Status-Q

Mac users will appreciate these poster designs.

One of my favourite local cafes is more switched-on than I’d realised….

If you run any Ubuntu or Debian systems, or have users who do, you should read this if you don’t already know about the OpenSSL security bug. I fear it’s going to be important.

I’m one of those people who has no idea how many free texts I get on my phone, because I never get anywhere close to the limit.

It may be something to do with getting into the Blackberry thing early, so it’s always just been cheaper for me to send emails. Or it may be that I just never really like small keyboards, so while I read a great deal on my phone, I don’t write very much (despite my E61 having a nice QWERTY keyboard).

When I do want to send a text to someone, I often go to my laptop and right-click on their name in Address Book because it’s just so much easier to send it by Skype.

Anyway, what prompted me to post was the discovery that my mother is changing her phone plan because 100 texts a month aren’t enough for her. I probably don’t send that many in a year! So am I way uncool, or is it cooler not to be sending texts now that my Mum is being so prolific? How many texts do you send?

Hap has given us a wonderful book which includes some extracts from the “Travellers Manual for French Persons in Germany and German Persons in France”, written by Mme de Genlis at the end of the 18th century. It includes the following useful phrases, which you may want to look up in other languages in case you need them next time you get off your RyanAir flight:

Listen, postilion, if you drive at a good speed when the road is good, and slowly on corners and bridges or in towns and villages, then I shall give you a good tip. Otherwise, you shall have only the fare.

Postilion, a man has just climbed onto the back of the coach. Make him get down.

The descent is quite steep. I wish the brakes to be attached.

I believe that the wheels are on fire. Look and see.

The postilion has fainted. Administer the eau de Luce.

Gently remove the postilion from beneath the horse.

A quick note to let you know (if you didn’t already) that Camvine is looking for really good technical people and sales/marketing/bus. dev. people. (One of each, at present).

Contact me if you’d like to know more about life in a fun Cambridge startup…

I’ve walked past the Sofitel in Queenstown, NZ. But I never popped in to use the gents’ loo. Which is a pity, because it’s rather fun!

From ‘Mental Floss‘.

Zebra striping is the practice of using alternating background colours in rows of a table. It’s supposed to make the table easier to read.

Jessica Enders did a study and discovered that a small majority of people preferred the look of striped tables. But did they actually help? Find out here.