GMail issues

Posted: September 1, 2009 in internet, Technology
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Have had no GMail for more than 36 hours now, which is a pain to say the least. Like many other users I can send messages but can’t read incoming missives unless they are forwarded from my other non-GMail accounts and I cannot access my Contacts. Yesterday, Google belatedly posted this message on their help page:

August 31, 2009 11:28:00 AM PDT

Google Mail service has already been restored for some users, and we expect a resolution for all users in the near future. Please note this time frame is an estimate and may change.

I’m a big fan of cloud computing and rely on it for much of my business but situations like this are a reminder that we are still some way from being able to depend on it completely. Particularly worrying is the length of time Google seem to have taken to acknowledge it and respond. Fortunately, I didn’t cancel that .Mac/Me account and have Twitter and Facebook as message stop-gaps!

UPDATE: Everything back to normal as of 3pm Bda time.

Rocking Aylesbury memories

Posted: August 31, 2009 in music
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Punk band 999 at Friars in 1979 (Photo by Chris Gibbons)

Punk band 999 at Friars in 1979 (Photo by Chris Gibbons)

Bit of indulgent nostalgia, this. When I were a lad, some of the best times – and certainly some of the best gigs I ever went to – were at a small club in Aylesbury, Bucks called Friars. It was run mainly by a wizard promoter, Dave Stopps, who had an uncanny knack of booking acts just before they broke nationally (Bowie, Queen to name but two). The club closed in the mid-80s but recently a site has been created to mark the club’s 40th anniversary. For what it’s worth, I posted some reminisces on the site and you can read some of my hazy memories here.

The Good Enough Revolution

Posted: August 30, 2009 in Technology
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Just firing up the blog after a welcome break from the heat in Nova Scotia. My in-flight reading on the way back included the latest version of Wired, which included this interesting piece by Robert Capps on the tech trend towards cheap and simple services and gadgets that are “good enough”. In everything from MP3s to Flip-style camcorders, it seems, convenience is winning out over quality.

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