Geoff Coupe's Blog

Reflections on life at “De Witte Wand”…

Year: 2010

  • Left Hand, Meet Right Hand…

    Sometimes, I despair about Microsoft. Far from being “the evil empire”, I often wonder how it can manage to walk and chew gum at the same time. For example, here’s Angus Logan, the Senior Technical Product Manager for Messenger Connect waxing lyrical about metrics and measurability in the context of the services provided by Windows Live.

    He’s published this blog post just over a week after Microsoft has removed the statistics feature from Windows Live Spaces, thus removing the tool that we bloggers used to monitor the metrics of our own Windows Live Spaces. Microsoft’s action has effectively driven a stake through the heart of Windows Live Spaces as a worthwhile blogging platform.

    It’s also instructive to note that all the new Microsoft blogs are not hosted on Windows Live Spaces at all, but on Telligent’s technology. Whatever happened to Microsoft’s once proud boast that they ate their own dogfood?

  • Contempt For The Customer

    Microsoft is about to launch the next major version of Windows Live, the so-called Wave 4. I’ve already blogged about the fact that we’ve discovered at least one nasty surprise in amongst all the new features: Microsoft has removed the statistics feature from Windows Live Spaces. This means that we bloggers, who use Windows Live Spaces, no longer have any means of monitoring traffic on our blogs.

    I’m mentioning this again, because I am rather taken aback by the responses from Microsoft representatives on the support forums for Windows Live Spaces to those of us who have asked why the statistics feature has been removed. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that Microsoft is displaying contempt for the customer over this.

    It’s been quite instructive to view the evolution of these responses as the Microsoft representatives replied to the rising tide of indignation from users. First came the totally clueless response:

    At this time we have removed this feature while we explore another solution.  We appreciate your patience and hope to have updates availble [sic] for you shortly.

    Then came:

    With the latest release to the end-to-end Windows Live suite, we have removed the statistics feature from Windows Live Spaces.   We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.    As we continue to evolve and improve the Windows Live suite, we add to and deepen many features, but of course are also sometimes faced with tough tradeoffs and decide to discontinue features. We will continue to keep you informed of any changes and coming improvements in the product.

    As I wrote before, the whole point is that Microsoft did not “continue to keep us informed of any changes” – they simply removed the statistics facility without any warning whatsoever. Now, the responses try to strike a conciliatory note:

    Hello All,

    Thank you for your commentary and interest in the continuation of the statistics feature.  We certainly understand the frustration that comes when a feature you have been utilizing suddenly goes away without warning and for that we apologize.  At this time we have no additional information to share regarding statistics.  If new developments arise we will update the solution article located here http://windowslivehelp.com/solution.aspx?solutionid=f31af022-eadf-4875-abe9-25b0ac466821

    Talk about locking the stable door after the horse has bolted… It’s too late, Microsoft, the damage has been done. It’s quite clear from this response that statistics aren’t going to be coming back any time soon. As one commenter noted:

    The whole thing beggars belief.

    CRITICAL FUNCTION.  Stats helps me to identify Comment Spam (since Live Spaces does not have a good Comments management facility).  It helps me to identify the efficacy different promotional vehicles to the sight.  It helps me to identify parties and communities with similar interests so I can engage with them.

    NO WARNING.  No warning that a change was going to happen.  No clarification on the redirect page.  Everyone is completely up to the own devices to used advanced navigation of Window Live’s difficult ‘Solution Center’ to find Carolyn’s clarification.

    NO PLAN.  It’s not like Live is having a ‘momentary disruption’.  It appears that they don’t even know what if anything they are  going to do about it.
    How does Microsoft defend this action?

    In addition, Microsoft has announced that web gadgets can no longer be added to our Spaces, and those that are currently included in our blogs will cease to work in the near future. Terrific, so my blog will start decaying very soon. In addition, it appears that comments on blog posts are now limited in length. Doubtless there will be other nasty surprises crawling out of the woodwork as well.

    I think the time has come to seriously consider moving my blog to another platform, probably Blogger. I shall make my decision once Wave 4 is launched and I can see for myself how much damage Microsoft has done to Windows Live Spaces as a blogging platform. The signs at the moment are not good; so bad in fact that a number of people are openly speculating on the forums that Microsoft will drop Windows Live Spaces altogether.

    If so, then it will be a great pity. For a while, Windows Live Spaces was a reasonable blogging platform. However, Microsoft, with its contempt for the customer and cack-handed change management skills seems intent on destroying it.

    Update: Since posting this, even more limitations on Windows Live Spaces have started to surface, so I’ve decided to jump ship even before the much vaunted Wave 4 is launched. I’ve decided to move to WordPress as my blogging platform, rather than Blogger as I originally thought. WordPress has more flexibility and looks better, IMHO, so that’s my choice.

