* Posts by shraap

21 publicly visible posts • joined 12 Mar 2015

Missing scissors cause 36 flight cancellations in Japan

shraap

Re: Stupid is as stupid does

Yup. In my case, only 1 mini Victorinox, and Narita not Haneda ;)

Ten years ago Microsoft bought Nokia's phone unit – then killed it as a tax write-off

shraap

Strong agree! Although (with hindsight, and well-outlined in this article) there were a bunch of reasons it was probably too late already, that combo of Win Phone 8 and a Lumia 1020 still remain my favourite phone and OS combo ever.

.

Exactly like you say, the thinking about 'live tiles' and the way to surface data matched how I actually think about data/contacts/etc. and how I instinctively use a phone, and nothing since has come close. For me, both the main phone OSes are a case of "learn to live with" rather than "this is so nice to use".

(And like you, most ppl I know who've used WinMo either love it or despise it)

Open source versus Microsoft: The new rebellion begins

shraap

Thanks for your relentlessly sensible posts on this. In particular this one - exactly right. If we want to shift things towards choices about OS etc., it has to be done in a way that makes sense to businesses, and explained to them the same way. Stroppy "M$/Evil Empire are bad!" rants aren't going to change anyone's mind.

(And, while we're at it, seeing any tiny criticism or question about your favourite distro as an assault on your entire identity is childish and dumb. We can actually discuss this like adults...)

BBC exterminates AI experiments used to promote Doctor Who

shraap

Capt Kirk with sonic

Stewart Lee has let himself go.

Angry mob trashes and sets fire to Waymo self-driving car

shraap

Re: I wonder what Psychohystory would have to say about that event

> I'm sure Asimov would have said it better, though.

Given he has the ugliest prose in SF, I'm not so sure! ;)

WTF? Potty-mouthed intern's obscene error message mostly amused manager

shraap

But what was the message?! Interested parties demand to know...

Apple sets new 16,000-foot iPhone drop test after 737 fuselage fail

shraap

We'll check your Czechia cheque

Windows 11: The number you have dialed has been disconnected

shraap

Re: Tim Cook's punishment?

A good comment overall, but the pedantic right-pondian in me feels the need to come in, push my glasses up my nose and "well-actually": I think you'll find it's "pinch of salt", not "grain of salt" in these here parts.

Seriously though, absolutely right: there's this persistent insistence on static, rule-based English, while at the same time everyone glories in English's ability to evolve and adapt and be a living language. Part of me wonders whether this tension is a part of _why_ English seems to thrive as a language?

Free software pioneer Richard Stallman is battling cancer

shraap

Re: Contraversal & Charismatic

Well said - we need reminders like him that everyone isn't just simply good or bad: it's possible to be a visionary and a massive dick at the same time, for example.

Hope he pulls through this to continue to annoy and impress us for a few more years, yet.

Singaporean superapp Grab delivers massive job cuts with after hours email

shraap

I hear you: 1cm away from getting taken out on a pedestrian crossing in Paya Lebar yesterday...

WFH mandates bad for staff morale and stunt innovation

shraap

Re: WFH is plusses and minuses

First sensible comment on this ;)

Personally, I feel like ppl are getting too hung up on productivity as the only argument for/against WFH - it's only one aspect, and lots to suggest it's not significantly impacted either way. The main gains from being in the office are the less-tangible, in particular those accidental conversations/overhearings that lead to more efficient work or new discoveries. To my experience, there's not been a successful way of replicating those remotely.

I'd say the best approach is where allow people flexibility with this - broadly choosing their WFH/office days, not being d!cks about how many days in the office - while also insisting on some days in the office to allow these 'happy accidents' and to help ppl feel part of team/dept/whatever. (And also acknowledging there'll always be ppl who'd prefer to be 100% WFH or 100% in office, doing their best to accommodate these.)

Sadly, most companies seem to be deciding either with arbitrary choices from C-suite, or driven by real-estate costs...

Cheapest, oldest, slowest part fixed very modern Mac

shraap

Re: grammar pedanty

Jones' or Jones's are both correct.

LibreOffice 7.5 update: A great time to jump on this FOSS productivity suite

shraap

Re: Ribbonphile

As with many "m$ is sAtAn" commenters, you seem to be conflating "my experience/opinion" with "all experience/opinions"...

I bloody love OneNote, and indeed the Ribbon, but I'm neither arrogant, foolish, nor indeed emotionally immature enough to believe that everyone else in the world agrees with me, nor that they should.

Can we all calm down a little bit? At the end of the day, it is just software. We all get a bit attached to the stuff we like, and maybe a bit too much to the stuff we really, really like, but not sure we need to get into stupid flame wars about s/w likes and dislikes.. (And yes, I know, I have seen the internet. In fact, been here a long time, but we don't have to choose to be bellends all the time, do we?)

shraap

Re: Ribbonphile

Agree on both - took a bit of re-learning (as do most UI changes) but now I actually prefer it. Not sure if it was by accident or design, but the general increase in monitor sizes means it's now something that suits the way I 'drive' perfectly.

I bloody LOVE OneNote, use it so much every day, in and out of work, it just organised enough and just chaotic enough to match the way my brain works.

There's only one cure for passive-aggressive Space Invader bosses, and that's more passive aggression

shraap

Re: Huh, wonder which company that could have been.

something something cold and wet weaver

Chinese server builder Inspur trains monster text-generating neural network

shraap

Re: FTFY

Kind-of agree. Been living in HK for a number of years, and my observation on this kind of knee-jerk "China bad" is straightforward: just like you, I work with many mainland Chinese, and have found them just as normal as anyone else, with the same range of lovely people and jerks.

However, when we're looking at things politically, a distinction can (and needs to be) made between Chinese people and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Chinese people good.

CCP bad. Very bad. And increasingly so. It's a very sorry view from here in HK, which is being trampled hard by CCP and their kowtowing lackeys here...

10 PRINT Memorial in New Hampshire marks the birthplace of BASIC

shraap

Re: In the UK...

380Z my first ever interaction with a computer, also back in 1980!

Am I right in remembering the other version was Palo Alto Tiny BASIC?

Off with e's head: E-cig explosion causes first vaping death

shraap
WTF?

Judging by a lot of the comments on here...

...the main side effect of vaping appears to be making you a touchy fukka about your habit

Lighten up, jeez. I was less defensive than this when I smoked ciggies...

This is why copy'n'paste should be banned from developers' IDEs

shraap

Re: That quip about hard things in CS...

There are 10 kinds of people in the world...

* Those who understand binary

* Those who do not

* Those who weren't expecting a Base 3 joke.

AVG to flog your web browsing, search history from mid-October

shraap

Re: 4 letters, then 3 letters...

ffff fff?

Does my star look big in this? Milky Way 50 per cent fatter than expected

shraap
Thumb Up

*applause*

Nice one for the Macc Lads reference in the strapline :)