jetpack technology

Friday, October 26, 2007

    "Before listening the album, I expected it would be a good album, but honestly, after listening several times i realized it wasn't a good album but a MASTERPIECE. "

    "To sum up what I really think of the album: I only paid £5 for the download and now I wish I paid much much more. "

    "probably one of the most elegaic, heartachingly pieces of music put out there for the listening public in eons"

    "WOW .. this album is getting ever more beautiful with every listen . I'm mesmerized. "

    "Concise, pure, beautiful, minimalist, perfect, genius. "

after reading quite a lot of negative or indifferent views of the new Radiohead album, it seems all the best comments were saved for this page. Incidentally the jetpack verdict is "pretty good". Even if I didn't like it, I think it's great that nowadays when music is so ubiquitous and slick and undervalued, there are still serious artists that can really create a sensation (and I don't mean coke-snorting dollybirds in the tabloids).

click for free food!

Thursday, October 25, 2007

in case anyone's interested, I've uploaded a new track of mine for the delectation of internet users. You can access it here

click for free food!

Sunday, October 21, 2007

apparently I'm a "casual gamer" which means I like "casual games" that don't require lots of practice and manual-reading in order to play. Cutesy bubblegum graphics are always a bonus too. It seems there are loads of free flash games online now. My faves at the moment are:

Crystal Clear (I got to level 14 on this a few nights ago which took a few hours, though I wish I'd known you can disable the music)

Jellyblocks (I'm currently stuck on level 35 - fortunately it remembers which levels you've completed if you have cookies enabled)

Makos and Innards are a welcome relief when my brain starts hurting

try'em on your next lunch break!

(and here's one just for JB)

click for free food!

Thursday, October 18, 2007

this is probably a bit cruel but I couldn't help sniggering a little when I came across this picture of some of the university gays in my town... (I know, I'm terrible)

click for free food!

Sunday, October 14, 2007

let me tell you about the weird morning I had on Friday. I got back from my trip away the day before so was really tired. I was woken up by loud voices outside my bedroom door and heard someone walking around the house and into the other bedrooms talking on a phone in a booming voice, and then shouting down to someone outside the house. I guessed straight away it was a workman sent around by our letting agency, who once again failed to inform us or negotiate a convenient time (a few weeks ago I was woken by a strange man walking into my room saying he wanted to get to the cupboard to turn the water off) so as you can see it's not the first time this has happened. I got up and found the noisy guy painting the open front door so I asked him how he got in and he said "oh we knocked but noone answered so we used the key given to us by the letting agency". I told him he shouldn't just let himself in and they shouldn't send people to do work without asking us. He ummed and ahhed and made a few halfbaked excuses about not taking long and not being any trouble. Anyway, I was annoyed and I hate letting agencies and their horrible swindling and irregular ways, so I called the office. It was answered by a very out of breath man, so I asked for the woman who I think is the boss and who I've met previously, and he said she was off sick. Then the conversation went a bit like this:
    me: "I've just woken up to find workmen walking around the house, who've let themselves in and we weren't notified about this"

    him: "oh well, Eileen said you were expecting them"

    me: "really? well we weren't told and we're not happy about it"

    him (irritatedly): "well that's what she told me so you'll have to speak to her about it on monday"

    me: "okay I will but it shouldn't happen anyway"

    him: "well they're not doing any harm, I'm not taking them off the job now and anyway that house has got to be painted".

    me: "well I'd be within my rights to send them away"

    him (huffing and puffing): "well okay send them away if you like! There's nothing I can do about it. (flippantly) I'm sorry okay, I'm sorry. Will you forgive me? will you forgive me? please forgive me? will you? WILL YOU FORGIVE ME? WILL YOU FORGIVE ME??!!!!"

    (at this point he is ranting like a madman and absolutely bellowing down the phone)

    me: "er.... well if I thought you meant it I might do"

    him: "YES I DO! I'M HAVING A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN ABOUT IT!"

    me: ".........I'll speak to Eileen about it on Monday"

    him: "OKAY BYE!"

It actually went on a bit longer than that but it ended in a crescendo with him going nuts as described. What a nutter eh, and what a professional way to conduct business! I shall speak to Eileen or maybe send her a letter. They think that because we don't own the property they can just walk in whenever they feel like it. We have a right to privacy which is protected by law and if they don't respect that then they could be prosecuted for harrassment. It's as if we're squatters who are simply tolerated because we pay rent but don't actually have any rights. They seem to forget that much of the contents of the house are our property even if the building isn't. I wonder what an insurance company would say if the knew my belongings were that vulnerable, with strangers letting themselves in at random times. I hate confrontations and I'm such a coward when it comes to these things. I wish I could be a hard-ass about this without getting wound up and nervous about it! If it happens again maybe I will tell the workmen to leave and ask my lawyer friend to send a strong letter to those crazy, lazy people that collect our money!

click for free food!

