Interesting Links for 23-01-2013

[andrewducker]

• The Brilliance of Dwarf Fortress
  (tags: games complexity )
• Onesie wearing Shetland ponies are incredibly cute.
  (tags: cute horses )
• Bits of Ireland want to give drink-driving permits to older people.
  (tags: alcohol driving ireland )
• Financial transactions tax in Europe given go-ahead
  (tags: europe tax shares )
• Increases in inequality account

Comments

[philmophlegm]

"Increases in inequality account for a substantial amount of the deficit"

Worth clarifying that the "deficit" in this context is the _current account_ deficit - that is part of the trade deficit, and not the budget deficit, which is what most people tend to refer to when talking about "the deficit".

[andrewducker]

Oh yes, this is our balance of payments.

[philmophlegm]

I bought a Windows Phone, and am pretty happy with it. I suspect the main reason for the OS doing well is that with various special offers, the handsets are often much cheaper than handsets running Android or especially iOS - at least that was the conclusion I came to. My cheap PAYG Nokia 800 feels like an upgrade over the iPhone 4 I had previously. I thought I'd get something like a Galaxy II, but couldn't justify paying the extra. Not an option if you're the sort of person who wants lots of apps though. The range is poor compared to iOS and Android.

The most surprising piece of info from that article though is that the most common smartphone Christmas present was a Blackberry! (Again, competitive pricing I suspect, not just handsets but also with the messenger thing.)

[andrewducker]

I suspect cheaper, and also less tech savviness on behalf of the buyers. Although I do hear that BBM is popular with the kidz.

Windows Phone intrigues me - I'd like it to do well, because I'd like there to be more competition in the marketplace, but I don't want it for myself, because it's too locked down for my liking.

[ggreig]

Weak anecdotal evidence, but I was in the States for the last three weeks. A friend of mine there is eager to get a Windows Phone as their first smartphone, and I overheard a waitress in a diner enthusing to customers at an adjacent table. I haven't come across that for Windows Phone before.

I'm a fairly satisfied Windows Phone user (annoyed about the extent of technology changes between 7 and 8 meaning I can't benefit from some improvements I really want, having got my phone only a year ago).

[innerbrat]

Why are those being called onesies? They look like regular cardigans to me.

[atreic]

Oh, I came here to make that comment. They'd be onesies if they did the back legs too, maybe, but they don't.

[inamac]

Indeed. this is a horse in a onsie (the sort Black Caviar wore on her plane journey to England).

Not that the be-cardiganed Shelties aren't cute.

[hfnuala]

It's not really parts of Ireland, more like some local politicians who happen to also own pubs. The bad thing of the whole sorry mess is that the others abstained instead of voting against this nonsense.