Need

You need to restart your computer.
(You fool).

Well, since we all know that Macs never crash it must be some need that the user has. The user probably thinks he needs to carry on working on his computer, but in fact he needs to restart his computer. Apple says so.

The television stations in the UK constantly repeat programmes about cars and car chases in order to cheer us all up from worrying about climate change caused in part by cars and car chases. One of them is a budget job that recycles old police video tapes of bad drivers and fleeing criminals. Employ a former newsreader to shout over the top and you have a programme. A recent one contained the following declaration.

“THE DRIVER NEEDS TO BE CAUGHT”.

Surely the driver needs to get away? The police need to catch him. No? Hmmm.

Perhaps it is too easy to ascribe needs to others when really it is our own desires and competencies that are the issue. Anyway, Cathy Gilliat needs to make another record. That’s what we reckon.

Snap off

We have just realised it is possible to turn off those obstructive and gimmicky “Snap” pop-ups that show useless previews of Web links. We have done so for this WordPress weblog.

Related links (without Snap pop-ups!):

• Unwanted “snap” links to my photos and graphics
• 3 Reasons Why Snap Preview is Ruining Your Blog
• Disable Snap Previews on web sites

We might have found this easier if there weren’t so many layers of menus in WordPress.com’s controls. It’s a lovely system, but the interface seems to have been arranged almost at random!

Pointed Pop

Although we at Earthrid occupy ourselves producing some quite outlandish music, that doesn’t mean we are averse to a good bit of pop music now again. “Pop”. It’s a quaint old term but one which is still useful for summing up pithy prosody packaged and preserved within the parameters of polished, programmatic populism.

“Pop” is succinct.

‘I Know Your Girlfriend Hates Me’.

MOV file via Antville

Web 3.1 interface

One day all menu pages will look like this…

Canon scanner software: FAIL

Oh, OK! Sorry to have troubled you! Thanks for your help!

(Never forget: the user is there for the software. Don’t give them an inch. It is a privilege for them to be allowed to use your products - if they work, it’s just a bonus!).

Hi, I’m a Mac

I’m a Mac but I’m too busy to listen to the likes of you.

Talk to the spinning wheel, because the keyboard and mouse aren’t listening.

beachballbeachballbeachballbeachball

Please hold. Your typing is important to me.

beachballbeachballbeachballbeachballbeachballbeachball

(It’s probably the showiness of this damned thing that makes it so annoying. A box saying “Wait” would be no more rude, and less ostentatious).

Now we have missed RSS Awareness Day

It was yesterday. We weren’t aware.

You can search for it - they don’t deserve a link, for being (a) not getting the word out on time and (b) not hosting much other than a badly made video about something called “the Inner-Ned”.

We like RSS a lot, actually. It’s a very fast way of accessing information. Whether or not it will put you in touch with your “inner Ned” is another question.

No doubt today is also a special day of great significance, and no doubt a Web site with 2 or maybe even 3 pages has been created to celebrate it. Clearly we are not the people to advise you.

Tapir Day? Just missed it!

We just missed another global event: Tapir Day! Tapirs are very pleasant creatures to be around - very calming. Some wildlife parks and zoos keep them; sadly the way things are going, they will only exist in captivity.

Videos and photos don’t tend to do them justice but this one is not too bad.