#“26 Years of Word Processors Missing the Bleedin’ Obvious”

I have used the same basic document layout since I first wrote a school project on a giant ICL dedicated word processor in my Dad's office in 1985. The same layout through Wordperfect 5.1, Word for MSDOS, Word for Windows v1.0-2007, OpenOffice/LibreOffice and Google Docs.

#“Reasons Why 2011 is Starting to Feel Like 1999”

• Everyone thinks company X is unbeatable (Microsoft -> Facebook)
• A major search engine thinks everyone wants a portal (Yahoo/Excite/Lycos/Altavisa -> Google Places)
• A leading Web Browser releases worst version ever (Internet Explorer 5 -> Firefox 4)
• A leading OS releases a horrendous cheap knock-off of Mac OS ( Windows 98 SE -> Ubuntu 11.04)
• Bubble valuations of tech businesses (* -> *)
• Virtual Currencies are hot (Beenz vs Facebook Credits)

#“21st Century Milkman”

We've recently started using a new milkman after a many year gap and I've been thinking a lot about him. Back in the late 80s and early 90s, the co-ops/creameries basically shut down the in-house milkmen and many of them became independent businesses. I had thought it would be a slow inexorable death for them because of price-competition from the big supermarkets. We stopped using the one in Kimmage in the mid-90s because our milk demands were so variable and he only delivered on certain days.

#“Automatically Backup Your WordPress Site to Dropbox”

#“Oi Google, I want my extra free \u008011.15 ;-)”

I bet the email with the 100 mention was sent from Barrow Street. To an Irish-registered AdWords account.

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#“Does Skype hate its customers?”

With every new release of Skype it gets slower and slower and buggier and buggier. But that’s not the worst of it. I pay them for both inbound numbers and for a lot of call charges. Yet every damned morning when I get up, this stupid message greets me.

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#“My Ever Decreasing List of Desktop Apps”

I re-set up a PC last week and installed all of my most-used apps. The list gets shorter and shorter each year as I move everything online. Here's a snapshot of the bulk of them (MS Office implied of course).

#“Google Docs on Android is Here”

via market.android.com

I seem to spend half my life in Google Docs. Now I can spend the other half.

#“The Happy Foot Co is feeding my #VFFs Addiction”

It’s ridiculous I know. I average one pair of new footwear every two years. I wear shoes until they fall apart and then I buy one more pair. That’s now utterly changed.

I bought my Vibram Five Fingers Bikilas exactly one month ago. Running on a treadmill with them is genuinely like having new legs. Unfortunately, like a fool, I ran on the road only two weeks in and I’m still suffering with a pain in one foot. But I’m a convert and an evangelist already.

The one downside - they stink and washing only helps for a day or two. I wanted to wear them all the time.

Tuesday I was in Dublin and after a really interesting mobile tech workshop, I wandered down to The Happy Foot Co on Liffey Street, off Henry Street. I remembered that the last shop I went into on Liffey St was Hector Gray’s when I was a kid.

The Happy Foot Co shop is amazing. Loads of different types of VFFs and a bajillion pairs of Crocs. I’ll be bringing the kids back soon to get their summer Crocs.

The two ladies running the place could not have been more helpful. They even offered to post down any pair that they didn’t have in stock. I wanted a pair for general day to day use that wouldn’t look too freakish. I tried on a few types including one of their new ones made of kangaroo skin. Sooooo soft.

In the end, I went with the KSO, the most popular men’s model. They are incredibly comfortable and equally good in a meeting or on a mountain (allegedly). They go beautifully with Black Tie, Pinstripe, Jeans, Shorts, Speedos or Thongs. I intend to try them in all those scenarios.

I’ve been doing a bit of reading on VFFs and it looks like I’m doing the same thing as all n00bies; I’m running almost on the balls of my feet because of everything we’ve been told about heel-strikes being bad. One blogger likened it to looking like a bizarre ballerina. Of course I’ve been told many times of my striking resemblance to the Black Swan, ignoring my bigger boobs and my opposite eating disorder.

Two pairs of shoes in a month and I’m already thinking about a pair of Classics instead of flip-flops for my summer holidays. Next thing I’ll be watching Project Runway.

#“Multiple Skype Accounts on one PC”

How the hell am I only hearing about this now?