So: 6,500 Win 8 laptops later, how are BT's field engineers coping?

Re: Very good indeed @ Elmer Phud

How is the three fingered poke at the screen coming along ?

Re: Very good indeed

"If developers are taking the opportunity to put better and more relevant/functional frontends on their applications (mobile or otherwise), does the underlying OS actually matter these days?"

Good point, given in most screen shots it's in desktop mode and being used with a stylus, the OS experience as far as using those applications goes is no different to the old XP swivel top tablet/slate things released around the same time as XP.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slate_PC

Re: Very good indeed

The underlying OS should never have mattered in the first place. It should be invisible, and definitely not worthy of fanfare and launch parties. It should just do its job.

Re: Very good indeed

yes. If you look at what they do, really any decent bit of kit would have worked. Win8 was chosen as much because it was backward compatible with minimal porting with existing custom in-house apps.

Now if someone aid to me 'select the OS for brand new customs apps' i'd write them for either platform independent HTML/javascript, java or native C on a linux like platform.

As for productivity, I've yet to see more data processed faster than on a wyse50, complete with an operator who learnt what the apps function keys did, and could touch type.

Re: Very good indeed

I agree. Overall the article does bring forward interesting information. However, from practical experience, far too many managers have an overly and unjustifiable positive bias - so I'm a bit weary of just taking the word of the guy who was in charge of it all and who wouldn't have an interest in making his efforts look crap - if there were any actual problems. So useful, but could have done with the contribution of some third party with less personal stake in the project, as well.

Parked up prats

the problem is that when a BT van is parked there... other people assume that their needs are equally as urgent... maybe (for example) you cant expect the average IT bod to walk 50 paces to a cashpoint machine when he can simply park on the DYL "oh and just pop into the sandwich shop... oh and I need some more smokes.... 30 seconds becomes 10 minutes or more, and tyou would be surprised how many people DONT understand how much room a bus or a truck needs to navigate your carelessly abandoned car, far easier to say "if you want to park.. get a proper official) dispensation - the facility exists... just people are too idle to use it.

What is actually needed is for the councils and operations like BT to come up with a form that sets out the venues for an engineers work each day that could be issued by the LA on request by BT. Otherwise it becomes a case of joe public getting upset with a "Im gonna punch your head in - you booked me but not him...."

PS Most of the rules - including a lack of discretion - are set by the LA operating the restricted area... you wanna bitch? your local councilor is the guy to talk to. Classic case here last week.. Mr BT parked on a DYL outside a bank NOTHING could pass once a bus came along and couldnt pass his nicely liveried BT Vauxhall van while he stood in the cashier queue (not enquiries) in Santander! Luckily no ambulances or Fire appliances arrived on their way to a 999 call... one day it could be your house - or life - threatened by some prat who is too tired to walk anywhere.

Here come the down-votes from the twunts who think they should be able to drive door to door with parking anywhere they fancy stopping.

Re: Wait, What?

" Imagine the productivity hit if they had to spend 20 minutes walking to the van and back every time they need a new tool or tester or box opener or reel of cable."

But that's an excuse anyone can use. You might as well say 'but how can my business make money if I have to abide by the law?' The only reason there is space for BT vans to park there is because most other people don't. Let's here you complain about overzealous traffic wardens when the Fire Brigade can't get to your burning house because some arse has parked badly at the end of the street.

Re: Wait, What?

He was clearly a half wit who needed retraining, CIT vehicles and the like (which call box collection vehicles are classified as) are exempt from restrictions - as are street works, postal packets and blue light vehicles.

He would have got a real ass kicking from me if he was on my team (Former Parking Control Supervisor) possibly followed by a hearing with the Contract Manager - or a referral for re-training - or both.

Councils can be so two faced.. One London Borough used to complain about vehicles parked (or waiting to pick up passengers from a nearby office block) in a recessed area resembling a layby but in a restricted area and included in the restriction. They complained like mad when I issued to a mobile library parked there and I simply pointed out to them that the law applies to them as much as the members of the public that they had insisted we ticket over previous months. They soon removed the restriction - which was a pointless one anyhow.

The parking bods get as frustrated as anyone else with silly pointless lines... but they are monitored by the Councils and penalties exist for non enforcement especially is the enforcement is under contract

Acronymns Really Bite

I do wish people would not use jargon and expect others to know what they mean. Which one of these did you point at?

ARB Arbitrage

Business » General

ARB The Architectural Review Board

Miscellaneous » Unclassified

ARB Angiotensin Receptor Blocker

Medical » Laboratory

ARB Angiotensin Receptor Blocker

Medical » Human Genome

ARB Architecture Review Board

Governmental » US Government

ARB Accounting Research Bulletins

Business » Accounting

ARB Alpha Ralpha Boulevard

Miscellaneous » Unclassified

ARB Acquisition Review Board

Governmental » US Government

ARB Acquisition Review Board

Governmental » Military

ARB American Realty Trust, Inc.

Business » NYSE Symbols

ARB Accident Report Book

Governmental » Police

ARB Asociación de Radio Banda

International » Guatemalan

ARB Aij Request Block

Computing » Assembly

ARB Active Rere Beam

Academic & Science » Physics

ARB Acronymns Really Bite

Miscellaneous » Unclassified

ARB Anti Roll Bracket

Miscellaneous » Unclassified

ARB Automatic Remote Brakes

Miscellaneous » Unclassified

ARB Athiest Religion Beliefs

Miscellaneous » Unclassified

ARB Argentine Rainbow Boa

Miscellaneous » Unclassified

ARB Australian Roo Bar

Re: signature capture ?

"My handwriting is so atrocious these days I've taken to hiding my shopping lists from other shoppers."

Many years ago I created a spreadsheet in Excel for my shopping lists and it has grown and grown. It now has a list of standard (and not-so-standard) items with their normal prices[1] and locations in the supermarket (or a code indicating that it's in a different shop). A set of columns allows entering the specifics that I'm buying this week along with quantities. The Printing Area is set to print a third zone containing the actual shopping list, complete with quantities and locations. Items that have a quantity are formatted in blue, and it's all sorted so I can just go round the shop in a specific order and pick stuff up in shopping-list order.

The latest addition was some formatting so that items I want to bring home (i.e. Saturday lunch!) are marked in red. Everything without the red marker goes home via Carrefour's excellent home delivery service (except frozen, fragile, and hazchem such as hydrochloric acid or ammonia).

There's even room around the edge for hand-scrawled last-minute additions...

Re: signature capture ?

"I make a point of always making the signature as illegible as possible, so I can deny it later, if required :-)"

I once worked for a fella who would sign absolutely anything because no one knew that what passed for his signature was supposed to be a signature - it looked exactly like a 'personal hair' lying on the page

Re: signature capture ?

I have never found it possible to give an accurate copy of my sig to anyoine using a fake pencil on a slippery pice of glass.

It must be over 3 weeks since I last actually used a pen and paper anyway.

I have almost forgotten how to write.