Windows Vista was, by any reckoning, late. One of the major reasons was that Microsoft was attempting to take its ageing code-base, much of which of course dates back to a time when personal computers were solitary creatures (my Windows 95 machine was quite shocked by the addition of a network card), tending to [...]
A thoughtful piece on the NakedTranslations weblog highlights a curious feature of the English language and its use of gender.
Since almost all inanimate objects are considered neutral (unusually), rather than masculine or feminine, a speaker of English can demonstrate sentimental attachment to a well-loved object by giving it a grammatical gender it would otherwise not [...]
The language log reminds us all that just because someone says “I’m sorry” it doesn’t mean they have apologised. Context and grammar are everything.
Which reminds me: I’m sick of the phrase “I take full responsibility.” In days gone by that meant accepting blame and punishment. These days it seems to mean little more [...]
Unless you are happy to have complete strangers use your wireless connection, it might be time for an upgrade.
For almost as long as I’ve been using computers, various companies have been issuing press releases about e-paper. But they are becoming increasingly specific in their promises. I’ll believe it when I see it, but I’ll probably want it when I do, too.
Perhaps people don’t really read what they see on the screen. Perhaps they are addicted to clicking (“Oooo. Blue and shiny. Must Click!”), but it turns out that you can actually offer to infect people’s computers and they will click on the link.
Speaking of reading text online, the point made by Livelink (TM) is [...]
Stop press: British civilisation not dead.
From a piece in the Independent:
Do you believe in the rights of women, or do you believe in multiculturalism? A series of verdicts in the German courts in the past month, have shown with hot, hard logic that you can’t back both. You have to choose.
I was amused by this clip. You can get people to sign anything if you just know how to do it. In this case, a petition to ban that evil compound now found in drinking water near you, dihydrogen monoxide.
I hope it goes without saying that most environmentalists are not extremists, and that I don’t mean to suggest they are. But I worry about some environmentalists – the ones who say things like this:[1]
Curing a body of cancer requires radical and invasive therapy, and therefore, curing the biosphere of the human virus [...]