    Update 2: Okay, I’ve changed my mind – I’ve moved to Blogger, rather than WordPress. The reason I’ve switched, is because I found that Blogger allows me to embed Photosynths in my posts, whereas WordPress, like Windows Live Spaces, insists on stripping out the embed code. I can also use the LibraryThing widget on Blogger; once again, WordPress and Windows Live Spaces forbid its use. So, while the look of Blogger is a bit more basic than the endless styles of WordPress, overall it gives me more choice in what I can post. So, Blogger, it is…

    Update 3: Cough, I’ve finally decided to switch back to WordPress…

  • Another Defence of the Burqa

    I referred a short while back to a good post from Steve Zara on why the burqa should not be banned. Now, Norm draws my attention to an equally good post on the same subject from Kenan Malik. The heart of the matter:

    If women are forced to do something against their will, the law already protects them in democratic countries. But what evidence exists, suggests that in Europe most burqa-clad women do not act from a sense of compulsion. According to the DCRI report in France, the majority of women wearing the burqa do so voluntarily, largely as an expression of identity and as an act of provocation. A second French report by the information authority, the SGDI, came to similar conclusions. Burqa wearers, it suggested, sought to ‘provoke society, or one’s family’, and saw it as a ‘badge of militancy’, and of ‘Salafist origins’. The burqa ban will only deepen the sense of alienation out which the desire for such provocation emerges.

    The burqa is a symbol of the oppression of women, not its cause. If legislators really want to help Muslim women, they could begin not by banning the burqa, but by challenging the policies and processes that marginalize migrant communities: on the one hand, the racism, social discrimination and police harassment that all too often disfigure migrant lives, and, on the other, the multicultural policies that treat minorities as members of ethnic groups rather than as citizens. Both help sideline migrant communities, aid the standing of conservative ‘community leaders’ and make life more difficult for women and other disadvantaged groups within those communities.

    Unfortunately, I suspect that with Wilders in the ascendancy here in the Netherlands, Malik’s common sense will be ignored.

  • The Bechdel Test

    The author, Alison Bechdel, is credited for getting the meme spread on what has now become known as "The Bechdel Test for Women in Movies"
     
     
     
    While ostensibly raising an intriguing fact about film, it does, of course, illuminate something off-kilter about society and who wields the power in it.

  • Jacob de Zoet

    The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is the new novel by David Mitchell. It is set at the end of the 18th Century, mainly in the Dutch trading post on the artificial island of Dejima in the bay of Nagasaki. It deals with both the clash of civilisations (European and Japanese) and  the interconnected lives of a vast range of characters. It seems to have had a mixed reception from newspaper reviewers, which rather surprised me – I think it’s a masterpiece. I took a little while to settle into it, but once it grabbed me, there was no release. It was often a struggle between savouring the phrases and quickly turning the page to see what happens next. The novel often slips into a prose poem:

    Night insects trill, tick, bore, ring; drill prick, saw, sting…

    or:

    Nagasaki itself, wood-grey and mud-brown, looks oozed from between the verdant mountains’ splayed toes.

    And there is a quite spectacular page and a half of rhythm-driven prose describing the start of a day in Nagasaki’s life that opens a climactic chapter late in the book. Sorry for the long extract, but I hope it whets your appetite:

