The iPhone 7 will most likely have a square screen and a keyboard

There are often things that show up which have been thought of, discovered or invented years ago, and then suddenly, someone brings the idea back out of obscurity and takes credit for it.

This week, a square shaped phone called the Passport was launched. It looks quite different, but it should be fine for most users. I assume the next iteration will have rounded out corners and a few other changes.

Even if the Passport doesn't sell hundreds of millions of units, the designers will have left their mark with some innovative changes to mobile phone design. It will not surprise me in the least if Apple takes the best of the phone and launches an imitation of its own. 

Quick tips - sharpen a knife on the bottom of a ceramic bowl or cup

Doing things, whether it be repairing, building or creating something, you may be forced to think of ways to get around the fact that you don't have, at that very moment, the right tool for the job. There are somethings that I would prefer to not skimp on, i.e. jack stand for working on my car's brakes or exhaust, but often enough we can get by with something at hand.

Here are some of my recent discoveries ( not really recent, nor that much of a discovery, but found the following useful when I was stuck)

• Screwdriver shaft to access terminal when boosting a car
• Melting a glue stick with a lighter
• Wine cork as a floater for fishing
• Acetone or ATF and mineral oil as penetrating oil 
• A tailor's hold pin with a broken tip to change watch bracelet links
• Towels or newspaper wrapped around a large pot/bottle to maintain a temperature ( dyes, mash for homebrewing, keeping food warm )
• A fine cotton cloth and a wire hoop for an excellent sieve (malted barley, coffee, soy drink, almond drink etc.)
• Linseed oil and turpentine for sealing and polishing wood

Developing web sites for low bandwidth

Do you have a metered connection?

Are you connecting through dial-up? Through your mobile phone? A slow connection that makes you wonder who in the right mind came up with the internet?

If so, we have something in common. Earlier this year, I lived in a remote region and have resorted to my old CDMA mobile phone for Internet access. I used the phone as a modem connected by USB to my computer, as I, like most primates with some computer skills, prefer a keyboard, pointing device(trackpoint, mouse, touchpad) and a screen larger than my palm. Unfortunately, I have learnt that web developers are not that conscientious when comes to people who do not have access to VDSL2 connections.

Nevertheless, I strongly recommend that more websites are to be made friendly for people who do not have the bandwidth. Here are some of my suggestions :

• less images
• use a font or a limited number of icons for page navigation
• include "alt" image descriptions or captions

Quiet - Living up to the name

For the past month, I haven't posted much on this blog. Saying that "I've neglected my blog and my followers" is rather common on the web, but I don't think that I have any followers, and I don't think my blog has any feelings.

Regardless, I realise that the amount of time I spend in front of a computer is inversely proportional to my well being. I mainly use the internet for finding information on how to fix something, reading the news, communicating with people over e-mail and applying for jobs. The latter is rather depressing, so it may be the main reason that I do not like being in front of a computer.

Regardless, I have the recurring sentiment that the hubris that comes with modernity hurts us in many ways. Consumer society is certainly the most visible and tangible example : we create products which become waste, and have thus far failed to reincorporate the products into new products. I just heard my friend's automatic espresso machine. It is an impressive piece of equipment : it grinds, brews, and empties out the spent coffee puck in a waste bin. It has been working for the past couple years, which is great, but I cannot say that the coffee is terribly better than a regular stove top espresso or an ibrik used for Turkish coffee.

What are the differences between men and dogs?

	Men	Dogs
Loyal		X
Good sense of smell		X
Good listeners		X
Don't hold a grudge		X
Expendable	X

I beg you Bioware, don't give up the romance

There are few games that kept in as long as Dragon Age and Mass Effect have. It wasn't quite like reading a book, watching a movie, or a series. I had something to do, went about and did it. However the stories, characters and details of the series were like nothing I had seen before.

I am looking forward to the next instalment of the Dragon Age series, I was somewhat confused to see headlines which announce the end of the romance in the Bioware games. Sure, including sapient systems that resemble computerized slime mold isn't controversial, but relationships with intimacy?

Certainly, romance scenes in  video game can seem awkward, but even if you are intoxicated and engaging with a real person, intimacy has always been for me an awkward experience. In movies, books, music and historical passages, romance has always been part of humanity.

Google - There is a need to restore ODF compatibility with your services

I just wanted to have a quick translation of a document, so I went to http://translate.google.com

I uploaded the document and got this :

I thought there might have been a problem with the file. I then selected another file in TXT format : no problem; PDF : no problem. Perhaps my ODT document was too complex. I try a simpler one, still to no avail.

People use LibreOffice, OpenOffice and other products that use the Open Document Format (ODF).

Standards are what allowed the development of languages, tools, culture and the society we know today.

Google, for the love of humanity, please restore ODF compatibility to your services.