Red Eyed Monster

Are downloads and updates from the Android Market hanging on your Android phone?

I had this problem a few weeks ago when on holiday.  Notifications that updates were available for for my HTC Magic and I could access the Android Market but after being taken through the usual installation screens the download would hang immediately with the progress bar static.

I initially put this down to poor reception but when I returned home the problem continued even over my WiFi connection.  I then discovered that people in the UK that had switched their google mail account from @googlemail.com to @gmail.com were experiencing the same problem.  I had done this! I went immediately to my account and switched back.

As you can see from above in ‘Settings->Accounts and Import’ there is a link at the end of the ‘Send mail as:’ section which allows you to toggle between the two. I did this and the downloads began working correctly virtually instantly.

In fact switching seems to serve no purpose at all you can still receive and send emails as either gmail or googlemail no matter what your settings. Google are working on the issue but for now they recommend switching back.

I snapped this the other night when we went to vote.  My wife asked me to as she was unable to go at that time.  From left to right, mother-in-law, daughter (first time voter) and Miss Joan Williams (age 94). So this photo possibly includes the youngest and eldest voters in the village.  I’ve only decided to post it here now because my wife sent it to the Hereford Times and they are going to publish it this Thursday.  Surprisingly they are not primarily interested in the youngest/oldest angle but rather the Grandmother/Granddaughter take.  No disrespect Beryl!

How to fix the Humax PVR-9200T if you are getting problems with it freezing / locking / crashing.

I have owned the Humax PVR-9200T for a good few years now and it has changed the way we watch TV as a family.  Bought when the kids were younger because inevitably there was something we wanted to watch at their bedtime. This generally entailed one of us watching the beginning of the program and then filling the other in once the kids were settled.  The ability to pause TV was, and is, just brilliant, when the phone rings or unexpected guests arrive etc.  but recently the player started to freeze/lock or the remote control would have no effect and although the program could still be viewed the only way to regain control of the unit was to switch it on and off at the mains.

I was convinced the only way to solve the problem was to reformat the hard drive but luckily I took my wife’s advice and called the excellent Humax support – 0844 669 8800 (UK Customer Helpline). Within minutes they had emailed me the fix, and here, to save you the bother of picking up the phone is the solution they sent:

Please follow the steps below to perform a Default reset;

1. Power OFF the receiver
2. Disconnect the Aerial cable
3. Power On the receiver
4. Press MENU
5. Select Installation
6. Enter your password (default = 0000)
7. Select Default Setting
8. Select YES
9. Enter your password (Default = 0000)
10. When the receiver restarts, power off
11. Connect the Aerial Cable
12. Power ON – the receiver will then search for the channels.

I hope it works for you too. Enjoy.

A collection of drawings published by Axel Juncker

My daughter is currently working on an art project for A Level dealing with memories.  We were looking around the house for various old things that she could draw and photograph and I remembered this.  It is a collection of drawings by Ludwig Kainer and was given to me by my grandmother, Rose Bachmann (née Friedmann), a holocaust survivor, who dated it at October 1919. As far as I can remember was given to her by the artist at a fashion show.  My memory of the exact facts is rather sketchy but I do know she ‘hung out’ with various artists and poets and delighted in my being a punk in the 70′s.  She likened it to the existentialist movement which was regarded in her day as a way to reassert the importance of human individuality and freedom.

Ludwig Kainer  was  a painter, illustrator and set designer who worked for the Ballet Russes and the Berlin opera and was briefly married  to the artist Lene Schneider-Kainer.  Apart from that and a few examples of his work I cannot find a great deal of information on him. Below are a few of my favourites from the twenty-four in the collection.  If you know of any additional information please comment below.

Free file sorting and copying program

A long time ago when .NET was just a twinkle in Bill Gates’ eye I developed this simple file copying program in VB6.  I gave it away as freeware and it proved fairly popular.  It hasn’t been hosted for some time but because I still get enquiries and hits on my site I thought I would make it available again. It has a disgusting colour scheme but you may find the functionality useful.

Sorted is a freeware file utility, developed  because I wanted a way to easily sort my large collection of Mp3′s into folders ready for burning onto CD (this was before affordable DVD burners, way back in time).  However it can be used for any or all file types and will create folders of your specified size.  It has a randomize function which is ideal for creating compilations and can also be used to copy any file type on your system or network to the folder(s) you specify.

Download it here