Posts by Professor Quatermass 27 publicly visible posts • joined 21 Jul 2008
Surely the illiberal measures taken by the New Labour Government will be staked through the heart by our incoming Tory Government? Yes? Maybe? Hmmm.
At the moment I'm a resident alien in the UK and haven't been compelled to obtain an ID card. I only wish my citizenship would come through in time to vote these rascals out!
Why oh why must people call redheads "ginger". The ginger I use in stir fries and lemon tea doesn't look anything like the hair colour of Julianne Moore, Clara Bow, Gillian Anderson, Molly Ringwald, Nicole Kidman, Evan Rachel Wood or my girlfriend.
Let's say "redhead" or "red hair" ... let's do.
The BBC really need to rethink their place in our society - and we need to reconsider how their efforts are funded.
The BBC should create common platforms into which any and all UK-based publishers can pour their content without restrictions.
Now that I actually pay the licence fee I want service for my money. And very much hope the next government will hold the BBC to account. Perhaps an a la carte subscription model? A US public radio model? The BBC need to work harder for my money ...
... she's just moved and isn't connected to the outside world just yet (and I'm shocked and appalled that Virgin cable isn't available - I've been on cable here and in New York for 12 years - with a two year hiatus in hell with BT DSL) ... but I think "what ho, my iPhone can do ANYTHING!"
As I check to see the location of the nearest B&Q, I have the all-too-familiar 3G signal, but "can't find server" or "can't authenticate" or "O2 sucks, when is Orange getting the iPhone, too?" messages.
The outage lasted from roughly 10am all the way until 6ish in the evening.
Methinks the total lack of transparency is the maddening bit. At least I can ring Virgin and hear some palliative message that may or may not be true but at least gives the appearance that there may be customers that actually use their service.
Harumph.
This morning I declined to receive new carrier settings via iTunes. Should I have accepted them? Will it cause my brain to ache from the influx of new data? Of course, I don't think I've actually received a text all day, so perhaps I should? Oh, the confusion.
Bloody cannot bloody activate the bloody cellular bloody network. How the hell can I use the cross-trainer AND work at the same time?!
That may be a wee bit frivolous, but I really do need to be connected when I'm out of the office and these mysterious outages are deeply irritating.
Evil Steve because I think he needs to come over here and show his fangs to Telefonica.
I'm a trim 5'8" and have traversed the length of Kent and the whole Southeast with my cameras - taking pictures of whatever strikes my fancy. I do the same throughout London and have never had an issue with the police.
Of course, I do tend to wear suits everywhere and try and present myself as a professional. I'd like to think I appear to know what I'm doing and everyone just assumes I have the right to be there.
Who knows, but it seems to work for me!
www.flaneurphoto.com
I've worked for 6 years at a job I loathe in order to become a permanent resident (where the goalposts shifted from 4 to 5 years before qualifying) - and I'll be eligible to apply for citizenship in February.
My one wish is that I will be able to vote this corrupt, illiberal, wicked Labour government from office and ensure they never come close to government again.
Frankly, I have no idea how someone could really come here and work without getting picked up sooner or later. Oh, right - extreme governmental incompetence. The people at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted always make me feel extremely welcome, whilst also making sure I am who I claim to be. Surely, the government is making a mockery of the good work these people do?
... and so I really understand where he's coming from. My pathetic salary at the Rocket Group is barely enough to cover the Tube journey. It isn't about the money, it's about the total lack of respect the life-sucking dead-enders and no-hopers around me have for my brilliant abilities and dedication to the organisation.
No, really.
... and ONLY then will Silverlight shine brightly. Here in the Rocket Group, we only run OS X and wouldn't dream of developing our propaganda - ahem, official fact sheets - with anything other than Adobe tools.
If Microsoft want to succeed, flood the Macintosh with terrific media development tools and then they'll win at last.
Apple could have sewn up the market in the 1990's if they ever bothered to release a halfway decent IDE for QuickTime rather than relying on a handful of not-quiet-enough tools like LiveStage and such.
Although my work at the Rocket Group keeps me busy, I spend my off hours defending the planet from wicked aliens and engaging in some amateur photography.
On Saturday, I decided to wander down to Somerset House and the Embankment and take some pictures. Of course, I worse my standard outfit - dark trousers, black jacket, white dress shirt and a black raincoat. I also brought my Pentax 645.
Well, I realised when I arrived that I looked for all the world like a spy or a representative of one of the world's security services. The protesters gave me odd looks, the police gave me some very odd looks (no, I don't know you), but I did manage some dramatic pictures.
Methinks I enjoyed photographing the photographers most ... and they were most disturbed by my doing so.
So we're doomed to work by guttering candles and shitty CFL bulbs whose wonky illumination throws cold, coloured shadows across my studio. And yum, yum we all love a little more quicksilver loose in the environment.
Professional Photographers of the World - UNITE!
When will LED alternatives be in place again? They're the only bulbs worth a damn and that don't give me a headache.
I've spent this afternoon working in the new browser and think it's a great leap forward for Apple - and MS - customers.
It's blazing fast, but - as expected - some of those interface widgets are wonky. The tab controls are clumsy and counter-intuitive and I really wonder why the refresh arrow is so close to the RSS button - a disaster waiting to happen, there!
Nevertheless, Safari 4 should push IE 8 forward, keep Chrome honest and ensure that Macintosh users are first-class citizens on the Internet. Now if I could only properly configure that Cinerama view.
Right, back to the work of the Rocket Group!
Indeed, here at the Rocket Group we use nothing but Macintosh's. Sure the dip in sales reflects the lack of a refresh in the iMac line - and especially the poor Mac Mini?
The 24-inch iMac is pretty much the perfect light professional computer, but the internals need a bit of an update - e.g., let's move on to LED backlighting and other refinements introduced in the notebook line.
I received my iPhone one week after the launch and it has worked just as well as a phone my previous cheap mobile on O2 and Virgin. I don't drop calls within the M25, though data coverage outside the capital can be spotty.
But that's the case with most mobile operators, no? I've NEVER had very good coverage in Kent or East Sussex. The coverage between Tottenham Hale and Harlow Town on the train is atrocious as well (but then again what would one expect for that lovely part of the country).
That said, the update resolves the deeply annoying lag-bugs with text entry as the address book. All in all - huzzah!
The nasty spew of vitriol from Russians, Russian expats or out-and-out shills that cover the major British newspaper sites is sickening. Surely The Times can afford a little comment moderation.
Those wacky Russians are good for a threesome behind the Roundhouse (**sigh**), but not much else ... how my mood at the Rocket Group has improved since then!
... this MobileMe launch is truly ghastly. I've been a member since the iTools days and the service always did work for me and keep my information on the web and synchronised between Macs.
After the MobileMe transition (the, ahem, three-day-transitionathon), my shiny new iPhone is pretty much in sync with my iMac, my girlfriend's G4 Mini running Tiger, the work Mac I've commandeered running Tiger, and my iPod Touch.
The cloud occasionally gets a little, ah, cloudy - I just do a wholesale replacement of info either from the cloud or from the Mac.
The only hitch I've seen is that my e-mail processed on the iPhone/iPod Touch isn't reflected in the online MobileMe webmail. All those spamity spam spams are still sitting in my inbox. A bit annoying but not a showstopper.
The MobileMe web app interface is still wonky, though - not quite slick, fast and seemless as Apple's web monkeys would have you think. The responsiveness of, say, changing folders in web mail leaves MUCH to be desired.
Still, not soooo shabby - let's just hope the bugs are worked out shortly.
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