Nokia N96 - Connection problems/iplayer not working?

Right so I've upgraded my mobile and as I was impressed with my N95 8GB I thought I may as well go for the N96 not realising it was going to be a fussy little bugger.

While testing it out i wanted to check out the BBC iplayer so went about connecting it to my Netgear (as I've always done with my N95) but nooooo the N96 rejects it with "no gateway reply" so after pissing around with all the settings on it I did what we all do when we don't know what to try next, I googled it :-)

For some reason while the N95 was quite happy with a WPA setup Nokia have decided that the N96 will only connect through a WEP setup. So I reset my netgear to WEP and it works but then you have to go change all the settings on anything that connects through the wireless network, laptop, PS3 etc etc

Now its working I love it, takes about 3 mins to download a 30 minute episode off the iplayer and it browses the internet at a fair pace.

I can see why so many people got pissed with the N96 but with a bit of patients getting the settings sorted its a top phone.

Snow, snow & more snow

And I love it

I'm really enjoying the recent snow falls, its seems like forever since England has seen this much snow it reminds me of been a kid so much, what I don't remember is the whole country coming to a stand still just because of the white stuff, i mean come on its only snow.

Personally I love it, I really enjoy just being stood outside while the snow falls down covering everything pure white it just makes everything look so much better, I personally really enjoy driving in the snow to, it was Monday when the snow really fell and I wondered why no one was driving up station hill, well that's until I got half way up and came to a stand still with the wheels just spinning.

So i rolled back and tried to slowly accelerate forward, nope that's not going to work, role back again and just plant it, span for a while until the tyres got through the snow to the tarmac and yay some grip but the wasn't the end.

At near the top of station hill there is a right hand bend that I had to get round on a full left hand lock, its ace I'm really enjoying myself by this time.

Sad to say after that it was a pretty easy drive home, had a bit of a lock up but that was it.

So here is to the snow and that in England we really do get to see all the seasons (hopefully we'll get a good summer)

See ya

Booked it, haven't packed yet & can't wait to fook off

This years holiday is now booked after we finally found when my wife and i could actually both get the same week off (although we've already had to change the dates once already)

So in June we are off to the Mareblue Cosmopolitan in Ixia in Rhodes and while we were planning a cheap self catering holiday some how we ended up with a lovely four star hotel on all inclusive (I do love all inclusive, Suzie gets her monies worth in food while I favour a more liquid diet)

This is somewhere i've never been before so i'm really looking forward to it, the resort of Ixia is right next to Rhodes Town so there will be lots to do and see.

Here are a couple of pictures of where we are off to.

Happy New Year

Hope you all had a fantastic christmas and a very merry new year & i wish you all the best for 2009, here are some pics of how i saw in the new year.

I got bored..... so

I dyed my beard green, why I hear you say, well why not :-)


Should anyone else fancy doing the same here are my tips

1. If you have a very dark beard (like myself) bleach it first, I used Jolen cream bleach (i think i should of bleached it twice though)

2. Use special effects hair colour, they have loads of very bright colours (if you want black/brown then use just for men)

3. Stand back and enjoy your crazy coloured beard :-)

PS3 Games - His & Hers

For Him

GTI Club +

I loved this game when i was a young teenager, having spent many of my 50p coins in the arcade in Barmouth on this game i was really looking forward to its release onto the ps3 and I'm not at all disappointed. The game has had a face lift but it has kept its core a no nonsense old school racing game with lots of handbrake turns and cheeky shortcuts to find :-) This game is very addictive.

What PSN had to say about it

When Konami's GTI Club hit arcades in 1996, it received praise for its graphics, the open nature of its beautiful Côte d'Azur setting and its frantic arcade game play that had players screeching around corners and weaving through traffic in their European mini-cars. Think of the Italian Job, and you'll get a good idea of the overall look and mood.

It has been brought into the 21st century, retaining all of the charm that wooed arcade goers during the 90s. It's only available from PlayStation Store.


For Her

Little Big Planet

Well i can't say too much about this game at the moment as I've played it for all of 2 minutes and managed to kill my little sack boy but visually the game does look amazing and with the feature to be able to build and play other peoples built levels online the game is kind of never ending which is a big plus on the value for money side of things. I lost count on the amount of times i heard Suzie say "I should go to bed" as she started another level saying "this is the best game ever"

What PSN had to say

As Sackboy, choose costumes, accessories and colours to suit your own style and start exploring LittleBigPlanet, a huge world with objects to collect and puzzles to solve, all requiring a combination of brains and teamwork.

You have the power to design, shape and build objects or entire locations for others to play with. As you discover more of LittleBigPlanet, your skills will grow and you will be ready to start creating and modifying Sackboy’s surroundings.

Whether you spend five minutes making a simple puzzle or five hours designing a completely new game, the next step in LittleBigPlanet is sharing your creative genius. Players can invite anyone within the LittleBigPlanet community to come and explore their creation while they go and explore everybody else’s.

Just a thought

In light of the recent VAT reduction does that mean Poundland are now going to be 98p land :-)