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BBC Radio Suffolk, Gadget Man, Mix Tape, Podcast, Technology, The Gadget Man

Gadget Man Episode 155 – James Hazell Mix Tape Part 1 – The Beloved – Satellite

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This morning was the first of my Mix Tape tracks played by James Hazell on BBC Radio Suffolk. I’ve attached the YouTube playlist below which will play the interview followed by the track.

The transcript of the interview follows below.

Gadget Man Mix Tape – Part 1

James Hazell: The mixed tape all this week features the gadget man himself, Matt Porter of Matt Porter web design, our regular guide. You man. Now choosing tunes for us. Matt, great to see you

Matt Porter: Great to see you as well.

James Hazell: How are you?

Matt Porter: I’m alright, I’m good, very good. Thank you.

James Hazell: Now you’re a man. Of course. We know now is very much involved in the latest technology and all of that. You regularly report for us on the latest by way of gadgetry and all that. Have you always been that “guy”?

Matt Porter: for technology, I suppose I have. Actually, when I was at school, I had a Commodore VIC-20. That was interesting because the budget for that present was the Commodore VIC-20 on its own without the tape drive.

So, I would spend a lot of time programming and writing programs to do things. Either leaving the VIC-20 switched on because if you switched it off, it’s gone forever. So, it was a good way of learning to program because you kind of had to memorize a lot of what you did or write it down.

So, when you wanted to do it again, you had to re-type it all in. It was a painful thing. But, we’re not talking about writing a copy of Microsoft Word, there was a very limited amount of memory in a VIC-20, so the programs were never that long, but it was still a good start.

James Hazell: So, what was it, 10 PRINT “HELLO”, 20 GOTO 10?

Matt Porter: With Commodores, it was POKE 36879,22 or something like that!

James Hazell: Yeah. We’ll talk more about this as the week goes by, but we want to find out more about the man himself. So, Matt Porter, who are you? Are you a local? I get the sense you’re not Suffolk born, are you?

Matt Porter: I was born in Hitchin in Hertfordshire. I lived in that area for around 33 years and then I met a young lady on an online dating site called Udate, which is long gone. I met her on Udate and we got to know each other and fell in love.

I then sold my house in Bedfordshire at the time and moved to Ipswich to be with her. We got married and we had two children and we’re still together.

James Hazell: It’s good to hear of an online success story because they can be frowned upon in use by some people,

Matt Porter:  Certainly and as usual, I have to jump into something right at the beginning, it was good.

James Hazell: You were one of the first, I reckon, cause I had no doubt.

Matt Porter: Yeah, it was 2002 or 2003

James Hazell: That’s got to be early days. It’s got to be pioneering!

Matt Porter: So there you go, that’s what brought me here.

James Hazell: So your Missus must’ve been on it as well, so I suspect she’s a bit of a tech-head as well?

Matt Porter: She’s not actually, she’s not massively, almost certainly she’s not a tech head. She’s not as enthusiastic as I am, but we run Matt Porter Web Design together.

James Hazell: She won’t go out and buy a gadget just because it’s just been released by somebody.

Matt Porter: Absolutely not. No, she’s not interested. Her smartphone battery will last for days because she doesn’t use it that much.

James Hazell: When you moved to Suffolk, was there a concern with your technology minds that you’re moving to a place it’s not, shall we say, renowned for technology. It wasn’t at the forefront, I guess?

Matt Porter: I guess not. Yeah, it turns out I ended up having an office on, on the BT campus for a number of years, and it’s a super place, not many people know what a vibrant technology community is there.

But when I came here, actually, I handed my notice in for my full-time job in Hertfordshire and sold my house. I came here and started Matt Porter Web Design when I arrived, which was madness. I didn’t know anybody personally or in business.

James Hazell: So, you’ve come here this week to choose some songs for us. You’re going to start with Satellite by The Beloved.

Matt Porter: This track came out in 1996 and at that time I was house-sitting for somebody in Stevenage. During the time of the housesitting was Euro 96, which was England played absolutely amazingly! It was one of the most fantastic tournaments with classic players.

James Hazell: We were supposed to win that one!

Matt Porter: It was an amazing tournament. But I was house sitting there. So obviously I remember, watching the games and every time we scored, I think we played The Netherlands winning 4–1.

