I have now survived two weeks without using the Internet and this week has definitely been the hardest as most of the week I was stuck at home doing nothing and the temptation to reach for my iPod Touch and update Twitter was almost irresistible.
When I decided to give up the Internet I originally thought I would spend all of my time reading however that is not the case. I’ll admit I am reading more because I don’t get distracted as much however I’ve noticed I now watch a lot more TV and I have returned to playing the offline version of Minecraft I have downloaded on my laptop. I’ve played it so much I have almost recreated the whole country of Panem (from the Hunger Games!) When not playing Minecraft I’ve been watching Friends; 74 episodes to be precise (when you don’t use the internet you are sad enough to count).
Top 5 apps/websites I miss the most
Flipboard – This is how I get my news and social network updates. If I am having a busy day it will usually be the only app which I use because it is a great app which you could spend hours going through.
YouTube – I love watching videos, not mainstream YouTube videos however I like the channels I’m subscribed to such as BBC, Channel 4, DSMS Wyvern, Syndicate & The Verge.
Twitter – This is usually where I find out the latest news and gossip, it is also lets me rant and witter on a bit about stuff that nobody cares about.
Google Calendar – This is a brilliant tool which I usually use everyday so I don’t forget to do something. Usually it just acts as a to do list however I like the fact that I can create an event on my laptop and it will sync to my phone and iPod.
Vine – Ever since it was launched about a month ago I have been in love with this new micro-video sharing app for iOS devices. It allows me to share 6 second videos and it would have been perfect for sharing some moments from the practise BBC School Report day and from other things I’ve done over the half term break.
A fresh new view
Last week I went on a three mile walk in the countryside near Barnard Castle. We went to Eggleston Abbey (which used to be an abbey between the 1300’s and 1700’s. It is now just ruins.Anyway for the walk we bought an OS map which I personally thought was over priced at £8 however I am used to using a free online mapping system such as Bing Maps or Google Maps.
Even if I was using the internet, an online mapping system would be useless because they don’t show public footpaths and there is no network connection out there.
SkyDrive
I love taking photos on my phone and I like the fact that they upload to SkyDrive automatically from my Windows Phone. Unfortunately, since my phone hasn’t been connected to the internet for the last fortnight I’ve had to return to ancient methods of photo transfer.
I needed to plug my phone into my computer!
SkyDrive is also useful for documents as it has the web apps of office 2013 built in. This allows you to work on your documents, spreadsheets or presentations from any device. (This honestly isn’t a SkyDrive advertisement.)
PlayStation 4?
I’d usually know this however without Internet access it is hard to find out. I saw something briefly on the news which I think said that the PlayStation 4 has been announced. So has it?
I think I heard that it has a built in feature which allows you to record the game you are playing so you can upload the video onto YouTube and websites like that but I don’t know. This will probably be the first thing I Google as soon as I get the Internet back.
Horse Meat Scandal
I personally think that a bigger deal is being made of this than there should be, yes they are falsely advertising a product but let’s face it;
they could be putting worse things in our food.
It’s now awkward when you see the Asda adverts and they are saying how much cheaper their products are this week compared to other supermarkets because we now know they are filled with horsemeat instead of beef, pork and lamb and that is why they are so cheap!
The Brits
It was the BRIT Awards on Wednesday 20th February 2013. It was okay however it has seemed to have lost the glory it once had. No celebrities got drunk and make fools of them during their performance, James Cordon didn’t need to cut anyone’s acceptance speech and the act at the end of the night didn’t get cut off half way through so ITV could show the 10PM news. It was almost like that it was well planned and nobody over drank. The most exciting thing which happened was the occasional swear word from the host James Cordon however this wasn’t very regular.
Adele won the award for best single with the theme tune to ‘Skyfall’ however she wasn’t at the award ceremony as she was in America. She said she was practising for an award ceremony over there however everybody knows it is because she was cut off last year. Anyway, Emily Sandé won the album of the year making her one of the highlights of 2012 despite me not knowing a single one of her songs.
This post was uploaded by @rebecca983