Failed iPhone Firmware Upgrade

Yesterday, Apple released the much anticipated iPhone 2.1 firmware update. With speedier backups, better battery life and more accurate GPS, it was long overdue.

Once I was alerted by iTunes to the update, I let it do it's thing. This entails:

1. Downloading the update
2. Backing up the iPhone (just in case!)
3. Upgrading the phone

All was going swimmingly until halfway through the upgrade, the worst possible thing could happen did happen. I had a powercut! As such, I had a half-upgraded iPhone which didn't do anything. After a slight panic, I figured that it would be ok, after all, iTunes backs up my iPhone regularly! (At least that was what I was tying to tell myself!)

Once power was restored, I started up my mac and iTunes immediately recognised that my phone was poorly. It offered to restore the backup and do the upgrade all at once. So I left it to it, and half an hour later I had a working phone again!

Now, since the update things have been a lot snappier, but I'm unsure if that's to do with the upgrade or a total reset - possibly both. The only annoying thing about the reset was that all my carefully arranged application icons were all muddled up. But that's a small concern overall!

Seeing that it's Friday, I thought it would be apt to have a (bad) joke (or three)…

Enjoy

I met this bloke with a didgeridoo and he was playing Dancing Queen on it. I thought, 'That's Aboriginal.
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This lorry full of tortoises collided with a van full of terrapins. It was a turtle disaster.
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I told my girlfriend I had a job in a bowling alley. She said 'Tenpin?' I said, 'No, permanent.'
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I went in to a pet shop. I said, 'Can I buy a goldfish?' The guy said, 'Do you want an aquarium?' I said, 'I don't care what star sign it is.'
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I bought some Armageddon cheese today, and it said on the packet. 'Best before End'
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I went to buy a watch, and the man in the shop said 'Analogue.' I said 'No, just a watch.'
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I went into a shop and I said, 'Can someone sell me a kettle.' The bloke said 'Kenwood' I said, 'Where is he then?'
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My mate is in love with two schoolbags. He's bi-satchel.
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I went to the doctor. I said to him 'I'm frightened of lapels.' He said, 'You've got cholera.'
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I met the bloke who invented crosswords today. I can't remember his name, its P something T something R.
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I was reading this book today, The History of Glue. I couldn't put it down.
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I phoned the local ramblers club today, but the bloke who answered just went on and on.
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The recruitment consultant asked me 'What do you think of voluntary work? I said 'I wouldn't do it if you paid me.'
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I was in the jungle and there was this monkey with a tin opener. I said, 'You don't need a tin opener to peel a banana.' He said, 'No, this is for the custard.'
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This policeman came up to me with a pencil and a piece of very thin paper. He said, 'I want you to trace someone for me.'
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I told my mum that I'd opened a theatre. She said, 'Are you having me on?' I said, 'Well I'll give you an audition, but I'm not promising you anything.'
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I phoned the local builders today, I said to them 'Can I have a skip outside my house?' He said, 'I'm not stopping you!'
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This cowboy walks in to a German car showroom and he says 'Audi!'
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I fancied a game of darts with my mate. He said, 'Nearest the bull goes first' He went 'Baah' and I went 'Moo' He said 'You're closest'
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I was driving up the motorway and my boss phoned me and he told me I'd been promoted. I was so shocked I swerved the car. He phoned me again to say I'd been promoted even higher and I swerved again. He then made me managing director and I went right off into a tree. The police came and asked me what had happened. I said 'I careered off the road'
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I visited the offices of the RSPCA today. It's tiny: you couldn't swing a cat in there.
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I was stealing things in the supermarket today while balanced on the shoulders of a couple of vampires. I was charged with shoplifting on two counts.
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I bought a train ticket to France and the ticket seller said 'Eurostar' I said 'Well I've been on telly but I'm no Dean Martin.
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I phoned the local gym and I asked if they could teach me how to do the splits. He said, 'How flexible are you?' I said, 'I can't make Tuesdays or Thursdays.'
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I went to the local video shop and I said, 'Can I borrow Batman Forever?' He said, 'No, you'll have to bring it back tomorrow'
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A waiter asks a man, 'May I take your order, sir?' 'Yes,' the man replies. 'I'm just wondering, exactly how do you prepare your chickens?' 'Nothing special, sir. We just tell them straight out that they're going to die.'

