Ordinary Gweilo

It's not big and it's not clever, it's just a Brit in Hong Kong writiing (mainly) about Hong Kong

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  • Yes I’m still here

    Kudos to Spike, who is writing his life story (I'm so Smart).  I first read his old blog when he was being magnificently indiscrete about his life as a typical expat in Hong Kong – without taking much effort to disguise his identity.  That had to stop, but I seem to recall that for a while his blog continued by invitation only, and then (wisely) he deleted it completely.  

    Then he settled down and restarted his blog - Hongkie Town in case you didn't follow the link above – and it is one of the few that I still read.  

    I have deliberately never written about my life, and I am not about to start now.  But, in case you (1) care, and (2) haven't guessed, I'm just too busy at work to have the time or energy to devote to this blog.  So I will continue with occasional posting.   Next up (maybe) will be the car crash that is Windows 8.    

  • Not being ripped off (for once)

    Hooray.  Expansys Hong Kong are selling the LG G Pad 8.3 Google Play Edition for the equivalent of $225.  This is a great price for a tablet that was being sold on Google Play (in US) for $349, and it's the same price as in the US.

    Googe Play Hong Kong still has Nexus devices at much higher than US prices, with no sign that this policy will change.  Whereas Apple charge the same (high) price in Hong Kong as in the US 

  • WhatsApp – harvesting phone numbers

    I sometimes get WhatsApp message that have been sent to hundreds of different Hong Kong phone numbers.  It appears that these are sent so that when they get a response they know that the phone number is active.  Cue even more annoying junk sales calls.

    I did a Google search but I can’t find any information about this. 

    So does anyone know whether the sender already has the confirmation (that the number is active) when the message is shown as delivered?  Does it matter whether you exit the group (which definitely sends a confirmation message)?

    Why doesn’t WhatsApp allow me to simply ignore the group?  Or is there a way to do this that I can’t figure out?

  • Might not cause eye strain

    Another stoopid letter in the SCMP:

    E-readers might result in eye strain

    Some correspondents have commented on the benefits of e-reading. I agree with those who argue that it can revive people’s interest in literature.

    However, I think there are some disadvantages to intensive reading of books and other material on these devices.

    You can spend too long reading books on these screens and suffer eye strain.

    Also, people on low incomes cannot afford the e-reader, and find it cheaper to purchase a novel.

    Andy Lai Chin-pang , Tai Wai

    He must surely mean a Kindle  or Nook e-reader, the whole point being that e-ink doesn’t cause eye strain.  Of course, an iPad or Kindle Fire is a different matter.

  • Football insanity index (sacked managers edition)

    There have been ten managerial changes since the start of the current Premier League season.

    9 out of 10 of the people appointed had zero management experience in the Premier League.  One had managed in the Championship, and three had managed elsewhere in Europe – but of them,  only Felix Magath had real experience in a top league. 

    So which of them have been successful?

    Tony Pulis, obviously, the one of the ten who had previously managed in the Premier League (he has a 48% win rate at Palace).  It’s too early to make a fair judgement on Felix Magath, but he seems to be doing a decent job.

    The rest of them have done no better than their predecessors.

    Club Was Are Old Manager New Manager
    Sunderland 20th 20th Paolo Di Canio Gus Poyet
    Crystal Palace 19th 11th Ian Holloway Tony Pulis
    Fulham 18th 19th Martin Jol René Meulensteen
    West Bromwich Albion 16th 16th Steve Clarke Pepe Mel
    Tottenham Hotspur 7th 6th André Villas-Boas Tim Sherwood
    Cardiff City 16th 18th Malky Mackay Ole Gunnar Solskjær
    Swansea City 12th 13th Michael Laudrup Gary Monk
    Fulham 20th 19th René Meulensteen Felix Magath
    Norwich City 17th 17th Chris Hughton Neil Adams
    Manchester United 7th 7th David Moyes Ryan Giggs

  • Puzzling

    Good work…a puzzle on the front page of The Guardian website:

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    Yes, OK, it’s their beta site, but that was made publicly available several weeks ago.

  • It’s a phone, stupid

    Most annoying mobile phone feature?  Some clever person at Blackberry decided that the best way to handle a low battery would be….to terminate your phone call without any prior warning.  Not even a minute or two to scramble for a charger, oh no.  We have to preserve the battery so you can, er, read your emails?

    Amazingly, there appear to be people who thing this is a good piece of design, and will tell you that you should check your battery before making a call.  Thanks for the advice.

    Fortunately I don’t totally rely on my Blackberry, and I have another phone that doesn’t think it knows what’s best for me,   

    In other news, Spotify still doesn’t work on my Windows 7 PC. 

  • A hotel somewhere in SE Asia

    Me: Can I have a cheese omelette?

    Chef-type man: Yes.  [Turns to assistant].  Cheese Omelette

    Assistant chef:  What do you want in it?

    Me: Onions and tomato [Assistant Chef starts cooking].

    Me: What about the cheese?

    Assistant chef:  [ignores question, continues cooking]

    Me: I want a cheese omelette  

    Chef-type man: He asked for a Cheese Omelette.

    [Assistant throws cheese-free omelette away and starts again]

  • Top news about pizzas

    Front page of today’s Bangkok Post.  Left-hand sidebar – story about Pizza Hut selling pizza by the slice…in the US.  WTF?

    Bangkok Post

  • This playlist contains no playable tracks (Spotify still rubbish)

    A few weeks ago the Spotify (Windows 7) application started working normally.  Then it started freezing again (and when that happens you can’t restart it without restarting Windows).

    Now, to add to my frustration, the web app can’t create playlists.  Or rather it creates them, but they “contain no playable tracks”.  Which makes them useless.

    What a hopeless organization.

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