SteelSkin.net – The Ramblings of Chris Nutt

Dalgety Bay’s New Speed Sign

24th April 2009 - Category: Design,Life

Gah, brgh, ngh, argh!!!

This is terrible www.smileysid.co.uk, we just got one in Dalgety Bay. What next road signs in Comic Sans? 50 Foot “little person onboard” signs next to schools?

This country is hoofed.

The New Hotness

10th April 2009 - Category: Life

Puma in Kirkcaldy

Well here it is, my new mota, the Ford Puma. So far I am loving it, as the kids say.

It is a wee bit more sporty and luxurious. The fuel economy works out the same as my old Ka. I am currently purchasing bits and bobs for it, like mats and an extra key.

It was Top Gear car of the Year 1997 ;)

The hifi is good as it has line in, the speakers are ‘acceptable’ rather than great. They really lack punch.

I am cuurently selling the Ka on ebay, so hopefully I will be down to one car soon.

Will miss the old thing, but the Puma is cut from the same stock and so is good fun to drive.

The Curious Case of PlayTV and Aerials

9th April 2009 - Category: Life,Tech and Computers

PlayTVWords can not describe how weird my TV signal is. I live close to a very good transmitter, with immediate line of sight being just blocked by the cusp of a hill. I also live very far away from (30 miles) from another transmitter, but with perfect line of sight. This means I get one strong, but incomplete spectrum of signals combined with another complete, but weak set of signals.

I have a HUGE loft aerial, that can only fit in certain angles due to its 1.5+ metre length. I always used to use this pointed roughly at the weak, but complete transmitter. This works for my Samsung TV’s DVB-T and my old dual DVB-S/T set top box.

My dream is a three plug home setup; 42″ Plasma, PS3 and Home Cinema amp/speakers. For maximum simplicity. The amp should never have to change source, the TV never change source either.
Now and then I will plug in a 4th device, currently an Xbox 360. PVRing should be achievable via one mains socket, so I can switch everything else off.

As mentioned, I have a crazy TV signal. I have tweaked and tweaked my loft aerial and I always end up loosing a channel I don’t want to, annoyingly the channels I couldn’t care about are persistently hanging on. I am now either using an enormous aerial or a very small one. I bought a DVB-T stick a while back, it came with a tiny aerial with a magnet in the base. If I connect that up to the bare metal joint in my front window I get all the channels I want, aside from Dave (but I get Dave Deja Vu). I bought a £5 aerial, that didn’t work as well, but is enough for my spare room TV.

Gah, at least it works.

PLEASE SONY GIVE ME A FREESAT PLAYTV!

Dave and Rosie’s Wedding

2nd March 2009 - Category: Life

Inside the EICA I had a great time at Dave and Rosie’s wedding at EICA in Ratho. It was a wonderful setting and the company was great.

Dave and Rosie are away now on their honeymoon in Japan, snowboarding and lying on beaches :D

I hope they have a great time.