The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) remains confused over whether its Membership examination (MRCGP) is a qualification or merely an indication of "club membership". Non-Members are told not to refer to "MRCGP" and "qualification" in the same breath—although it would appear that the College can.
Tag archive for 'Rant'
My parents have a PC running Windows XP. From time-to-time they encountered glitches, and it's been useful to establish a Windows Messenger connection and thus provide remote assistance using the tools built into the OS. The remote "expert" (that would be me) is able to see what they see on-screen, and to take control of the screen to help diagnose problems. It worked fine so long has my parents had dial-up Internet, even when I was asisting from my Mac via Parallels. But when they got broadband this functionality broke—all because of their NAT router.
Continue reading 'Remote Assistance and NAT routers'
Do they no longer teach English in American schools? I am aware that "American" English has its nuances, but was not aware that it had diverged so far from international English as to become an entirely separate dialect. To illustrate my point, I'd like to share the text of an e-mail I recently received from a certain company's U.S. Networking Tech Support.
Continue reading 'American Engrish'
If you're thinking of signing up for broadband from Xtra.co.nz, here's a little rant so that as an informed consumer you can properly consider your alternatives. We have the Go Large plan, which advertises a downstream connection speed "as fast as your phone line allows" and a monthly allowance of "unlimited data". To be frank, this advertising is misleading.
When we moved to New Zealand I brought my UK-purchased Mac mini with us. In the world of DVD region codes, the UK is "2" but New Zealand is "4". When I rented Utu, an 80's film about revenge set during the New Zealand Wars (fought over land) between various Maori tribes and the Colonial Government, I ran into this obstacle to the "fair use" of my Mac as a DVD player. Should I change the region code of my DVD drive? Were there alternatives?
Continue reading 'Changing DVD regions'
Daft, I tell you. New Zealand no longer has 1, 2, or 5 cent coins (I've been away for a while), so the smallest denomination coin is now 10 cents (the 5 cent went in July 2006). But you don't find things for sale at sensible prices, like $4.10 and $9.90. Oh no, it's $4.12 and $9.97. Although you can pay such amounts electronically (using EFTPOS), not everyone seems sure what to do when you give them cash.
Continue reading 'Rounding makes folk cents-less'
