Tuesday 19 June 2012

Raspberry Pi - Order Cancelled

To be honest I've gone off the idea of owning a Raspberry Pi, mainly because they 'released' it before they had any proper stock levels of it.

It's been a disappointment from start to finish.  I'm not prepared to pay £5 for 7 week delivery, that's just a joke!

And as for RS to send you email updates saying you can't get yours yet, but have a look at what all the people who have managed to get one have done with theirs is just a smack in the face.

Needless to say I have just cancelled my order with RS so I will no longer be getting my Raspberry Pi.  I may well get one in the future when they actually have them in stock ready to deliver, to be honest I'll probably wait for the inevitable upgrade in a year or so's time.

I hope they get stock levels right for Christmas (yes I know it's months away) as it could be a huge hit for them.


Friday 8 June 2012

Raspberry Pi - Order Placed

Well, there's no looking back now - I've just placed my order for a Raspberry Pi from RS Components as per the email I received the other week.

On closer reading of the email it doesn't actually say how long delivery takes, what it actually says is "On placing your order, we will advise you when we are likely to be able to send you your Raspberry Pi." it then goes on to say that "Payment will be taken at the time of your order."

That means that they get hold of my money straight away and I may not receive it for a few weeks!

Well here goes, I'm about to purchase my £22 computer...

Nothings ever as it seems is it?  £22 is what I was expecting to pay with a couple of quid for P&P.  It turns out the £22 is excluding VAT and a whopping £4.95 for delivery for a small PCB!!  A total of just under £31 for what was being billed as a £22 piece of hardware.

On top of that, if you live in the USA you can get it for a much lower price of $25 (approx £16).

Disgusted with the fact that Raspberry Pi is a BRITISH charity so how one earth can it be cheaper to buy it in the USA????  I suspect it would be cheaper to import this British computer from abroad but I can't do with all the hassle so I'll settle with buying one from RS for now...


SEVEN WEEKS???   EXPECTED???

This has got to be some sort of joke hasn't it?  They've told me they're ready for me to place my order and that they will take payment straight away, yet I have to wait 7 weeks (possible longer if there are any delays) for it to arrive?

£4.95 for 7 week delivery - that's disgusting.

When you get an email saying that you can now purchase your Raspberry Pi that you've been waiting weeks/months for the opportunity of getting your hands on one, you assume they have them in stock ready to go!  But oh no they don't :( they're still on a ship somewhere between China and the UK.

Useless.

Anyway, I have completed my order and they have my money.  I guess I might have it in my hands by Christmas...


Saturday 2 June 2012

Just Spilt A Fizzy Drink On My Apple Aluminium Keyboard

I've just spilt a pint of Diet Pepsi all over my keyboard :( I mopped it up very quickly but it was completely drenched and it narrowly missed my iPhone by a matter of millimeters!

I've rinsed the keyboard under cold water for a few minutes (if the Pepsi dries it will make all the keys very, very sticky so rinsing it away should hopefully stop my keyboard from being sticky).

I then drained as much water from the keyboard as I could and wrapped it in newspaper and placed in the airing cupboard under the stairs where it can dry out over the next few days.

Luckily I have my laptop on a stand so only the USB keyboard (and a few bits of paper) got wet.

I'll leave it in the airing cupboard for a few days where hopefully the newspaper and the gentle warmth will draw the water out and leave my keyboard nice and dry, and hopefully not sticky.

Will it work when I plug it back in - I guess we'll find out in a few days time...



EDIT: After two and a bit days wrapped in newspaper in the airing cupboard I finally thought it was long enough for all the moisture to have dried out so I have just unwrapped the keyboard and plugged it in to my MacBook and guess what?

Did you guess that it would or wouldn't work?  Well let me tell you, it's kinda both as part of it works and part of it doesn't work properly - if I press the 'i' or 'o' key it produces both characters no matter which one I press and the same goes for the K and L keys.

New keyboard it will have to be then :(



EDIT 2: HOORAY!!  I've just tried my keyboard once more before throwing out of the window and you'll never guess what? Yes! All the keys now work!  I guess I didn't leave it long enough to dry.

So, in a nutshell if you spill anything other than plain water on your Apple Aluminium Keyboard, unplug it from your Mac straight away, rinse it thoroughly in cold water to wash away any stick/smelly liquids and then leave it to dry for a week - wrapping it in newspaper will help draw out the water or putting it in a large bag of rice might also do the trick (rice soaks up water and is frequently used when people drop their mobile phones in water).

:)


New Fruit and Veg Shop In Kettering


Amongst a handful of new shops that are getting ready to open in Kettering, Northamptonshire we have a new Fruit and Veg store which is being run/opened by Palmers (as in Palmers the Butchers).

If their Butchers shop is anything to go by then we're in for a treat with their Fruit and Vegetable shop which is adjacent to their current shop in Kettering:


It opens on the 8th of June and along with Fruit and Vegetables it will be selling Milk, Pasta, Frozen Fish/Prawns and Cold Drinks.