February 24th, 2011 by J

Hi all.

Thought i would post another caption competition for a bit of fun.

Have a go…

February 10th, 2011 by J

Well i have had my Kindle for a couple of months now and thought i would write a little about it.

Looks and feel 8/10:

From taking it out of the box my first impressions were that it is not as sleek and silky looking as some of the other e-readers on the market. This however deterred me for about 0.5 of a second.

A slightly rough surface gives a good feel to the kindle and i love the placement of the back/forward buttons and the keyboard is very usable. The four way selector is a little bit fiddly but as it is not used a massive amount not a real problem. The action on the buttons is very good and gives you a nice feeling click when used,

Having for so long now got used to electronic devices being in colour, having a device in B/W again is a little odd and the white screen of the kindle took me a few days to get used to.

The Kindle is a nice weight, lighter than you would think but very comfortable to hold and actually quite natural.  Although not “pocket” size the kindle does fit into my inside coat pocket and even into my jeans back pocket although a little tight.

Use 10/10:

There is not a lot i can say about this with out raving although there are a few little niggles that i will go over in a mo. Using the kindle on the bus to and from work has been a joy. The kindle is comfortable to hold and easy to read, as i said above i love the buttons on either side as this allows nicely for commuter cramage. No matter which corner of the bus i am crammed into i can still operate the kindle with either thumb.

There is little or no reflection on the screen which is nice, although so far there have not been any sun scorching days but i have sat reading with an angle poise behind me and suffered no ill effects.

There is however one niggle however that i have personally.  This concerns the length of time it takes to turn off. I understand the idea is to switch it to standby (very quick) however this is not practical if you are using it to and from work and i do find that i have to pre-empt with bus stops at what point i switch it off. Having said this it is not something that is going to effect my life and therefore does not effect my initial score.

What has also held my score is that my father has one and finds it fantastic and as he is barely able to switch on a computer this is a fairly high accolade.

Practical items 9/10:

Getting books – The purchase and download functions from the kindle itself are excellent and very quick (dependent on connection) and the file transfer from computer is a little tricky but very quick to learn.

Battery life – Excellent for commuter use so far i have not charged it since December 12th. and have used it for 1hr, 6 days a week for 2 months (approx 55hrs).

Charging – Very good it took about 2hrs for its initial charge.

Screen size – Excellent just the size i need and with the text size function good for all eyesight’s. I was a little worried however about damage going in and out of my bag so got a nice leather case for Christmas.

Conclusion 9/10:

Overall the Amazon Kindle is a fantastic piece of kit. It’s size, weight and overall dimensions make it great for traveling or that dreaded commute to work.Easy to update and go.

Am i totally sold on ebooks….No!

There is still something about the feel, smell and comfort about a good old paperback book and i will still continue to buy them. however the ease of the kindle means that i can carry more books with me and expand my reading into new realms as i trawl the free books available.

February 7th, 2011 by J

Well the time has finally come and the Theatre Royal is getting it’s face lift, well half of it is. As of the 28th Feb the rear half of the building will close for a year for it’s long awaited refurbishment.

As you can imagine this means that everything in the rear half of the building has to go into storage, the bin or be relocated down into the studio space. All the wiring needs to be re-routed, call system, fire systems, dimmers offices etc. all need to come in front of the cut off line. This is of course making things fun trying to squeeze 40yrs worth of stuff into small spaces.

With the refurbishment comes some sadness but also some excitement of change. A time to renew and clear out the unwanted. As part of this i thought i would wander the building with my camera and try to capture some of the history that will disappear in the flood of change.

I will be posting the pic’s on flicker in the next few days.

February 3rd, 2011 by J

Hi all.

Thought i would post a caption competition for a bit of fun.

Come on what do you think.