Posts by Mark Steel

Windows 8.1: Here at last, but is it good enough?

Complete rubbish

the start button just takes you to the damn tile interface - well whats the point of that ? since you could get there by going to screen corner anyway. just don't get it.

i also dont get the disconnects between control panel and the bland blocky 'change PC settings' menu, to do things like add a user. also HATE the way it want a microsoft account by default, you have to go hunting to add a local account. control panel has always been confusing but now its split brain.

also 8.1 installed on bootcamp / macbook pro failed to boot on day 2 with a config error. no amount of repairing / rollback to checkpoint would make it work. had to reinstall, went back to 8.0.

i now use windows less and less - use macos for most things and just sweep across to a windows vm screen when i need visio or microsoft project. when you have the two side by side like this on mac mission control you realise how nasty the windows 8 interface is compared to mac.

Google Drive Issues on Mac

Useless

google docs or 'drive' is completely useless. files appear in the wrong directory (if they are too big). the ownership of files appears random (we only have 10 people sharing files, and one use uploaded some files (which appeared in the wrong place) and they had the ownership of someone who hadn't used the files.

you want to delete a folder that someone else created ? nope. (its my domain, my account, I pay, I should be 'Administrator').

it decided because of some random error to create 999 versions of one file.

I wanted to move a folder into another folder, it did so, and emptied the folder.

Completely useless, almost pointless.

we use syncdocs on the front of it, because the 'drive' download is utterly, utterly crap (I can't see folders owned by others in my team but shared to me ?).

I'm not paying $995 for dropbox - that pricing model simply does not compute.

I'm moving to ifolder...

Mark

Parliament's expenses body spent £2.2m on IT

Why do they need infrastructure at all ?

why do they need "Infrastructure support includes server hardware, desktops and laptops, network hardware, office infrastructure, firewalls, anti-virus, web proxy and hosting services, Wide Area Network link, security solutions, email and telephony."

Why are they not just sitting in the corner of a government building, which must surely have laptops, email, telephony, network ?

Then for their core expense function, just use web-based software as a service and they certainly don't need their own servers. Other depts (such as HMRC) have so much infrastructure they don't need, that they make £2.2m seem like some very small change, however government needs to change how they do everything in IT and it would make sense to start with something small like the expenses system !

wonder if they went to google and found

www.webexpenses.com

www.expenses-software.com

www.expensepoint.com

www.expensesystem.co.uk ( oh look a UK company !)

and so on and on an on.

Just looking at expensesystem.co.uk, its £2000 for 200+ employees - slightly different to £2.2m

NetApp changes name to NetApp

what a dumb website

that heart thing is a bit scary..it sort of makes my own pulse race. also other logos...the spilling glass of water, the plant tendrils...what the hell are they smoking up at netapp HQ ??