It was several years ago, perhaps even 1999. I cannot remember exactly but the moment I recall like it was yesterday. I was listening to Five Live and more specifically Matthew Bannister’s show as it was then (before Anita Anand took over). Nick Crosgrove come on for his business segment and mentioned a new technology that would soon be transforming the world. Being the gadget freak that I am I listened in to the conversation. It was a new wireless technology called Bluetooth that would enable different devices to talk to each other. I was skeptical, to say the least, I did not think a technology like this would work or be adopted by the masses. I was wrong. Several years later, I got my first phone with bluetooth and was also messing around with bluetooth dongles to transfer files and contacts from a mobile phone to a PC. However it is only this week I have come to appreciate the true power and beauty of blueteeth.

I collected my car on Tuesday evening from Pro Installations and was blown away by the stereo. The Alpine unit looks fantastic, particularly at night with the red lumination which matches the rest of the dash. I now have two amps sitting snuggly on a false floor in the boot, one powering a brand new Pioneer sub woofer! The sound quality is just awesome and difficult to explain in words. The MB Quart Q-Line speakers have just perfect clarity, even at the high volumes, although I have not put the volume above level thirty yet! The other toy I’ve had fitted is the Parrot 3400 LS GPS Bluetooth car kit, which pairs with my N73. At first I had a few problems getting my phone to see the GPS device but eventually I got it working on Thursday. The problem was I needed to connect to the Parrot while in the TomTom Navigator software rather than pair with the phone first. This worked a treat and I now am fully up and running with sat nav! The phone aspect needs some work but that should be sorted out in a coming few weeks.

I searched for Ultra on Wikipedia at the beginning of last year but they did not have any entries. I was disappointed. You can imagine my surprise to discover that not only did they have a page on the online encyclopedia but they had released a second album in October last year. Their official web site was working a few weeks ago but appears to be down now. I hunted around on various peer to peer services to see if I could download the album but it was a big ask. I went over to You Tube and was pleased to find their videos, all uploaded by one user. The singles were their, Say You Do, Say It Once and the top ten UK smash, Rescue Me. However there was also two videos I had not seen before, Blind To The Groove and one of my personal favourite’s from the debut album, The Right Time. Yesterday evening, I decided to download the album, having heard a few of the songs over on their official My Space. The cost of each track was 79p which I was more than willing to pay and worthwhile since I had also purchased their album in December 1999, as a Christmas present for my sister. I tried Amazon first and then HMV but none of the major online retailers were stocking the album. Looks like this is ones of those for die-hard fans only. I have had a quick listen to most of the tracks and really enjoyed the sound and vocals, it was as if they had never been away.

Talking of music, I’m officially obsessed with Umbrella by Rihanna (featuring Jay Z). I first heard about the song and accompanying video from Pop Justice on 26th April and headed over to You Tube to catch the show for myself. Very impressed, a new direction for our Barbados babe and absolutely amazing video. I particularly love the computer enhanced effects of Rihanna dodging the water (or is it paint?) falling across her (which occurs a minute in, during the chorus). This is another one of those songs which I am just going to rinse on WinAmp and now in my car, once I get around to burning an MP3 CD. Or should I be brave and attempt WMA?

Been a rather dull wet weekend with me achieving little more than a haircut and piano lesson (#9). I wanted to wash the car but High Wycombe had the heaviest rainfall in the country. So my plans were somewhat limited. I am not a big fan of Eurovision but I do tend to watch the show mainly for witty Wogan and the tactical voting but opted to listen to the BBC Radio 2 coverage on my computer instead this year. The least said about the UK entry the better.