17 September 2009 15:42
The October issue of Stuff magazine has a kick *** feature on Gadget Hints & Tips and one of the most popular has strangely been the one on how to fold t-shirts like they do in the shops. You can pick up a copy of the issue now to see that method but reader James Martin has sent us this alternative video.
Have a watch and learn the art of Ninja shirt folding. And if you want to find out more about subscribing to Stuff or just want to see what's in the current issue,
jump over to yonder Latest Issue page. And look out for the eye-poppingly exciting November issue on shelves in less than two weeks.
25 August 2009 11:53
That's George, honorary Stuff cat, and avowed hater of the iPhone. It's glowing screen spoils his sleep and interrupts important business for his human servants like feeding him and showering him with attention. His utter disdain for
the iPhone 3GS got us thinking? Do you pets have a problem with your gadget addiction? Is your hamster pro-Xbox 360 but irritated by your PS3? Does your snake sneer at your Sony Ericsson? Tell us your pets vs gadgets stories in the comments.
27 March 2007 17:53
What with technology being all popular and that, a quick Google search for a new gadget brings up all sorts of 'reviews'. Many of them are no better than a news story. Most of them are just a blog entry, like this one. Except that this a review of reviewing, so that's okay.
If Stuff reviews something, it gets a star rating and a 'Stuff says'. The reason I am writing about this is because I was talking to someone (on an Alpine ski-lift, if you want to get a proper mental image of this scenario) about Stuff magazine.
He said: "All those gadgets at the front…I think…that they're not proper reviews. They're more like news stories."
Right. We had a quick discussion about the difference between the news section (Hot Stuff, at the front) and the features/reviews section (after Hot Stuff), and he went on his way. Skiing, not boarding, if you're still maintaining that mental image. But the crux of the discussion was how much you would let a news story influence a buying decision.
On Stuff.tv, and in Stuff magazine, the lines between news and review are pretty clearly drawn. (If you don't think so, let me know.) But, I worry about the slightly less technological Googling themself up a 'review' from the recesses of the internet, and spending thousands of pounds on the back of it.
Who's to blame? The buyer, for poor research? The writer of the so-called 'review', who might be doing no more than trying to spread information about joyous gadgets in the only way they know how – the free internet. Or are we to blame, for not being there for that buyer when he needed us?
Can't fix the first two. But we'll be continuing to do our damnedest to make ourselves available to you, so that when you need a review, or you need news, we'll have it. And, that our reviews are the most insightful possible.
For example, the Yamaha CRX-M170 pictured here, might look like most DAB mini systems. But, it scrolls through DAB stations faster, and is more user-friendly than several other DAB minis I have tried. Small, important things, yet I have only seen them mentioned in one review. Yes, in Stuff.
And, with that, I'm off to pour water on my PS3, just to see how it reacts. That's real-life testing.
Attachment(s): yamaha-M170i.jpg
01 March 2007 13:14
I think I'm going soft. For years I have been following the pace of technology like a man possessed. I stagger, gibbering, after any tiny shiny that claims to give me more power and more connectivity in a more pocketable, sexier form.
That is, until now. I've suddenly become bothered about the experience of the thing. I want feedback from gadgets; I want using technology to be an emotional thing again.
For this, the blame lies squarely on the broad shoulders of the Nikon D40. I had, previously, avoided SLR cameras, preferring the pocket-power of a decent compact. But the D40 isn't obscenely big. And it's mechanical. You have to frame shots using the viewfinder. You zoom by twisting the lens, not by pressing a button. And when you hit the shutter, things actually move. It goes 'clunk-chik', and only then does the LCD show you what you shot.
Now, compared to the cold beep of a cameraphone, or the ridiculous shutter sound effect of a compact, the D40 is a joyous thing to use. It makes taking pictures an event, both for you and for your subject. Unless, of course, you spend too long messing with manual shutter speed and aperture settings, at which point your subject has probably pissed off to the bar.
So, I've been using a D-SLR. But it doesn't stop there. My sensation cravings have led me elsewhere. I've got myself a fountain pen. It leaks, smudges and needs regular refilling - but I don't care. I enjoy writing with it. And, much to the mirth of my colleagues, I've bought a mechanical watch. Not an automatic, not Eco-Drive, not Kinetic - mechanical. It needs winding up. Brilliant.
All this seems pretty harmless, but yesterday things took a dangerous turn. I was paused on the steps of the office, scrolling through my iPod for a new album downloaded that very day. I started thinking how much more of an event it had been when a new album meant crouching outside the music shop, ripping the cellophane off the cassette case then watching your Walkman taking up the slack in the tape. Doesn't that make MP3 seem kind of boring?
It wouldn't be that hard. I could download tracks from eMusic and 'burn' them to cassette. I'm off to check eBay for working Walkmans. It's all right, I'm sure this is just a phase...
