more tech news

I was also due for a new laptop, but i was looking for one with dedicated graphics, as i like a bit of gaming, but a machine with graphics suitable for gaming one normaly has to pay from £650 upwards.
Whilst looking at Pcworld i found a Samsung RC520-SO2 with 6gb memory, 750 gb hdd, cpu  Intel core i5, and a Nvidia GT  520M graphics card. all for £589 and guess what, i recieved £50 cashback off Samsung with a student offer, so i am very happy with it.
On my desktop i was getting 20 odd fps while on this laptop i'm getting 47 fps sometimes. I,ve had this laptop for about 3months and i really like it, it's fast, responsive, the screen is ok, the sound is better than other laptops i have heard, apart from the xps with jbl's, obviously. It is also quite sturdily built and the keyboard seems ok, and the webcam is good for skype video, so all in all this is definitetly one to look at.

tablet news

At last got time to post something , i am writlng this on my Moto Xoom wi fi, & if anyone reading this is thinking of a tablet, then i recomend the wi fi version of the Xoom. It is absolutely awesome, i've had mine for about six months now, & i still haven't found anything i  don't like about it.
I was thinking of an ipad, as i have a 1st gen itouch, the one with no speakers, but i love my itouch, i watch iplayer on it when i get in bed with the ear plugs, & it's wi fi so i get my emails on it, but the Xoom is 10" so it's a lot easier to reply, surf , etc on. I was looking at a 7"  tablet, but i am really glad i went for a 10" version.
Also  glad i got this instead of the Ipad, because apple doesn't have flash & you are tied to itunes. To put photos on my Itouch i have to first  put them into my folder in itunes, but to get them on to my xoom i can connect to computer & drag them over or just bluetooth them over from my phone, plus the cameras are ok. I am just awaiting video for skype then i will be 100℅ happy.
Any questions just contact me & i'll be happy to help.

news of the world

Why is it always the ordinary working man who suffers for the incompetence & arrogance of those higher up, first it was the bankers, who are apparently still enjoying their bonuses, whilst we suffer the cuts, now the workers at NOW have had their jobs, while those who allegedily knew what was going on are still allegedily denying all & sundry.
We close train manufacturing here in Btitain & order trains from Germany, while Hitatchi are sending train parts to be assembled in the North East. Ok it creats jobs, but why can't we make something ourselves like we used to do.
We sold north sea oil & gas which we were supposed to be self suficient for years to come, but sold it abroad & bought it back at a higher price, where is the logic, the world is going mad. Politicians & people at the top just seem so far from reality.

saxophone tuition Tyne and Wear

tenor and alto saxophone lessons available, see "Biography & music" for more info.
Please Email dave clarke for info
Beginners welcome with music theory as well as improvisation technique, you're never too old to learn an instrument. I have a gentlemen of over 65years who started from scratch a few years ago who now plays his favourite swing numbers and absolutely loves it

208 radio Luxembourg

Heard "the lion sleeps tonite" the other day, which reminded me of when i was having breakfast before going to college in approximately 1961 in Burnley Lancashire.
The program i listened to in the mornings was radio Luxembourg, which transmitted from 6pm in the evenings until about 1.0 am in English, but in German in the mornings.
Take your pick and double your money started out on 208 before moving to tv, and of course there was "horrace batchelor" with his keynsham Bristol football advert.
208 was about the only pop music program around in those days, until the pirates came along. Remember johnnie Walker on Caroline South with Percy Sledge's when a man loves a woman at 10.30 pm every night and the cars on the coast at Frinton Essex flashing their headlights.

some of my "life songs"

These are just some of my favourite songs which have a certain significance in my life up to now. there are more when i remember them, if i think about or if someone mentions a time or memory or whatever, it will almost always trigger a tune that was out at that time.
Fortune teller----Mersey beats
She loves you---Beatles
Little by little-----Stones
All over now---------Stones
Then only then------Julie Grant
Macarthur Park----Richard Harris
U made me so very happy--B.S & tears
Sometimes in Winter---B.S.& tears
Say a little prayer--Aretha Franklin
Close to you----Carpenters
Walk on bye---Dione Warwick
Something in the air--Thunderclap newman
Do you really want to hurt me---Culture Club
Rapture-----Blondie
Piano in the dark---Brenda Russell
Cry me out----Pixie Lott
Music has always played a part in my life, i remember situations by the music of that particular time & place, for example, the Mersey Beats fortune teller came out as a b side & my mates & i were starting a group up so my mum bought me an electric guitar & amp from Pollards music shop near Burnley market on standish street, opposite the blackpudding stall.

the frogs are on the move

What a beautiful day once again, there was certainly some heat in the sun this lunchtime, nearly shorts time!
Had a peak in the pond and could clearly see two frogs stirring on the bottom, i just hope they don't start too early as all the frogspawn died in the frost last year. I 'll just have to get some in if the weather turns cold again, and put the tadpoles back in later
For all the pond info, please go to Blogs of interest / Pond life.