2007 — 12 Feb: time for a change of emphasis

It occurs to me that the longer I continued making the "days since retirement" number a part of my main heading, the more it would remind me of the past. So, to accompany BBC Radio 3's glorious complete (day and night) broadcasting of everything written by Messrs Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky, two of my favorite composers, a minor tweak to the top and tail of what are, after all, merely diary entries.

The fact that my brother apparently has difficulty grasping my contentment with my new situation in life is a different issue, and I would gently draw his attention to one of my quotations under the letter "F" — the one by Patrick McGeown, but substituting computer¹ for typewriter, of course... This is, after all, quite literally what I've been working towards for 37 years. And it doesn't mean I won't defer to his advice on choice² of digital camera, of course!

My affair is over!

It may have been more of a Brief Encounter but, having now experienced at first hand the frankly poor (unimaginative, and inflexible) way in which Photoshop Elements 2 turns a set of images into an online photo-gallery I don't think I'll be troubling myself with it on this PC much longer. I have simply reverted to an earlier level of JAlbum and will remain with that until I can convince myself a hand-rolled solution is better.

Hello, Mr Amazon

What'cha got for me this time? Let's have a look. Two distinct pairs, it seems:

Founders at Work by Jessica Livingston. As I mentioned, these are (32) interviews with a set of genuinely interesting people involved with hi-tech startups.
The Old New Thing by Raymond Chen. Many of Windows' quirks have perfectly logical explanations, rooted in history he says. I fancy David Platt of yesterday's "Why software sucks" would take issue, but I'm only just over half way through³ so I'll withhold judgement for a bit. By the way, am I even slightly surprised to learn that Windows 95 was originally to be Windows 93? I think not.
Curb your enthusiasm: the book commissioned, if not produced, by HBO. An insight into a marvellous comedy series.
Great British Comics by Paul Gravett (excellent author of "Graphic Novels: stories to change your life" which I bought in November 2005) and Peter Stanbury. These are, of course, comics in the Korky the Cat (by Charles Grigg) mould, as you can see here:

In fact, those of you with eyesight unblunted by the years may even be able to identify the stalwart characters running down the back cover:

Tank Girl by Jamie Hewlett
Dan Dare by Frank Hampson — my favorite
Judge Dredd by Brian Bolland — my son's favorite
Rupert Bear by Alfred Bestall
Modesty Blaise by Jim Holdaway
Jonah by Ken Reid

Old friends, all!

Day 101

Footnotes

¹  I must say, I was very taken by the Mac Pro and its 30 inch widescreen display in the newly-opened Apple Shop in West Quay. But it's irritating to see such high UK prices when the dollar price is almost reasonable. The basic Mac Pro sells in the UK for £1699 but its US price is currently equivalent to £1282. The 30 inch widescreen sells in the UK for £1549 but its US price is equivalent to £1025. So the package in the UK costs 40% more than in the US. Can one say "greedy bastards"? I think so, certainly.
²  A Canon EOS 400D Digital SLR Camera (18-55mm Lens Kit), if you must know. Which, if I'm honest, strikes me as a costly way of getting my hands on 100MB of personal online space!
³  OK, it's finished, and the basic recommendation was to help compile shamelists of programs that suck, which he planned for us to be able to do here. (Link now dead.) As you'll see, however, he's now adopted more of an "accentuate the positive" approach. Onward to Mr Chen then.