Every time we scored, I kept ringing my mate up and screaming down the phone. At that time, they also had satellite TV with MTV, and I was watching that and hadn’t really watched it before. This particular video for Satellite by The Beloved came on and it’s quite memorable. If you ever watch it on YouTube, it’s quite a memorable video, quite groundbreaking I guess, and the song’s fantastic as well. I actually have contact vaguely with Jon Marsh, who’s the singer with The Beloved by being a member of The Beloved Facebook Group. He regularly posts on there. It’s quite geeky, I guess.

(Cue Satellite by The Beloved)

 

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Gadget Man – Episode 154 – Protecting Small Businesses from Cyber Attacks

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More and more businesses are being targeted by criminals who are hijacking there websites and online accounts in order to blackmail them.

Here I am talking to Georgie Jameson on BBC Radio Suffolk about what small businesses can do to protect themselves from these kinds of attacks.

Matt Porter, The Gadget Man speaking on Radio Suffolk

Audio, BBC Radio Suffolk, Cars, Gadget Man, James Hazell, Matt Porter, Nextbase, Radio, Radio Interview, Review, Technology, The Gadget Man, YouTube

Gadget Man – Episode 153 – Talking about Dashcams

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This morning I spoke to James Hazell on BBC Radio Suffolk about the benefits of Dash Cams in cars.

During the interview, we discussed both the negatives and positives of these devices and how they can be used as an Independent Witness of an accident or other car-related crime.

I’ve been reviewing the Nextbase 422GW Dash Cam over the past two weeks, which will be published soon.

In the meantime, listen into the stream via my podcast link above or by playing the embedded video below.

Enjoy this episode and see you next time!!

Matt

Audio, BBC Radio Suffolk, Blog Post, Electric Car, Electric Car Challenge, Electric Vehicles, Gadget Man, Hyundai, James Hazell, Matt Porter, News, Radio, Radio Interview, Review, Technology, The Gadget Man

Gadget Man – Episode 152 – Hyundai Drive Different Test – Radio Interview

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This week I travelled to London to take part in the Hyundai Drive Different Test. In my previous post, I provided details on the thinking behind this initiative.

Today, I spoke to James Hazell on BBC Radio Suffolk about my experience and what I think made driving each car different.

Listen to the stream above and view the cockpit videos below to see some of what I experienced during the day.

Hyundai Drive Different Results for Matt Porter
Hyundai Drive Different Results for Matt Porter

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Cars, Electric Car, Electric Car Challenge, Electric Vehicles, Gadget Man, Hybrid, Hyundai, Matt Porter, News, The Gadget Man, Video Review

Gadget Man – Episode 151 – Hyundai Drive Different Test in London

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I was hugely excited to be invited to London yesterday to take part in the Hyundai Drive Different Test. During the day, I had the opportunity to drive both a Petrol and Electric powered Hyundai Kona around the streets of Finsbury Park and Highgate.

You can watch the video below or listen in to the podcast episode!

During the test, my eyes and head were tracked by specialist cameras, my heart rate was measured and the pressure-sensitive steering wheel was monitored. The cars themselves had custom-built computers on-board monitoring the vehicle itself and all this data was fed back to Hyundai’s servers to give me two driving scores for the petrol and electric cars.

Kona Electric
Kona Electric – Photo Credit: Hyundai

This was following research by Hyundai which revealed that there are 36,750 different ways to drive a vehicle!

The company got together with University of Warwick’s Dr Mark Hadley and driving expert Gary Lamb in which they devised the Drive Different Test (DDT). The test was to mark the growth that Hyundai has made in the alternative fuel marketplace of hydrogen, hybrid and pure electric vehicles.

Hyundai's Drive Different Test
Hyundai’s Drive Different Test – Photo Credit: Hyundai

The test compares a variety of driving styles in a range of vehicles including alternative fuel models. By using pupil tracking, facial recognition and of course artificial intelligence (AI), the test can accurately measure drivers skills under different conditions.

Hyundai researched 2000 drivers habits and have produced a report that identifies common styles with the top five listed below.

  1. Confident – 28%
  2. Fair and measured – 24%
  3. Calm  – 19%
  4. Nervous  – 7%
  5. Aggressive  – 7%

Men were more likely to label themselves as confident drivers (31%) than women (25%), while women were more likely to describe themselves as ‘nervous’ behind the wheel.