Attachment(s): nikon-d40.gif
24 November 2006 16:33
There's a palpable tension in the office today. Is it because we are on deadline? Is there a major product launch happening? Nope. It's because both the web team and mag team have music on, and there's conflict. As I write this: Morrisey over here, and Jeff Buckley over there. Let me tell you: it's ghastly.
But I might have the solution. I'm going to kidnap a street urchin – probably using the tried-and-tested trail of M&Ms method – and chain him up in the office. Then, I'm going to give him one of these new Hercules mixers. It's wireless, so Juke (for so the urchin will be named) can hop and dance around the office, in as much as you can hop and dance in leg irons, and keep a steady beat going.
It's going to be smashing. A centralised library of music, to which everyone has right of veto, with tracks mixed or skipped at a single command.
But there's issues, and not the dubious legality of having a slave urchin the office. The Hercules Mobile DJ MP3 only works with PCs and, being magazine publishing types, we've all got Macs. So we'll have to get a PC, and load it up with all our music. More immediately, the Hercules isn't out until March 2007, which is a long time for little Juke to be chained up and redundant. Maybe, with a long enough chain, he could do constant trips to the vending machine for the litres of Diet Coke that Stuff consumes every day.
More info on Hercules here; I'm off to buy some M&Ms.
21 November 2006 14:40
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of tech, and though I hear jilted UK PS3 fans wailing and gnashing on all sides, I fear not the delay of the PS3. Indeed, there's a prominent bounce in my step…and here's why.
Not for us, firmware version 1.01. The shiny PS3 you unwrap in March will have missed four months of bug-discovery, firmware updates and patches, boldly undertaken by our alpha-testing Japanese and American cousins. If the PSP is anything to go by, some new functionality will have uncovered too.
Not for us, feeble launch games lineup. By March, development studios will be dropping hot PS3 games on the market like cluster bombs. We'll spend the intervening months watching our bundle purchase decision getting harder and harder to make.
Not for us, the rushed-to-market third-party peripherals. You know, that bargain extra wireless controller with the 'turbo' button that makes your console crash, and the analogue sticks with a ten-hour spring life. (We've all been there…) We'll have a full catalogue of peripherals from established manufacturers that, once again, will have been rocked and rated by our foreign test team.
So, far from being impatient at the delayed Euro PS3, I'm going to enjoy the time between here and March. And, by that time, I'll have paid off the credit card bill for my Nintendo Wii. Maybe even completed Zelda: Twilight Princess.
Thank you, Sony. You couldn't have timed it better.
Filed under: PS3
16 November 2006 19:40
Okay, so PS3 is a winner, and it’s probably on all your shopping lists for March. But what about the other big buying decision for 2007 – Blu-Ray or HD DVD?
The answer is... in the February issue. Well, it will be if Toshiba eventually get us a HD DVD player. They’ve just delayed the HD-E1 until late December, following a series of component failures. We’re pondering a trip to the States to pick one up, just to bring you the definitive review.
Elsewhere in the argument, we’ll be covering Xbox HD DVD vs PS3’s Blu-Ray, and also peripheral drives for using the new wonder formats as a storage medium. You want clear and balanced conclusions? You got it in the Feb issue, out just as your New Year hangover wears off, 4 January
Filed under: HD DVD, Blu-Ray
16 November 2006 19:38
I’ve just spent four hours trying – and failing – to update the firmware on a Nokia N73. The aim was to load it up with Viewranger sat-nav software, but you need to be running v2.0628.0.0.3 for it to work. ‘No probs’, I thought.
I was wrong. The Vaio laptop I used needed about four terabytes of critical updates before it would let me do anything. Then, it wouldn’t connect to our office Wi-Fi network, so I loaded up Nokia PC Suite and used the phone to get online. Downloaded Software Updater programme from Nokia – but it wouldn’t run because the phone it was trying to update was being used as the network connection. So I had to find a physical Ethernet connection. Ran Software Updater again – the result? No update found. So it will have to go to a Nokia Service Centre to be updated.
But, here’s the point of this downbeat rambling. As editor of Stuff, I’m perfectly entitled to spend four working hours wandering about with a Vaio muttering oaths. But not everyone is: there’s plenty of important types who won’t have time to go through the rigmarole. They’ll just end up with a bad impression of the product. Why can’t things be simpler?
Filed under: firmware, Nokia N73
16 November 2006 19:36
Please don’t come round and beat us up, but we’ve unplugged our PS3. Most exciting product around at the moment, and it lies dormant, while we play Gears of War on Xbox 360.
It’s incredible. I’m susceptible to leaping out of my seat at the scary bits of films or games but GoW takes the biscuit. There’s a section where you have to creep over some loose boards, while unspeakble evil things wail and scream beneath your feet, waiting for you to fall. With the lights off, and surround sound cranked up, it almost reduced me to tears. Actually, I might plug the PS3 back in and have a go on Motorstorm – there’s no nightmare-inducing creatures
Filed under: PS3, XBox
