This post has been written on my H P Tablet laptop. I am writing this by hand using a stylus: on the screen. No typing. All magically.
Except. I just typed that last full stop.
I hope now that this computer will give me long a faithful service.
Au revoir!
DW
Ever heard of CAPTCHA? I'll bet you have! It stands for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart.
Did you know that when you use a CAPTCHA, which is where you do what you do on a web site and then have to type in those numbers and letters that are shown in a box before you press enter or submit, you might actually being used to solve a problem?
Apparently, some of the words/phrases used in CAPTCHA boxes have been causing problems arising from scanning texts: so, if you get it right, you might have solved a particularly difficult transcription problem for someone.
I got this from this month's Harvard Business Review which says that this wheeze is helping to transcribe the equivalent of 150,000 books a year, labour that would otherwise require 37,500 full time workers. Don't take that too literally as I think the operative word there is helping.
I think this is such a good idea.
DW
I am building my new office along with my neighbour Malcolm. We have been enjoying learning how to measure and saw and paint ... the biggest learning event for me was learning how to saw a piece of wood perfectly squarely. How did I do that after decades of misshapes?
The answer is that I learned to use a try square and a saw at the same time: hold the try square right up against the saw and take it carefully and as if by magic both horizontal and vertical sawing actions seem to behave themselves.
The office is really coming on now and I have already tested out the built in desk and so on. By the end of the weekend everything should be finished. I will reveal all here don't worry!
DW
Is it time to step off the planet now? The Nobel Peace Prize for Barack Obama? Are they joking? So far Obama has proven himself a decent sort of a chap but how on earth can he be said to have done enough to warrant such recognition?
Then again, at least they didn't give it to Kissinger again. Now there was a travesty if ever there was one. Actually, probably the biggest travesty in the whole of human history.
DW
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again now that I have just received my replacement HP tablet pc and have just set up Windows Live Writer on it: Live Writer is very good, very impressive and I am writing this with it! I know, not that advanced but it set itself up and works with no bother.
DW
I was just pointed to a video on YouTube in which two drunken slobs from Swansea are seen fighting and making a nuisance of themselves in the town centre. We then see them walking through the town. For some reason they then turn back on themselves and decide that they need to pick on some men dressed as women who are standing in the street minding their own business.
We see one of the drunks trying to punch one of the trannies only to find that the trannie dodged the punch and instead of him lying prostrate, the drunk and his friend both end up prone.
What happened is that the two transvestites were both cage fighters on a night out! Needless to say, they despatched the drunks with ruthless efficiency and good for them.
The last thing we see is the police arriving, the drunks caught and the trannies turning up to tell the truth about what had happened.
There’s a lesson in life that these two numpties hadn’t learned: know your enemy!
DW
He used to lead the party and he was praised for the way in which he delivered his party conference speech without notes and without the need for hiding behind a microphone. Heseltine said, He is right at the top of his brief.
Well, how times change! Billy the Beer gave something akin to a speech this morning to the Tory Party conference and not only did he read it from his notes but he stood behind a microphone and was politely applauded for little more than 15 seconds or so when he had finished.
Why such a paucity? The answer is, the content: it was rubbish. He misled his party and made little sense, especially considering that in a year or so he might be our foreign secretary. What a frightening thought.
It can only get ... worse. The shadow chancellor speaks tomorrow!
I thought Boris Johnson's speech was enjoyable but focused in a micro political way on London matters.
I only watched those to fill in the time between a full plate of food and an empty plate!
DW
