Charanjit Chana

I've been uploading some photos throughout the day here at FOWD. Take a look at the slideshow below, or check out my Flickr set.

As we speak only photos I could Bluetooth to my phone have been added, will upload some more from my More photos added from my minimo later!

Over the weekend I ordered the Toshiba Camelio H29 camera and it arrived yesterday. The quality is great in good light and not so amazing in low light, but at £165 I don't really expect a HD camera with every bell and whistle.

It is a little dissapointing that it wasn't slightly better, but it's small, plastic and full HD so there's not much to complain about!

Check out my YouTube playlist which I'll update with more HD content soon!

I've been looking for a decent HD camcorder since January after seeing a number of offerings from both Toshiba and Samsung. Samsung's DMX-R10 looked like it was going to win the battle, but with a US release date for early May, I have yet to see a European date and that pushes me too close to the honeymoon to allow me to wait for it.

My next choice, up until this morning, was the Toshiba Camileo P30 which is a small form, full HD (1080p) pistol grip camcorder that was well priced for it's feature set. However, some reviews have put me off and I am now looking at the Toshiba H20 instead. A more traditional looking camcorder that has a similar ability, but the following example on YouTube has really put this at the top of my list.

If possible, please watch these videos in HD!

(Toshiba Camileo H20)

After a bit more research, the P30 wasn't far behind, but the quality difference is enough to make me stump up the extra cash:

(Toshiba Camileo P30)

Not sure when I'll be getting either as I have to sort some finances out, but hopefully I'll be posting some test footage soon!

I've often said to friends that when I get my own place, I'm going to trick it out. At the moment, I have a wall mounted TV and Sky but what I really want is a NAS/streaming solution.

I've seen some, but Mac compatiblity is always a worry.

The AppleTV would seem to be the answer however space is limited. At < £200, it's not that badly priced for the base model, but at £250ish for extra storage, an extra 120Gb just isn't good enough.

I've thought about a Mac Mini but haven't decided on anything yet.

Apple's stuff is just too irresistible to me at the moment, plus I know it works.

Maybe when I get my own place!

As part of a proejct at work, I needed access to a .Mac/MobileMe account, so I decided to sign up for the 90-day free trial that Apple are offering. To be honest, I just don't get it!

MobileMe looks amazing. Very Mac, very slick and 3 out of the 4 times I've logged in, it's worked! The other time, it just timed out again and again.

I already sync work and home calendars through Google and my iPod Touch is more than capable of working alongside Gmail.

I do love the way, if my Mac was on, that I would be able to browse through my hard drive, but at £60ish a year, it's just too much money. To me, a NAS makes far more sense and with the big G being free, that MobileMe just doesn't seem like good value for money.

If you want to get at me through MobileMe, I very much doubt i'll be using it beyond the trial, my address is cchana@me.com

Towards the end of 2008, my contract came up for renewal and I was looking to move to another network. I had picked my phone of choice, but I was some way off from getting it due to it's price as a PAYG phone.

Since I'm getting married in under 3 months, I knew a contract was going to be a bit of a waste so I opted to go the PAYG route anyway. Fast forward to February/March '09 and it's time to get my finger out and move.

And move I did. I'm now rid of T-Mobile and part of O2! I also got the phone I wanted by parting with some cash. I didn't want to spend that much, but I really liked the phone a lot and felt I deserved something new after 4 years of the same phone. I went for the phone I had previously mentioned, the Nokia 6600 fold.



I bought the phone last week but refrained from blogging about it because of a faulty outter screen. An unsightly green line appeared once the phone was switched on for the first time. Over the next few days the line faded, but green pixels were present when white ones were expected. I was glad that I was able to exchange the phone for another and the issue is now resolved. I think I'll be blogging again as I get to grips with the Symbian software (a step down from the N70) and a flip phone, something I've not had for over 6 years and never had in Nokia form.

My faulty screen ordeal was made worse after I also purchased a new phone for my Mum, the Samsung J-700. Although the phone is a fairly new model, it was actually a step down from her previous Samsung, which was annoying. Thankfully I was able to exchange it for an U-600. Hopefully an equal to her previous one, if not better!

Now that I have a fully functioning phone, I have unwrapped it from the flimsy plastic film and am able to hold it properly, I hope to be able to make a quick transition. The change is minimal really, but enough to frustrate.

JavasScript provides some useful mathematics, here are some reminders of how to round up and down.

If you need to round a number to the nearest whole one:

Math.round(0.5)

This would equal 1.

Math.round(0.4)

This would equal 0.

If you need to round down:

Math.floor(0.5)

This would equal 0.

Math.floor(0.4)

This would also equal 0.

If you need to round up:

Math.ceil(0.5)

This would equal 1.

Math.ceil(0.4)

This would also equal 1.

Transformers was one film I thought was would be absolutely stunning in HD. I was wrong and dissapointed that it wasn't. In fact, it's one of the worst examples. Played on a Blu-ray device, I felt the DVD copy offered similar quality. The biggest noticeable difference is the grain in dark scenes, something friends have said was inevitable, but watch the Dark Knight and you will see how wrong they are. In fact, my MacBook had better output quality than the Transformers Blu-ray disc!

Anyway, this post is about good examples. I have a limited selection of Blu-rays right now, but I'm thinking of signing up for LoveFilm and renting more. Here are my top 3 best examples:

Dark Knight

Excellent film and the detail is just amazing. Batman Begins also looks great, but Dark Knight has a few IMAX scenes that just blow you away when they go full screen.

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Christmas 2008 was a good one. Not many presents changed hands but it was nice to enjoy a lazy day with my family. I received a couple of Blu-ray films, Wall-E and I Am Legend and caught up with a few Sky+'d programs as well as enjoying the various Christmas offerings on the BBC, Dave and Sky Sports!

Come Boxing Day and I was out and about trying to grab a bargain but because of the media's constant bleak outlook on the near future there isn't much to be had.

The only plus point from a pretty drab Boxing Day was Liverpool's victory over Bolton. Another two goals from Robbie Keane at the Anfield Road End and Albert Riera's inventive finish to get things gowing was a great, late, Christmas present for all the Reds around the world. Being top at Christmas was a wonderful feeling and one I haven't enjoyed for 12 years, but I hope it lasts until May because a 19th title would just be something special and would be yet another item that really marks 2009 as a stand out year in my life.

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One thing I've spoken to friends about most when discussing HD is grain. Transformers is an awful example of HD in my opinion. With large portions of the film filmed in low light, grain is evident throughout. I have been assured by both friends and in forums that this is normal. Batman Begins proves otherwise.

The film was glorious. Colours looked amazing and the level of detail was superb. I know that my TV still needs to be fine tuned, so I can only imagine how good things will look once this is done.

I actually purchased the limited edition Batman Begins and Dark Knight combo box and will be watching part the second one later this week. I really can't wait!