Archive for November, 2007

Data protection not worth the name

Wednesday, November 21st, 2007

Wow, and while I’m on the subject too…

Did we really need any more convincing that a national ID database is a bad idea? Having worked in government and seen some of the extraordinary care some departments take over Data Protection, today’s breach is astonishing. I think this is the final straw that gets me signing up to No2ID tomorrow.

Posted in privacy | 1 Comment »

ORG is two

Monday, November 19th, 2007

Posted in privacy, web | No Comments »

Animal Crossing

Monday, November 19th, 2007

Never expected something from YTMND to put a lump in my throat. Click to play:

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Not an iPhone review

Wednesday, November 14th, 2007

There are enough of them already. I just wanted to talk about two interesting things.

Interesting thing one
The dictionary is superb. See I predict a pint on the marvellous GrammarBlog. As I think Peter Morville commented previously, I think one of the most intelligent and thoughtful touches Apple added was to have swear words included by default. We all know they’re the first thing we add. Followed by their variants, with and without capital letters. Apple chose to admit we’re all grown ups. Bravo.

Interesting thing two
When people found out I was planning to buy one, some secret global pact to dissuade me was apparently signed. Every damn person had a negative opinion to share, and believe me, I heard them all. But isn’t it only 8GB? Get a Nokia N95 instead, it’s got a better camera. Yeah, but it’s not meant to be very good as a phone, you know? Isn’t it really expensive? Have you seen the latest [insert mediocre LG clone here]?

Two thoughts: a) fuck off – I’ll buy what I like, and b) why did this particular handset cause such a reaction? I’ve certainly never had it with other handsets, and I’ve usually purchased at the upper end of the bleeding edge of early adoption.

Now, as a smart and pithy blogger I ought to have an answer and sum it up in a neat soundbite at the end. Except I really don’t get it. Jealousy? Too childish. Genuine concern that I’d buy a lemon? Nope, don’t think that’s it. Genuinely stumped, although I expect people get similar reactions when they buy their first Mercedes, for some reason. Might have to wait a few years to see if I’m right.

Posted in mobile | No Comments »

November links

Monday, November 12th, 2007

Stop, filler time.

• How To Be Ugly – the rise of New Brutalism in design
• Google v Yahoo homepages over the last ten years
• Why percentages don’t add up – which is scarier: a medical procedure with a 95% survival rate, or one that kills 1 in 20 people?
• Spam One-Liners – “experiments in hand lettering… an ongoing series based on spam subject lines in my mailbox” (see below)
• The Red Rings Of Death t-shirt – Xbox 360s as HAL

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Busy

Sunday, November 4th, 2007

It’s no great surprise that my blogging frequency is inversely proportional to how busy I am. It’s not yet reached the stage where I’m staying horribly late and regretting my life, but it’s certainly at the stage where, when I get home, I tend to want to stay offline and decompress. Normally with my Benko Gambit book.

Just a little rant until I get my energy back: new Tube map.

Well, the new London Overground is in, in a fetching and distracting orange, North Greenwich is now apparently sponsored by O2, and Transport for London have helpfully clarified where one might find St. Pancras International (it’s at King’s Cross St. Pancras). Also, of course, we have the new Heathrow Terminal 5 under construction, for which trains will have to reverse from Terminals 1, 2 and 3. Plenty more on why it’s horrid on Diamond Geezer’s blog.

Lots more I want to comment on, but for now I must prepare for another busy day. In the meantime, feel free to play through my first competitive game of chess in ten years: A Fraser – C Bowles, London League Div 4 [pdf]

Posted in design | No Comments »