Month: August 2016

Computer Keyboards

Computer Keyboards

Over the years I have owned a number of different computer keyboards. These have varied in quality, ease of use and reliabilty. Years ago when I  started work I used an IBM computer. This had a keyboard with a nice solid feel and a firm clicking action. Several years on and these keyboards ,the IBM M series, are a collectors item with some people modifying them to work with modern computers.

Most of the keyboards available today are of two types.

First the membrane keyboard. This has a rubber or plastic membrane below the keys. As they are depressed the membrane forms a contact with the printed circuit board and you see the matching character appearing on the screen.

The second type of keyboard uses mechanical switches. These have a small mechanical switch under each key which closes when you press a key and the character appears on your monitor. These are often referred to as Cherry MX keyboards after the Cherry computer company which first made them popular. Continue reading “Computer Keyboards”

The Brennan B2 Audio System – A User review

B2_1 B2_2

The Brennan B2

The Brennan B2 is made by Brennan Audio a small British company. It is a compact device which allows you to rip CDs and copy music files to the B2’s internal storage for playing back. The B2 also has Internet radio facilities. It can be used as a CD player if you want to play a CD without copying it. One of the B2’s unique features is that provided you have a WiFi connection it has a uniqe IP address and can be accessed via a web browser

The person behind the design of the B2 is Martin Brennan a British electrical engineer. The company has been in business for several years. You can buy Brennan products either from their website or from Amazon. In the UK it is usually quicker (and slightly easier) to order items via the Brennan section on Amazon.

The Brennan B2 is designed with a Raspberry Pi computer at the heart of the machine and is available with storage capacities of 64Gb ,500 Gb, 1 TB and 2 TB. The device is available in two colours black or metallic grey (which is a very dark grey more graphite in shade than gunmetal).

A couple of pictures of the B2 are shown at the top of this article.

Please note that I have no connection with Brennan Audio other being one of their customers. Continue reading “The Brennan B2 Audio System – A User review”

Why Create A Blog ?

Why Create A Blog

A blog. Creating one was a question which used to puzzle me a great deal when I saw other people’s blogs.

My first thoughts on this were:

  1. Do I really have anything to say which I feel I want to share with the Web?
  2. Why a blog when there are things such as Twitter , Facebook and numerous other solutions ?
  3. Is it really worth the effort ?

The answer to the first question is up to other people once I have posted some entries on this site. So if reading these pages you’ll have to bear with me as this blog is just being developed.

The answer to the second question is things such as Twitter and Facebook have their place (I do have accounts on both), but also have their drawbacks. Take Twitter for example.

There are several things I hate about Twitter. First, the 140 character limit makes it difficult at times to say what you mean unless you resort to using lots of abbreviations. Second, the instant update often causes people to tweet without thinking about the impact of their messages. Finally there is the volume of abuse, drivel and rubbish which is posted. Reading Twitter at times reminds me of visiting the local refuse recycling site (or garbage dump if you’re of the American persuassion).

So is a blog worth the effort ?

Well I actually enjoy writing. I find this very therapeutic even when I am writing technical manuals and there are several exercises in creative writing currently living on my PC. A blog seemed a way to satisfy the repressed Joseph Conrad in my psyche. Whether it works or not will be a test of time.