Status-QQuentin Stafford-Fraser's blogTechnology quiz- June 29, 2008 Here&8217;s a question for you. Which company was responsible for building the first business computer IBM, perhaps Data General DEC or Lyons (the British tea company) Yes! Well guessed! It was Lyons. The New York Times tells the story of David Caminer, who worked with Maurice Wilkes to create the LEO, ...http://www.statusq.org/archives/2008/06/29/1915/ Build version numbering with Git- June 28, 2008 The &8216;Git&8217; version-control system is used to develop the Linux kernel, amongst other things, and it&8217;s the most powerful one I&8217;ve used. (And I&8217;m old enough to remember SCCS :-)) It takes some work to get your head around Git, but we&8217;re now using it to develop our CODA system, and it&8217;s been well ...http://www.statusq.org/archives/2008/06/28/1914/ Mobile thinking- June 28, 2008 Gordon Brown said recently that improving social mobility is a &8220;national crusade&8221; in which Labour has not made enough progress. I thought the BBC&8217;s The Week In Westminster programme had some interesting comments from Matthew Taylor, a former advisor to Tony Blair: I think we should be more critical than we are about the concept of &8217;social ...http://www.statusq.org/archives/2008/06/28/1913/ Lingua Franca- June 26, 2008 Caught a bit of one of the Naked Gun films last night. Wonderfully silly stuff. &8220;Do you speak French, Lieutenant&8221; &8220;Unfortunately, no. I kiss that way, though.&8221;http://www.statusq.org/archives/2008/06/26/1910/ An interesting way to try avoiding student fees- June 22, 2008 See 3BucksForBrendan. These ideas are great, but, like the Million Dollar Homepage, each one can probably only be done once&8230;http://www.statusq.org/archives/2008/06/22/1909/ Segregation- June 22, 2008 The polarisation of American politics is a common subject of discussion. A recent Economist article suggests that &8220;Americans are increasingly choosing to live among like-minded neighbours. This makes the culture war more bitter and politics harder.&8221; Where you live is partly determined by where you can afford to live, of course. But the Big Sort ...http://www.statusq.org/archives/2008/06/22/1908/ Firebug- June 22, 2008 For those of us who do web-based development, Firebug must be the single most useful tool invented in a long time. I&8217;ve used it for ages but I keep discovering new stuff it can do. If by any chance you haven&8217;t discovered it yet, go and get it now - it&8217;s free. Any time ...http://www.statusq.org/archives/2008/06/22/1907/ Noblesse noblige pas- June 22, 2008 Ian Walker quotes this delightful snippet from the Metro: Lords: Give green light to Segways Scooters known as Segways should be allowed on the roads, peers said yesterday. The electric two-wheelers got the backing after peers tried them out&8230;. Segways are used by police and the public in parts of Europe along with the US. There have ...http://www.statusq.org/archives/2008/06/22/1906/ Politbeuro- June 21, 2008 I posted my quick reaction the Irish vote on the Lisbon Treaty a few days ago. The Economist is saying the same sort of thing (only rather better, of course): Europe&8217;s political leaders react to these unwelcome expressions of popular will in three depressingly familiar stages. First they declare portentously that the European club is ...http://www.statusq.org/archives/2008/06/21/1905/ |