techtoad.com/news techtoad News en-gb Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:16:59 +0000 Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:16:59 +0000 http://techtoad.com/rss techtoad.com rss@techtoad.com (Kirk Saywell) webmaster@techtoad.com (Kirk Saywell) 5 http://techtoad.com/news?month=2010-01#newsid338 Happy 18th Birthday to Saxon from Techtoad Love you lots! xxx Sun, 31 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://techtoad.com/news?month=2010-01#newsid338 http://techtoad.com/news?month=2010-01#newsid337 No, i'm not dead - it's been ages since I posted anything on here. Truth is, i've been very busy with college work, and a bit lazy with my free time. Nothing much has happened over the last few months, Christmas and New Year were good, bought myself a new laptop (customised Dell Latitude E5400) and been cracking down on my computing project which I have finally finished and submitted for assesment! I have just completed my General Studies exams, not too bad, but not feeling confident of a high grade! That aside, I am focusing on the EPQ project I took on towards the end of 2009, CISCO CCNA2 and Electronics Coursework. I'll be learning to drive soon too - gonna be a busy few months! In other news, i've been working with The Jed Cast, formerly with Storm Radio - I've been to a few recording sessions and have been helping out with a few activities outside of the studio. I'll try to mirror some of the PodCasts on the site so that you can download them directly. I'd like to thank the JedCast for including me in the recent episodes, and hope to work with you more in future. Personal life is great, it's nice to spend a bit of time and relax with Saxon when I don't have the pressures of college on, and there is always good 'ol Jed to make college a bit more fun ;) Business news is good - been keeping busy with some private work, and am also happy to introduce a new price scheme that you literally won't believe - more about that soon! I have moved my Linode VPS from Atlanta US, to London UK. Not really much difference, but there is a smaller latency, which I understand is better for multiple small packets, and about the same for continuous or large data transfers.   Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://techtoad.com/news?month=2010-01#newsid337 http://techtoad.com/news?month=2009-11#newsid336 Scan did get my order out to me only one day later than quoted, but I was not refunded the postage. Thankfully, I was able to sign for my items and it did not cause too much of a problem. The NAS' are quite good, they could do with an improvement of the users and share management, and Windows has some trouble calculating used space (because SMB emulates as NTFS and the drives are formatted using EXT2) but they do the job. I was going to buy a third, but in view of some of the minor problems I have had with the Edimax NAS, I am going to look at a QNAP NAS box. Promise I will get some pictures up soon! Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000 http://techtoad.com/news?month=2009-11#newsid336 http://techtoad.com/news?month=2009-11#newsid335 I placed an order yesterday for 2 Edimax NAS Raid servers, total order was a few quid shy of £200, I ordered some time before 11am and paid for NEXT DAY 'GUARANTEED' DELIVERY. I got a text and email alert later at gone 10pm stating that my order had been delayed due to stock shortage. I have heard nothing for 24 hours about my order, and have filed a complaint with Scan's customer service requesting some form of compensation or refund for the postal cost. I am awaiting a response from them, and will update the site when I hear back from them. On a less grumpy note, haven't been keeping this site up to date just recently! Sorry everyone, I'll try and give some more of my time to it. I got my AS, CISCO CCNA and NVQ certificates, will soon be doing my A2 exams and handing in coursework - I've taken on the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) for Computing at the sixth form, hopefully will keep on top of it all - seems to be going ok at the moment. Personal life, can't complain! I am making some major modifications to my home network, will soon post some pictures on the site. A while ago I mounted two of my LCD monitors to the wall to save desk space, looks quite neat - planning on mounting my third wide screen LCD diagonally in the corner of my room - will upload pictures when i'm done. Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000 http://techtoad.com/news?month=2009-11#newsid335 http://techtoad.com/news?month=2009-11#newsid334 I received my certificate for Web Design, I passed at NVQ level 3 - Very happy with that! Just waiting for my official certificates for my AS subjects. Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000 http://techtoad.com/news?month=2009-11#newsid334 http://techtoad.com/news?month=2009-08#newsid333 Got my results today, they were not great, but I am happy with them. I got a B grade for Computing which I am pleased with, made up of an an A for the programming and a B for the fundamentals. I got a D grade for Electronics, was hoping to do better but at least its a pass. I got a D grade for Business Studies, made up of an A grade for Planning and Financing, but a U grade (fail) for Managing. I failed Psychology totally, but its not a problem - Psychology was more of an interest than a career path. I will be continuing at the Sixth Form next year, I will be doing Computing, Electronics, General Studies, Philosophy and CISCO CCNA. I passed my CISCO CCNA 1 and hopefully have passed my Web Design NVQ. Hope everyone else got the results they wanted! Thu, 20 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000 http://techtoad.com/news?month=2009-08#newsid333 http://techtoad.com/news?month=2009-08#newsid332 Day 1: We arrive at the airport in Spain, got pushed out of the queue for passport control by the airport security officer. No idea why! We finally got through passport control and waited for our luggage, which seemed to all be there in tact. We spent a long time looking for our rental car, Amanda was getting much stressed and Rob was on the phone to the rental service seeking help. Mum and I just followed Rob. We finally found the car and were soon driving on our way to the villa, Rob getting used to driving a left-hand drive car on the wrong side of the road. We were getting lost and Amanda was getting stressed again. Eventually, we found the villa, nice place, 3 floors, indoor and outdoor shower, private swimming pool, marble floor, walls and stairs, decent kitchen and bathroom, two double bedrooms and a nice living area. We unpacked and got settled in. We figured we would need to get to know the local area and get some supplies, so we went out looking for shops and restaurants, after much getting lost, and Amanda getting stressed, we finally found a McDonalds, but they did not sell double cheeseburgers, so I had a big mac meal. We found a super market and bought some essentials, including drink, lots of drink! We made our way back to the villa and then had to walk in the scorching 31 degrees C for a take-away pizza and a pint of strongbow. The food was alright; we had some more drink, and then got an early night. Day 2: Got up, had breakfast, then headed to the beach. Amanda was driving this time, so she got stressed. We passed 2 tolls on the same road, then turned around to go trough them again. We were lost. We finally found the beach, but Amanda got very stressed trying to park the car. Rob and I went for a walk to buy a hat and an ice cream, but ended up locked in someone’s private property and had to jump a very high wall to get out. We returned to the beach to meet Amanda and mum, and then soon after spotted a bar, where we both got through a few lagers. Mum bought a pizza for herself, rob and I to share. Amanda got stressed that we didn’t buy any for her, so she bought her own to share with Rob. We made our way back after a long hot day, got lost again, and Amanda got stressed again. When we got in, we quickly got changed and then went out to a really nice restaurant where there was live dinner jazz being played and an expensive but wonderful menu. We made our way back to the villa but my mobile internet had officially failed, so I had to get to bed for there was nothing else to do. Day 3: Lazy day today, we got up late and had breakfast. Spent the morning watching various TV programs on my laptop, then headed off to the local shop to top up on some supplies, i.e. Beer, pukka-pies, pot noodles and some ingredients for dinner. We watched top gear when we got back home, played back gammon and Jenga, I lost both games so had to do the washing up. Rob cooked really nice pasta, chicken and mushroom meal, but forgot to wash the mushrooms, which we were all fine with... Except Amanda who got stressed. (Nobody died or got ill) We all went out for a swim, and were throwing goggles around playing piggy in the middle until 10pm when it got dark. We all came inside, had some drinks, sat down to watch a film, I ate a pot noodle and then went to bed. Day 4: We decided to go to a water park today, expensive to get in, very long queue, but was an impressive place. We all went on the outdoor zigzag slides, but Rob lost his necklace and Amanda smashed her knee on a rock. I spent the rest of the day listening to my iPod while Rob read his book. We had a nice picture taken before Amanda got injured though, so that was good. We went home and decided to get a curry. I came up with a cunning scheme to exploit the free bottle of wine with every order over 20€ by sending in Amanda and Rob to order separately, their acting skills were epic and so we got 2 free bottles of wine. The evening was spent enjoying the curry which was very nice, and then drinking until we fell asleep. Day 5: Today we went to the market and town to look for gifts and stuff. I bought some gifts for Saxon; the others bought various items for themselves. We decided to get some lunch and Rob and I pointed out a nice little cafe Amanda was not happy and caused a scene, so we had to leave. We got to the town centre where mum and Mandz broke into an argument about the time we would leave for the airport on our last day, Rob and I felt rather embarrassed