Prepariing to set out on Hyundai's Drive Different Test
 “We’ve found we all drive differently, with thousands of different styles, but we all can be united by a common cause of driving cleaner and preparing our cities for a zero-emission future.” – Sylvie Childs, senior product manager at Hyundai – Photo Credit: Hyundai

The survey also looked at AFV owners specifically, and their attitude to driving, and found that;

  • 92 per cent say they never beep at another driver
  • Over two-fifths (42%) slow down and let buses move in front of them
  • Over one third (37%) always ensure they thank other drivers on the road

But it wasn’t all generosity and courtesy on the road for AFV drivers. One fifth (20%)  ‘amber gamble’ and speed up on an amber light to get through the traffic lights.

Gary Lamb said: “There are many things that impact someone’s driving style, their technical skill of course but also confidence, experience and even the music they listen to and until they actually get behind the wheel you can never predict which way it will go. Over my 25 years as a driving instructor, I’ve seen them all. What’s interesting now is that alternatively fuelled vehicles are also affecting our driving style.

 “As 2040 draws nearer, and our cities and motorways fill with zero-emission capable vehicles, I’m excited to see how the way we drive will change, hopefully for the better.”

Sylvie Childs, senior product manager at Hyundai added: “Our research, along with the growth in sales figures, shows there is a real appetite for low and zero-emission vehicles in the UK. With this campaign, we hope to educate the public on how they can drive cleaner and more efficiently, whether they keep their current petrol vehicle or are in the market for an electric model like the KONA Electric or IONIQ Electric.

 “We’ve found we all drive differently, with thousands of different styles, but we all can be united by a common cause of driving cleaner and preparing our cities for a zero-emission future.”

BBC Radio Suffolk, Gadget Man, Matt Porter, Podcast, Technology, The Gadget Man

The Gadget Man – Episode 150 – Should we use our Smartphones, Tablets and Laptops in Cafes?

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Apparently using your Laptop in a Cafe at the weekend is no longer a ‘thing’. According to the Daily Mail, a cafe owner in Belsize Park has placed a ban on the use of laptops during weekend hours because it takes up valuable space during busy periods.

The ban has caused a regular customer to accuse the owner of bullying. Francesca Specter said, “the ban amounts to bullying of those who want to spend time alone”, she continues ‘I live by myself and part of my weekend routine is I go and get some headspace and enjoy breakfast and brunch by myself at one of the local cafes. The owner took one look at the iPad I was reading my paper on and said you can’t do that in here. I thought it was a situation where I was being bullied and I was by myself so I was in this minority. I had to leave and haven’t been back since.’

The owner, Mojgan Mohajer said ‘My cafe is quite small,’ she explained. ‘I received a lot of complaints from customers during the weekend that lots of people were coming with a laptop and sitting and they couldn’t have a table.’

Lets all go to the Cafe and moan about our civil liberties being breached because we aren't allowed to use a laptop!
Let’s all go to the Cafe and moan about our civil liberties being breached because we aren’t allowed to use a laptop while we share 1/2 a cup of coffee between us!

Computers and tablets are used widely, in fact anywhere you can find somewhere to sit, be it train, bus, park bench or cafe, you will find staring at a smartphone, tablet or laptop.

Personally, I’m siding with Mojgan. She does have a small cafe and although during the week she would like to attract people to her establishment at quieter times, the weekends will be much busier and she, of course, would like to maximise her income on the busiest day.

With regard to the bullying accusation, I’m speechless.

You can listen in to my chat with Mark Murphy on BBC Radio Suffolk where we talk about using devices on public WiFi hotspots.

See you next time

Matt

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The Gadget Man – Episode 149 – Virgin goes from EE, via BT to Vodafone, Britbox launches and Drone Registration is now compulsory

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Welcome to Episode 149 – It’s all go again with the mobile phone market in the UK, the confusion surrounding Mobile Virtual Network Operators and actual network operators becomes confusing again! Virgin Mobile is currently carried by EE which in turn is owned by arch-rival BT, so now Virgin is moving to Vodafone. It shouldn’t affect your service, but you should check your coverage as EE and Vodafone may differ!

Britbox has now launched in the UK, although it was launched in the USA some time ago. Britbox offers BBC and ITV material and will also offer Channel 4 and Channel 5 stuff to in time.  It becomes confusing when much of the material is still offered on BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, All4 and My5, you can even pay for some of these services to remove the adverts with ITV Hub+, 4+. I’ve signed up to check it out, so more on this later. I’m not terribly sure it has room to operate alongside global players such as Netflix, Amazon and Apple TV.  Time will tell.

UK Drone registration is now compulsory for anyone flying an aircraft over 250g.  Operators have until the end of the month to register their drones. It requires the payment of a £9 annual fee and you must affix your Operator ID to any drones you choose to fly.

