The Old New Thing

Budget cuts strike Swedish radio

January 8, 2004 Jan 8, 2004 01/8/04

Raymond Chen

Alas, budget cuts over at Sveriges Radio have reduced the staff of Klartext, the Swedish news program presented in easy Swedish, from three to two, so they won't be able to provide text summaries of the radio show. I had been using the summaries to help me fill in the gaps I had missed, but now I guess I'll just have to listen even more ...

Words I'd like to ban in 2004

January 7, 2004 Jan 7, 2004 01/7/04

Raymond Chen

It seems to be fashionable to do a "top words" list this time of year. We have Google 2003 Zeitgeist, Top Yahoo! Searches 2003, Merriam-Webster's Words of the Year for 2003, YourDictionary.com's Top Ten Words of 2003, Lake Superior State University's Banished Words List for 2004; still waiting for the American Dialect Society's choice for ...

Why does the copy dialog give such horrible estimates?

January 6, 2004 Jan 6, 2004 01/6/04

Raymond Chen

It's difficult to make predictions, particularly about the future.

"Beam me up" is not yet recognized

December 29, 2003 Dec 29, 2003 12/29/03

Raymond Chen

How soon before this becomes standard equipment at Star Trek conventions? Vocera Communications Unveils Wearable, Instant Voice Communications Application "Enterprise environments are looking for applications that leverage their investment in wireless communication technologies and increase employee efficiency," ... Some of the ...

The cult of PowerPoint

December 22, 2003 Dec 22, 2003 12/22/03

Raymond Chen

Recent articles on how PowerPoint contributed to failure at NASA reminded me that this is hardly a new discovery. The Department of Defense long ago discovered that PowerPoint is a great way to hide the fact that you don't know what you're talking about. I remember reading an article (which I of course can't find now) of a "cult of PowerPoint...

When marketing designs a screenshot

December 17, 2003 Dec 17, 2003 12/17/03

Raymond Chen

Have you checked out AMD's ads for their AMD Athlon 64 FX processor? The copy reads, "My adrenalin fix isn't what it used to be. Double the dose. AMD me." And it has a picture of a tough-looking guy glaring at the camera, challenging the reader to do their worst. But take a look at what's on his screen. It's a giant command window. Now ...

The migration continues

December 15, 2003 Dec 15, 2003 12/15/03

Raymond Chen

Hey folks, this blog is moving to a new home. It'll take me a while to set up shop there, though, so please be patient. Some time after the new year, the content will likely migrate to the new location...

Welcome to the New Old New Thing

December 15, 2003 Dec 15, 2003 12/15/03

Raymond Chen

Hey there, everybody. It's going to take me a while to settle in, so please be patient. It seems I always celebrate a new blog by designing some insane multi-part series on some obscure aspect of Win32, so I think I'll welcome this site with a series of articles that demonstrate various things you can do with the shell namespace. I haven't ...