Also, it looks like I’ve secured 2 good deals to set up a primitive speaker system for my year here. 50GBP for an amp and 10GBP for a pair of speakers. Low-end stuff, but it’ll do for casual listening and I won’t feel too bad if I have to throw it out when I leave.

Not sure if I ever posted fully about the HSBC France mess, but here's the full story to this point:

  • 22 July: went to the office and signed all the paperwork to close the account. Provided the details for the new account where the money was to be transferred.
  • Sometime mid-August: Money not received. Send a few emails.
  • No answer
  • Late August: mum says to contact them once more and to inform them that we'll be contacting a lawyer if we don't get the money (>7000€).
  • This morning: called CS to ask what the hell was going on. It took her 5 seconds to find out that, though all the paperwork and procedures had been completed properly, the account had never been closed. She sent the office a message to contact me and sort it out.
  • A few hours ago: re-set up my online banking for that account and transferred as much as I could to my UK account, leaving only the minimum amounts required in the bank.
  • Now: waiting for that transfer to come through, hoping HSBC UK don't block it on grounds of suspected money laundering or something stupid. If that goes well, they can take their sweet time closing that account — I can live without access to 100€ for a few months. Else I'll just have to transfer little bits to the UK account and some to the HK account and suffer the fees.

Heh, so I’m not the only one who thought of toast upon seeing that photo… //

Hehe. It's true.

I stopped using my iDevices for music a long time ago, only because iTunes is too painful to use. Have a Fiio X5ii now, and the quality out of that is stunning. Easy management via Finder too…

Not long before they come out with an adapter that also allows for charging, like the Lightning -> Lightning+USB adapter.

That kind of mindset is healthy, up to a point, but past that, you lose money maintaining such old equipment.

I wonder how long it'll be before I replace this Mac Pro though. First computer I've ever had that doesn't make me feel like screaming on an hourly basis.

Audiophiles whining about Apple ditching the 3.5mm doesn't make any sense. For years, anyone who's that fussy about audio quality on the go has been connecting an external DAC/amp via 30-pin/Lightning.

@japchap Actually, that's exactly what's needed — a ring. So the case can be worn as an actual ring.

Next up: collaboration with Swarovski?

//

@kdfrawg 7+ for me. The jet black looks interesting but I think I’ll go for the matte…

So who's getting the 7/7+?