This is not the pair that came with my headphones, it’s a brand new pair.

R.I.P. to those bundled with my phone which ceased to work on the left bud. Thankfully, my Griffin Ear Jams will be attached to this relatively cheap headphones so they fit my ears to sound fantastic.

Did You know?

Since the original headphones are bundled with the IPhone, they don’t get their own manual. But buy them stand alone and you get the separate manual which includes a little tid bit I was completely unware of.

I knew you could double click the middle button to skip to the next song but didn’t know triple clicking the middle button went BACK a track. Everyone else probably did though.

***Updated*** Nice Case but doesn’t fit the Cradle: Scroll down for update

Fancy a new IPhone case. I was quite happy to not have one until recently when a friends IPhone received considerable damage. I had also been reluctant as to how much a case would change the slim form of my phone.

I’ve only had the case for a few hours but here are my first but brief impressions.

PROS

I love the look. Pictured left is the case in two colors. I went for the top case which is a matt navy blue, I really like the two toned black and color look.

The plastic is very firm but feels and looks like that material that your not sure whether it is plastic or a type of rubber (but we’ve been assured it is in fact, plastic).

The case has a neat 2 piece clip on design that doesn’t feel like it would fall to pieces upon dropping, it just clips and hugs the Iphone like a puzzle piece.

It will take a small while to get use to the feeling of the case in hand and the accessibility of the buttons which are all okay except for one (see CONS below).

CONS

• There is no screen protection, but I guess many covers do not have it included.
• The accessibility of the cable port is a bit iffy. Once I’ve plugged it in, it can easily become unplugged with movement because the case stops the cable from slotting in fully.

Product Update

The Case is great, I like the look and the protection it provides BUT

It doesn’t allow the IPhone to fit in its cradle, meaning I need to take the casing off every night before placing it in its cradle and putting it back on in the morning.

Having said that, I’ll still use this nice case. For now.

Crazy Machines

This is my favourite game yet. The aim of the game is to manouver equipment and items to satisfy the requirements of the task such as “move the ball into the target zone”. It can be very challenging and sometimes requires some extreme accuracy with timing and placement but I found the completion of tasks to be very satisfying. Well worth the $3.99 I paid for it!

Everest: Hidden Expedition

This little gem is the game I am currently playing from “Big Fish Games, Inc” who are well known for making such games. I’ve just realised it is apart of a series for the IPhone and Touch, just search for Expedition.

Blue Fish games are popular on the PC and those of you familiar with the “Mystery Case Files” series will LOVE this. The basic premise of the game is to find objects in beautifully detailed worlds. Sounds like boring Eye Spy but I’m not the only one who can’t get enough of these. There seems to be free Lite versions you can try also, just type in that “expedition” keyword.

Some People Love iTunes
Clearly, I am not one of them.

Why do I hate it?
It’s a resource hog, takes too long to load, is big and clunky, but most of all there’s the whole sync issue and only being able to sync it on the one computer. Because of this I’m plagued with the notorious messages asking me if I want to delete everything from my phone to apply changes from another computer.

I know this could come down to the way I use it and not knowing all the tricks and what but for god’s sake, just let me drag and drop music and other files where ever I please.

Stupid iTunes.

As of yesterday, I became the proud owner of an Iphone 3GS through Telstra. It wasn’t until today however that I could use the Iphone as an actual phone. I will explain in a post tomorrow why this was the case and how newbies like myself may be able to avoid the delays and challenges I faced in using my Iphone for the first time.

Having To Deal With Telstra

I bought the Apple Iphone 3Gs 32GB version for $1042 outright from Telstra’s T-Life Store on Bourke Street in Melbourne. After being sent upstairs to purchase the Iphone outright, I asked a member of staff  there about it and with hesitation and a look of doubt they said they must refer to their manager for advice.

She returned and asked me if I had services with Telstra and I informed her that I did and wanted to continue my plan with Telstra and that I would be adding a browsing pack to my capped plan so that I could browse the internet on the 3G Network. Straight away she said, okay we can do that and returned minutes later with my new Iphone.

Why Does Telstra Not Want To Sell The IPhone Outright?

Apple and Telstra have a bad relationship. Apple won’t budge on it’s outright Iphone pricing and as such, the amount of money that Telstra makes on outright IPhones is a paltry amount. As a result, Telstra is extremely hesitant to sell the Iphone outright (particularly if there’s limited stock) to customers unless they have a current account.

Why Am I With Telstra?

They do have a good network but most importantly for me, I will probably NOT need a large amount of data each month. This is important because Telstra data rates for mobile users is extremely expensive compared to competitors Optus and Vodafone. I will be getting 300MB (approx 10MB a day) for $30 a month. If my usage is half of that, then i will consider dropping to the $10 a month 150MB (approx 5MB a day) browsing pack. If you want as much data as you can get for good value, I would strongly recommend going with someone else.

When away from WiFi I hope to keep my browsing and the use of Maps to a minimum. Tomorrow I’ll put up a post that may be particularly useful to newbies about getting your Iphone up and running as quick as possible.

Alright, these are nothing new. Sandwich makers. I was feeling a little compulsive during a craving for toasties yesterday and ended up buying a Sunbeam sandwich maker at lunch. The Sunbeam Easy Clean Snack-for-four to be exact.

Oh The Possiblities

I got myself fairly worked up over the types of things I would use my sandwich maker to make. Classics like Baked beans alongside highschool creations like chopped chicken, onion and BBQ sauce. Then there is the brand new territory of using sheets of puff pastry from the freezer to make crispy triangles encasing fillings of my choice. This is what I did last night.

Chicken And Apple Pie

Two seperate pastry pies were the first things I made in the sandwich maker last night. A chicken pie and an apple pie. I just so happened to have filling for chicken pie already and purchased apple pie filling in a can. The method was very simple for both.

• Switch on the sandwich maker to preheat, spray with non-stick spray
• When it is heated, lay on a sheet of thawed pastry (I did half a sheet for the apple pie)
• Push the pastry down so that it creates hollowed areas
• Place the filling in the hollowed areas, not piled too high and not right up to the edges (I heated the chicken pie filling before adding it)
  
• Put an equally sized layer on pastry on top. Press the sides down to seal the pies without burning yourself. Just do this roughly.
• Shut the lid and cook until the pastry is brown and crisp (couple of minutes)
  
• Voila!! Crispy pie toasties
  

Stick To Sandwiches

I might still do the occassional pie, but in this particular sandwich maker and I would say most others, sticking with toasties is the way to go. Far healthier too if I use my favourite whole grain bread and keep the contents simple.

Quick, Easy and Cheap – For the Busy and the Economically Minded

The heading says it all. If you have the space, it should be a staple in the kitchen. You can whip up a decent tasting meal in minutes with health benefits and ease on the wallet. But it’s not a chef, you still have to do your part and use proper ingredients and make it appetising for yourself.

Don’t buy these overpriced, made in crapville, headphones. Many people complain of the sound quality and fit, which I assume are probably closely related, but my gripes differ.

They just don’t seem to last. I’ve had a number of friends with these headphones and we’ve all experienced the same breakage in the same places on the headphones within the span of just several months. We use our headphones a great deal on daily commutes but look after them well, folding them as they should when not in use, one of my friends even keeping it in its own bag.

My next set of in ear headphones that I’ll get once these ones are completely broken (give it a week) will be the noise cancelling  Audio-technica ATH-CK7. They’ll cost me 50% more, but from my experience are 400% better!