    Gulls wheel through spokes of sunlight over gracious roofs and dowdy thatch, snatching entrails at the marketplace and escaping over cloistered gardens, spike topped walls and treble-bolted doors. Gulls alight on whitewashed gables, creaking pagodas and dung-ripe stables; circle over towers and cavernous bells and over hidden squares where urns of urine sit by covered wells, watched by mule-drivers, mules and wolf-snouted dogs, ignored by hunch-backed makers of clogs; gather speed up the stoned-in Nakashima River and fly beneath the arches of its bridges, glimpsed from kitchen doors, watched by farmers walking high, stony ridges. Gulls fly through clouds of steam from laundries’ vats; over kites unthreading corpses of cats; over scholars glimpsing truth in fragile patterns; over bath-house adulterers, heartbroken slatterns; fishwives dismembering lobsters and crabs; their husbands gutting mackerel on slabs; woodcutters’ sons sharpening axes; candle-makers, rolling waxes; flint-eyed officials milking taxes; etiolated lacquerers; mottle-skinned dyers; imprecise soothsayers; unblinking liars; weavers of mats; cutters of rushes; ink-lipped calligraphers dipping brushes; booksellers ruined by unsold books; ladies-in-waiting; tasters; dressers; filching page-boys; runny-nosed cooks; sunless attic nooks where seamstresses prick calloused fingers; limping malingerers; swineherds; swindlers; lip-chewed debtors rich in excuses; heard-it-all creditors tightening nooses; prisoners haunted by happier lives and ageing rakes by other men’s wives; skeletal tutors goaded to fits; firemen-turned-looters when occasion permits; tongue-tied witnesses; purchased judges; mothers-in-law nurturing briars and grudges; apothecaries grinding powders with mortars,; palanquins carrying not-yet-wed daughters; silent nuns; nine-year-old whores; the once-were-beautiful gnawed by sores; statues of Jizo anointed with posies; syphilitics sneezing through rotted-off noses; potters; barbers; hawkers of oil; tanners; cutlers; carters of night-soil; gate-keepers; bee-keepers; blacksmiths and drapers; torturers; wet-nurses; perjurers; cut-purses; the newborn; the growing; the strong-willed and pliant; the ailing; the dying; the weak and defiant; over the roof of a painter withdrawn first from the world, then his family, and down into a masterpiece that has, in the end, withdrawn from its creator; and around again, where their flight began, over the balcony of the Room of Last Chrysanthemum, where a puddle from last night’s rain is evaporating; a puddle in which Magistrate Shiroyama observes the blurred reflections of gulls wheeling through spokes of sunlight. This world, he thinks, contains just one masterpiece, and that is itself.

    I see that there’s a Dutch translation of the book. I’m curious to see how that has worked, particularly with these prose poem aspects. It’s perhaps not a good sign that the very title of the book has been changed: De niet verhoorde gebeden van Jacob de Zoet translates as the unheard prayers of Jacob de Zoet, which gives it a slant that I don’t think is quite right for de Zoet’s character as depicted in the book.

  • Smile for Today

    I find Jan Chipchase’s blog on his observations of cultures very interesting. Sometimes, it’s the simple things such as incongruence that does it.

  • A Small Ray of Sunshine

    In amongst my gloom over the fact that Geert Wilders’ right-wing PVV has made substantial gains in yesterday’s Dutch elections, comes one small ray of sunshine. Rita Verdonk, another right-wing populist, has lost her seat. To celebrate the fact, I present to you her amazing campaign adverts, which quite beggar belief…
     
       
     
    "Trots op Nederland" ("Proud of the Netherlands") was the name of her putative political party. RIP, please. Pity I can’t say the same about the PVV. Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

  • We Are In Hell

    I’ve just seen Geert Wilders arrive and give his speech at his election party. It seems clear that his PVV party has won a substantial number of seats in this election. I feel sick at heart. As Craig Murray wrote about the Netherlands:
    It has gone on a remarkable journey in the last decade, from a liberal society to one as poisoned with fascism as their Flemish neighbours.
    I really fear for the future of this country, and for the society within. 

  • Going To Hell in a Handbasket

    The Netherlands has a general election tomorrow, when a new Parliament will be elected by the voters. On the eve of the election, a good chunk of Dutch primetime television is being given over to a televised debate between the leading candidates of the various political parties. I tried to watch the programme, but I’ve given up in disgust. It is coming across as more of an entertainment show than a serious attempt at laying out and debating the issues. Perhaps it’s inevitable in this day and age that it would turn out to be a circus, but I had hoped for something better than this dross.

    Update: The second half is turning out somewhat better. The debates are better controlled by a more experienced pair of chairpersons. We are still getting irritating cutaways to someone who gives pointless updates on what the Twittersphere is saying – as if I could give a damn. However, on balance I am just about sticking with the programme. Wilders is still as annoying as ever, however.  

  • Another Fine Mess You’ve Got Us Into…

    Microsoft is gearing up for the next major release of the PC software that integrates with its web services: Windows Live Essentials. Wave 4 of the Windows Live Essentials software should be available to the masses in the next few weeks. Some folks have already been privy to the beta, and are extolling the new features.

    As well as major changes heading down the pike for the software on the PC, we are now beginning to see changes on the features and design of the web sites that Windows Live Essentials uses. Not always to the better, it has to be said. OK, we expect some hiccups – so for example, when I tried to access some web pages today I got an error message saying it’s currently unavailable because of a technical hitch. But, Microsoft does have this history of opening its mouth only to change feet, and I fear things have not improved.

    For example, in Windows Live Spaces, there was a “Statistics” feature that allowed the owner of a Space to see what activity there was. Quite useful, and I often checked it out to see which of my blog entries were generating traffic.

    But as of today, that feature has disappeared without any warning from Microsoft. Lots of people are complaining about it on a Windows Live Spaces forum. But the prize for “open mouth, change feet” goes to Microsoft support person Carolyn. Here’s her answer to someone asking why the “Statistics” feature has suddenly vanished:

    Hi There,

    Thank you for the report regarding the statistics feature.  At this time we have removed this feature while we explore another solution.  We appreciate your patience and hope to have updates availble [sic] for you shortly.

