musings

Seems like the whole world is going forward. I don’t just mean the latest business-speak for ‘in the future’. I am talking about the expression ‘forward slash’ when quoting a URL.

I don’t mind that the British word ‘stroke’ or ‘oblique stroke’ has universally been replaced by the American word ‘slash’. But not ‘forward slash’, please!

It’s bad enough that media presenters and advertisers say ‘logon to …’ when they mean ‘visit …’ a website. Why not just say ‘slash’? You don’t say ‘I was in my car, driving forwards’, do you?

Ever been asked to say your email address (as opposed to typing or writing it)? How did that go for you? Not straightforward, is it?

When people choose an email address they don’t consider how easy it will be in the future to impart that address orally to someone else. So you get addresses like

foxi_laydee237@hotmail.com

or

kool-dood4u123@yahoo.co.uk

You have to describe such addresses, with a high chance of something going wrong in the process.

The random digits are usually offered by the system when you set up your email account – presumably because there are already 122 customers calling themselves ‘kool-dood4u’ or whatever.

So it occurred to me that Read the rest of this entry »

Gordon Brown has been reshuffling his cabinet. Why is it always called a reshuffle? It’s just a shuffle, isn’t it?

I have had the same photograph on show at home in a simple gilt frame for probably ten years. Recently I replaced it with a Samsung SPF-83H digital photo frame. So now I can enjoy an endless slideshow of all my favourite pictures which hitherto have been locked away on my computer waiting for the day when the hard drive fails.

Does this new abundance of images bring me greater pleasure? Read the rest of this entry »

In the row about MPs’ expenses claims, this admission would (if indeed it were from a member of the clergy) add another perspective. Coming as it does, from convicted fraudster Stephen Fry, it contributes nothing to the debate. See his indignant rant here.

As a simple solution to all this, why doesn’t the state provide accommodation in central London for MPs to use?

I do most of my banking online these days, and cheques go in the post. First Direct pioneered remote banking way before the internet was invented, and they have always been pretty good at it. But I had to pay in some cash today, so I was obliged to visit a branch of their sister company Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited – more commonly known as HSBC.

What a dreadful experience! Read the rest of this entry »

The speed camera near us has recently been dismantled. As I am one of many motorists who has been caught by this particular camera over the years, you might expect me to rejoice at its removal. Particularly as I have made my views clear about our surveillance society. I have noticed one or two others have gone too. What’s going on?

As it happens, I am an enthusiastic supporter of speed cameras for Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes, you have all the ingredients needed to bake a cake, but the cake turns out disappointing. In the case of “The Boat That Rocked” there were plenty of first-rate ingredients – interesting story, talented writer, a whole cast of seasoned players. Alas, the movie they made is a tedious mess with the inclusion of a few unpalatable bits you would prefer not to swallow.
Read the rest of this entry »

This is a hugely entertaining production in which Director Matthew Dunster has taken some bold risks – and succeeded in almost all of them.

There’s not a doublet nor hose to be seen in this modern-dress version, though we do see Macbeth strip naked and take a real shower in the middle of the stage as he frantically washes away the blood.
Read the rest of this entry »

Crusty racist gets to know his Chinese neighbours. On paper this is a great idea for a story. Particularly when Gran Torino is Dirty Harry actor Clint Eastwood’s swansong. The eponymous Gran Torino car was produced by Ford in 1972, only a year after Eastwood’s classic Dirty Harry was released, and this is clearly a nostalgic reference to the ‘good old days’ when men were men, Americans bought cars built on US soil and Inspector Harry Callaghan sorted out the punks in his own way.

Now it’s the 21st century and Walt Kowalski has to face the fact that Read the rest of this entry »