Thank goodness, we’re no longer in the United States (1)
July 2nd, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Our major holiday in 2011 was a week in Syria [my account here] and a couple of weeks later the revolution began there and continues its bloody course to this day.
Our major holiday this year was two weeks in the United States [my account here] – including one week in the Washington DC area – and a month later the region was hit by record temperatures for June and a ferocious type of storm known as a derecho [more information here].
Thank goodness, we live in Britain where the politics and the climate are both relatively moderate.
Posted in American current affairs, My life & thoughts | Comments (1)
A review of “The Five-Year Engagement”
July 1st, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Searching for a good rom-com movie? Look no further. This fits the bill – see my review here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
What I love about my New iPad
June 30th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
As I explained in this posting, it was my birthday on Monday and I treated myself by ordering online the latest (third generation) version of the iPad. It duly arrived by post on Wednesday. Already there are many things that I love about it:
- It has my name and mobile number engraved on the back.
- It was incredibly easy to set up – even for me.
- It automatically downloaded all the apps that I had on my old (first generation) iPad.
- It is slimmer than the old iPad.
- It is lighter than the old iPad.
- The screen is much sharper.
- It downloads my new e-mail even faster.
- It loads web pages even faster.
- I now have the iPad version of the “Guardian” (free because I subscribe to the print version).
- I have the clever cover which switches the thing on when you open the cover.
- The cover also acts as a stand with variable positions.
There are other features of the New iPad that I need to learn over the weeks ahead. Also apparently there are other uses for the New iPad that I haven’t explored yet – such as this one:
Posted in My life & thoughts, Science & technology | Comments (7)
What proportion of Britain is built on?
June 29th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
The answer may surprise – and reassure – you. Check it out here.
Posted in Environment | Comments (0)
Americans and UFOs – now it can be told …
June 29th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
How many Americans believe in unidentified flying objects (UFOs)? How many actually claim to have seen one? And which presidential candidate is most trusted to protect the USA from such alien visitors? Only in the United States would such questions be taken seriously. But, if you’d like to know the answers, you’ll find them here.
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
Is the Royal Bank of Scotland hiding something?
June 26th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
As the latest news confirms, the last week has been a disaster for millions of customers at the Royal Bank of Scotland, Nat West (my bank) and Ulster Bank. Almost all the media attention has been on the adverse impact on so many customers and the efforts of the banks to mitigate these impacts. But we need to ask why this problem occurred and assess the chances of it reoccurring at RBS or other banks or even other organisations. The public owns RBS and has a right to know. All IT managers and staff live in fear of their system going wrong and we need to share experiences and lessons.
All we have been told so far is that the problem occurred because of an upgrade to the banks’ IT system. This seems odd. Upgrades to IT systems are happening all the time; we know that they can cause unexpected problems; so one should test the upgrade on a closed part of the system first to identify and address any adverse impacts. Was this done in this case? If not, why not? If so, why did the upgrade cause such major problems?
At least one report suggests that the problems began last Tuesday night during an upgrade of a key piece of software known as CA-7. This controls the batch processing systems that deal with retail banking transactions. The owner of the CA-7 software is a company called Computer Associates which has declined to say whether CA-7 lay at the heart of the problems. So, could something else be involved – perhaps a virus, or malware, or hacking? We need to know ….
Posted in Consumer matters | Comments (1)
Treating myself for my birthday
June 25th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
I was a very early adopter of the iPhone [first posting here] and, after four and a half years with the same phone, I have been wondering when I should upgrade.
Similarly I was a very early adopter of the iPad [first posting here] and, after two years, again I have been wondering when I should upgrade.
So today – my 64th birthday – I went along to a shop of my mobile network operator to discuss obtaining a new iPhone. I was persuaded not to go now for the iPhone 4 but to wait until the Autumn for the iPhone 5.
But I really wanted to treat myself today, so I went home and ordered online from the Apple Store the New iPad (aka the third generation) and a fancy cover. Can’t wait to play …
Posted in My life & thoughts, Science & technology | Comments (5)
“When I’m Sixty-Four”
June 25th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
In 1967, the Beatles issued the album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and one of the songs on it was “When I’m Sixty-Four” [ lyrics here]. At the time, I was aged 19 and a big Beatles fan. At the time, I thought that 64 was pretty old.
But today I am 64 and I don’t feel old. Indeed I like to think that I am still young at heart. On this day of all days, I can’t help thinking of that Beatles song [performance here].
Posted in Cultural issues, My life & thoughts | Comments (4)
Two reviews of “To Kill A Mocking Bird”
June 24th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
A few years ago, I finally got round to reading the 1960 Harper Lee Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “To Kill A Mocking Bird” [my review here].
However, it was only this weekend that I saw the faithful film adaptation of 1962 [my review here].
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
Will Barack Obama be re-elected? (2)
June 24th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
“Prospects for an Obama win have been buffeted by poor job figures and the threat of economic meltdown in Europe. Romney’s team know that convincing America’s swing voters that they might have better job prospects under Republican rule could turn the former Massachusetts governor into a president. The 2012 election is now up for grabs.”
This is an extract from an article in today’s “Observer” newspaper.
Arguably Obama won the election in 2008 because the American economy tanked under the watch of a Republican president. Four years later, the state of the economy could well be the key factor in determining whether Obama can win re-election.
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)