Thomil's Random Ramblings

So, it’s working from home again. Is anyone else getting a distinct sense of déjà moo here? Seriously, we’re now well into the second year of the pandemic here in Ireland and while society may not be as locked down as it once was, a return to the office is likely still months away at the very least. Also, since publishing my first post on this topic back in February 2021, I have a few months of working from home experience under my belt. So, why not turn those lessons into a blog post to feed the content machine? Here are five more lessons I learned while working from home. Write a To-Do List for the Day Using a Task Manager such as Todoist to write out a daily to do list can really make your day easier for you. This goes back to the issue of structuring your day I mentioned back in February of this year. Having a clear outline of the tasks you need to get done that day really helps you feel on top of things. And of course, there’s more than just a little satisfaction in scratching a...

I’ll admit. I never expected to even get the device I’m reviewing in this post, despite being a long-time Apple user, I just don’t take their audio ambitions seriously and honestly, when I want to spend hundreds of Euros on a new set of headphones, I’ll buy Bang & Olufsen, thank you very much. At least there, I can replace most of the key parts of the headphones in question and I know that at least the on-ear and over-ear headphones will last for ages. After all, my Beoplay H8 are still going strong! That being said, my E8 in-ears had been giving me trouble for quite some time, and when the AirPods Pro were one of the options during the company gift selection that also netted the DJI Mini 2, I decided to take the plunge. After All, I was in the market for some truly wireless in-ears. And I wasn’t about to shove Samsung’s in-ear kidneys, the other truly wireless option, into my ears. Several seemingly interminable weeks later, the big day arrived. While the packaging of the AirPods...

I cannot live without music. It’s my greatest addiction, and the one I am the least ashamed about. In fact, I’m proud of it. I’m sure any somewhat perceptive reader of my blog has copped on to that simple fact by now, given the amount of headphone and speaker reviews. Well, today a new set of earphones joins the group, and they’re the smallest ones yet. A few years ago, a small start-up called Bragi launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a new model of wireless headphones. The Bragi Dash was supposed to take the concept of wireless earphones to the next level by eliminating the physical link between the two earbuds, and replacing them with a wireless connection. Despite some initial hiccups, the new concept soon took root, with numerous companies jumping on the bandwagon, including Apple with their hideous AirPods. I'm not sure what to think of Bang & Olufsen's new packaging style... True premium manufacturers initially kept their distance, waiting to see how this...

Samsung. Now there’s a company I have a love/hate relationship with. On one hand, they shamelessly copy hardware designs from other manufacturers, customise Android with their own horrible TouchWiz surface, and have an update policy for their smartphones and tablets that can best be described as Kafkaesque. On the other hand, they know their stuff, they’re pioneers in the field of OLED and AMOLED displays, and, the occasional exploding battery aside, they produce great hardware. In fact, my new TV is a Samsung. Still, as a former Apple employee, there’s always a bit of discomfort involved when it comes to Samsung. So when Samsung started promoting their Level On Wireless headphones back in 2015, I was less than impressed. They seemed like a cheap Beats copy to me, which is saying something considering the quality issues that Beats has. So, it seemed like another desperate attempt to copy Apple, which was of course compounded by some quality issues with the original Level On Wireless...

Review of impossibly cheap  BQ-605 headphones This review is a true review as my son is visiting us in Germany with his expensive B&O headphones. Sometimes life itself writes the best stories, in this case reviews. In preparation for a very looong flight in September to Calgary and back I just purchased impossible cheap headphones on Ebay. They were  delivered yesterday, and this is the opportunity to review, and compare, top and bottom of headphones. I‘m not really a review writer but opportunity makes an author. By  the way, comparison of my -noname- headphones with Bang&Olufsen headphones would be unfair if it comes to (lower level) features. The main reason for my purchase, aside from the very cheap price, was that these headphones act also as a player for music on a micro SD card. What about a radio integrated in the headphones? It‘s there, but I would prefer to listen to communication between the cockpit and the ground. Instead, a nice female voice whi...

I'll be honest. Sometimes, the biggest feeling of satisfaction is when you successfully manage to drown out the world. Of course, music is ideally suited for that, no matter what genre you prefer. The problem is that there are situations where you just can't crank up the volume on your phone, iPod, or whatever, because the people around you wouldn't be best pleased, and to be honest, the quality of moste phone speakers is horrible anyway. So, headphones are the logical choice, and the selection is all but limitless. I went through them in an earlier article on a headphone purchase. While those Sony headphones were damn good for their price, they didn't quite hit the spot. Don't get me wrong, if you're on a tight budget, they're still a good choice, but for me, they didn't quite hit the spot. So, once I was back in employment, and with a much more generous paycheck, I decided to go for another pair of noise-cancelling headphones. And this time, the soun...