As I live in a house that has TPON (Telephony over Passive Optical Networks) , the only way to receive broadband is via a work-around which is a copper-overlay, as the name suggests, involves laying (extra) copper along-side the existing fibre. I’ve now managed to move to Sky Broadband which is free for the 1mb service. No point in paying for a service that I can’t receive. However, soon BT will be rolling out a new technology called the BT 21st Century Network (21CN) rollout. To date my phone number doesn’t have an upgrade date. But I’ll keep on checking in hope for a broadband solution > 1mb.

A good website for checking your line details can be found at Sam Knows.

I’ve had no problems with WordPress 2.5 until I wanted to upload some files on my mac. I had no problems installing via my PC. I didn’t realise that I had any problems until I went to make a blog post and upload an image. When I tried to upload, I was greeted with the following:

So what was the solution, I did a lot of searching of the web and came accross a solution that involved editing the .htaccess file on the root of the wordpress directory. I added the following code to the file to enable the image upload to work.

<IfModule mod_security.c>
<Files async-upload.php>
SecFilterEngine Off
SecFilterScanPOST Off
</Files>
</IfModule>

As soon as the change was made the problem was fixed and thus why you I’ve been able to upload a screenshot with this post!

Apple are limiting the maximum noise a  device can use by measuring how loud a very loud mp3 plays at max volume. Then, they apply a software cap on the volume slider. This is because The European Union has stepped in to protect our ears, and have set some limits to how much sound a personal music device can produce.  

So your now going to ask why is this a problem ? I have an 4GB iPod nano myself (“second generation”) and have started to listen to podcasts on the train and tube journey to work. I am having trouble hearing the voices of a podcast, most music has a good volume level for my needs, but this particular podcast I’m listening is very low on volume (I can’t hear the voices).

Today I found GoPod, a tool which can remove the volume limit on many iPod models. This process is called “uncapping” the volume.  I’ll be trying it tonite !!!

You might have guessed we’ve been very busy. Today we registered Catrin Birth in Stevenage and have been doing some odd jobs on the house. O’h the house is looking good and the builders have finished just leaving us the task to paint and tile the kitchen. Don’t forget to look at the new pictures of Catrin under the ford family in the gallery. Here are the latest pictures of the house extension.

 

We’ve had some fun with the builders and would recommend that you know exactly what your architect has designed. Luckily all our designs were drawn by Dels brother-in-law Bryn and we owe him a massive thanks for all the help he gave us with planning and building regulations. My biggest learning curve was trying to keep to budget. My advise would be to add a 10% contingency fund and ensure the builder is unaware of this. Our biggest issue with the build was the time the builders took to complete the job. We expected the project to be completed in 3 months, however, it ended up as a 6 month job with many days with no builder on site. I regret not having a penalty in the contract for late completion. Nevertheless, I would recommend NCS Building in Ware, Hertfordshire as their finish was very good.

After a titanic battle at Vicarage Road against the Ospreys, the Saracens now face Munster in the Heineken Cup Semi-Final. I’ll be going to the game with my everything crossed hoping for 2 outcomes.

1. Saracens beat Munster
2. I don’t get an announcement to give me 2 choices.
   1. Go home for the Birth of your child.
   2. Stay and watch the game.

I’ll be going to the game with Huw and hopefully we’ll get another outstanding performance from Mr Hill and Jacko slots every kick he gets. After Wasps game last week I think the boys will lift their game again and prove to Mr Dawson that Saracens really have the ability to win things !

The builders have finally managed to get Building Regulations. But as ever we had a snag today as the radiators were plumbed into the hot water instead of the heating.  In managing the repair we’ve had a leak and luckily the carpet hadn’t been installed upstairs. We’ve got the plumber back and he’s fixing the problem…..

We’ll I’ve finally done it. I purchased my first Apple Mac, the iMac. Firstly, I would like to state the following

1. I would never buy a PC from PC World.
2. I would never buy a Mac.

So on Saturday I walk into PC World to compare the PC’s to the Dell offers. I then walk out with a iMac after hearing impressive reports from my friends.

After arriving at home, I realised that I needed a desk from the iMac. To my amazement I found it very hard to find a desk that wouldn’t put the iMac out of place. I searched many sites and finally opted for John Lewis Soho desk.

I then tried to connect the iMac to the web. I have a wireless network and use the Netgear DG834G. I tried multiple times on connecting using my WEP password. However, after multiple tries I searched on google and then resorted on a friend, Simon Morris. He suggested using a “#” or a “$” before the hex password. Now it works !! Since his advice I searched on Apple and found this information on connecting.

Choosing a password for networks that use Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)

I’ve now had my xBox 360 for 3months and have had my first major problem. The HDTV does not work. After calling both Samsung(LCD) and Microsoft I am still waiting for a Component Cable. Today I received a Scart Cable in the post – the wrong cable. So back to Microsoft and I have to wait for another 4 days to see if the cable resolve the problem. I have a bad feeling that the xBox 360 wil need replacing.