macJasp

First visit to the Apple Store, Eldon Square

Due to unforeseen circumstances I couldn't get along to the much anticipated Apple Store opening in Eldon Square, Newcastle last week. I did however, finally get to take a look around today and perhaps the most striking part of the store is the huge Apple Logo that stands out as soon as you turn the corner into the new mall.

Every other store you see has their name showing, Apple simply don't need to do that.

I'm really pleased to finally have a store on my doorstep, i've had to drive many hundreds of miles previously when I've really wanted something quickly but I'm thankful that I'm not required to travel so far for my Apple addiction in future.

Cutting down my internet footprint

I got quite carried away over the last 12 months, registering for every social networking site there was at one point but i've taken recent steps to reduce that, closing accounts and securing profiles and generally not openly sharing as much information about myself throughout the web.

I wouldn't say it's total paranoia but I've become increasingly aware of late that I'm registered in places I never even use, sites like ch.mp, audioboo, blip.fm and more.

It's fairly pointless in keeping such sites active when I'm never going to use them, plus it means I cut down my overall internet footprint and just keep myself  in places where I want to be known and where I'm happy sharing information.

I've probably closed around 6 or 7 social networking accounts of mine down already this evening and I feel rather good for it. The one's that remain are the one's I do utilise and which are shown here on the blog and I think I'm happy to keep it that way going forward.

Putting trust in Last.fm

I normally find new music via the usual places, through the radio or from discussions with friends but after constant prodding from the last.fm recommendation service recently about Turin Brakes I decided to take a chance and purchase their Optimist album from 2001. It thinks that because i like Doves, Badly Drawn Boy and Elbow (which I certainly do) that Turin Brakes is right up my street. I don't have a single Turin Brakes record in my collection, I know of one of their songs from the early part of the last decade (2003's Pain Killer), so I'm putting faith in the service to find me this type of new music that I'll hopefully grow to love and begin wondering why I hadn't heard of them sooner, after all that is the whole point of last.fm, right? If anything it's to be an interesting experiment as to whether the site really can work out my musical tastes based on what I play regularly and I'm very much hopeful that this particular choice will enable me to trust the service more in future.

o2 Network at the Stadium of Light

What is it with o2's network coverage at the Stadium of Light? As soon as you walk through the turnstiles and into the stadium you continue to have full coverage on your iPhone but you can't make calls, send/receive texts or access the internet.

It used to be bareable last season (2008/09) when you at least had The Cloud's free WiFi but this year even that has disappeared. I don't know if it's down to the o2 network stuggling with a high concentration of people accessing their network at the same time or something else entirely but something needs to be done.

The people I follow on twitter and those I attend matches with have reported the same problem, so i know it's not just a fault with my mobile. I've decided to email Sunderland AFC and see what response i get but i'd be interested if anyone else has similar issues.

update – email response from Sunderland AFC 10/10/2009

I have been informed that some of the 3G networks give a weaker signal within the

Stadium of Light, I am on O2 also and sometimes encounter the same problem,

some days I can text other times the signal strength is not so good, however it

does still let me make calls and receives texts, however sometimes

I get a signal failure. I don’t think this is only O2 it seems to be the

3G networks. Sorry I am not that technical however have brought this to the

attention of the correct person internally. The person in the SOL responsible

for networking is now aware of this and we are working to try and rectify this as

best we can but it may be out of our control. Thank you for bringing this to our

attention and your interest in the Club. Sharon Ewart Media and

Communications Team Sunderland AFC

 

 

Paul Kenton – City of Romance, gone for good?

I feel like I've missed out on something special here. A limited edition print by Paul Kenton that we stumbled across by accident while visiting an art gallery in Keswick, Cumbria. I tweeted about it at the time and we wanted it there and then but due to other commitments and lack of funds we passed up on the opportunity, one to which we are both regretting now.

This particular piece was a signed limited edition of 95 that were only ever distributed by Washington Green (Paul Kenton's publishers) and they sold out far too quickly, turning out to be one of his most popular pieces. The publisher themselves have been most helpful in giving advise where to source it from and we have been offered his other work Cafe Rouge, however it doesn't mean the same to us.

Secondary Art Markets

I'm now on the hunt for this piece from the secondary art markets, advised to us by Washington Green and that's proving to be a challenge in itself, who do you go to and who do you trust? There aren't even web sites available with some of these dealers and i guess if your not an expert in Art you really are going to have a challenge sourcing what your after. We however will just keep plugging away in the hope we stumble across it by chance at some point in the near future.