Posted
on 07 Oct 2011, 7:01 pm,
by snags,
under
Tech.
The next major release of Windows Phone 7 is out, and to my enormous surprise, has actually made it to my phone remarkably quickly. I haven’t totally got my head around all the new bits yet, but so far all seems well, and the good outweighs the bad, which is nice.
Good stuff found so far:
- Tasks now synchronise with Exchange again! The curmudgeon in me says “As they should all along”, but at least it’s fixed now, and I’m trying to practice this positivity thing. OK, they hid them in with the calendar app, so I didn’t realise for a little while, but excuse me whilst I do a little Happy Dance
- the UI has had loads of minor tweaks, most of which are actually quite helpful (recent stuff rising to the top, more shortcuts to speed things up, inclusion of a task switcher so you can leave stuff open and move around between apps/screens more quickly etc.)
- messaging integration is, on the whole better, with Live, Facebook, Twitter etc. all having aggregate feeds as well as their standalone versions
- there’s an option for threading in Outlook. OK, it’s not great, and can be a bit random, and it’s not proper threading (only (ex)Cixen will probably get that) but at least it’s an option. Although I’ve turned it back off, as it was a bit weird
Less good stuff:
- they’ve taken the Folders button off the quick set in Outlook, so it’s now two taps away, not one. Grr. Just because most people are moron enough to have everything hit the Inbox and then move it manually; some of us actually know how to use server-side rules, and therefore need to be able to get to our folder list quickly to scan for new messages
- in fact, while we’re at it, we does Outlook still only trigger a new message counter for the Inbox? Why can’t it scan all of the synchronised folders and stick a counter up, with a quick aggregate “unread” view? Particularly as the ‘thread’ option shows that they can pull data from disparate folders into one view if they want to
Still, one major gripe from my
first exposure fixed for definite, and lots of little improvements. I think I’m likely to be a happy bunny for a while. Now I just need to hunt down a definitive list of what’s changed/been added in Mango, in case I’m missing any of the really good bits.
Posted
on 03 Oct 2011, 5:54 pm,
by snags,
under
Diary (ish).
Our office seems to be some kind of paradise for spiders. Big spindly ones, little weedy ones, huge chunky ones that have genuine mass – they all seem to love it. They’re also dead keen on the (outside) loo.
Now, I’m not a total wuss when it comes to our eight-legged friends, but I’m a good 80% of the way there. If they sit still and don’t do anything, fine. If they’re somewhere threatening, then first choice is catch and release (at a safe distance); splattering is definitely the position of last resort, but it’s not out of the question. My office, my loo, and my comfort out-ranks theirs.
So, last week when on our delayed lunchtime constitutional we happened across a conker tree cheerfully shedding its wares, I thought it was time to do some empirical testing of the “Spiders don’t like conkers” rumour. I’ve always suspected it was total rubbish, but hey, conkers are nice things in their own right, so collecting a few bagfuls and depositing them in corners in the loo and the kitchen (as a slow start -the rest of the office can always be treated if necessary) wasn’t a hardship.
Nearly a week in, and it’s looking suspiciously like the only way conkers deter spiders is if you throw the conker at the offending creature. However, I do have a number of nice piles of conkers, so we’ll see … Worst case I can claim some rustic decorative charm.
A complete failure to plan ahead and get someone else to do it for me, coupled with an unwillingness to use a Nooma twice in a row (at least, twice in a row with me leading) left me stuck with doing the talk again. I still don’t enjoy it.
So, in case it’s of wider value, here’s the text I didn’t deviate from too much (although it could do with some of the asides in order to flesh it out, to be honest; unfortunately I can’t remember them all).
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted
on 26 Aug 2011, 9:07 am,
by snags,
under
Randoms.
Listening to the radio whilst running late for work, and there’s an American chap on plugging his book on lying in public life. Moderately interesting chat with him and Kim Howells (sp?).
However, it ended with the gem that one of the biggest lies told in recent times was during the Cold War. Namely Western governments saying that they would use nukes if necessary should a war in Europe be going badly. We know this is a lie, told for deterrence, because when the Cold War ended, relevant Defence Secretaries said they’d never have actually done it.
Which is all very nice. Except, on what basis does one distinguish which statement is the convenient untruth appropriate to the spirit of the times?
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Pondering Comments Off on The truth shall set you free
Posted
on 03 Aug 2011, 6:14 pm,
by snags,
under
Randoms.
It’s a funny thing, a point of view. Rather like wondering why your photos of a sunny day never look as rich as your memories, until you take your sunglasses off and realise you were looking at the world through a filter, we don’t often twig to the preconceptions and prejudices we bring to an issue.
This story has been doing the rounds of the ‘net lately. Responses are interesting – either it’s clear evidence of a media/political/social conspiracy to discriminate against gay folk, or it’s a triumph for equality that someones sexuality is finally recognised as having bog all to do with an act of decency and humanity. Equally interesting is that the originator chose to pick up on the “Christian fundamentalist” tag for Anders Breivik, rather than the “right-wing extremist” one more generally used (in the UK press at least). So the whole thing is instantly mired in prejudice and assumptions that generally mis-represent pretty much everyone and militate against any useful or constructive discussion.
Unfortunately, we’ll doubtless never know whether it is just “one of those things”, or whether there really was a deliberate suppression of this particular tale. Equally we may never know whether the couple mentioned rescued 40 people single-handedly (or couple-handedly), or whether they were simply part of the overall effort of others with boats who did so. Not that it matters – simply piling in to do what they could is more than enough on its own. What’s pretty much certain, though, is that far more heat than light will be generated, and most comment will simply reinforce the writer and reader’s existing prejudice, rather than achieving anything positive.
Still, the tabloids missing out on the chance for a “lesbian lovers” story is kind of refreshing, I suppose.
Comments Off on Perspectives