Monday, 4 February 2013

Disqus

I mentioned in a previous thread that Disqus is going to implement their new version of the system on all sites from March and discontinue all older versions. Pallottine suggested we change it sooner rather than later so we can get used to it. I tend to agree with him.

This is the appearance of the new Disqus. I have already switched to it on the other blogs and can't change it back anymore.



The new features, in a nutshell:

1. The avatars are small and can't be enlarged anymore
2. Comments may be voted up or down via the arrows on the left
3. The nested threads (replies, replies to replies and so on) will cut off after 10 comments automatically
4. They promise real time updating, but I haven't seen any evidence that it works
5. They have discontinued pagination and will have a "load more comments" button at the bottom of the thread
6. They have removed most options for customizing any of it

Some of these features won't affect us greatly because we never have too many comments (the beauty of a small community!), but I'm not happy about small avatars and have made my feelings known to Disqus. I also suggested they stop tweaking the bloody thing. Every time they "improve" it, everything goes wrong.

In the past, they offered more options and we could stick to an older, stable version. They left the old versions alone and concentrated on "improving" the most recent one. Now they offer a single version, take it or leave it!

I'm toying with the idea of switching to the new version as we won't be able to avoid it for much longer. Let me know if you want to make the most of the few weeks left on the old version or bite the bullet and take the plunge now!

Sunday, 3 February 2013

Warning: E-mail virus!


I thought you would want to know about this e-mail virus. Even the most advanced programs from Norton or McAfee cannot take care of this one. It appears to affect those who were born prior to 1963...

Signs of infection:

1. Causes you to send the same e-mail twice. Done that!
2. Causes you to send a blank e-mail! That too!
3. Causes you to send e-mail to the wrong person. yep!
4. Causes you to send it back to the person who sent it to you. Aha!
5. Causes you to forget to attach the attachment.Well darn!
6. Causes you to hit "SEND" before you've finished. Oh , no not again!
7. Causes you to hit "DELETE" instead of "SEND.." And I just hate that!
8. Causes you to hit "SEND" when you should "DELETE." Oh No!

IT IS CALLED THE "C-NILE VIRUS."

Friday, 1 February 2013

Ah... to be young and have a Lambretta!

Peter and I were rummaging through some old stuff, looking for old birth certificates - Peter is hellbent on finding his ancestors - and we came across this photo.

Peter was only seventeen, and as you can see, he was always a short little fella. Ha ha! Already 6'3"!


We managed to go back to 1845, when Peter's great-grandfather was born. The birth certificate is in a very sorry state but the names and dates are still legible. We also found loads of photos, among them this one of Peter's grandfather Rupert (born in 1869) which was taken around 1910/1915. I can see similarities between the two of them, especially now that Peter is older.


The woman in the next photo is Elizabeth, Rupert's mother, born around 1847.


Doesn't she look a bit like Alex Kingston?


It's very interesting to go down memory lane and unearth such old photographs, taken more than a hundred years ago!

Thursday, 31 January 2013

The art of the unusual

Amy/Ottoline sent me a large collection of photos that are excellent examples of human creativity. I selected the ones I liked best:






















Thank you, Amy.