Listen in to the stream to find out more,

Matt

BBC Radio Suffolk, Blog Post, Gadget Man, Gadget Road Trip, Radio Interview

The Gadget Man – Episode 148 – Better Late than… Matt got cut off, Three was down, Vodafone had billing problems and Samsung’s Fingerprint Sensor was bust

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Yikes!!! From a few weeks back! Here is Episode 148 where I spoke to James Hazell about Three, Vodafone and Samsung… Oh, I also got cut off from Facetime during the conversation.

All the issues are resolved now, but it should make informative listening.

From Thur 18th October 2019

Image Credit: By comedy_nose under CC BY License

 

Audio, BBC Radio Suffolk, Gadget Man, Matt Porter, Podcast, Radio, Radio Interview, retro, Retro Consoles, Retro Gadgets, Review, Technology, The Gadget Man

The Gadget Man – Episode 146 – Retro Gadget of the Week – Part 10 – Nintendo Game Boy

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In the final episode of my Retro Gadget of the Week, I bring you the Nintendo Game Boy.

This is an exclusive episode which was never broadcast. I’d like to be able to say it was too hot for broadcast, but in reality, it never made it because of time constraints on BBC Radio Suffolk. But here it is in all its glory, exclusively available to your pleasure!

Nintendo Game Boy in front of Assorted Games Cartridges
Nintendo Game Boy in front of Assorted Games Cartridges

Nintendo Game Boy

The Game Boy was an 8-bit portable games console designed and built by Nintendo, it was released in Japan in 1989 and then 12 months later made it to the USA and Europe.

The console featured a green, greyscale screen, but excelled in battery life against its arch-rivals, the Sega Game Gear and Atari Lynx. Along with an extremely durable case, both these features went towards beating it’s technically more advanced rivals.

The Game Boy came with the puzzle game, Tetris with later bundles including the legendary Super Mario Land, both were excellent games with fabulous soundtracks which didn’t become irritating.

The original Game Boy was a smash hit with gamers and went on to sell almost 65 million units. Nintendo kept gamers attention by releasing backwardly compatible upgraded units such as the Game Boy Color, Game Boy Light and Game Boy Advance.

As will other format wars, the gadget you least expect to win on paper is the victor and the Game Boy was certainly that, a truly great retro gadget which deserves to round off this series.

If you haven’t already, listen in to the stream as it contains 6 minutes of discussion about the Game Boy and its rivals and a little bit of history behind them.

Thanks to Matt Marvell at BBC Radio Suffolk for hosting my segment for the last 12 weeks and for producing this final one.

Don’t forget to Like, Share, Subscribe and Comment!!!

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BBC Radio Suffolk, Cars, Electric Car, Electric Vehicles, Formula E, Gadget Man, Gadget Road Trip, Matt Porter, Technology, Tesla, The Gadget Man

Gadget Man Episode 145 – Electric Car Update?

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So what has been happening in the Electric Car market over the past couple of years?

Well, since my slew of Electric and Hybrid car reviews a couple of years back and our mega-exciting East-West Road Trip in the Tesla Model S 100D, we’ve been quiet on that front.  The absolute opposite of what has been happening in the EV marketplace.

I spoke to Graham on BBC Radio Suffolk about what’s happening with regard to charge points and speed of charging, you can listen in to the audio stream above to find out more.

However, something super-exciting is happening in motorsport. Now that Formula-E fully electric car racing has established itself, it’s now time to turn up the power even more and with a new sport created by the father of Formula-E.

Extreme E – A radical new racing series. 

Extreme E is a radical new racing series, which will see electric SUVs competing in extreme environments around the world which have already been damaged or affected by climate and environmental issues. The five-race global voyage highlights the impact of climate change and human interference in some of the world’s most fragile ecosystems and promotes the adoption of electric vehicles to help preserve the environment and protect the planet.

Extreme E is operated in association with Formula E – the organiser of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship. Extreme E is committed to sustainability and minimising environmental impact – as well as playing its part in rebuilding and restoring areas already impacted by climate change

A new breed of racing means a new breed of the motorcar.

The car, named ODYSSEY 21, will feature in Extreme E’s radical new racing series which will highlight the impact of climate change on some of the world’s most fragile ecosystems, and promote the adoption of electric vehicles to help preserve the environment and protect the planet.

So, that’s just one thing that’s happening in the electric car market.

Image Credit: Extreme E
Some Content: Extreme E