Design counts…

Imagine that you work for Microsoft and you have to battle against comments like the one below.

Where do you start? At this point I don’t think that they have anywhere to go.

“I know Windows is awful. Everyone knows Windows is awful. Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it’s there, and there’s nothing you can do about it. OK, OK: I know other operating systems are available. But their advocates seem even creepier, snootier and more insistent than Mac owners. The harder they try to convince me, the more I’m repelled. To them, I’m a sheep. And they’re right. I’m a helpless, stupid, lazy sheep. I’m also a masochist. And that’s why I continue to use Windows – horrible Windows – even though I hate every second of it. It’s grim, it’s slow, everything’s badly designed and nothing really works properly: using Windows is like living in a communist bloc nation circa 1981. And I wouldn’t change it for the world, because I’m an abject bloody idiot and I hate myself, and this is what I deserve: to be sentenced to Windows for life.”

via Microsoft’s grinning robots or the Brotherhood of the Mac. Which is worse? | Charlie Brooker | Comment is free | The Guardian.

Unemployment benefit…

Unemployment benefits | The Economist

What I found interesting is how little people get after 5 years. In four countries the figure is nil. I’m assuming that at this point you get some other social security and that you’re not just thrown on the street.

This week in Sydney Australia…

It’s the end of the world.

Dust storms in Sydney | World news | guardian.co.uk.

Please tell me that there are a group of students shooting a low-tech Sci-Fi film this week. Please.

Le Web buzz starts…

It’s becoming somewhat of ritual. Each autumn the weather get colder and the updates about Le Web start. I have my ticket already and it makes for something to look forward to!!!

“Looking forward to kicking ass at #LeWeb in December #Paris cc: @loic http://bit.ly/1gJCAy

via Facebook | Hugh MacLeod.

New book titles…

It’s a lovely idea. Take old classic books and give them new titles.

http://yourmonkeycalled.com/post/185927647/book-titles-if-they-were-written-today

What is even better is that some of the comments are better than the original post. I vote for…

Old: Richard III

New: R3: Judgment Day

Windows Live Sync and Mac OS X Leopard…

Since FolderShare joined the Windows Live family it’s been a downhill slope.

First there were outages, then the site redesign (a massive downgrade) and now this…

Windows Live Sync and Mac OS X Leopard

It’s almost as if they don’t want it to work.