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We start out the trip with more than two days at sea. This means intermittent mobile signals and potential for high costs. There’s also been zero data – not 3G, not EDGE, not even GPRS. Travelling by water really helps you appreciate the distances between places. It takes DAYS to go places. We passed a … Continue reading “Days at Sea”
We start out the trip with more than two days at sea. This means intermittent mobile signals and potential for high costs. There’s also been zero data – not 3G, not EDGE, not even GPRS.
Travelling by water really helps you appreciate the distances between places.
It takes DAYS to go places. We passed a tall ship yesterday. Under sail I can’t imagine how long it must take to get anywhere.
I’m off on my honeymoon so updates will be intermittent. I’ll be sending in photos and attempting to use this WordPress fir iPhone app on the move (along with iPhoneSlide). Hope it’s an interesting diversion from my usual rants. Related posts: The Broadband Blueprint (re DETI Telecoms Consultation) Vote for Transformational Change Stop critiquing the … Continue reading “Few and far between”
I’m off on my honeymoon so updates will be intermittent. I’ll be sending in photos and attempting to use this WordPress fir iPhone app on the move (along with iPhoneSlide).
Hope it’s an interesting diversion from my usual rants.
Crass stupidity Microsoft is allegedly crafting a completely brand new operating system, completely removed from the Windows code base… …Rob Helm, director of research for Directions on Microsoft, notes that it is “possible,” having previously heard of a secret OS project headed by former Microsoft Servers and Tools vice president Eric Rudder. He continues, saying … Continue reading “Serious journalists or “Journalists? Seriously….””
Microsoft is allegedly crafting a completely brand new operating system, completely removed from the Windows code base…
…Rob Helm, director of research for Directions on Microsoft, notes that it is “possible,” having previously heard of a secret OS project headed by former Microsoft Servers and Tools vice president Eric Rudder. He continues, saying that the project is most likely conceptual at this point, but of a more serious nature than ideas tossed about at Microsoft Research.
In other words, not a single line of code has been written.
Someone was recently railing on bloggers saying how they miss the cut and thrust of ‘serious journalists’. Jesus Christ – if this is the sort of speculative shite that serious journalists consider to be news, then I think every blogger should just give up and go home.
This is turd. People rail when Apple releases something and there’s a load of hype. Compared that to this – Microsoft release NOTHING. Not even a roadmap, not even an admission of a research project, and this is news.
But then again – this is why blogging tends to be much better quality, much better informed and much more readable. Despite what TechWire says.
Some people claim that their iPhones are starting to show cracks: Critically, the owners all claim not to have abused their phones, only subjected them to normal use. Hm, I call bullshit. Why? Years and years of working with electronic devices. People bring them in with all sorts of abuse – dents, broken LCD screens, … Continue reading “iPhone 3G cracking under the strain?”
Some people claim that their iPhones are starting to show cracks:
Critically, the owners all claim not to have abused their phones, only subjected them to normal use.
Hm, I call bullshit.
Why? Years and years of working with electronic devices. People bring them in with all sorts of abuse – dents, broken LCD screens, watermarks inside. And ninety percent of them didn’t do anything other than “normal use”. You have to demonstrate the sort of impact that would cause dents, try to convince them that LCD screens do not spontaneously break without external aid and show the fungus growing from the sugary-coffee mixture that they spilled into the speaker grille of the laptop.
Anyway – define ‘normal use’?
The Mojave Experiment is a new push from Microsoft to see if marketing can fix Vista (where engineering failed). Welcome to the “Mojave Experiment.” What do people think of Windows Vista® when they don’t know it’s Windows Vista? We disguised Windows Vista as codename “Mojave,” the “next Microsoft OS,” so regular people who’ve never used … Continue reading “The Mojave Experiment”
The Mojave Experiment is a new push from Microsoft to see if marketing can fix Vista (where engineering failed).
Welcome to the “Mojave Experiment.” What do people think of Windows Vista® when they don’t know it’s Windows Vista? We disguised Windows Vista as codename “Mojave,” the “next Microsoft OS,” so regular people who’ve never used Windows Vista could see what it can do – and decide for themselves. Now decide for yourself.
Microsoft has managed to prove that if you have a friendly expert on a controlled machine (with Vista pre-installed) showing a carefully selected subset of Vista features to an ignorant XP user for a few minutes, the XP user will often say he finds Vista acceptable. Wow.
That’s just tragic. Absolutely tragic.
Mike Cane gives his considered opinion on Cuil, a new search engine which challenges Google immediately by having a black background! Of course the first search item anyone uses to test out a search engine is a vanity search. Because we all know our online presence best. Well this sucker splashed so much crap on … Continue reading “Cuil: a new approach on Search Engines”
Mike Cane gives his considered opinion on Cuil, a new search engine which challenges Google immediately by having a black background!
Of course the first search item anyone uses to test out a search engine is a vanity search. Because we all know our online presence best.
Well this sucker splashed so much crap on the screen in such a random fashion — with many links actually pointing to nowhere — that I sat there agog.
I didn’t even bother trying another search time. Waste of time.
I thought, “yeah, can’t hurt.” So I check out Google to remind myself how many of us there are:
and compare to the Cuil results:
Right. That certainly is a new approach on Search Engines. Thanks to Mike for the inspiration.
TechWire writes: For dull, repetitive reportage, stick with the blogs. Somewhat ironic considering that’s the second post on that blog made decrying the Irish blogging scene as “crap” or “dull”. You have to ask though – what is TechWire (and by extension, Damien Mulley and TwentyMajor) expecting from blogging? There are a lot of blogs … Continue reading “H is for ipocrisy”
TechWire writes:
Somewhat ironic considering that’s the second post on that blog made decrying the Irish blogging scene as “crap” or “dull”.
