The occasional scrivener

[This is basically just a convenience post as I can never remember how to do this.]

I have a Casio G-Shock watch (GW-2000) with the 5060 module. This watch can be synced by radio time signal, but unfortunately it doesn’t work where I live. So I have to reset the time manually now and then, as the watch gains about 15 seconds/month.

• Keep Ⓐ depressed for about 5 seconds. The Second Hand will got through Last Signal Reception (Y or N), to READY and then finally to the city code for the selected Home City.
• At the same time, the [4] Left Dial Hand will indicate the currect DST setting for the Home City (STD or DST).
• If you wish to switch DST settings, press Ⓑ to switch them.
• To set the time, press Ⓒ to enter time setting mode. The Second Hand and the Left Dial Hand will move to their 12 o’clock positions.
• Press Ⓓ (+) or Ⓑ (-) to move the Minute and Hour hand to the correct time.
• Press Ⓐ to return to timekeeping mode.

Setting the Home City

• Keep Ⓐ depressed for about 5 seconds. The Second Hand will got through Last Signal Reception (Y or N), to READY and then finally to the city code for the selected Home City.
• Change the Home City by pressing Ⓓ to move the Second Hand to the desired Home City. The Hour and Minute hands will move too, wait until these have stopped moving before proceeding.
• Press Ⓑ to toggle DST in the selected city.

Switching time display between Home City and World Time City

• Use Ⓒ to move the Left Dial Hand to SDT or DST. You are now in World Time City mode. You can now use Ⓓ to set the World Time City - the seconds hand will point to it.
• Hold down Ⓑ for about 3 seconds to switch the main time display from the current Home City to World Time City. The Right Dial will now show the time in the Home City.

I guess I wasn’t the only one seduced by Bruce Chatwin’s elegy over the last moleskine notebooks in The Songlines, as Moleskine the company have re-introduced them. I’m a fan of the original hardback notebook, but I wanted to try the softcover version.

Now I’ve read some bad reviews of it online but I figured those people had had in their back pockets or something. I carry mine in the inside pocket of my jacket.

Well it turns out that it started falling apart almost immediately, and after a year of moderate use the bottom of the back pocket had split, allowing stuff to fall out of it. I got a new hardcover instead.

The Volant are coloured, slightly thicker versions of the cahiers. They suck though, as they lack the cahier’s back pocket/flap. This can split too but it’s easy to reinforce with some tape.

The Belkin TuneBase is a FM transmitter for use with the iPhone and iPod. Audio from the iDevice will be sent via low-power FM radio to the car’s stereo.

(The image on Flickr has notes, click on it to see them!)

I used to have a FM-transmitter that attached directly to an iPod, which was compact but the connection was fiddly. In addition, the device worked poorly with the iPhone. There was a lot of interference from the iPhone’s mobile interface.

There are some very good things about this gadget, and a few drawbacks.

When I got it, I was worried that the “pillar” part would interfere with my stick shift. But it’s not a big problem. Once in a while I happen to hit the controls circled around the frequency display but there’s no problem shifting gears.

You should have a look at the placement of the cig lighter in your car before getting one though. It’s optimal if the ligher socket is part of a vertical surface. The frequency display is a bit hard for me to see from the driver’s position; on the other hand, it’s not something that changes a lot.

There’s an option to let the unit scan for a free channel to transmit on. I haven’t used this option, as I found a channel that works for me a long time ago. But when driving long distances this should prove useful.

The part holding the iPhone is rotatable so you can have vertical or horisontal orientation. It’s relatively easy to change playlists etc. using it. It’s much more preferable to having the iPhone lying loose between the seats.

To connect it fully, you need to connect a lead to the headphone jack but this is quickly done. I have a silicone sleeve on my iPhone, it’s a bit tight but not problem to connect.

You control playback and calls with a button below the iPhone, it’s a bit fiddly to double-click to skip tracks.

Sound quality is decent for an FM transmitter. There’s a standard 3.5mm stereo output built into the pillar. You can use that to connect to the stereo if you have that input jack. There’s also a USB socket for more charging options.

Calls work OK if you’re already tuned in to the channel the device is broadcasting on. If not, you’ll have to switch to it, and it takes a few seconds for the Tunebase to be “picked up” by the stereo. If you’re making a lot of calls, and regularly listen to FM radio, this may not be optimal.

The few calls I’ve made have been rather hard to hear, according to my interlocutors.

I’m very happy with the TuneBase, it’s a great way to listen to audio from the iPhone while driving!

I bought a cheap replacement battery for my aging Mini. The old battery had started to lose charge really fast and especially if it was cold outside.

The replacement went well, even if it was really hard to remove the white top and bottom plates without scratching the metal around them. My unit has a dent in the top corner that has pressed the metal inwards. This means that the plastic doesn’t really fit anymore. Oh well.

Next project is to find a cheap 8GB Compact Flash card to replace the hard drive.