Friday, October 29, 2010
Worried
Strange error yesterday on a laptop not connected to the Internet - so the error can hardly be worm flavoured. The error being the time stamp on the task bar at the bottom right of my screen not being updated. It got stuck at 1107 (say) when the underlying clock was ticking away at 1215 (say), the right time. After a while the stuck time stamp unstuck itself. Worrying the more as I dimly recall having to correct the time on one of the PCs by an hour or so a couple of weeks or so ago. Didn't make a note at the time and can't remember which PC now. But it could well be the same one. What is going on? Can I be bothered to trawl the MS fora for clues?
A quick look at their well organised support page reveals that if I pay then £50 or so they will reply to me personally. A peek at the free fora recognised clock stopping problems - but they seemed to be the whole clock stopping, not just the slave on the task bar. All mixed up with CMOS and motherboards and other unspeakable things. I also learn that Windows XP is out of support, but hopefully that will not be an issue for me. Given that this PC is offline, don't need all the latest patches on the grounds that if it works don't fix it. But maybe one day soon an ailing clock will extract the plastic from the pocket.
On the other hand, been quietly pleased with Windows 7 and Office 2000. Nothing spectacular but quite a few changes which I like. Adding up to the upgrade being worth while. Casting back to my days at work and the world of document management, interested to see that Windows 7 does seem to be making a bit of an effort in that direction - although not so far as to allow one to attach text or other custom properties to a folder. An essential feature of document management. They seem to have put a lot of effort into search - in the sense that it looks as if it does a lot more for you than it used to - with the catch that one has to learn a whole new interface to get the benefit. Next week perhaps.
Back on the 4th October guessed that 96% of ladies do 86.5% of their weekly shopping in big shops. Have now finally got around to verification of this guess and after a bit of stumbling around, stumbled upon an outfit called http://www.cobwebinfo.com/. I presume that their business is selling business information and intelligence, but they offered as a freebie something called 'UK Market Synopsis: Food and Grocery Retail', an interesting quantified canter through said retail scene, running to some 18 pages. Where I learn that a year or so ago the major supermarkets had 75% of the market with the minor supermarkets taking a further 11% - giving a total within spitting distance of my guess of 86.5%. Spiffing stuff for anyone lumbered with some kind of an essay about shopping and maybe even for someone thinking of entering the food business as a principal. It would make rather depressing reading but at least you would be entering with eyes opened.
# posted by Jim @ 2:44 AM 
