Mr Fix It Returns

I think the word must have spread that I am shortly due to depart for Sheffield as an influx of requests for various IT related tasks have been heading my way recently. Today was a particularly unusual request as I have never met the person in question before. It was a wireless network issue which are particularly common and many people seem to have trouble getting them set up, usually it is when trying to mix technologies of varying age such as an old modem with a new router etc and this was true in this case. The issue was eventually resolved to a particularly stubborn piece of hardware, the ADSL modem router which refused to perform only its routing duties and insisted that it should have to connect to the internet itself the problem here being that I was dealing with a cable internet connection, they are very popular in Birmingham as one of the absorbed companies now controlled by Virgin Media was Birmingham Cable and they seem to have done a very good job at getting a decent coverage.

One thing that I haven't yet encountered - which on reflection is quite surprising - is attempting to fit a phone cable into a network socket, they do look very similar, same shape, same locking mechanism and seeing as they are commonly used with the same devices, whomever designed them could have done a much better job. In this case the first problem came when I discovered that he was attempting to connect the cable modem and wireless router with a phone cable, with one end in the network socket of the modem. After finding this and thinking the problem was solved, I then discovered the aforementioned problem of the stubborn modem/routers and thus had to leave it at that much to his disappointment of having to buy a new router.

In other news, the new Muse album - The Resistance was released today, much to my surprise as I hadn't clocked the release date previously. It's times like this when I wonder what I did before twitter constantly reminding me of these little things, which in turn reminds me of an article I read the other day about how twitter may have an adverse affect on memory and I'm only now thinking that perhaps there is something in it. Anyway, that's besides the point. After a couple of listens to the album, I can confirm that it is superb. You wouldn't expect any less from Muse of course but it's reassuring that they can keep making wonderful music and taking it to new and undiscovered directions time and time again. As mentioned previously, I loved Uprising and wasn't too keen on United States of Eurasia but as usual, the more I listen, the more I love and USOE is now a firm favourite. The title of favourite track however, falls to the newest (and current at time of writing) single - Undisclosed Desires which some have said has a hint of urban style R'n'B to it. I can sort of see where they are coming from with this but whatever it is that they've done I like it... a lot. The oddest track definitely goes to I Belong To You with its bizarre French lyrics mean that I probably won't be singing along to those sections of the track any time soon. I also love the Exogenesis trio of tracks with part III being my favourite as I love Matt's piano tinkling, one of the reasons why I love Butterflies and Hurricanes from the Absolution album.