I realise that the use of the term ‘beta’ in the development of software has changed out of all recognition during the era of web 2.0, but I still find it vaguely troubling that the civil service is ‘in beta’.
After all, even Gmail has lost its beta tag now.
And no, this isn’t one of my Photoshop jobs.
No matter how excited you might think I am at the prospect of Schumi returning, I’m a little bit more!
I actually pondered the (unlikely – or so I thought) prospect of Schumacher returning a couple of days ago when it was clear Massa would not be race fit and I think I described it as “ too exciting to even begin to get my ahead around”. The confirmation that the 7 times world champion will be lining up on the grid at Valenicia has sent me into seventh heaven.
For me, F1 has suddenly become interesting again as had found my interest dwindling markedly since Michael retired. I’ve no doubt he’ll be well up to the job, even though he hasn’t driven an F1 car for 15 months and has never driven a car which conforms to the new regs. It should also be pointed out that Schuey has never raced at the Valencia street circuit which was a new arrival on the F1 calendar last year.
Nonetheless, a racing genius is a racing genius and I still expect him to give the lacklustre Raikkonen a real run for his money. It’s INCREDIBLY exciting!
As I tweeted last night, shortly after discovering the news:
Oh my freaking god.... just heard about Schumacher returning to F1 standing in for Massa!!!! Have I died and gone to heaven???? :D :D
Enough said I think.
A Chicago lettings agency is suing a former tenant for at least $50,000 (£30,000) after she complained on Twitter about mould in her apartment.
Horizon Group Management filed the lawsuit against Amanda Bonnen on Monday in response to what it claimed was her "false and defamatory" message on the microblogging site.
Jeff Michael, whose family runs Horizon, told the Chicago Sun-Times: "The statements are obviously false, and it's our intention to prove that."
He said the company never had a conversation with Bonnen about the post and never asked her to take it down. "We're a sue first, ask questions later kind of an organisation," he told the paper.
Oh really? Well, unsurprisingly, that approach has gone down a storm across the cyberspatial universe.
The lawsuit has provoked a backlash against Horizon on Twitter and the wider blogosphere. Horizon Group management has become one of the most searched and discussed subjects on Twitter, with posters criticising the company for its legal action and arguing it had made a major PR blunder.
Twitter user charlesthomas wrote: "So Bravo to you, Horizon Group Management! You damaged your rep far more than @abonnen ever could."
Another poster, jvandeboom, tweeted: "What a PR failure by Horizon Group Management ... Makes me believe the mold [sic] claims even more."
Although blogs, twitter and all the other lovely web 2.0 stuff that have become firmly part of the modern vernacular these days, through which grievances are often (and sometimes foolishly) aired, the number of companies who completely fudge their responses and simply exacerbate the situation is amazing.
Without knowing the full facts, here, such as whether the mould claims are true, and if there had been any contact between the tenant and Horizon prior to the tweet in question, it’s impossible to judge the legality of the situation or how rational it might have been. Online defamation, too, is conceptually built on rather shaky ground but the legal issues in play are almost a side-issue given Horizon’s response.
The blogosphere has long been used as tool for making yourself heard and I can think of several situations where bloggers have easily and immediately got a firm’s undivided attention whereupon they were reduced to sycophantic putty in the blogger’s hands. The way Horizon Lettings handled the situation is at the opposite end of the spectrum, of course, and has simply resulted in making things far worse than they need ever have been.
And although I have rather conventional attitude towards online defamation, I’ve very little sympathy with Horizon; that “sue first, ask questions later comment” is just killing me.
Given the explosive uptake of netbooks – an immediate hit with ultra mobile and cash-strapped students – I felt the experiment was particularly timely. That said, although Linux was an obvious first choice for netbook operating systems, the somewhat aged Windows XP thereafter became the number one install choice of OEMs.
But is Linux a viable choice for the average student? Based on this experiment, I would have to say yes – even though the transition might prove a touch bumpy if you’ve been brought up with Windows. What I can safely say, however, is that that transition is the smoothest it’s ever been; it has been an acknowledged trend for some time that Windows, Mac OS X and Linux are, broadly speaking, converging from a user experience standpoint.
And cloud computing, of course, continues to gather steam. As such, then, the whole premise of what an operating system is and what it does is being slowly reconceptualised. Computer users are spending more and more time within web browsers, they are storing content in the cloud – not just locally – and their connectivity to the web across various devices and locations is becoming increasingly seamless.
And with Google Chrome OS on the horizon and also potential options to run Android on netbooks, the scene is set to become even more exciting.
The premise of my experiment was simple: to see if a law student could survive using freely available software to turn in the various assignments and preparation that a degree demands.
During the experiment, I ran a variety of software (and I include web-apps in that term) that an average student would need: a browser, an office suite, email, etc. but I also ran a few more obscure items; all students have slightly broader computing needs than just word processing and email.
