Blog Posts

Stop Getting Random Post Notifications from the Facebook App

A month or so ago I started getting seemingly random notifications from the Facebook app about posts/links/photos friends had posted. The weird thing was that it wasn't recent stuff: most of it was from several days to weeks in the past. Here’s how to switch it off. Go to your Account Settings Open Notifications…

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Trailer Trash Meatloaf

I've seen some fancy recipes online with Parma ham and white wine and such. This isn't that. Ingredients 500g Lean Minced Beef 6 rashers bacon 3 slices bread 1 large onion 1 egg 2 cloves garlic 3 tbsp milk 1 tbsp tomato ketchup 1 tbsp yellow mustard (French's / stuff you'd put on a hotdog) 1 tbsp Worcestershire…

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Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Honey, Mustard and Cheese

Ingredients 4 chicken breasts 8 smoked streaky bacon rashers 3 tbsp wholegrain mustard 2 tbsp Dijon mustard 3 tbsp runny honey 150g mozzarella 50g cheddar Method Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Grate or tear up the cheese. Put in a bowl with 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard and mix well, pressing with the back of a…

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Slow Cooker Chunky Beef Chilli

Ingredients 500g casserole steak 2 onions 2 tbps cooking oil 2 tsp hot chilli powder 1 tsp Cayenne pepper 2 tsp paprika 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp oregano Mug beef stock 2 tbsp tomato ketchup 400g chopped tomatoes 400g kidney beans in chilli sauce 2 tbsp cornflour 1 square dark chocolate Method Put the chilli powder,…

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Create Desktop Apps out of Google Play Music, Spotify, Deezer, Pandora and Such Using Chrome Application Shortcuts

With Spotify releasing their browser player a while go, all of the major streaming services now have web-based applications. While this is good, I do a lot of work within the browser during the day and have a habit of killing groups of tabs or the browser itself reasonably often. Then there’s a moment of confusion…

Adding Business Layer Caching Using Castle Windsor AOP

Aspect Oriented Programming (AOP) is a programming paradigm that allows separation of cross-cutting concerns. But you probably already knew that if you're reading this. If not, go have a read at the Wikipedia page on AOP or the introduction page on the Castle Project site. The Problem If we have an existing…

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Chatting with Natwest Customer Services

My online banking with Natwest wasn't working so I thought I'd try their live chat support. Chat An advisor will be with you shortly. While waiting to be connected, don’t forget you might still be able to find the answer to your question and many more by using our ‘Help 24x7’. During this chat you will not be asked…

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A New Structure for Scottish Football

The recent plans for reconstruction of the Scottish league have been… interesting. Groups of 12-12-18 then splitting into 8-8-8-18 towards the end of the season. Yeah, okay. Here’s an alternative plan I've been mucking around with. It’s not ideal and I've no clue about the money situation but I think it'd make things…

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One Pot Braised Rice with Crayfish

This probably breaks some culinary rules since it's chicken stock and seafood but I don't care: I like it. Equipment Big saucepan with a lid Ingredients 200g Long Grain Rice (don't use basmati) 400ml Chicken Stock 250-300g Ready to Eat Crayfish Tails 1 Onion Butter/Margarine Method Chop the onion. Melt a dollop…

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Build a Media Centre PC for £129.86

Building a media centre PC for your living room doesn't need to cost a fortune. With new low power processors with onboard graphics, you can put together a system capable of playing 1080p videos with DTS sound and still get change from £130. I've split the components into two categories – Core and Additional. You…