Oct 6, 2023·edited Oct 6, 2023Liked by Alistair Dabbs
New Apple product. Meh.
Exciting new features. Double meh.
Pen and paper. Now you're talking.
But, hey, in todays world that would be considered a disruptive technology so, perhaps, we need a Zoom call to talk about setting up a meeting to discuss having a meeting about this novel new approach to information exchange. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it won't catch on but, in the words of the late, great Mr Adams, 'What colour should it be?'
I know times have changed, but subversive, disruptive, information used to be exchanged on the wall of public conveniences. Often in the form of a witty poem.
As far as I am aware and if wrong, I do not want to be corrected, there is no equivalent 'app' which achieves the same degree of concise, humerous, eye-opening information transfer. Serendipity in times of need.
"This is a function that lets iPhone users swap their contact information by tapping their handsets together."
Couldn't Palm Pilots (and yes, they had a phone, too) do that contactless? ISTR an advert showing a bloke doing this with an attractive girl he'd seen on a train.
I had (still have, and it still works if you have a serial port for it to sync on) one of the first Palm Pilots (branded USRobotics). I was at the launch at Demo 96 in Indian Wells. Game changing bit of kit.
Did you work in the Marlow office of 3Com? I visited often re LAN cards, as it was just down the road from me. I've corresponded with the great Bob Metcalfe, too.
I worked at Marlboro MA. Worked on CB9000 before it was cancelled, and on some of the early Token Ring cards and switches, which I'd rather forget!
My claim to fame was a mapping app for the Palm, which allowed you to select a conference room by name from a drop down list, then popped up a floor map and showed you which building, floor and the location on the floor. Necessary bc we had 3 buildings of 3 to 5 floors each in Marlboro, and the conference room naming scheme was...needlessly arcane.
Oct 6, 2023·edited Oct 6, 2023Liked by Alistair Dabbs
I know those sort of meeting room naming woes.
One place I worked renamed all the rooms to something “interesting” , but nobody would do a map of where they were or put signs on the doors. Instead the room names were little (1cm) high letters which you could never find.
After a few month they were renamed as everyone kept moaning about it.
Where I am currently the office I work in they are named 1-1-10 (building 1, floor 1, meeting room 10 the Campus has 6 buildings with plans to expand to 7 or 8) which is nice and simple except for finding them usually ask someone).
But other buildings, named after films, fantasy characters, kitchen appliances who knows…..
Working in a building which has different sets of people on different floors and wings, we had a naming system that made some vague sense. Rivers, Trees, etc so at least you'd be vaguely in the right area.
Fortunately we've reverted to the much more logical, floor/wing prefix and number. Exactly what we had before the interesting names were the fashion.
Though now we have a whole bunch of "collaboration spaces" every where. i.e. large open areas in the middle of each wing, with large screens that can be used to show presentations - and annoy all those sat at desks near them!
I saw that exact same commercial! I found the premise completely preposterous, of course. How did he get her drunk, so fast, from aboard a completely different train?
To be honest if someone wants a number I usually just copy and text it to them. All phones support SMS and it is reasonably reliable. If they support iMessage then the iPhone figures that out and sends it directly.
What if you don’t have their number? Then the problem is doubled: they’ve asked a number from you and now you need their number from them as well. By the time you’ve got that sorted, assuming they can remember their own mobile number, which many people do not, THREE numbers are involved as when they receive your text they ask you if the message was from your number.
Oct 7, 2023·edited Oct 7, 2023Liked by Alistair Dabbs
At this point we start going down an infinite loop, if we repeat this enough times we could not resolve it until the end of the universe.
Or we could just read the number off the screen to them…… thinking about it that is the easiest - assuming the person wants to call the 3rd party has a phone on them.
Yeah, this is what I usually do. While I look up the contact in my list, they can start making an entry, and then just read them the number when they're ready, check it against what I have when they're done.
I have never understood how people don’t know their own phone number, it is like forgetting where they live, or needing a satnav to get from their home to a tesco two miles away (actually I do know of someone who does to go that)
I'm always a bit wary about giving someone's personal phone number to a third party..... If they don't have it already, or some other means of communication, what does it say about their relationship?
I remember an era in which secret agents would snoop around in darkened offices and “steal” sensitive information with minuscule instant photography. Somehow I learned from that, that if you want to quickly store some information you could simply photograph it. I’m not suggesting that “just anybody” could figure that out on their own, there weren’t many of us who ever watched the exploits of Agent Smart, after all.
I will freely admit that my Huawei P-20 phone, bought in France, was the nicest smartphone I've owned. It was retired after the battery began to slow down, and is now in use by a family member who needed a new phone in an emergency. My partner still has a P-30 as her daily driver.
Now we're back in Canada where cel phone = Apple, Samsung, or a couple of token Pixels. No other brands exist.
New Apple product announcements are always fun, it gives me an excuse to share the old Macbook Wheel joke video and remember that some iDiots genuinely believed it. Macolytes also will evangelise about the wonderful new features that the rest of us have had for years. Wireless charging was one I remember, my Windows Phone (remember them?) had it 3 years earlier.
New Apple product. Meh.
Exciting new features. Double meh.
Pen and paper. Now you're talking.
But, hey, in todays world that would be considered a disruptive technology so, perhaps, we need a Zoom call to talk about setting up a meeting to discuss having a meeting about this novel new approach to information exchange. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it won't catch on but, in the words of the late, great Mr Adams, 'What colour should it be?'
I know times have changed, but subversive, disruptive, information used to be exchanged on the wall of public conveniences. Often in the form of a witty poem.
