paulobrien's blog » Random

The best way to spend money abroad / online…

Paul — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 22:39:57 +0000

If there’s one thing that annoys me, it’s the way that banks screw you over when you do transactions in non native currency. Whether that’s purchases in the Android Market or holidaying abroad, it’s pretty annoying to get home and find a bunch of charges you weren’t expecting.

Over the past few years we’ve been using a FairFX card. I have a Euros card and a Dollars card – they are basically prepaid mastercards that you top up from your regular debit card and then use as required.

The FairFX card has always been excellent, but lately it’s gained a whole extra load of awesome so I thought i’d share it with you all. I really like…

no transaction fees!
previous card issue fee of £9.95 waived when you sign up with this link
currency rates that beat just about everyone
instantly updated balance online (great for keeping track of funds abroad)
easy to top up (I top up often from my mobile!)
no fees for adding funds (including no fees from your debit card provider)
available in dollars and euros
top ups are virtually instant
accepted everywhere that takes mastercard credit cards

The FairFx card also makes it a lot easier to keep track of what you’re spending while you’re away… I tend to preload it with my budgeted funds, and when / if it runs out, I know I need to cut down on the beer.

The card normally has a £9.95 issue fee, but this is waived if you sign up via a referrer link such as mine. Each buddy you sign up also nets you £2.50… but I blog this genuinely – it has really saved me a ton of hassle on my foreign trips!

Lucie skiing in Chatel

Paul — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 16:41:00 +0000

Here’s a little video of Lucie skiing in Chatel last week (recorded with a BulletCam HD on my helmet).

It really is quite amazing how well children take to things like skiing… Lucie had some lessons on the dry slope in Norwich then took to real snow with no problem at all… low centre of gravity + no fear seems to be the perfect recipe!

She’s keen to swap her skis for a snowboard now… excellent!

Easy cooking for blokes – Slow-cooked Root Vegetable Soup

Paul — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 11:48:28 +0000

Just cooked up a batch of Delia’s delicious slow-cooked root vegetable soup. It’s hard to describe how easy this is to make and yet how tasty it is! You can find the recipe here at Delia Online… try it and let me know your thoughts!

Prepped…

Pre-whiz…

Post-whiz and ready to go (just add a part bake baguette, some greek yoghurt, chives and black pepper to taste!)

Trying to leave LinkedIn… AGAIN!

Paul — Mon, 11 May 2009 17:15:05 +0000

Take 2!

Why is closing my account so damn hard – shame on you LinkedIn…

Eees are good!

Paul — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 10:30:20 +0000

Ingredients:

1 x Samsung 40″ LCD TV
1 x Asus EeeBox B202
1 x 2GB SODIMM
1 x Samsung 2GB USB stick
1 x VESA adaptor
1 x MCE IR adaptor
1 x Hauppauge HVR 900 USB tv card
2 x packets of rubber tap washers
1 x Windows 7 install DVD

Directions:

Upgrade EeeBox B202 RAM before configuring with latest Windows 7 build – use 2GB USB stick for ReadyBoost. When installation is complete, mount EeeBox VESA bracket (included with EeeBox) to VESA adaptor using screws provided with adaptor. Use 2 rubber tap washers to space from bracket. Next, mount VESA adaptor to back of television, again using supplied screws, with 1 tap washer to avoid possibility of damage to TV back surface. Finally, mount EeeBox to VESA bracket. Connect MCE IR adaptor and Hauppauge HVR 900 TV card via USB.

EeeBox can now be used as media center machine (bear in mind GMA950 graphics on B202, B204 or B206 may suit better), as well as a NAS box with it’s Gigabit Ethernet.

Yield:

Serves 3…

Chains that fit!

Paul — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 09:34:18 +0000

Following on from the earlier snow chains debacle… this is what they’re supposed to look like!

Maximum kudos SCC to for their excellent customer serveice, if you EVER need snow chains for your vehicle, they are the people to speak to!

I am not an Australian soap actor

Paul — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 08:47:03 +0000

Randomly, there seems to be an Australian soap actor called Paul O’Brien. Erm… that’s not me (for those that are visiting the blog, and even posting comments on that basis)…

Having said that, seems that my namesake isn’t really an actor in ‘Home and Away’ any more! From Wikipedia…

Paul made his first appearance as Constable Jack Holden on August 5, 2005, Episode 4020. He arrived with his brother Lucas Holden and Father Tony Holden. Jack soon fell for Martha McKenzie, and the two later married, only to divorce later in 2007. Jack then married Sam, however this did not last, as Jack was still in love with Martha, and Sam died. Martha and Jack had re-married after a heartfelt wedding. On the season finale of Home and Away 2008, Jack was shot in the heart by his fellow workmate Angelo. Jack was found dead by his father Tony at the end of the 2009 Series Return – his death is a big shock for Home and Away fans.

Being shot in the heart – even in TV soap-land – is pretty final…

Testing the embeddable video widget

Paul — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 08:41:51 +0000

Just a quick video post to test the video widget in my blog theme!

Theoretically by posting a link to this video (CamerAware demo!), it should also show up on the right hand side of my theme!

The incredible journey…

Paul — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 21:34:30 +0000

Not a bad day’s driving eh…. view the tracker map (courtesy of CamerAware)!

A long day, a lot of miles, but effortless on those lovely French roads… 65 Euros of tolls not so good! The benefit – short journey up from Geneva the following day and hello Avoriaz and the slopes! Yay!

Problem with my ball…

Paul — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:30:07 +0000

Over the past few weeks, the little scrolly ball on my Apple Might Mouse has been misbehaving.

It has gradually got to the point it was at today, whereby scrolling up / left / right works, but down doesn’t. Huh.

After reading around on the web I discovered that this is actually quite common, but there are a whole load of weird and wonderful possible solutions suggested. Incredibly, Apple suggest you hold your mouse upside down and roll the wheel around. Unsurprisingly, that alone didn’t work!

So here’s what I did…

- Get a sheet of blank paper

- Wet the ball of the mouse very slightly

- Hold mouse upside down and roll it around firmly and in all different directions on said piece of paper

Chances are you will see small flecks of dirt on the paper. After doing this, all should be well! It worked for me!

PS Probably worth turning the mouse off before you do this, or your machine will probably go a bit crazy…