A Course in Photography
I saw this board outside Jessops in Islington
Phptography Course Anyone?
I wonder if anybody does a course for Junkberries.
My Junkberry Has Now Packed Up Completely
This morning the Junkberry has now given up completely.
When I went to go shopping, I thought I’d give it a go, but it was as dead as the proverbial dodo.
To make things worse, I just got a nuisance timewasting call from a scammer on my land-line. I gave them an alternative number, who will be really pleased to get the timewasters.
I
Bluecoat Chambers
Bluecoat Chambers is an arts centre in the middle of Liverpool with a rich history. Despite living in the city for nearly five years and having visited many times since, I’d never been in before yesterday.
It’s well worth a visit and the current exhibition brought back many memories of a wonderful holiday in the Ecuador and the Galapagos, that I had with C.
I Tried to Use A Phone-Box
For the first time in many years, I tried to use a phone box, as my Junkberry had run out of charge, after only a couple of hours of use.
A Phone Box That Didn’t Work
It wasn’t a happy experience, as it cost me fifty pence and I never got a dial tone.
The Queen on Industrial Language
They have just told this story on BBC Radio 5 Live. Apparently, after seeing some of her horses on the gallops, the lads came back in , in a bad mood using all forms of industrial language, not realising the Queen was there. The trainer apologised for the behaviour and the Queen replied. “Don’t forget, I’ve been married to a sailor for most of my life!”
A Fitting End For A Junkberry
This kid has the right idea about what to do with a Junkberry.
His was an old one, whereas mine is new and unused, as I can’t work out how to use it.
I think I might find a suitable road-roller.
Goodbye to my Junkberry
Despite a lot of help from O2, I’ve decided to chuck my Junkberry. Not sure what I’ll do yet, as a lot depends what happens to my life. I will keep it for a bit as my son is a fan and someone might nick his.
On the other hand, I might strike up a relationship with a gorgeous redhead, who is an absolute expert at the whys and wherefores of a Junkberry and I could have fun learning how to use it. Some hope!
So today, I did the first thing to get it out of my life. I sent the two Nokia 6310i, that I own to those clever refurbishment people at Tonik, to get them as-newed! It’ll cost me a few pounds, that I can well afford.
So what do I find wrong with the Junkberry?
1. It’s Incompatible With My Experience
I’ve been programming for nearly fifty years and using a mobile phone for nearly forty. In fact, I was one of the first people to have a mobile phone in Suffolk. My first problem with the Junkberry, is that it does everything in a different way to my computer and my past experience. It would be like putting me in Moscow and trying to find my way to the Olympic stadium. I actually did the Moscow task incidentally, as I had a map of the city and even in cyrillic some things are understandable. But the Junkberry uses icons, I have no knowledge of. Yesterday, I looked at a Samsung phone, which didn’t break any of the rules of the past.
2. My Left Hand Isn’t Good, But My Right Hand Is Superb
Because my left humerus was broken by a school bully and I’ve had a stroke, my left hand at present is little more than something to hold something with. I do use it whilst typing for the Shift key sometimes, but often, I span the fingers of my right hand and use the thumb on the Shift key and a finger on the other key. I have a feeling, I’ve done this for years and because of that my right hand is extremely agile. It always was very good and I put that down to making Meccano models extensively as a child.
Since, I stopped biting my nails, I’ve also tended to use my mobile phone or an ordinary phone for that matter, by holding it in the palm of my hand and dialling with my thumb, or on a mobile, the thumb nail. On a Junkberry, this means entering numbers is difficult, as it’s either a double keystroke or hold one down and hit another. Try doing the latter with just one hand.
3. I Can’t Send the Bus Text Message With a Junkberry
In London to find out, when the next bus is coming, you just type a five digit code to 87287. I talked about the system here. With my Nokia 6310i, it is a very simple operation, I can do with one hand. With the Junkberry, I’ve not actually been able to do it yet, as the phone tries to be clever and gives me the last of-date message. In other words, it gives me wrong information. That’s all you need at eleven o’clock on a cold, rainy night.
4. I Miss All My Messages and Incoming Phone Calls
Every time I get the phone out, someone has rung it and I’ve missed them. I have to recover the messages by phoning my phone with a land-line and then accessing the mailbox. Not very useful for a mobile phone.
5. I Can Only Send Phone Calls By Dialing The Number In or Selecting a Previously-Called One
This is because, I’ve not found out how to select a number from the address book.
6. The Address Book Doesn’t Work
My son’s phone number is in the phone in two places; under his name and also as the ICE number.
It always picks him up as the ICE number and ignores his name completely.
Obviously, they don’t have serious emergencies in Canada.
7. It Doesn’t Like Weak Signals
Going up to Liverpool today, it didn’t seem to be getting a good signal on the train. Certainly, the Nokia 6310i didn’t drop out as much.
8. Appalling Battery Life
By the time I got to Liverpool, the battery was dead and I charged it overnight. My Nokia 6310i generally lasts at least a week. That is the real problem, in that I expect it to last days from previous experience and it lasts just hours. Imagine buying a new modern car and finding the fuel consumption was much worst than your old one. Would you be pleased? No! You’d be straight round the dealer to tell him where to put his motor.
At least the guy in O2 let me make an urgent phone call. But finding helpful O2 shops every hour or so to make a call isn’t always practical.
I’ll leave it now, but I’ll come back to this topic later.
Hopefully my Nokia 631oi will be back in a few days. I’ve just heard, that Tonik has received the phone and hopefully, it will be back next week.
Adverts On Television
They were discussing this on BBC Breakfast this morning, so I gave them my four-pennyworth.
I must be the only person, who’s not seen any of Downton Abbey.
The reason, is I don’t watch adverts. So when football is on ITV and BBC Radio 5 Live, I listen to the radio.
When I moved to London, I had to cancel my old Sky subscription. They asked, if there was anything would make me resubscribe in my new house. I said, jokingly, a subscription without ads at an extra cost. They said I wasn’t the first to say that.
Shoot the meerkats!
Until I get the no-advert Sky option, I’ll continue to watch and listen to the BBC.
I’d Forgotten Richmal Crompton Was a Woman
They just had a pece on the BBC about the children’s author, Richmal Crompton, who wrote the Just William books.
I’d forgotten that she was actually a woman, but Richmal is a rather unusual first name.
A Pair of Wongas
Wonga is now targetting the business market.
A Pair of Wongas
Did they give the drivers a bonus to be in convoy?
The Anonymous Widower 