energy…
by robert on August 8, 2010
A good introduction to energy needs/use by the body of energy [PDF] from Dextro Energy… nibbled a few tablets on a ride today and I was really impressed with how they worked for me :)
PayPal…
by robert on August 4, 2010
…never use their services, they simply don’t deserve customers! Google turns up a shed load of reasons why they are a truly awful organisation, I have recently had a very bad experience with them withholding a very significant sum of money because I hadn’t provided some information to them – but they had “limited access” to my account which meant that I couldn’t establish what information I hadn’t provided them with! They gave me a load of waffle about “security” then when I asked for the surname of the person I was speaking to I was told that for “security reasons” he couldn’t provide that information, quickly followed up with a rather clever “I’m the only Pierce in the department” – ironic that they can request copies of photo ID, bank details etc “for security” but “for security” can’t share with me the surname of the employee I’m speaking to…
Their web site is circular, for example, clicking “Contact Us” gives me a page that only offers a phone call as an option but their e-mail says “we don’t monitor this address so use the ‘Contact Us’ button to send us anything in writing”…
On my travels I came across a web site with a fabulous name: http://www.paypalsucks.com/
My big mistake was using their service, as the smug wanker on the end of the phone kept reminding me that I’d signed up to their Terms & Conditions… Clearly I had and clearly I’m a twat for doing so!
UPDATE: I meant to add in, that instead of coughing up whatever pence per minute their 08707 number would force upon you, call 0208 605 3000 (this is eBay) and select option 1 – it’ll transfer you to the exact same telephone system as 08707 307 191 but it’s a standard geographic number and is therefore charged as such [via Say No To 0870]
The epitomy of “team”…
by robert on July 9, 2010
Mark Cavendish won a stage of the Tour de France yesterday, the way he spoke about his team after winning was incredible! He was open about how he had let them down the previous day, yet had remained committed yesterday to push him to the win – but even then, it was the team that had got him there… It was very emotional watching him speak! What a hero!
Garmin Edge 305 reset
by robert on June 22, 2010
dunno why but my Edge 305 just closed itself down and wouldn’t start up! Holding the Mode & Lap/Reset button together for a few seconds (I counted to 10 reasonably slowly) then pressed the power button and it sprang back to life… tsk…
Balance…
by robert on June 4, 2010
A decent bit of level headed reporting in a sea of frothing at the mouth vitriol… top marks Channels 4 News!
March training…
by robert on March 31, 2010
…has been poor :(
Thanks to rubiTrack I can see that I’m well down on February (by nearly 50 miles, potty really given that the weather has picked up a little)… it’s all down to a new project at work that has just been cancelled so thankfully I won’t be spending my time in Northampton and hopefully I can get my fat arse back in the saddle…
rubiTrack…
by robert on March 2, 2010
I noticed some slightly odd behaviour within rubiTrack when it was reporting “stopped” time, such as at lights and whatnot… for example I stopped the other day for a couple of minutes because of a problem with my bike but it showed as 1 second which wasn’t right…
I posted on the rubiTrack forum on Sunday and hey presto after sending the developer an example file shortly after 8pm yesterday I received a response at 3:50 this morning with a link to an update! Absolutely incredible service, I’d have been quite happy if I’d heard back in a few days but this is superb attention…
If you have a Mac and are looking for a fantastic piece of software for GPS activity tracking then I cannot recommend rubiTrack highly enough – it offers a wealth of features and new feature requests are welcomed on the forums…
Multitasking…
by robert on February 18, 2010
At last, a sensible post on the topic of iPhone/iPad multitasking: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/02/18/inside_apples_ipad_multitasking.html
new car…
by robert on February 12, 2010
never had a BMW before, picking up a 325i SE Coupé next week
i’m rather looking forward to having a clutch again despite the DSG gearbox in my GTI being absolutely fantastic there is something missing without a clutch, a distinct lack of connection to the engine and the road…
A very bright let down..?
by robert on February 7, 2010
Father Christmas was very kind and brought me a new light for my bike… An Exposure Race MaXx 2… it’s absolutely bonkers in terms of brightness, 480 lumens (which is a fancy way of saying “don’t look into the light, seriously, you’ll blind yourself”)…
Charging time is about 8 hours, and from that it’ll run in the brightest mode for 3 hours, however, a few days after Christmas I went to show someone and the bloody thing didn’t come on… hmm me thinks… so I charged it again then ran it for 3 hours and it then ran for another hour or so which according to the chap at the service department it shouldn’t do… it then lost all of its charge again!
At £225 RRP this is certainly not what I expected so I sent it back at a cost of £7 (which is 3% of the RRP, which wasn’t refunded!) and waited, and waited and waited… three weeks it’s taken and all they did was replace the battery and o-rings… not that impressed to be honest… Ron in their service department was a very nice chap but there didn’t seem to be much urgency which I found odd considering it’s winter and therefore the time when a light on yer bike is sort of necessary and there were even times when I called them and was told that it was “on the bench with a tag that says ‘pass’ but the chap dealing with it isn’t here so I don’t know what’s happening”… Phil (right) & Stuart (left) in my bike shop (apparently this is where Father Christmas sourced the light) only have good things to say about Exposure and it was on their recommendation that I went for this not a Fenix torch with a lockblock, I’m in no doubt the Exposure light is absolutely incredible and the illumination is insane but caveat emptor, if it goes wrong then hassle them on the phone daily.
Robert.