Steve Litchfield

Hawkwind's seminal 1977 album Quark, Strangeness and Charm remains one of my favourites, but as I've previously discussed in these days of digital music, it's possible to curate your own 'version' of anything.  And with that in mind, I've been 'fiddling' with my digital bits and bytes to create my own 'best' album. Culled from the remaster of the actual album, from live bits and out-takes, as you'll see. I'd call it 'definitive', except I keep fiddling further, so it's always being changed in some small way. Happily, the original album, especially in super-clear remastered (by Steven Wilson) form, is so good that there's not quite as much needing doing as on some other albums by this or any other band. Side 1, in particular, is editing to perfection. The 11 minute 'take one' 'Spirit of the Age' was stripped back to verses 2 and 3, 'Damnation Alley' is complete and perfect in itself, and 'Fable

I realise that this is a cliche, but I have to rant just a little. I completely understand the point of a holiday. The derivation of the word is from 'holy day', i.e. a day when you don't work and relax instead. At which point I also understand that staying home and not going into work (for example) is also a nice 'holiday'. As is, presumably, if you have no responsibilities and unlimited budget, where you could travel around and enjoying yourself enormously. But.  In between these two stress-free extremes is what most of us understand as a holiday, and it's a hundred times more stressful . There are three factors and I rant and rail at each one when someone starts enquiring after your holiday plans, past or future, and coos "Well, that's nice for you". No, it's usually (mainly) not nice. And I'll explain why. 1. Arrangements For starters, there are 'arrangements' to be made. Nothing to do with getting to your holiday or what to do

Folding phones have been very exciting to me as a geek, goodness knows I’ve owned or reviewed enough of them, but the physicist in me has always been sceptical. Glass isn’t supposed to bend and fold, and as for the intricate hinges, the less moving parts in a consumer device, the better. My friend Shane Craig’s latest video sheds light on the way manufacturers are not standing fully behind the tech, leaving you and I in the lurch. If the folding glass breaks and there are no signs of external impact (i.e. a drop) then it's always the fault of the tech, its inherent physical design and fragility .  So for manufacturers to turn round and say 'Oh, no, broken screens aren't covered under our warranty' is utterly ridiculous. They were the ones who invested millions into developing products using folding glass and they need to follow through with the usual warranties and support. If only so that the customer won't dismiss the brand when choosing the next device, whether