Would the real James Taylor please stand up
September 28, 2007 at 20:19 | In Life, the Universe, and Everything | 6 CommentsTags: Blogs, google, hursley, jamestaylor, moo, technorati
I had a bit of a tour of mail rooms in Hursley on my way out of work today. For a brief moment I thought I had received my first real post, delivered directly to my mail point, in about two years but then I spotted it had been via my old mail point. As it turns out, it had been to the right mail point in the first place… for one of the three other James Taylors in Hursley! Unlike a few bits of post I’m still waiting for (I hope the Moo cards arrive at the right place!) the right James Taylor should pick up his letter on Monday.
Having a common popular name can be interesting. As well as the three James Taylors at the same site, there are plenty more in the same company. Makes for some entertaining email exchanges. Not only that, but I quite often have lunch with one of the James Taylors… and he lives in the same village!
Then there’s the internet. Talk of googling yourself always makes me chuckle- try finding me! Since starting this blog I’ve been taking more of an interest in Technorati and it looks like us James Taylors are keen bloggers as well!
Highway robbery
September 27, 2007 at 23:14 | In Grumpy Old Man | 9 CommentsTags: icstis, mobile, mobilephone, sms
I almost went for “Hightech robbery” but actually, it’s not that hightech at all. Just send a premium rate reverse charge SMS text message to someone who didn’t ask for it and collect. Who on earth thought they would be a good idea?! Especially when they arrive without any chance to accept or reject them before the money is taken. Even worse, there’s no way to stop it keep happening: Vodafone won’t let me block any future reverse charge messages to my account. So every time it happens you have to look up the number on the ICSTIS site (try 80122 or 81404 for example) to attempt to get a refund.
Magic.
Your mobile account is being treated like a debit account for ’services’ (not that I even got a ring tone for the money) without any of the protection of a bank account. I’ve wasted the entire evening writing to Vodafone, the two companies who stole money, ICSTIS, and my MP. I’ll also be writting to OFCOM and possibly the Information Commissioner’s Office. Wonder who will reply first… I don’t think Vodafone have ever replied to me in writing, I’m not holding my breath for Tanla Mobile Ltd or Zamano Ltd, and I suspect ICSTIS, OFCOM and the Information Commissioner’s Office are going to be completely disinterested. MPs are usually pretty good though, and I did actually vote for this one; maybe I should have mentioned that in my letter!!
iPhone accessibility
September 24, 2007 at 15:33 | In Ones and Zeros | 10 CommentsTags: accessibility, apple, iphone, mobilephone, touchscreen
I have largely avoided all the iPhone excitement (being a child of the 70’s, I’m more than happy with my pocket calculator) but I recently found a post about the problems it has with accessibility.
A few years ago I had an idea about making touch screens devices more accessible after I noticed the rise in self-service kiosks that had no other way to provide input. The same idea could be ideal for the iPhone so I emailed accessibility@apple.com to see if Apple would be interested.
The full description can be found on the IP.com prior art database by searching for document ID IPCOM000125721D but the basic idea is for a touch screen device, like the iPhone, to support an accessible mode where, instead of the usual graphical buttons and layouts, large areas of the screen are used with a telephone prompt style system to interact with the user. For example, an audio prompt to, “Press the top right of the screen to make a call” and so on. High contrast blocks of colours would make it possible to find the right area with very little vision, and completely blind users could find the edge of the screen by touch, with small modifications to the case if necessary. Numeric input, to enter a phone number for example, could be handled with simple tactile markers arranged around the outside of the screen. Switching to the accessible mode could be as simple as pressing anywhere on the screen for a few seconds, or recognising a pre-paired bluetooth headset. The main advantage of all this is that it is largely software based with no additional external controls required, so ideal for small devices, or touch screen kiosks that have already been installed… and easy to add to something like the iPhone.
So it looks like I’m interested in the iPhone like everyone else now!
All weddinged out for 2007
September 23, 2007 at 17:30 | In Life, the Universe, and Everything | Leave a CommentTags: katebiggs, martinbiggs, weddings
I think going to weddings is one of my favourite hobbies and we’re just back from a particularly good one. Aside from the happy couple, and some top notch speaking (Jo is convinced Martin should be a professional speaker), the band was awesome. As well as stepping up for the first dance, the bride and groom both joined the band to blast out some great numbers- now you don’t see that at many weddings… well, unless you’re in a band I guess!
I’m enjoying the Favour as I type this, and a tip for anyone else at the wedding who hasn’t found out yet, they aren’t chocolate mini eggs that you can bite in to; they are actually much harder!
Well, that’s it for weddings this year. Can there be anyone left to get married in 2008?!
Third post : Third blog
September 22, 2007 at 10:45 | In Ones and Zeros | 1 CommentTags: andypiper, Blogs, IBM
I guess the comments on the default ‘Hello world!’ post are a bit of a giveaway that this is not my first blog. I have blogged from a few holidays to avoid messing about with postcards but, before that, I have been blogging behind the firewall in IBM since 17 May 2005, starting with an optimistic first post:
“…it’s unlikely I’ll have time for any more entries and even less chance any of them would be useful anyway!
Good luck to all the other new bloggers though.”
Well, it wasn’t the last post and I have learned a lot about blogging since then. If nothing else, it’s been useful for me to look back on where all the time went, which is a huge plus when you have a goldfish memory! It has also enabled me to connect to some amazing people inside IBM and beyond. Plus I hope at least one of the posts has been at least vaguely useful to someone as well! I know I have found huge value in reading other people’s blogs, from shared experiences, to things more technical.
The biggest lesson though is probably that, instead of believing I wouldn’t have time to blog, it actually saves me time. Instead of sending an email to a closed group of people, blogging allows anyone else who might need the information later to find it. Instead, of struggling to find someone to contact, I now have a much bigger network to annoy help me! Last, but not least, Andy is a walking encyclopedia!
And finally, a small disclaimer:
The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.
Hello world!
September 19, 2007 at 17:29 | In Uncategorized | 9 CommentsWelcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!
Blog at WordPress.com. | Theme: Pool by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds.
