, you can pull your card straight out of your mobile and view the jpegs as slideshow on the bright and clear 8 inch screen.

Another wonderful way in which I managed to tweak the Philips DCP850 8inch Portable DVD Player was by using my Nokia N95’s AV-Out into the portable DVD player’s AV-in, whilst driving ( the unit comes with an in car charger of course ) so that I was able to use the Nokias GPS on a large screen, very nice I can say.

Naturally the unit plays traditional DVD’s with s supreme picture quality, the two headphone out sockets make for convivial and mutual enjoyment of films without disturbing anyone else and the 180 degree swivel on the screen vastly improves its portability.

The unit is available very cheaply from Philips DCP850 which is an online retailer I would heartily recommend, not least because they bribed me with one of these DVD players for this review.

For those of you who understand Turkish, here is a very lucid description and demonstration I found on You Tube.

” ha ha, I could not believe it, in Greece we try to hit them, in England you try to miss them, why?”

So Cats, what is it about these felines which provoke such adoration. I mean I am totally cold about them but many people go weak at the knees at a little purring.

So I will set out to try to find what makes these cat people tick, What is it about them? They are mostly girls of course but even some blokes like cats - why? .

So many questions I need answering. I am going to interview Rob soon, an apparently red blooded, normal male ( hmm I think he may be veggie maybe that is a clue ) who loves cats. He even has a blog all about cats to Cats at Planetmeow. Maybe we can explain the inexplicable if we read his musings.

I have at last, I believe, succeeded in bringing together many of the raucous themes which inhabit my creative side and I can see most of the novel starting to put itself together - of course I have to put pen to paper first, but it is taking shape.

Once that is done I will have to think about getting the weighty tome published. I have seen a site which specialises in Self Publishing and am quite impressed at their self publishing process: you receive advice whilst maintaining creative control, and that would be important to me.

Those of you who doubt my resolve to write and publish the first masterpeice of the 21st century please be ready to meet the new Kerouac, the new Henry Miller, the new published…… well just wait and see.

The ipod is dead, long live the N96

I can feel a certain longing feeling growing in by bowels, softly reverberating and calling me to the fatal joy, that sad consumerist moment….

I shall have it…

Now, Sennheiser have a rare market position in the headset world. There is little doubt that Plantronics are not only the market leaders, but like Microsoft for so many years, have their name synonymous with the industry. Sennheiser have somehow claimed the “Apple” foot on the headset market. they have that “Je ne sais quoi”, their appeal is to the consumer rather than to the business purchaser. A look through some of their designs emphasises their commitment to form as well as function ( maybe this the appeal to the designers ) and the range of headsets they supply further pushes the company’s image into the realms of cooldom . For example it is hard to imagine any other of the major headsets manufacturers coming up with the stylish: PC111 VoIP Headset ( shown above) or the Sennheiser SH310 headset. Sennheiser manufacture headsets not only for the office communications markets but for online gaming, VoIP, personal audio and Call Centres.

At Best4Headsets there is a large range of Sennheiser Headsets as well as a useful interface on connectivity, their range encompasses Sennheiser Headsets for Aviation use as well as corded telephone headsets . Many of these are available in bulk purchase for call centres or large offices.

Martin is off today, his Sennheisers sit on his desk, unproductive as he. Funnily enough the developer sitting opposite him has adopted a pair of cordless ( DECT?) Sennheiser Headsets also.

It is a plague of headset wearing. We are not only willing to subjugate our visual input to the CRT/ LCD by staring at a monitor all day, but we are willing to allow our most delicate audio receptors to be engulfed in an artificial soundwall. What next, will our olfactories be plugged into the www? A year ago everyone was trying to find the most subtle, ipod like, small and unobtrusive headphones possible to use with their mp3 players. Now they waltz along the street, neck muscles straining with a large speaker strapped to each ear…

Suffice it to say that Sennheiser produce the most beautiful headsets known to man. They deliver a superb sound quality across the range and look funky.

Car’s, you see, are many things. Primarily they are a mode of transport, but to think of a car on that way would be to see only a fraction of what a car means to a person. A car represents an image, an image gleaned from the racy adverts we see so often on the television, it engenders a feeling of self worth upon its driver. The driver is commanding thousands of pounds worth of high technology equipment. The feeling of power conferred upon the car owner whilst driving could easily be explained as sexual. The car is also a room outside the home, it can be a place for introspection and privacy as well as a place of family fun, meals and films.

Cars are, aside from property, the biggest investment a person will make, it is the most expensive item which they own and, modern cars really are incredibly technologically advanced.

Now, it should surprise no one that there are people out there who wish to steal these beautiful possessions. Modern cars are fitted with highly sophisticated security systems and immobilisers, but the criminal fraternity will always look for a weak spot to strike at.

A spokesman from Crime Prevention Products, a UK based retailer of Personal Alarms, Home Security Products and a range of personal security devices says

“Vehicle Crime is rising at an alarming rate and more and more people are coming to us to ask for the best ways to protect their cars, we offer a range of products which can help improve vehicle security. The knock on affect of these security measures when applied to your car are many, … the application of sensible measures give you peace of mind, reduce the risk of you becoming a victim of crime and can even reduce your insurance premiums.”

It is therefore recommended that the sensible person considers some of the following measures :

• Wheel Clamps - for personal use
• Parking Posts - secure your driveway
• Steering Wheel Locks - prevents car crime
• Telescopic Ground Anchor - secures your vehicle

Your car ( not mine though ) being both a valuable investment and an important personal possession must be looked after.