Hello...whats occurring?....

The scale of personal and societal occurrences over the last few weeks has left my brain feeling like a used teabag. If you’re anything like me, you’re choking on humidity, Gordon Brown has lost all your money, the remote is too far away to turn Jeremy Kyle off, student finance has you waking up in a cold sweat and you won’t be going to see Michael Jackson in July, or indeed ever. But, I have good news! Well, good news if you like to read about the absolute cream of unspoiled musical talent, and the odd gadget. The Fat Blog now has a new contributor, (that’s me, in case you haven’t guessed) and I’ll be covering two of the most important subjects in the whole wide world: music and technology. You can expect regular gig reviews (and the odd account of a club night, Rinse FM’s fifteenth birthday party is on the way…) paired with a healthy smattering of technological musings, and information about what may be coming out in the not-too-distant future (…did somebody say Xbox 720?).

A bit of background about myself is only polite too, I suppose. My second year at Goldsmiths University is on the horizon, as is the arrival of my results from the first year (pray to any and every God you know on my behalf). I study English and History, but don’t pity that, people usually exhale slowly and give me a charitable smile when they ask what degree I’m studying towards, but I’m having a lot of fun and have worn an admirable groove into the sofa at the student union, and, if I’m honest, most pubs in the general area!

So anyway, keep an eye out for me. I’m always open for suggestions aswell so if there’s anything you want me to look at or chase up (I’m not afraid of placing a phone call or twelve to find out the latest for you lot) give me a shout at kirstysimmonds@live.co.uk.

Stay safe, in a bit!

Kirsty

the joys of technology....

Our lives are supposedly easier now; we have self service machines at Tesco, thanking us for our patronage. We have automated telephone systems by which to pay our bills, and we even have 'smart' technology that can operate itself.

Despite all these advances, however, we are still (by and large) baffled when things do not quite go our way.

Last night I was attempting to transfer some files across to my hard drive; a simple enough task. Naturally, it was not and subsequently challenged me for the rest of the night.For some reason, the files just stopped copying over. Just like that. They became completely stubborn and decided to stall. Not only that, I was unable to close the application, so it remained frozen on my desk top.
So I was just sat, staring at my screen wondering what on earth I could do.

I searched far and wide, on all the internet forums, where people who seemingly have all the time in the world, trade Mac and PC secrets and advice. Despite searching this nerd domain, I had no love. Eventually i rang my Mac guru mate in a tizz, and she had to calmly explain the restart process. Not before telling me how hopeless I am. Not really adding to my self-worth regarding all things technical.

It made me wonder, however, how much do we really know anyway? I take for granted that when I press a button, it does what it is supposed to: usually switch itself on .

If it does not, I usually approach the closest male who
a) will know what to do OR.....
b) not know, but pretend that he does and by sheer force of will, fixes it anyhow.

I know that the day will come, when a savvy techy is not around, and I will have to fend for myself. That is why I am going to take matters into my own hands and start familiarising myself with all things technical. Much as that terrifies me. I could not handle another night of stress, yelling at my computer and utter bafflement.

It is not becoming, or conducive to this technically advanced era!


Words: Katie Cowell