Microsoft - Could it be they now have a good idea?

This may be the computer "thing" which" will revolutionise the world (of I.T. anyway). While it is undeniably bulky, there is something about it which is quite amazing. This is not the first time an computer has escaped from the accepted bounds; we have had various bits and pieces in fridges for quite some time, and you can even get an oven with a built in recipe book.
However, everything that has come before has been a bit limited. Who really wants to stand at the fridge and type an e-mail; and as for looking up recipes, these designers have never cooked. I can think of nothing better than dragging my chicken coated fingers across a screen, as I go through the instructions for making terrine. But then again, when it comes to kitchens, I suppose the computer guys are probably better with design than kitchen designers; the latter are not rated highly!
The concept, if put into viable production, has the potential to change not only the way that we interact with computers, but the way we interact with our world. It is not likely that this will be the machine which will lead us into a brave new world; but it may well lay the ground work. Being able to put your PDA on a surface, and copy the directions from your house to a restaurant you are taking your new girlfriend to is something we have wanted to do. In fact, it makes so much sense that that it is bizarre that it is still so difficult to achieve this.
There will obviously remain a demand for the conventional computer system, for a while at least. But the role played by the current desktop is changed everyday, and with this system, could be reduced even more. There is no doubt that the desktop PC revolutionised the way we live, work and play, but it may be the next Colossus. The desktop PC got applications off hideous main-frames which were used by the odd computer scientist here and there, or shared by a couple of hundred employees at a department store (with warts, punch cards and all). But it may soon be time to push the applications back onto the main-frames; for the most part, anyway. Of course, this is reliant on increases in performance of the telecommunications networks, which are need ever so desperately in Australia.
Of course, the greatest problem, which seems to shadow Microsoft like the curse of the three witches, is its inability to pull something off, coupled with its reputation of squeezing other people out of the market, or buying companies out to get its hands on some great, innovative idea. However, if Microsoft can do this properly, and actually create a product on time, and deliver it effectively to market, it may have a chance. There are a lot of ifs and buts, but it would appear that if Microsoft gets it right, it may well be seen as a great innovator, and could give Apple and run for its money.
So, the next year looks to be quite interesting, if Microsoft gets it right ... or wrong.

Walsingham Nut

Journalistic Skill ... or absence thereof

The local newspaper in Adelaide is the Advertiser, part of the News Corp Empire (that might be something akin to the Galactic Empire). To be honest, it is not really a newspaper. I think I wrote better prose at eight compared to the daily turn out of this part of Murdoch. Anyway, today they had a delightful little article about a tile discovered at St David's Cathedral in Hobart (Capital City of Tasmania). The article reads:
Ancient find
A FLOOR tile dating back to the 13th century has been found in the a chest at St David's Cathedral in Hobart.
The olive green tile is inscribed with Ave Maria (Hail Mary) on the front and Lady Chapel of Rievaulx Abbey, Yorkshire, on the back. Both inscriptions are written in old English.
No, I am sorry, but this is awful. Ave Maria = old English (as opposed to Old English, whatever the difference is). Now I realise that the classics are not taught in schools now, and that my understanding of them is rudimentary (that will be corrected at some point), but please. Even a jump to Wikipedia, which is abhorrently inaccurate at times, lands one squarely on a page which says at the top:
Ave Maria (Latin: Hail, Maria or Hail, Mary)
Now maybe it is too much nowadays to ask for a little intellect, but really. This is just a bad excuse for poor rubbish. I sometimes wonder if the Advertiser has actually managed to practically apply the infinite monkey theorem. If so, animal protection people may very well be interested; I am sure it is animal abuse having to be surrounded by the idiots who write stories. Until next time, be safe in the world of literary abuses.

Walsingham Nut

Federal Politics - too much to bare?

It seems that Australia is already gearing up for another election, despite the fact that we shall see neither hide nor hair or a ballot paper for at least another four months. It is quite depressing when you turn on the television, or open the newspaper, and are greeted with the latest in political shenanigans. I can see how politics would make some want to slit their wrists. And then, as that probably wouldn't be enough, their throat as well.
However, it would seem that Kevin Rudd (Leader of the Opposition) has escaped quite unscathed from the debacle of Common Law employment contracts used by his wife's business. I must be honest and say the whole system seems to have gone a bit soft. One almost expects that there will be tragedy, disaster, shouting down, the institution of a witch hunt, and the desperate cries of some back bencher or lobbyist for the immediate letting of blood, or cutting away of dead flesh, or whatever other turn of phrase you wish to use to describe the bumping off of a leader. So while Rudd and his family leave us out in the cold, with no entertainment, we shall return to the words of Dame Edna Everage, who on the subject of Mr Rudd said "Do we want a prime minister who looks like a dentist?" And to make herself perfectly clear on where she stands, "Do we want a prime minister called Kevin?"
However, Kevin seems to have attempted to redeem himself in Federal Parliament, when he proposed a censure motion against the Government. Something to do with advertising and the environment. Of course, when you have Peter Garrett on your team, of Midnight Oil and Australian Conservation Fame, you can understand why advertisements about the environment are naughty. (Johnny, you've been told. Don't try and tell people useful information.) Needless to say, the motion didn't find its wings, let alone get off the ground; when you come up with a motion that will cut along party lines, and your the Opposition, you are almost guaranteed a fail. Better luck next time, Kev!
And just to really make things interesting, the Opposition has decided that Australian Workplace Agreements are evil/latest variety of the spawn of Satan, it jumped at the idea of supporting the changes. Their answer, care of always smiling Julia Guilard, was that while they "know" that AWAs are worse than having you teeth pulled without anaesthetic, the changes were important to make the system "more fair". Of course that makes so much sense coming from a political party controlled by unions which in some industries make life difficult, and in others act like the Gestapo. Of course the stupidity of the AWA, is that Labor need not support it for it to get through the House as the Coalition has a comfortable majority. Therefore, it could have said that while these changes are welcome, it wishes to to make a token stand on the injustice of the entire AWA system, and therefore, will not vote for anything which supports it.
Then again, I guess they would then make sense.

Walsingham Nut

The Beginning ... Again

Well, after I prolonged absence, I have decided to return to the blogosphere. I think that two years on I have matured, and will not run for the jugular everytime something doesn't quite work how I expect. I hope to avoid the "I did this, and this, and that, ...et cetera ad nauseum'. Therefore, expect some feedback on the state of the world ... well, my world, anyway.

Walsingham Nut