by the scene they were causing and in the end, we headed off to another small cafe, the staff did not understand English and it was difficult to order. They made a few mistakes, but finally we all got our food, I had a strongbow and a cheeseburger. We made our way back to the villa and stopped off to buy a BBQ on the way back. Now, I'm writing this and the others are in the pool. We all went out for a really nice steak meal which was really good value and very nice food. We went back to the villa and were in bed shortly. Day 6: Today was great fun, while Amanda and Mum got roasted on the beach, Rob and I went to get roasted at the pub. We started off with a few lagers and played some pool, 2 games, 1 all. We moved on to some strongbow, and I kept switching between a few brews of lager and cider. We had great food in the pub; ironically, it was called "the pub". We were there for 5 to 6 hours getting drinks in, but I must have had a few too many because in our last half hour, I spewed all over the outside of the toilet door in front of everyone, and more in the toilet itself. The bar staff made me clean up my mess, but good old Rob helped out. Mum and Mandz picked us up shortly after we had cleared my mess, they were not pleased, and Amanda got stressed about Rob using his card to buy in some lunch and more beer. I felt fine after throwing up, so was fairly soba and was able to enjoy a BBQ up on the roof. I stayed up quite late chatting to Saxon but eventually got to sleep, no hangover at all! Day 7: went to a safari park today, watched the seals, birds and elephants perform in shows, and had a look around at the various tigers and other interesting animals. Managed to find a drink can with my initials on it, which was the highlight of my day! We headed back home and had a splash about in the pool, where I managed to push Rob in and got it on video! We also did a video of Rob trying to run across the water! We all went out for Mexican/USA food which was very nice, but I had to help finish everyone’s except Robs. Amanda didn’t seem to get stressed today, which is weird... We came home and went straight to bed. Day 8: Last day, Amanda was getting stressed because we all wanted her to be ready on time and get packing, but she was sure we would have plenty of time and didn’t want to leave until later. It was a long day of packing, waiting around, getting through the airport etc, but we finally made it and arrived back in England at 9:45pm (UK Time), then after getting home, went to town to get a dominos pizza (Buy one get one free on Tuesdays!). I will soon be adding photos to a new gallery, but as it is my first day back, I haven't got round to getting the photos from everyone yet, so they should be up in the next few weeks. Wed, 12 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000 http://techtoad.com/news?month=2009-08#newsid332 http://techtoad.com/news?month=2009-08#newsid331 So I am leaving England today to go on holiday to Spain. Little concerned about the heat and possibility of catching the flu, but will try to make the best out of it, its the travelling I really enjoy. Going to miss Saxon and all my mates while i'm away! Hope everyone is having a good summer break, take care! Mon, 03 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000 http://techtoad.com/news?month=2009-08#newsid331 http://techtoad.com/news?month=2009-07#newsid330 Hello World! It's been a fairly different past few weeks for me. I regret to announce that I have grown apart from a dear friend recently, but have met many new people. I have finally broken up from college for the holiday term, I will be off to Spain in a few weeks time, i'm not sure if I am looking forward to it, or worrying about the climate change! It will be my birthday in just 2 days (Thursday, 23rd July), looking forward to a day out! I plan on changing my mobile network plan soon, but my number will NOT be changing. I have recently had some private work from a friend, which has kept me busy and in good finance (Thanks Chris!) Saxon and I have been plotting world domination and getting to know each other better, so far so good! I have had the pleasure of going out around Colchester dressed smartly as "The Master" from Doctor Who, as a request from Saxon - thankfully, and quite strangely, I already owned all of the clothes required, felt quite confident actually! We had great fun at the fair on Old Heath, despite it bucketing down with rain on the way home, still - I think it was worth it I have plans to dye my hair electric blue once again, hoping for something a little more perminant this time though! I am getting a little nervous about my AS results due in August, I am still defeated by the common rubicks cube (with the exception of taking it to pieces and putting it back completed). Hope everyone is doing ok! Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0000 http://techtoad.com/news?month=2009-07#newsid330 http://techtoad.com/news?month=2009-07#newsid329 Happy 22nd Birthday to Amanda (Face) from Techtoad! Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0000 http://techtoad.com/news?month=2009-07#newsid329