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2013

Whoops, I Bought An iPad Air (32GB, Space Grey)

By TechnologyNo Comments
Lit Up Reindeer I’ve been toying with the idea of getting a tablet for a while now. I wanted something I can access Facebook on, use to listen to Music and watch Films/TV Boxsets on while being in the living room with the cats.

When I saw the previous generation Kindle Fire for £99 on Amazon’s website, I wasn’t sure whether this was a Christmas offer or Black Friday offer. I wasn’t even sure if the Kindle tablet would be what I wanted. But at that price, I had to look into it.

So during my visit to Manchester Christmas Market (see Getting Into The Festive Spirit: Manchester Christmas Market) my friend and I nipped into Currys PC World to have a look at the Kindle.

I was looking at the newest Kindle the Fire HDX and the screen was just seven inches. So on the one hand the Kindle was cheap, but on the other hand the screen was far too small for what I wanted to use it for.

Undecided on cost or screen size, I spoke with my friend about it and then to mum. With some persuasion from mum, I decided to buy the much more expensive iPad Air (32GB in Space Grey). Whoops! Here are some obligatory photos:

iPad Air - Box New iPad Air - Case Boxed New
iPad Air - Cover Green iPad Air - Home Screen
iPad Air - Back

The reasons I bought the iPad Air were: bigger screen, compatible with my other Apple Products (iMac & iPhone 5), really light, great hardware specs (including better camera than most other tablets) and a massive range of Apps via the App Store.

I also splashed out on a cover. A cover, just covers the front of the iPad (the screen), costs £35, comes in a range of colours and is perfect for using the iPad at home. Whereas a case, covers the entire iPad (front & back), costs £65, comes in a range of colours and is ideal if you’re planning on taking the iPad out and about. Be careful when buying, as their package design is very similar.

I’ve had my iPad for a few weeks now, so I thought I’d give you my first impressions of some of the Pros and Cons:

Pros Cons
  • Light-weight, feels lighter than the average book.
  • Great Battery Life.
  • Charges really quick.
  • Compatible with my iPhone 5 charger and USB charging.
  • Like the Space Grey effect, reminds me of the Star Trek pads.
  • Easy to set up & use.
  • Always on, quick to check Facebook, Twitter and other social media.
  • Great Apps available on the App Store.
  • iPad specific Apps, to make the most out of the iPad Air.
  • Made for media consumption, whether it be: Music, films, TV Boxsets or ebooks.
  • Now comes with free Pages, Numbers, iPhoto, iMovie and Garage Band.
  • It just works. No crashes at all (so far), not even Apps.
  • Silent operation – no sound of cooling fan.
  • Reasonable speaker sound quality.
  • iMessage & FaceTime.
  • Can be backed up through iTunes or iCloud.
  • Updates Apps Automatically.
  • Has Siri.
  • Find My iPhone – Works for iPad, so you can detect where it is if its ever stolen.
  • iPad as a device is expensive.
  • Doesn’t come with headphones.
  • Would literately be a blank canvas without the Apps on the App Store.
  • Covers are expensive at £35. Cases are extortionately priced at £65.
  • Made for media consumption – Feels difficult and slow to create things on the iPad.
  • Inhibits creativity and makes it less likely that you’ll spend your time creating something.
  • Pages, Numbers, iPhoto, iMovie and Garage Band are all designed to help you be creative, but each takes up an awful lot of disk space.
  • iTunes doesn’t accept .avi files, so most of my movies can’t be played on the iPad. Have found a work around which I shall be blogging about soon, it’s just frustrating because I shouldn’t have to do this.
  • No way to access my wireless hard drive.
  • Doesn’t seem to want to link to my iMac through WiFi.
  • Missing the biometric security, the finger print scanner the iPhone 5S has.

One or two of the Cons might just be things I haven’t worked out how to do on the iPad yet. If you know how to do something that I’ve put on my Cons list, feel free to leave a comment.

The iPad Air 32GB Space Grey is available to buy on Amazon, on the Apple Store Online or on your local high street (at various retail outlets).

Write soon,

Antony

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Thursday 12 December 2013

Book Review: Faitheist by Chris Stedman

By Books & Authors, Gay, Reviews, ThinkingNo Comments
faitheist-chris-stedman-book-cover Chris Stedman is an atheist with a humanistic ethical code. Stedman, through his interfaith work, encourages the religious and nonreligious to come together and share their stories to humanise and understand one another for the greater good. He is the Assistant Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University and writes on his blog NonProphet Status, for the Huffington Post as well as on various other media platforms.

In Faitheist, Chirs Stedman shares the story of his life (so far). The full title of the book is longwinded (Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious) and the introduction is off-putting. The introduction is full of terminology that is unfamiliar, unless you’re an Atheist Activist or an Interfaith Worker/Volunteer. This terminology and the elongated words are both unnecessary.

But get past the introduction and Stedman’s story is fascinating. Told in his warm and engaging writers voice his story is educational, enlightening, completely honest and emotionally resonant.

