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From boom to bust
There are lots of benefits to being your own boss – such as the joys of sitting around in your dressing gown with sticky-up hair and too many days’ beard growth – but as I’ve written before, there are negatives too. Not just the lack of holiday pay, sick pay or job security, but also…
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Technology will save us from drudgery: BillMonk
BillMonk is a new “social money” site that solves a really big problem: reminding people that they owe you money. Here’s how things worked in the bad old pre-internet days: YOU: OK, I’ll get the bill this time. It’s your shout next time. Or: YOU: Hey, you owe me money! Give me it now or…
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Blue-hoo!
On DVD February 21st (US-only, so far. Thank god for multi-region players).
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Things that aren’t real
In no particular order: * The download speed advertised by your broadband provider * The speed listed on your Wi-Fi kit * The battery life quoted by hardware manufacturers * The 4x speed increase if you move from a Powerbook to a MacBook Pro * The 2x speed increase if you take an intel iMac…
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Woe le taxi
I was stuck in traffic behind a taxi earlier today, and spotted – or rather, couldn’t miss – a huge LCD screen sitting behind the driver’s head. It was showing a medley of ads, news snippets and so on, in a package that I assume is similar to the really annoying stuff you get on…
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God bless Fark.com
Thanks to the ongoing battle between Farkers to be the best story submitter, Fark.com routinely runs story summaries such as this: Woman shocked after getting electrical bill for $250 million from power company. Chagrined company admits its error, but says it only needs one person to pay a bill like this for their elaborate scheme…
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Phone pain
Sorry for the lack of updates; I’ve been trapped under deadline mountain again. Um, I’ve just trashed my mobile phone’s address book, and the backup’s fritzed too. Can I ask a favour from those of you who’ve had the dubious joy of talking to me on the phone? If you could drop me an email…
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“Our booze is cheaper than water”
So screams The Sunday Mail, which is so alarmed at the cost of booze it’s done some world-standard pockling to try and justify its headline. Here goes: HEALTH experts last night demanded the price of drink be DOUBLED after it was revealed booze is cheaper than water. Sunday Mail investigators checked out prices after reports…
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Sick and tired
A bout of Martian Death Flu seems to have morphed into something more unpleasant, so I’ll be offline for a couple of days :(
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What if… Luddism returns?
Originally published in PC Plus In 1812 thousands of textile workers attacked a mill near Manchester, determined to destroy the power looms they believed threatened their jobs. Ten of them were shot dead, and in the aftermath a further four men were arrested, convicted and executed. The men were Luddites, and if they thought power…