You have to ask though – what is TechWire (and by extension, Damien Mulley and TwentyMajor) expecting from blogging?
There are a lot of blogs I simply don’t read. It’s not because I disagree with their opinions – I’d rather read something opinionated and disagreeable and respond to it directly. But, as I said, there’s a lot I don’t read. But considering that one of those blogs I don’t read is TwentyMajor, which has been a multiple-winner of the Irish Blog Awards, what the hell do I know about what makes a good blog. (and if you must know, I just didn’t find it that funny – there’s only so many times in this world that swearing is funny and I tired of tall tales and bad puns). But these are the A-listers so what the fuck do I know about what makes a good blog.
More than anything, we promote figures like Scoble or Calacanis to prominence by following them. We create their egos. And yes, there’s the Irish A-list scene (almost an oxymoron in itself) which we’re promoting to prominence. At the end of the day, who the fuck is TechWire? As Will Knott Joe Drumgoole commented when TechWire described the Irish blogging scene as “crap”:
This is what the net news groups used to call “flame bait”. The same tired old question can and has been asked of every information medium (new and old) and is essentially lazy journalism of the worst kind.
Bravo, Joe.
I think the A-listers, and TechWire (as the unwitting Troll) are putting unreasonable expectations out there. Most bloggers are not there to entertain, they’re writing because something needs said. The beauty of the internet is that it’s a great leveller. Anyone can talk.
Want a dissenting view on orthodox middle-class views of current affairs (US invasions, urban planning, health issues, gender issues etc)? Don’t look to Irish blogs: they largely sing off the same standard-issue hymn sheet (with one or two exceptions).
Idiocy. Go to any cross section of the blogosphere in any country and you’ll see perhaps 1% of the population tackling the really thorny issues. So, what, we want more Latte heroes? I don’t blog much about US politics because I’m inundated with that shit on the OSX-Nutters mailing list (where there seems to be an insanely high amount of discussion of US politics). The other topics only become topics when they affect someone I know. Look at the abortion topic (which steered into the “Why Iris Robinson hasn’t been removed from office” topic – which I’ve been as restrained as I can about, mainly because I’d have to Godwin myself if I went any further).
I can’t go to the newspapers for anything interesting because the coverage they give to things I’m interested is either scarce, misinformed or paid-for. No go. Blogs provide much more.
My only concern about the Irish blog scene is that with the beginnings of emancipation – where the blogs of Californian super-egos are deprecated – there are those attempting to fill the niche. Newflash: We don’t need you.
The ultimate irony has to be the TechWire blog. It’s more of a ‘whine’ than my own blog. And that’s something. Where’s the value? For gods sake, yes, let us rid the Irish Blog scene of useless blogs. Starting right there.
Last-Standing.com is the web site for a local Battle of the Bands. I meant to just highlight it but as this is an ANGRY BLOG, I have to be pissed about something. Two sins It uses Flash. And it’s their way or the highway. If you have a device that doesn’t like Flash then you’re … Continue reading “Do Not Assume. Do Not Resize”
Last-Standing.com is the web site for a local Battle of the Bands. I meant to just highlight it but as this is an ANGRY BLOG, I have to be pissed about something.
Two sins
But anyway – my gripes aside.
The heats for this Battle (war?) are:
and:
For the winners, an outstanding reward:
– cash prize
– demo recording at Shabby Road studio
– 100 copies of the demo
– expert advice from those in the music and promotion business
– mentoring
– high profile playing opportunities
Anyone interested in showcasing their band, even just for the experience, should head along to their web site and download the Application Form (Microsoft Word file). There are currently 8 bands registered and there’s room on the site for samples, photos and mini-bios. Contact Paul McMordie for more information
I love Project Gutenberg. Project Gutenberg is the first and largest single collection of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today. Where else can you download the top 100 eBooks for nothing? Here’s the top … Continue reading “Project Gutenberg”
I love Project Gutenberg.
Project Gutenberg is the first and largest single collection of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.
Where else can you download the top 100 eBooks for nothing? Here’s the top 10 yesterday.
And the top 10 Authors yesterday?
This is also neat:
The World eBook Fair from July 4 – August 4 2008 offers over a million free eBooks for download. Project Gutenberg is a proud content partner. Read more here.
They offer text, audio books, CD/DVDs and digitised sheet music comprising 14.8 GB of text and 91.5 GB of MP3s. Project Gutenberg survives on donations and volunteer work. As they say, even a single cent per download would make a difference.
So, here’s a plan. Create a Gutenberg eBook reader for the iPhone/iPod touch. That will permit browsing of the catalogue, download/caching of books. The reader will not be free but available for a token amount – every penny of which, outside of Apple’s 30%, will go straight to the Gutenberg Project. So, what do you think? On top of that, I’ll host a mirror of the Gutenberg site (the 14.5 GB text files) which this app will use to browse – which should reduce the network costs for Project Gutenberg.
Proposed Feature list
Offers of help appreciated as are suggestions for features or thoughts about the ‘model’. Note – I’ve not asked Project Gutenberg about this. I just think it’s a good idea. I’d even start my secret project early if I thought some enterprising young souls were interested.
“It was a Golden Age, a time of high adventure, rich living, and hard dying …but nobody thought so.” The Stars My Destination” Alfred Bester Keep this in mind when watching the news. Related posts: i am jack’s frustrated creativity Money for nothing and chicks for free What Steve said… Golden Braeburn: get unscrewed.
The Stars My Destination”
Alfred Bester
Keep this in mind when watching the news.