I focussed on 3 different distros of Linux: Ubuntu (Hardy Heron and Intrepid Ibex – I’ve not tried Jaunty Jackalope), Opensuse 11 and Linux Mint. Because of my testing the beta and RC of Windows 7 on a separate partition, I ended up running the distros in virtual machines within Windows Vista.
Email: I use and love Google’s Gmail and have used it almost exclusively for 5 years solid now. I don’t use a mail client though I did experiment with Mozilla’s excellent Thunderbird for the purposes of the experiment using the IMAP functionality of Gmail. Gmail also makes it easy to have your mail from other services (such as your Uni account your institution supports this function) redirected so checking your email becomes a one-stop-shop. Why anyone would use a mail client now is beyond me – email in the cloud is just the way God intended it to be, quite frankly. I also used Windows Live Hotmail and although I much prefer Gmail, it’s certainly a viable option.
Browser: All browsers are free today, anyway, but under the cloud computing paradigm, browsers essentially become the operating system so the choice has never been so important. My first choice was Mozilla Firefox, of course, which I’ve used since early 2004 and which offers certain essential add-ons that I couldn’t be without. As an alternative to Firefox or IE 8 (the latter of which is a credible alternative to FF albeit without the rich ecosystem of ad-ons) I’ve also found Google Chrome to be excellent and love its Spartan look and feel. I use it almost exclusively on my aging laptop which runs it lightening fast and the minimalist UI works great on a smaller screen. To be fair, though, it does take some getting used to and knowing a few keyboard shortcuts makes a huge difference.
Office Suite: My principal choice was Open Office. I found it surprisingly easy to make the switch, and although I’ve been using MS Office 2007 for over two years, Open Office’s conventional UI didn’t bug me. Their default page layout did, however. If you’re used to a previous version of MS Office, you should have no problem making the jump to Open Office. I had no problems with file compatibility for .doc or .rtf files, though there are still problems regarding the native Office 2007 .docx files. The same also applies for the conventional files types for other programs such as spreadsheets and presentations; compatibility is not an issue.
I also tried Abi word and Google Docs – both of which offer footnote functionality and remain credible alternatives to MS Office. Although many students might look to snag MS Office home and student edition for around £70 – or they may simply receive it as part of a new PC – I see no reason why a law student would need to spend money on an office suite to get work done efficiently. Free options really are that good these days.
Coming in part 2, calendaring, encryption, games, sticking points and my conclusion.
Stay tuned.
I think all TV viewers can relate to the corny, melodramatic buzz that programme trailers try to generate, with claims that the forthcoming show is the biggest, best, scariest, most-must-see they’ve ever broadcasted. Nowhere is that more true, of course, than the US.
And this spoof ER trailer from College Humor recognises that brilliantly.
Yes, this humble blog has been honoured in the first ever ceremony of the Law Minx blawwgies, taking the award for ‘Dynamic Legal Blogger’.
The Dynamic Legal Blogger of the Year Award- goes to Michael over at Law Actually. Law Actually is an incredibly content rich and thought provoking blog, reaching out into serious issues of law as well as the sometimes not so serious when it comes to life as a student. Quite how he finds the time to work so hard on such a wonderful blog AND study for an LLM is beyond me!!
Minxy – you left out ‘working part time to help fund said course’ whilst studying, blawging and all the rest of it! :p
It’s just occurred to me that this might be where I’m supposed to launch into a speech thanking all and sundry and perhaps get a touch weepy too...
But, I won’t. Still, in all seriousness, I would like to thank Minxy for the mention, though hope she doesn’t take back the award for tinkering with the award picture. :p
From Fox News 18/07/09:
A central Florida dentist is being sued for allegedly dropping tools down the throat of an elderly patient — twice.
Relatives of 90-year-old Charles Gaal Jr. recently filed the suit in Orange County Circuit Court against Dr. Wesley Meyers for neglience. An answering message at his Winter Park office Saturday said he was on vacation.
The lawsuit says the doctor dropped an "implant screwdriver tool" in 2006 and a "mini-wrench" in 2007.
The suit also says Gaal underwent multiple medical procedures to remove the tools but never fully recovered. He suffered a cardiac event in June 2007 and died a few days later.
Meyers was fined $17,000 by the state a year later. Meyers was found negligent in a settlement.
As Oscar Wilde might have put it, for a dentist to lose one implement down his patient’s throat may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness.
What I don’t understand is how. I actually did my work experience at various dental practices including an orthodontist and with a maxillofacial surgeon. But even from my observations with regular dentists, when much work was being done, particularly where small implements were going to be used (such as in a root canal treatment) the dentist always fitted a dental dam which isolated the tooth or teeth to be worked on and which prevented anything dropping down the patient’s throat.
The full story is truly disturbing: the 90 year old patient, Mr Gaal, spent over 50 days in hospital before his death from complications stemming from the second implement dropped down his throat.
