All I can say is WOW! Neato!!

So I got bored over Christmas and New Year and bought something to make my lazy life even lazier....

... a Robotic Vacuum.

The Neato Signature XV to be specific.

I have to say that I am for the first time in a long time really impressed. This little Robot does everything it promises and more. I watched for an hour and a half as it traversed the apartment, got out of tight squeezes and came back to areas I thought it had missed.

Very impressive. I uploaded a short video of it working on it's first run. I was also surprised at how well it cleaned the floor. It cleaned around chair legs, under sofas, etc. After an hour an a half the Battery got low and it trundled back to it's charging dock to charge and resume after charging. I'm waiting to see after a few weeks if it is still as good. But so far no complaints.

This Technology is now at a good level and I believe year on year it will get exponentially better. Four years back when I first started to look at these they had a long way to go.

Recommended for sure! Watch for more updates on how this works out.

This Rat Race We Aspire To

It's 7AM on a Sunday and I am once again sitting in a airline lounge waiting to fly off. This time of my own volition. While drinking my coffee, I stop and look around.... it is unsurprisingly, even on a Sunday, full of business people either flying off somewhere for work or heading home from work.

Not many Suits on a Sunday, but still the type of bags being carried or wheeled, the intense glaring at their laptop screens all give it away. They are firmly a part of, and most probably are happy being part of this Corporate slave community all around me.

They have most likely been doing this for a while, hence why they end up in the lounges after many hours languishing, working towards having enough miles to be allowed entry to the "Lounge". I see it as an equivalent to the benefits that obedient slaves were afforded in the past.

These corporate clones (of which I am guilty of being one) have given up any semblance of a normal family or social life and replaced it with what is sold and deemed to be the future of our global Society. They aim to be at the top of their career sacrificing all and not caring for anyone or anything apart from their loyalty to themselves and their job. They have no pride in their work just a desire to get ahead at any cost.

Actually I generalize too much. There are some who are not here of their own choice or even enjoy this. They are here because the current economic and social structures make it almost impossible to break out and live a reasonable life. Companies everywhere are making record profits but still it is not to the benefit of the workers. A few select individuals reap the majority of benefits that are made possible by the armies of slaves who toil every day. Evidence - just look at the number of times the word Billionaire (or even Millionaire) is used these days as opposed to a few decades back - there are more and more taking more and more for themselves.

This is probably not the opinion of most, but what I see are millions of people being fed a story, brain washed effectively and socially manipulated into thinking that giving 100% of your energy to a corporate body is the most sensible and moral thing to do - they call it ambition, drive, the American Dream, etc.

This is fed to every individual from the time they are born. You are told you have to be the best, above all else at any cost. If you are going to do something then win at it. Where are the teachings of compassion for life, happiness, joy and all of the things that make your life more meaningful than the 65 inch LED TV or latest whatever it is that you can buy with your many hours spent staring in front of a screen or doing whatever it is you do to make someone else rich,

Whether we like it or not we have all become willing slaves of a few extravagantly wealthy individuals and corporations. I only hope that my children's generation come to a different and better conclusion and way of life.

Avantree Clipper

If you read my previous post on buying the QC25 headphones you will already know that it took me months to decide on those. One of the reasons was whether to go wireless or go for the noise cancelling. This was made difficult as there are no really good quality wireless headphones with noise cancellation that I could find.

In the end I decided on the noise cancellation Bose headphones with the cunning plan that I would make them wireless!

After a little research I found a nice little gadget which you plug your headphones into and they act to make them Bluetooth 4.0 enabled.

They work…. and I am extremely surprised that the sound quality is not degraded! The sound pumping out is on par with them being connected directly to my phone or laptop or TV (any Bluetooth enabled device).

I can also pair the Clipper with 2 devices and switch between them. The device charges off a micro USB cable and on a charge will last up to 6 hours which is more than adequate for my needs. Fantastic! The device is small (see the picture against a UK 1 Penny coin) discrete and appears to be very well made.

If you are interested head on over to Amazon and search for Avantree Clipper.

Bose QuietComfort 25 Headphones

So finally after months of trying on in stores, airports, checking reviews and contemplating I shelled out for a pair of Bose Quitecomfort 25’s. It was the deal at Schiphol Airport that finally swayed me.

I’ve started to write this review in the flight with the headphones on. My first impressions are pretty good.

Bose QC25 Noise Cancelling Headphones

I have a very sensitive area at the top of my head where headphones normally rest and if the phones are not really comfortable I get an annoying headache that means I can’t continue wearing the headphones – no matter how expensive or cheap. For this reason for a very long time I have been sticking to earbuds.

Recently though I have been thinking of going back to full over ear headphones. What took me so long (literally months) to make up my mind? Well most good on ear or over ear phones cost in excess of 100 Euros and recently I have been feeling a little “Scroogish” and the fact that most of these headphones look very plasticy in the harsh light of the shops didn’t help – I just didn’t feel it was justified to spend 200-300 on a pair of headphones that looked like a 30 Euro pair!

Getting back to the QC25’s, I must admit that the Noise cancellation is exceptional. I used to have a pair of beats a couple of years back and these surpass them hands down (btw – I will never ever buy another pair of Beats ever again! The build quality is the most horrible I have ever seen for headphones at this price point). The engine noise of the plane was completely drowned out and the sound quality was good (I’m no audiophile though).

What I did notice was the odd sensation (maybe my sensitive inner ear due to a cold) similar to when your ears get blocked up on a flight when the noise cancellation was activated. I even felt a little nauseas, but then again maybe just me as I get sea sick quite easily and travel sick if I am not driving. I also could hardly hear the crew announcements (could also be a negative). So all in all the noise cancellation and sound quality is superb.

The quality of the unit, though made entirely of plastic seems to be good and looks like it can take some pretty harsh treatment. I’ll update the review after a few weeks of use. As a side note I was considering for a while between the QC25 and the wireless Bluetooth Soundlink Headphones also around the same price. In the end I decided on the wired QC25 – but not sure yet if the cable will get on my nerves – cables of any kind generally tend to bring this out in me.

So for the moment – quietly happy and hopeful that these will not be another quick (269 Euro) hand me downs to my sister J