Stedman starts with his childhood; describing it as ‘not particularly religious.’ He discusses his search for a place to belong and a community to be a part of. Towards the end of his childhood he joins a church and becomes a Christian.

Stedman moves into his adolescence and tells us of his developing homosexuality. He describes a difficult time in his life, one where his sexuality and his extreme Christian beliefs are at odds. He discusses his self-hate, guilt and his loss of faith in God. He reveals how his mum discovered that he was gay and how she supported him. Lost, Stedman sets out on journey to find himself.

Stedman tells of his early adulthood; describing his journey to find himself and what he wants to do with his life. He tells that through Voluntary & Community Work he served others (a recurring theme throughout his entire life), he realised that the religious and nonreligious need to work together (interfaith working). He explains that he realised this has to start with understanding one another’s perspective.

Stedman writes about his set and strong convictions towards the end of this book, clearly promoting humanism. However he has a history of changing some of his views, based on his life experiences. So this left the question as to whether some of his views may change over time. Not his core values, those have always remained a constant, but some of his views on complex ‘grey’ areas in life.

As Stedman shares his story he describes his patchwork of tattoos and their meaning to him and his life. Stedman demonstrates his wonderful ability to reflect on his own experiences and learn from them. He reveals his unique passion, vibrant personality and how so alive he is. A gorgeous man with a beautiful, caring soul.

Stedman concludes his book, not surprisingly, advocating the bringing together of the religious and the nonreligious (atheists). He suggests that they should share their life stories with one another. This he states will lead to a better understanding of one another, so that they can work better together. He encourages the reader to open a dialogue with people from all walks of life, to listen to their stories and share yours.

Stedman could have included some glossy photo pages to match his autobiographical style of story sharing, which would have been great for visual learners.

Faitheist by Chris Stedman is a thought-provoking read and will appeal to anyone who is interested in the study of religious or atheism, the effect of religion on homosexuality, humanism, philosophy, ideology, interfaith work and/or bringing communities together.

Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious by Chris Stedman is available to buy on Amazon.

Review soon,

Antony



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Sunday 8 December 2013

Getting Into The Festive Spirit: Manchester Christmas Market

By Friends & Family, Happiness & Joy, LifeNo Comments

Manchester Christmas Market Manchester Christmas Market Singing Tree

Manchester Christmas Market Bar It’s become a tradition that once a year, around this time, I go to the Manchester Christmas Market for a mooch around and a Bailey’s latte.

At the weekend, my friend and I completed this tradition together. Considering it was the end of November, it was relatively warm and the sun shone brightly – at times blinding our vision.

We arrived about midday and it wasn’t overly crowded (top left photo).
We started at the stalls straight outside of Manchester Victoria Train Station and began to make our way towards St. Ann’s Square and the City Hall Square. Along the way we saw a singing Christmas Tree (top right photo).

The stalls either sold food or gifts. The food choices were very varied from delicacies to more mainstream dishes. Generally most of the food stalls smelt devine.

The gift stalls had some lovely trinkets, some unique and original products (that would make perfect presents for Christmas), but also some over-priced tat.

Manchester Christmas Market Bailey's Coffee

Midway through the markets my friend and I managed to get seats at a coffee stall (above: left hand column), where we were able to enjoy our drinks. I had the Bailey’s latte as always (above: right hand column) while my friend had his Bailey’s white coffee. As we drank we talked, about many different things including: Christmas, our plans for 2014 and tablets (the Kindle & the iPad Air).

As the afternoon got later, going into early evening, the markets got busier and busier. I had expected that it would get quieter as it got later, but I was wrong. It felt like we were sardines (below: left & right). We had a great time, but maybe next year I’ll avoids the crowds by going midweek.

Manchester Christmas Market Giant Santa / Town Hall Manchester Christmas Market Crowds

Blog soon,

Antony

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Wednesday 4 December 2013

World AIDS Day 2013

By LifeNo Comments
World Aids Day HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is a virus which attacks the body’s immune system — the body’s defence against diseases. AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) is the final stage where the immune system being depleted of its cells by HIV. Once enough of the immune system cells have been destroyed by HIV, the body is not capable of fighting off other bacteria and viruses as easily, particularly opportunistic infections. Infections like pneumonia are usually the cause of death for someone who has HIV/AIDS’.

HIV is passed on through infected bodily fluids, most commonly via sex without a condom or by sharing infected needles, syringes or other injecting drug equipment. Only 1% of mothers with HIV give birth to HIV positive babies.

Did you know that around 100,000 are currently living with HIV in the UK and that 1 in 5 don’t know they’ve got it? World AIDS Day is all about raising awareness about HIV/AIDS.

So do one simple thing for World AIDS Day, take this HIV Awareness Quiz.

I scored 9 out of 12:
HIV-aware-quiz-result

Blog soon,

Antony

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Sunday 1 December 2013
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