Time to move

Everything is now over at www.yummypies.co.uk. Including my rant about o2 broadband and apple censoring a dictionary.

Gig Mini-Review

I meant to post this on Sunday, the day after the gigs, but as usual I can't commit to anything. So here we go.

Buckcherry - Corporation - Supported by The Crave, Heaven's Basement and Dear Superstar

Well this is the one that I paid for, and it was well worth it. I arrived late and was just in time to catch the start of Heaven's Basement (sorry The Crave) who, were as usual, top notch. They never fail to impress and I expect big things when they do eventually get an album out of the door. Moving on to Buckcherry (I skipped Dear Superstar because I can't stand them) they played all the classics, like Sorry, Onset and Broken Glass, and the stuff off their new album such as Rescue Me. They finished with Crazy Bitch and then did a single song encore of Onset.

My ratings - Heaven's Basement ****

Buckcherry ****

Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster - DQ - Part of Tramlines Festival 2009

The freebie. This gig was part of the Tramlines Festival held at various venues around the city, with a 5000 capacity stage on Devonshire Green in the City Centre. When there are names such as Little Boots and Pixie Lott playing on the same night as you only down the road, you need to have something special to attract a crowd and Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster (EMBD) have that something. I'm not the biggest fan but my girlfriend is and I went to accompany her after Buckcherry. I know a few songs and I enjoyed hearing them live, DQ is a small venue (maybe around 300 max) but it was packed to the rafters and the crowd were bouncing all the way through the 2 hour set. I thoroughly enjoyed it and so did everyone else from what I can tell.

My ratings - EMBD ****

The Karoo Afffair

I find the whole Karoo affair which erupted on BBC News very intriguing. The ISP had been disconnecting users accused of illegal filesharing, without warning. Karoo is the only ISP in Hull due to the lack of BT lines in the city - all the lines are owned by Kingston Communications, Karoo's parent company.

Whilst this may seem okay to some, it strikes me as being completely over the top. Access to the internet is almost a given right these days and that right should not be abused. They seem to have bowed to the pressures of the music industry and its file sharing paranoia. Karoo, though, has now bowed to peer pressure; not just from its users but from the general public of the UK. They have adopted a "three strikes" rule (three written warnings and you're out) which is in line with BT and Virgin Media.

Disconnection should only happen after the user has been taken to court and found guilty. Although I firmly believe that the music industry needs to change their attitude towards file sharing and embrace it, rather than alienating everyday consumers, but that is a whole different kettle of fish.

The Social

Look to the right of the page. See that below my Twitter feed where it says "Followers". That's for you! Follow me on Blogger and Twitter people. The more the merrier. I occasionally post little nuggets of wisdom and information that I feel the world needs to know. So... you know what to do if you don't want to miss out, press follow.

If you don't have a Google Friend Connect account though, you're gonna be needing one.

I Almost Forgot ...

... I'm going to see Buckcherry tonight at Corporation. I can't wait. The albums of theirs which I own (15 and Black Butterfly) are amazing.

After Buckcherry and a lot of umming and ahhing I might be going to see Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster at DQ as part of the free Tramlines Festival. Hopefully it won't be too busy, but a free gig attracts a lot of attention so I might not get in.

The temptation to stay in Corporation is great.

Google Latitude

I just don't get it. Why would you want to show your friends (and maybe strangers) where you are? If your friends or family want to know where you are then surely they can just text you or ring you. I can't see my mum hopping onto Latitude to see where I am when no-one answers the house phone, she will ring me and ask.

Another point that strikes me as stupid about it as well is the lack of a native iPhone app. This is apparently down to Apple thinking users will get it confused with the Maps app (via TUAW.) Anyone that downloads Latitude is going to know what its for. Apple needs to let go of the reins a little and give the App Store some freedom. The lack of push notifications must annoy the hell out of Latitude users.

If you use Latitude tell me why you do in the comments. Also if you are on an iPhone let me know how the experience is.

Cats 'n' That

Cats - Mine and Carrie's cat had five kittens on the 16th. Cute little things that couldn't see for the first week of their lives. Sadly one of them (who I named Paul in honour of the Family Guy episode) died in the evening on the 22nd. The other four are okay though. Three of them have good homes and will be leaving us in about 7 weeks time. One does not and will probably become as annoying as our other pets (a dog named Loci and Bela.)

That - The living room is nearly finished, woo! The day we moved in this place we found out there was a rather large problem in the cellar - dry rot - the floor was taken up and the plaster removed up to half-way up the wall. The floor has been relaid and the re-plastering and re-painting is done. The carpet arrives on Monday so we can finally get stuff into the living room and have a "normal" house again. Hopefully it won't be too long before my Dad gets that HDTV he promised then the Freesat HD box can be ordered!