Rational Geekery

Based on Robert Kirkman’s scary as shit, and insanely cool, comic book, amc brings you The Walking Dead:

And yes UK readers, that is Egg from This Life. :)

If there is one thing that really bothers me, it's idle political pandering. Check out this bullshit, courtesy of certifiable Tory moron, Eric Pickles -- reported in IT Pro:

"Today I'm implementing the best austerity ideas from CLG staff: from cutting catering, to only using second-class stamps, to more double-sided printing. These show there are thriftier and smarter ways to use taxpayers' money in the future," Pickles said.

Other IT cuts will include a reduction in the number of BlackBerry smartphones issued and a limit of one printer or photocopier to each floor of the CLG offices.

[bold RatGeek]

The bold is mine, because that's the nonsense that I really have a problem with.

If a public servant's role requires him or her to have an exchange phone, then he or she should have one.

If you've ever had a work phone with email, you'll know that it's hardly a 'perk'. It's a nuisance. You will answer emails out of hours, and you'll think about work when you should be relaxing and taking time out. BlackBerrys are hardly a constructive weapon in the work-life balance war. No, they're a tool for the enterprise to absorbe your every waking thought.

That said, if the employee doesn't need a BlackBerry, take it off them -- simple as that. I'm all for reducing IT costs, but blanket reductions don't make any sense whatsoever.

Also, the "one printer or photocopier to each floor", is just crap. How many minutes will be wasted with civil servants traipsing across offices to their designated printer? And what if said printer dies? Do they have to tackle the stairs, or worse (at least in the efficiency stakes) the lift? I presume they've conducted extensive efficiency-based time-and-motion studies?

Have you considered this Mr. Pickles?

I saw the new iPod Nano for the first time at the airport last week. Looked really nice, but it’s not for me – that tiny screen seems pointless and unintuitive.

I was really looking forward the Apple’s iPod announcement. I’m a huge fan of the iPod. Podcasts are a fundamental part of my day, so my Shuffle is always part of my attire – and yes, I love the Shuffle. I don’t care what you think.

Around the house I use an iPod Touch as my primary internet device. I usually sit on the couch while the wife watches property development TV shows, checking RSS feeds in Reeder, tweeting nonsense or tackling my Instapaper queue. My iTouch is second gen, and often hijacked by the kids, so I’m in the market for a new one.

So yeah, the Apple iPod Keynote was a big deal to me.

I have to admit to being disappointed. I’m pleased that buttons return to the Shuffle – as much as love my last gen model’s design, I hate having to use headphone cables with buttons. I don’t mind the clicker itself, it’s just that I have a couple of pairs of good in-ear headphones that don’t have controls and they’re useless with the Shuffle.

So the Shuffle is fine. I’m glad it’s still in the range, and those people who say it should be killed off can get bent. It’s the Podcast/Audiobook workhorse without any of the bling of its larger siblings.

But it’s the iPod Touch rev that’s disappointed me. I use an Android phone, but I have a load of great camera apps for the iPhone. The iPhone 4.0 camera in a new iPod Touch would have meant I never had to carry a point and shoot (the HTC Desire cam is fine in great conditions, but more often than not, conditions are not great). The new Touch camera is sub-megapixel, so is hardly useful for anything beyond snapping ugly people in supermarkets.

720p video? Meh. I have that on the HTC and hardly ever use it.

I know you’ll say I should have got an iPhone. Fair enough. Good point well made. But this is not a criticism of Apple – they know far more about their customers and industry than I do. But from a personal point of view, a Touch with a tripped out camera would have been the perfect device for my circumstances. I ADORE my Android phone, but for idle Wi-Fi surfing at home and – potentially in a future model at least – taking photos using the iPhone’s brilliant catalogue of software, the Touch is aces.

So I’ll wait another year before replacing my 2^nd gen Touch. Shame, that A4 processor looks great.