Friday, October 12, 2007

Maybe you've heard that the latest Radiohead album was available to download from Wednesday. The most sensational thing is that you can decide how much you want to pay (after the 45p transaction fee), which is very brave of them. It's great the way they've cut out the fatcat middlemen. However I just read that they'll be releasing a cd version next year and it seems that the whole download thing is more of a promo for the cd version, especially considering that the encoding quality is half that of a usual Radiohead download - which is kind of disappointing. Having said that, I encode most of my albums at 160kps which is perfectly adequate most of the time. Considering the poor sound quality of some commercial releases, a lot of people seem to be indifferent about optimum sound quality even if they say they do. I wonder how many people would complain about sound quality if their mp3 player or software didn't actually reveal what the encoding rate was (but then I guess Radiohead are a fave of geeks).... incidentally I paid £3.50 for the album which is pretty much the most I'll pay for albums thanks to ebay and amazon marketplace. If it all goes straigh to the band in this case, it'll still be a fair amount considering how much the record labels usually cream off for themselves.

I got another download bargain this week. I bought the hits of angsty grungerockers P.O.D. from iTunes for £2.99. I'm sure it's an error on iTunes (considering you can buy the tracks seperately for the normal price of 79p) which seems to have gone unnoticed or ignored for quite a while judging by the reviews on that page in the store. It's a little known fact that jetpack enjoys grungey guitar music from time to time...

click for free food!

Sunday, October 07, 2007

well the ghost didn't put in an appearance, or make it's presence felt in any way so far. I'm a bit disappointed. There were times when I was here alone that I managed to make myself a bit scared, but a lot of the time I just had a mundane resignation that there would be something or someone walking about while I was trying to get off to sleep and I didn't really mind. I guess we can think of it as a replacement for our lost pet, though hopefully this one won't scratch at my door and demand my attention first thing in the morning... I really should think about going back home sometime this week but I don't feel like moving just yet...

The parents are watching all the rugby matches on the telly at the moment, like all good middle class people should. Even though my stepdad used to play for wasps I don't mind telling him I think it's a barbaric game. He has a t-shirt which says "Rugby is a game enjoyed by gentlemen and played by ruffians" which he admits is very true. I can't help but stop and gawp when the players come out though and you get a good look at them, especially as they tend to wear high-tech shirts now that often look like they've been painted on - phwoar. I then have to stop myself blurting out the things that go through my mind if you know what I mean....

click for free food!

Monday, October 01, 2007

once again I'm housesitting for the parents, only now it's not nearly as much fun as it used to be, mostly because my favourite pussycat is no longer with us due to an unfortunate encounter with a truck on the road outside a few months ago. You know how some people are crazy about their dogs and miss them really badly if they go away on holiday for a few days, well I was the same with our cat, silly I know but I was always her favourite person and we had a special bond (though maybe she just liked that there was someone who spent half the day in bed and could keep her company). Anyway being here without her is really odd, like we're missing a family member and you keep expecting her to walk in the room or jump on the bed (not that my other family members used to jump on my bed). I keep forgetting she's not here and getting used to the idea is really hard when you have to do it several times an hour. Anyway that probably all sounds very silly and soppy....! We'd get another cat but the road outside is so busy and dangerous it wouldn't be responsible, ho hum.

My folks go away tomorrow and I'll be all alone in the house for 3 days. I used to enjoy it, just being me and the cat but now it's just me and the ghost. I've blogged in the past about the mysterious invisible person that walks up and down the stairs in the night, and my parents have heard it too so I'm sure I didn't imagine it. There have been other things too, objects moved into strange positions. My mum put her slippers under the chair in the bedroom but when she went back to get them, they were balancing with the soles upward - very odd. We also had someone come to the house to collect some furniture once and the lady said "this is a lovely house......oh, have you got a ghost?" She's one of those people who claims to be very sensitive about these things - maybe she says it to every homeowner she meets, who knows. Anyway, I have a pretty vivid imagination and have always been fascinated and scared by paranormal things so the next three nights are going to be like most haunted - but all on my own! Part of me hopes something strange will happen and another part is praying that is doesn't! I'll keep you posted anyway...

click for free food!