Archive for the ‘could_do_better’ Category
TL;DR Apple and Google have both launched laptops in the past few days that are both amazing and seriously flawed. If only somebody could make a machine that has the best of both worlds. MacBook The leaks were pretty much spot on, so in the end the new MacBook brought few surprises. I really want […]
Filed under: could_do_better, technology | 2 Comments
Tags: apple, Canonical, Chromebook, ChromeOS, google, laptop, MacBook, Pixel, Pixel2, Ubuntu, USB-C
I got my Lenovo X230 when I started with CohesiveFT almost 18 months ago. I’ve generally been very happy with it, but the cracks are starting to show – literally: Not as robust I’ve had a succession of ThinkPads – T20[1], T41, X60T, X201T, a loaner X220 from the good people at Bromium, and now my […]
Filed under: could_do_better, review | 9 Comments
Tags: lenovo, X230
Yesterday I wrote about how Google Wallet is even worse than PayPal. A quick reminder: When I buy stuff on PayPal I don’t have to pretend to have a billing address in a different country. They’re quite happy for me to use my UK issued card for payments to US suppliers. I don’t recall ever […]
Filed under: could_do_better, grumble | Leave a Comment
Tags: dicks, fail, fraud, geolocation, google, LTE, Nexus 7, payments, paypal, Play, resolution, store, wallet
I’ve seen a ton of bad news stories about PayPal over the last few years – here are just the top three from my payments tag on pinboard.in. I’ve even run afoul of their over sensitive fraud detection myself in the last couple of months (whilst trying to buy Club Penguin subscriptions for my kids whilst […]
Filed under: could_do_better, grumble | 2 Comments
Tags: fail, fraud, geolocation, google, LTE, Nexus 7, payments, paypal, Play, resolution, store
Indistinguishable from fraud
I came across this tweet yesterday: It was timely, as I was in the midst of sorting out a foreign exchange transaction that had gone wrong. I’d sent $250 to a recipient in the US, and only $230 had shown up in their account (and then their bank had charged them $12 for the privilege […]
Filed under: could_do_better, grumble | 3 Comments
Tags: banking, charges, fees, financial services, fraud, FX, international, payments, spreads
Magic teabags
I’m a creature of habit, and like a cup of green and Earl Grey[1] to start my day and a Red Bush (aka Rooibos) mid afternoon. Approximately nowhere that I go has the tea that I like to drink, so I take along my own stash. This means that I often find myself asking for a […]
Filed under: could_do_better, grumble | 3 Comments
Tags: EasyJet, heath and safety, hot water, magic, tea, tea bag, teabag
Presenting with a Chromebook
I decided to use my Samsung ARM Chromebook for a presentation at Brighton Pi last night. It did not go well. Creating the presentation Using Google Docs instead of Powerpoint was pretty straightforward. I never do much fancy with my slides – usually just a visual anchor or a few bullet points, so no real […]
Filed under: could_do_better, grumble, Raspberry Pi, technology | 1 Comment
Tags: beamer, Chromebook, crash, dual, freeze, google, Google Docs, hang, HDMI, lock up, offline, presenting, projector, screen, share, unstable
End of support, end of the line
I’ve written before about the myth of software support. Software mostly doesn’t work, vendors mostly don’t fix stuff, and the world keeps turning anyway. Everything’s broken and nobody’s upset. So why do companies stop using perfectly good stuff (hardware and software) simply because they can’t buy support from the original vendor? This position seems nonsensical […]
Filed under: could_do_better, technology, travel | 2 Comments
Tags: end of life, IRIS, Pano Logic, support
I’ve been without a laptop for a few weeks[1], and whilst tablets are fine for consumption and the occasional comment I’ve missed having a keyboard for proper creative work. I’ve been tempted by Lenovo’s Black Friday sale for the X230[2], various Ultrabooks and Netbooks[3], but by the time I’d got an SSD[4] I’d be looking at £400-£500. […]
Filed under: could_do_better, review, technology | 2 Comments
Tags: apps, ARM, Chromebook, google, RDP, Samsung, SSH, VNC
