I have been for a couple of cycle rides with some friends, which has given me the chance to try out my new gadget, namely the Muvi Atom Digital Video Recorder. Apparently it is the smallest video camera in the world.
The version I bought came with a ‘sports kit’ which enables it to be mounted almost anywhere. Ski goggles, helmet, handlebars. If these fittings are not good enough it is small and light enough to allow one to velcro/gaffer tape it to your desired object. Continue reading “Muvi Atom”
On Friday Mia will be exactly 5 months old. So what has she been up to since I lasted posted about her developments? Continue reading “Almost 5 months old”
I have been cycling a lot recently. Why, I hear you ask? Well the London Cycle Challenge is up and running. The idea is that you form a team and then try to rack up as many miles as you can during June.Wisely Transport for London have organised teams into a number of categories:
Category 1 : 2-10 members Category 2 : 11-50 members Category 3 : 51-100 members Category 4 : 101+ members
To make it fairer each category is also split into social groups and workplaces.
So how is team FOTL doing? Well, bearing in mind we only have four members, not too bad. To date we are languishing at number 3, below Team SK and 59 miles behind the Category 1 leader, London Rollergirls.
Last week we topped up our mileage to the tune of 50 miles by doing an evening cycle along the Thames to Woolwich. It looks like this will doing this again on Thursday although the weather is looking nasty with several storms heading our way. Oh well, what’s a little rain between friends…
It’s funny how things turn out. I was at work and a colleague received an email from these guys with an amazing offer for the worlds smallest mini dv camera. With the discount it was a touch over £15. I had to have one! A few days later the little gadget arrived. I wasn’t expecting much. Yes, the manual was unreadable and yes, the device felt quite flimsy but for fifteen smackers what can one expect? As long as it works. I took the tiny camera out of the box and dropped it on the floor. Oops. I then realised that the lens didn’t seem to be in middle of the casing. I poked it and it moved. I though maybe that it was wired and had a little ‘give’.
I then proceeded to charge the camera. I waited and waited and waited. Several hours later the little red light was still lit. I powered it on and the little red light was still lit. I tried to power it off but again the light would not turn off. I then decided to open up the little beastie. To my dismay I found that the lens assembly had popped off the main circuit board. I plugged it back in but by now it had royally been toasted. No lights, nada.
A couple of days later I decided to purchase something a little more robust so I took the plunge and bought the pukka article, namely a Veho Muvi Atom.
Veho Muvi Atom – it’s small!
The difference in build quality is like chalk and cheese. The body is made from alloy and the switches are proper ones, not spongy push buttons. Moreover, the thing worked and the results are very impressive. I have read in many forums that the muvi clones are pretty much on a par with the real muvi devices. This I don’t doubt. What I am very dubious about is their longevity. Yes, it costs £15 but if it expires after a few months then personally I’d rather get something a little more robust. I think this one will take South London’s potholes with aplomb.
How much did I pay for the Muvi Atom? Ahem. £60(said in a low voice).
So there you have it. I bought a camera on a whim because it was cheap and ended up spending four times as much. So like I say, it’s funny how things turn out…
Now that I regularly commute 24+ miles in a day, I really need to think about keeping my energy at optimum levels throughout my ride. A couple of times on the way back home I have bonked/hit the wall. Both times it happened as I was cycling through Peckham :-(.
So I did a little research and found that you can make your own energy drink which will do the job just as well as shop bought varieties and only costs 40p per litre. Continue reading “Energy drink for cycling”
Amy flew to the USA this morning. The ash cloud restrictions have been eased in recent days, meaning that flights can resume even with light ash in the atmosphere.
It was late, it was a Friday evening. I was scurrying around getting my bits and bobs ready for the ‘big ride’, and getting more excited by the minute. Brighton here we come!I decided to take my rack bag so that I could carry the essentials in an efficient manner.
We have been trying to get Mia used to drinking from a bottle. This is because Amy and myself have to take a trip next week and we have to leave Mia and Jake with family. Therefore, we need her to take a bottle.
The annoying thing is that when we was a few weeks old she did indeed take an occasional bottle but we didn’t persevere and so she has lost the knack. Continue reading “Please drink from your bottle”
Well, it’s official. We have a hung parliament. The Conservatives won the most seats but fell short of the 326 or more to secure victory. Final results shown here
This means that no party has majority control in the House of Commons and therefore cannot win parliamentary votes without the support of the other parties.
In my constituency of Lewisham Deptford, Labour won as expected. The Greens did worse than the last election but the good news is that the Lib Dems gained a 3.6% swing from Labour.
In Lewisham we also had mayoral and local council elections. In Ladywell the Greens were outed comprehensively by a sea of red, which is a shame because they did a lot of good work here :-(. Let’s be positive and hope that the new majority Labour controlled council perform well.
What happens next? Well, the existing government needs to form a coalition. There are no rules as far as I know whether the second placed party get first dibs. Ideologically Labour should choose the Lib Dems but morally speaking the Tories got more votes therefore should be asked first. In reality I expect it will be a robust dialogue between the top three parties and the party that eventually wins will be the one that commands most support in the new parliament.
