mercredi 2 avril 2003

Better post? A good night for applications: the invaluable Graphic Converter is now into version 4.6, which "adds ECW import/export, PDF export under Mac OS X, MDC import, better TWAIN compatibility, and several other bug fixes and improvements," while a Eudora upgrade is finally out of beta (v.5.2.1) "bringing numerous bug fixes, including dramatic performance boost for HTML saves, restored PPP control under Mac OS 9, better peformance with multiple windows open, less CPU utilization, and a re-enabled battery check under Mac OS X." (Tip-offs and quotes from MacNN and a dozen other places.) If the e-mail programme can also sort out some of a frequent correspondent's cut and paste jobs, that would be better still. D., you know who I mean. ;) (Bad night for blog-tweaking. A few further changes are slowly travelling between here and RadioUserLand, so if it looks a mess meanwhile, sorry. Lesson: remember, again, not to do this kind of thing while all America's awake.) [Update: as I was preparing for bed, the software update preferences pane switched itself on to propose QuickTime 6.1.1 : "delivers important bug fixes to MPEG-4 streaming" 19.4 MB. Sounds anodyne, but this is one I'll check out before installing. One or two recent "fixes" from Apple proved trickier than first thought.] 11:13:45 PM  link   your views? [] Shocked at cellphone rudeness "The increasing irritation of inappropriate or noisy conversations in public places prompted design firm Ideo to come up with handsets that would encourage people to be more tactful in their phone use. The designs are not intended to make it on to the high street but rather to prompt debate about the social impact of mobile phones." Don't see this catching on, somehow. And I can't read Japanese. But I note the date on the BBC story. 11:04:55 AM  link   your views? [] Best hope since Lumumba? Could this be a big day for the Democratic Republic of Congo, with the signing in Sun City, South Africa, of what looks like the best chance for a ravaged nation since the murder of Patrice Lumumba? One of the most gripping reads about that vast, pillaged country, largely set at the time he was assassinated, and a fine account of why it has been such a mess since, is 'The Poisonwood Bible: a novel' by Barbara Kingsolver. I can't be unduly optimistic about the prospects for real peace, let alone democracy, in the wake of four, or six (depending on when you think it started), years of war that has claimed at least two million lives, directly or indirectly, and drew in the armies of half a dozen other African nations at its height. The peoples of the DRC are sitting on too much coveted wealth for their own well-being, while some key players are shady characters, to put it mildly. But the young Joseph Kabila has proved a surprising leader since his father was shot. The news agencies will be filing more up-to-date portraits of him today. 10:40:25 AM  link   your views? []

nick b. 2007 do share, don't steal, please credit under artistic licence terms; contributing friends (pix, other work) retain their rights.