Category Archives: Asides

Worse by design

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This is the power supply that came with my Apple MacBook Pro. It’s got the fancy magnetic connector at the other end, but the transformer unit itself is surprisingly large. In fact, it’s very carefully designed to make it impossible to plug it into any mains socket in any British institutional building, where the sockets are invariably in the wainscoting — as, for example, here (Downing College, Cambridge):

It fell to James Cridland to suggest the obvious workaround — to remove the three-pin plug and use a standard mains lead (the kind one uses to charge the batteries of many digital devices).

Obvious when you think about it — or rather when he suggested it. But it means lugging around another piece of wire. Sigh.

Overcoming writer’s block

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Scott Berkun is an amazingly prolific and intelligent author. His book, The Art of Project Management, is a minor classic. He’s written a fascinating essay listing the tricks he uses when faced with an irritatingly blank page/screen. I particularly like this one:

Whiskey. Yes, alcohol is writing’s seductive little mistress. A well timed shot of whiskey can work wonders for the jittery, neurotic mind. It’s the shock to the system that works for me, so when I can’t start, there are alcholol free alternatives to get things flowing: a cold shower, an underwear clad run up the driveway, a shot of espresso, a peek at my naked wife, the list goes on. Don’t depend on these (as the more you use, the less they work, except for the last one), but occasionally they’re the only way.

The Toyota way

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The Guardian reports that

Toyota became the world’s leading seller of cars in the first quarter of this year, overtaking US rival General Motors for the first time, it said today.

The Japanese group, which began life making weaving looms, said it sold 2.35m vehicles, a 9% jump, compared with the 2.26m sold by GM.

Having owned a Toyota for nearly three years, I can understand why they’re winning.

Morning

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Cambridge on a summer morning with the Cripps Building of St John’s in the distance. The first-floor rooms overlooking the river make up the set where Mervyn King (now Governor of the Bank of England) lived when he was a Research Fellow. Time to start campaigning for a plaque — especially if he manages to keep interest rates down!

Where the webcam wasn’t

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One of my favourite webcams is this one. I’ve often wondered about its precise location.

On Friday afternoon I was walking across the bridge on my way to Trinity when I suddenly remembered it and took this picture from a position roughly diagonally across from where I guessed it must be located.

So where is it? My guess is in a window in the top storey of the dark-red brick building on the corner.

Putin News Service

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From Saturday’s Herald Trib…

MOSCOW: At their first meeting with journalists since taking over Russia’s largest independent radio news network, the incoming managers had some startling news of their own: From now on, at least 50 per cent of the reports about Russia must be “positive”.

In addition, opposition leaders cannot be mentioned on the air and the United States is to be portrayed as an enemy, journalists employed by the network, Russian News Service, say they were told.

The report goes on to say that:

Parliament is considering extending state control to Internet sites that report news, reflecting the growing importance of Web news as the country becomes more affluent and growing numbers of middle class Russians acquire computers.

Business as usual in the Kremlin, then.

Billg welcomed with open source as well as open arms in Beijing

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Like most senior executives of western companies, the Microsoft Chairman has been assiduous in sucking up to the Chinese government. Recently he was rewarded with the title of “Honorary Manager” at a ceremony at Beijing Peking University. He also gave a lecture on “China’s Creative Future”. So it was highly fitting that he was greeted by a chap proclaiming the merits of Open Source software. The demonstrator, I need hardly add, was bundled away and is no doubt languishing in gaol.

Thanks to Rex for the link.