As far as I am aware and if wrong, I do not want to be corrected, there is no equivalent 'app' which achieves the same degree of concise, humerous, eye-opening information transfer. Serendipity in times of need.
The only thing I learnt from reading toilet-wall grafitti was never to borrow a pen from someone in a pub.
Fear not, with AR the bog shall once again become a rich odiferous field for public discourse free of risk from perilous poo-pen predicaments.
Bump AR helmets with the occupant of the next stall for a spontaneous and exciting "TurdDrop"!
LogDrop, surely? And the social media spinoff could be called 'Squeezl'.
Surely, and may I continue to study at the feet of the master and suggest a blockchain minting of NFTs called 'PinchOffs'.
Does MugSlam™® come with tracking capabilities using MugRing?
Are you implying that there's a way to write an app *without* tracking?? What are you, some sort of idealist?
Mugging more like!
A perfect app for Muggles ;)
My issue with MugSlam though is, the mess when at least one of the mugs are full...
In similar fashion, when I used to roam the offices of my company, I had a golf ball on my desk.
I called it my anti-stress ball.
If ever someone seemed likely to start stressing me, they'd be threatened to get slammed with my anti-stress ball
"This is a function that lets iPhone users swap their contact information by tapping their handsets together."
Couldn't Palm Pilots (and yes, they had a phone, too) do that contactless? ISTR an advert showing a bloke doing this with an attractive girl he'd seen on a train.
Worked @ 3Com, can confirm. It was called "beaming" and used IrDA ports on the Palms.
Also: I want one of those mugs...
I had (still have, and it still works if you have a serial port for it to sync on) one of the first Palm Pilots (branded USRobotics). I was at the launch at Demo 96 in Indian Wells. Game changing bit of kit.
Did you work in the Marlow office of 3Com? I visited often re LAN cards, as it was just down the road from me. I've corresponded with the great Bob Metcalfe, too.
I worked at Marlboro MA. Worked on CB9000 before it was cancelled, and on some of the early Token Ring cards and switches, which I'd rather forget!
My claim to fame was a mapping app for the Palm, which allowed you to select a conference room by name from a drop down list, then popped up a floor map and showed you which building, floor and the location on the floor. Necessary bc we had 3 buildings of 3 to 5 floors each in Marlboro, and the conference room naming scheme was...needlessly arcane.
I know those sort of meeting room naming woes.
One place I worked renamed all the rooms to something “interesting” , but nobody would do a map of where they were or put signs on the doors. Instead the room names were little (1cm) high letters which you could never find.
After a few month they were renamed as everyone kept moaning about it.
Where I am currently the office I work in they are named 1-1-10 (building 1, floor 1, meeting room 10 the Campus has 6 buildings with plans to expand to 7 or 8) which is nice and simple except for finding them usually ask someone).
But other buildings, named after films, fantasy characters, kitchen appliances who knows…..
Working in a building which has different sets of people on different floors and wings, we had a naming system that made some vague sense. Rivers, Trees, etc so at least you'd be vaguely in the right area.
Fortunately we've reverted to the much more logical, floor/wing prefix and number. Exactly what we had before the interesting names were the fashion.
Though now we have a whole bunch of "collaboration spaces" every where. i.e. large open areas in the middle of each wing, with large screens that can be used to show presentations - and annoy all those sat at desks near them!
I saw that exact same commercial! I found the premise completely preposterous, of course. How did he get her drunk, so fast, from aboard a completely different train?
It’d never work IRL.
To be honest if someone wants a number I usually just copy and text it to them. All phones support SMS and it is reasonably reliable. If they support iMessage then the iPhone figures that out and sends it directly.
What if you don’t have their number? Then the problem is doubled: they’ve asked a number from you and now you need their number from them as well. By the time you’ve got that sorted, assuming they can remember their own mobile number, which many people do not, THREE numbers are involved as when they receive your text they ask you if the message was from your number.
At this point we start going down an infinite loop, if we repeat this enough times we could not resolve it until the end of the universe.
Or we could just read the number off the screen to them…… thinking about it that is the easiest - assuming the person wants to call the 3rd party has a phone on them.
Yeah, this is what I usually do. While I look up the contact in my list, they can start making an entry, and then just read them the number when they're ready, check it against what I have when they're done.
I have never understood how people don’t know their own phone number, it is like forgetting where they live, or needing a satnav to get from their home to a tesco two miles away (actually I do know of someone who does to go that)
I'm always a bit wary about giving someone's personal phone number to a third party..... If they don't have it already, or some other means of communication, what does it say about their relationship?
I don't know why I don't get many calls.
This then you realize you have volunteered to become a human ARP handler.
I remember an era in which secret agents would snoop around in darkened offices and “steal” sensitive information with minuscule instant photography. Somehow I learned from that, that if you want to quickly store some information you could simply photograph it. I’m not suggesting that “just anybody” could figure that out on their own, there weren’t many of us who ever watched the exploits of Agent Smart, after all.
I will freely admit that my Huawei P-20 phone, bought in France, was the nicest smartphone I've owned. It was retired after the battery began to slow down, and is now in use by a family member who needed a new phone in an emergency. My partner still has a P-30 as her daily driver.
Now we're back in Canada where cel phone = Apple, Samsung, or a couple of token Pixels. No other brands exist.
Hmmmm “MugSlam” sounds like an exciting new breakfast entrée from Denny’s fine chain of restaurants…
New Apple product announcements are always fun, it gives me an excuse to share the old Macbook Wheel joke video and remember that some iDiots genuinely believed it. Macolytes also will evangelise about the wonderful new features that the rest of us have had for years. Wireless charging was one I remember, my Windows Phone (remember them?) had it 3 years earlier.