As you may or may not know, I run my own business. However, part of being your own boss is that you have to sort out your own accounts - or at least up to a point. Before I looked around for some software to help, I made up a short list of must-have's:

1. Must be easy to use, as I wouldn't be the only one using this
2. Must be accessible online. I don't want something that restricts me to the computer where it's installed
3. Must make my job as easy as possible

After a look around, and talking to a few other people, I decided to give Kashflow a spin. Kashflow "is an online tool specifically designed to help owner managers in small businesses manage their accounts" - and does a mighty fine job in my opinion.

My first issue with Kashflow was the bright colour scheme. The pink and blue may work well on Flickr, but it doesn't really do the site much justice when they are aiming for small businesses. However, this is something that can be overlooked based on the features.

Getting used to Kashflow is a piece of cake. As with any system, you really need to sit down and have a little play. Luckily, they have a feature so you can delete all information from your account, so what I did was setup a few test clients, made some invoices, created some purchases etc.

Kashflow also has the ability to create a multitude of reports. These can include Profit & Loss reports on a month by month basis, Balance Sheets, your quarterly VAT return, as well as a dozen or so reports specifically crafted for your Income and Expenditure. Far more than what most businesses will need. I would hazard a guess that these reports may well aid my accountant in his end of year paperwork, and will hopefully save some money!

At the moment, Kashflow is available on a 60-day free trial, and you don't even need to give them your credit card details - so it's definately worth a shot. After the 60-day trial, it'll cost you £15.99 a month normally, however, you can get a discounted rate of £14.99 a month by clicking the image on the right.

Do you currently use anything for maintaining your accounts? I'd be interested in what others have to say based on their experience!

I'm a huge fan of chillies. I love eating them, using them in cooking, chilli oil, chilli flakes - you name it, it's in my kitchen.

This year, the good lady and I decided to grow some Apache chillies as shown below:

Chilli

They turned out really well, and with 4 plants, we've harvested well over 100 chillies. We've got some in the freezer and some in the airing cupboard drying out. They weren't that hard to grow. Rather than attempt to grow from seed, we bought 4 seedlings from the garden centre, with the idea that we'd just get 2-3 strong'uns growing - much to our suprise, they all took and shot up! We've been feeding them with Tomorite, which appears to have helped.

However, this is nothing compared to the results that this bloke has got. With some of his plants nearing 7 ft tall, it's certainly something to aim for next year! Why not check out his blog and go green with envy?

Sam has posted an interesting article over at her blog on how she setup a lightbox (or light tent) for around a fiver, with some impressive results. It turns out a quick trip to Ikea is all that was required, and she's taken some cracking images!

Why not pop over and take a look for yourself?

Cyclists are generally not a problem. Of course, they don't necessarily obey the rules of the road, but as a driver you learn to imagine the worst and give them a wide berth at all times.

Recently however, I've noticed an increase of cyclists around where I live. I assume this is down to people wanting to save money on fuel, get fit and possibly be a bit more eco-friendly. What annoys me isn't that these two wheeled bipeds are using the roads that my road tax has paid for (that's fine!) - it's that they feel no need to wear a helmet, have fluorescent gear on or in some cases even have working lights in the dark.

Being that I reside in a village in the middle of nowhere, I rely on a car to get around. And as I am out 'in the sticks' the roads that leave the village are all national speed limit roads, where you can quite comfortably sit at 50mph round the windy roads.

It's usually at this point that you will come across a cyclist who has decided to go to work/the post office/etc but could feasibly end up with the contents of their head splayed across the carriageway because they don't feel the need to wear a helmet.

The only more appalling sight is that on a Sunday afternoon when Mr Joe Bloggs and his family go on a bike ride. What amazes me is that they'll force their kids to wear their helmets and reflective gear, but mum and/or dad don't! I'm not sure I can understand the logic here. Yes, you want to protect your kids, but if you don't wear a helmet and get knocked over and die, your child will be an orphan- not what you had in mind I hope!

So please, put on a helmet, wear a reflective top and use working lights! It's safer for you, and will mean there less chance of you getting squished!