Find a song when you only know the tune

Finding a song when you know the lyrics or bits of the lyrics is easy. You just google it! What if you only know the tune , though? Technology has come a long way and is so helpful now. I had this tune playing in my head and couldn’t for the life of me identify it. I worked out it was a Mum song because she gave me so much in terms of musical and film knowledge form her era. As it turns out it is the theme from Moulin Rouge by Mantovani or Percy Faith both of whom she listened to a lot along with jazz and big band music.

I succeeded by using Midomi. So easy. I just hummed my tune into the microphone and Midomi found it. I could then look it up on YouTube. I tried Soundhound which is a very good app but it didn’t recognise my tune. Midomi needs flash to work so it doesn’t work on an iPad. Shazam works if you have a recorded version of the tune. You can also try Siri or Google sound search but these 3 apps are pretty impressive and we are no longer left to wonder.

I thank my mother for continuing to teach me about music appreciation. Her legacy lives in in the technology age.

Technology peeves

Image: Dreamstime

It used to be the Access denied was the most constant and regular annoyance you got with technology. Now we have a whole raft of annoyances to choose from. For some it’s the constant notification interruptions. For others it’s the constant spam and cold calls.

As soon as the New Year was rung in , I had non stop cold calls on my home phone and mobile phone. Over Christmas there had been a cease fire. I realised we still haven’t dealt  with this and it ought not be hard given most of the numbers are well documented on number look up sites as nuisance calls. The scams are getting worse, though and the people are becoming brazen. It’s a global problem which needs addressing as a matter of urgency.

Then there are the apps which suddenly won’t work wither because you have changed devices and the apps were not installed properly or they are no longer registered with the organisation for which the app has been created. So off you go re downloading things and then waiting in call queues.

Printers are probably the biggest annoyance. It is cheaper to buy a printer than the ink to fill one. You do not often need a printer these days but when you need one , you really need one. We need a better way of managing printers for those who might need one once or twice a year. The cost of printing a couple of sheets of paper is ridiculous and given ink dries up…not very clever of us.

Tech-Funnel has its top 10 pet peeves. Theirs includes so connections. Oh yes…watching the infinite wheel of death spin and spin and spin…MakeUseOf has its top technology annoyances and it includes passwords. Yes! Endless amounts of passwords and then you have to change them when you just mastered remembering them.

2019. I think we need to get onto these annoyances and make a real effort to a) make a very clear list of what annoyances we have with technology b) do something about it to make it a better technology world. We can all do this. We need to rectify  it because, truth is, we’d be lost without our technology.

 

Hay Day

It has been two years since I have been on Hay Day and some things never change. It’s very addictive and keeps me busy! I had really been enjoying first Puzzle Craft and then Puzzle Craft 2 to the extent I was 142 on the leaderboard. That’s a real achievement for me.

There came a day where I kept getting an interfering game message every time I did anything on Puzzle Craft 2 . I wanted to get into the top 100. Chillingo responded pretty quickly when I contacted them and fixed the game ad interference which had broken all enjoyment of the game for me for two days. By than time I was on Hay Day again .

Hay Day has some good changes. I love being able to decorate the market stall, truck and house. I love the game boosters you can get now. They have listened and allowed some very effective ground expansions which come with some nice decorations. There is an animal sanctuary in the town but it takes forever to get the puzzle pieces. They have expanded the crops, trees and plants. All of that was lovely to discover because graphically it is a very good game and most of it is set up to work well.

Now the ad paper is full of tofu dogs, rustic bouquets and cloche hats. It’s silly. Somehow I manage to sell mine but you get sick of looking at them. You also get sick of running out of tomatoes, chillis, cream, butter and cheese. The dairy is impossible to keep up with. That part of the game is not quite right. I get rid of or ignore requests to hand over large quantities of things like sugar, butter, honey. Another storey on the honey tree would be lovely. It is those shortages which make it hard to move forward with a sense of satisfaction.

Unlike Puzzle Craft, the diamonds (runes equivalent) are very hard to come by and the pressure is to buy more. Puzzle Craft 2 had a good balance with those sorts of things. Hay Day works on a deficit model and then suddenly comes up trumps and it’s great. Needs to be more often.

The community is mostly very positive and collaborative but there are still the people who swarm in like locusts, grab what they want and offer no help.

I try and help those on levels under 20. I remember finding it really hard on Hay Day until I got to around level 14.

I am doing well and finding my place in the scheme of things. There are people on some very impressive numbers. I aim to just enjoy what is a mostly well thought out game which is still going strongly.

6th generation iPad

As well as my Samsung A8 phone, I upgraded my iPad Air to a 6th generation iPad. I wanted the gold but they had sold out so I got the silver. Colour isn’t actually going to make one bit of difference to how the tablet works. The gold is amazingly popular, though.

The prices were very good and iPads are cheaper. This was well worth the outlay. The iPad Air was a bit smaller than a normal iPad. It didn’t really make a difference and made it ultra portable. It did suit my Logitech Bluetooth keyboard better in size. All of that is with a new owner who can make good use of it.

The new iPad connects to my 5G wi-fi and there have been no issues with it dropping out like I had with the iPad Air on the normal wi-fi. The nbn connection can be flaky at times. It also runs very smoothly in terms of gesturing and moving between apps and screens. It is running on iOS 12.1.1.1. The integration really is seamless and so using it is a real pleasure especially since the camera takes better photos which are actually decent. iPads have never been very good with photos.  With the improvement in my phone and now with this iPad I really feel like I have come into 2019 very well set up and loving mobile technology. It is no longer half baked , make do stuff.

I have my bluetooth case and that protects the iPad and has made it more productive and functional. It can work with an Apple pencil which I haven’t as yet purchased and it will be far better for augmented reality which is set to grow significantly.

This iPad is less intrusive and less pushy so I am getting the impression mobile technology has worked out we don’t want to be swamped by push notifications and something which takes over our device.

It’s the size of a normal iPad and I am glad to have that back. Screen real estate is important when graphics are so good these days.

There is a review of it here on laptopmag.

Samsung A8

I have never adapted so quickly to a new smart phone. My Samsung S5 was getting slower and having storage problems. It was time for a new phone. I never want a top of the range really expensive one. I don’t see the point. I worked out the A8 was probably the one for me and it is. I have taken to it like a duck to water. Best thing was I shopped around and got a really good price.

It comes with a Smart Switch, phone cable, ear buds, plastic phone back and wall plug charger. It took no time at all , really , to get the data off my old phone using the Smart Switch. It took no time to get on the mobile network and it was my own phone once I put the SD card in. So a couple of hours or less and I was on my new phone and fully functional. That has never happened before.

I love the screen real estate, the intuitive gesturing, the helpful hints and the cruisy feel of it. Everything is instant and seamless. Photos are organised logically. Apps and contacts are easily found. Screenshots are slightly different. You have to use the start button on the side and the volume down button. The screenshots are fast compared with my S5.

Others who have used it have been very impressed. I am. It is so easy to customise, use and find out about. It is very similar to a J8 but has more ram and a slightly smaller screen. I went for the ram as it makes a difference in functionality.

I do not find this phone pushy and intrusive as other smartphones have been. It has got it right on information and notifications. Searches also bring up the help you actually need.

You can read the specifications on the Samsung site.

Samsung A8

All in all, this phone has been a really pleasant surprise and continues to be so.