    Thank you,

    Carolyn

    Stunning. Let’s just savour the full richness of that shall we? – “At this time we have removed this feature while we explore another solution”. This is truly worthy of Monty Python. The difference is that the Python team knew they were creating humour. The people at Microsoft’s Windows Live Services simply don’t appear to have a clue.

    Update: There’s now a “solution” message posted that says:

    With the latest release to the end-to-end Windows Live suite, we have removed the statistics feature from Windows Live Spaces.   We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.    As we continue to evolve and improve the Windows Live suite, we add to and deepen many features, but of course are also sometimes faced with tough tradeoffs and decide to discontinue features. We will continue to keep you informed of any changes and coming improvements in the product.

    Of course the whole point is that Microsoft did not “continue to keep us informed of any changes” – they simply removed the statistics facility without any warning whatsoever.  I suppose it’s the underlying contempt for the customer that bothers me the most, but really, I should not expect anything better from them.

  • Prehistoric Animals

    The Public Library in Douglas, the town where I grew up, was hugely important to me during my childhood. I’m sure it helped fashion my love of books. Today, as I was browsing around blogs on the internet, I came across scans of a book on prehistoric animals that was published 50 years ago in 1960.
     
    I remember that book! The library had a copy of it and I borrowed it to devour at my leisure. The art by Zdenek Burian was stunning, and some of those images from the book have remained as fresh in my memory as when I first saw them fifty years ago. It gave me quite a shock of recognition when I saw them once again today.

  • Raptor Rapture

    There’s a little wood nearby that I walk the dogs in most days. Following a different path a few weeks ago, I discovered that buzzards had built a nest above the path. I think there’s at least two chicks in it, but I’ll have to wait until they are bigger before I’m able to get a better view of them. Meanwhile, in a nearby field, lapwings keep a beady eye out for the buzzards, and I’ve seen them dive-bombing the buzzards in an attempt to keep them away from their own nest. Nature is merciless.
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  • Hoist By His Own Petard

  • Love Wins Out

    An unexpected ray of sunshine in Malawi. I am pleased for Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, but clearly Malawi’s President uttered the pardon through gritted teeth. That does not bode well for Steven and Tiwonge’s life in Malawi. We’ve had enough martyrs.

  • Farewell, Jack

    Jack Birkett has died. I have fond memories of seeing him and the rest of Lindsay Kemp‘s wondrous company in performances of Flowers and other works. Time to pull out the DVD of Derek Jarman’s Tempest and see Jack as Caliban again. The finale of Elisabeth Welch singing "Stormy Weather" seems rather fitting…

  • Open Your Eyes

    A good article by Julie Bindel about the film Eyes Wide Open. The film depicts what happens when two men, who also happen to be Hassidic Jews, meet and discover their love for one another. As she says about the real-life gay people who exist within such communities:

    The fascination for me was the subjects’ allegiance to their religion rather than their sexuality. Why do they stay wedded to a set of beliefs that interprets their lifestyles as an abomination? What pull does fundamentalist religion have for these people, who, unlike many others, could walk away into the arms of another community?

    They are good questions, and I don’t know the answers. I also don’t know what would have happened had I, by chance, been born into such a community. Would I have had the strength to be true to myself? Or would I have lived and died under the yoke of an inimical morality?

  • Statesman Speaks

    The term "Statesman" is defined in my dictionary as "one versed in the art of government; one taking a leading part in the administration of the State". The former president of Nigeria, Olesegun Obasanjo, is described by the Guardian as an "African Statesman". He’s also, on the evidence of his comments on recent events in Malawi, something of an old-fashioned bigot.

  • It Takes Faith…

    …to think that the Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks isn’t talking out of his arse. Unfortunately, I don’t have that faith, any more than I thought that his predecessor, Lord Jabokovits, was anything other than a homophobic windbag. The moral zeitgeist is clearly not evolving in the Chief Rabbi’s office at the moment. As Norm says, this isn’t good reasoning from the Chief Rabbi.

  • Obsession

    Bruce M. Hood draws our attention to a man who is obsessed with racing marbles.
     
     
     
    I was rather taken with the stoicism of his wife…

  • Martin Gardner

    Martin Gardner has died. Whenever I got my hands on a copy of Scientific American as I was growing up, his column Mathematical Games never failed to intrigue (and to make my brain hurt). He sparked interest in science, skepticism and magic in many people. He will be missed.
     
    He wrote many, many books, of which I have but a couple. Time to re-read them: