Even though I read the sequel when I was a child, I’d never actually read the more famous prequel. As it turns out, it probably only takes about an hour to read in its entirety – it’s a very short, dark, child-friendly tale, hard to read without hearing the songs and picturing the visuals of …
Author Archives: cafedave
Bedtime stories
One of the joys of reading bedtime stories is, through repetition, seeing the evolving ways the kids interact with stories. Tonight we read The tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck, a story about a good natured but simple duck who is (spoilers) unaware that her fox landlord is preparing to roast her for dinner. The story is …
Customer service
I had another reminder of the gap between my own understanding of what constitutes a simple user experience, and what a less-savvy computer user might deem simple. We still have a long way to go, but I’m continuing to learn. When helping someone use a computer, as in many things, listening is more important than …
book: the magic pudding
Book: The Magic Pudding When I was in infants school, there was a 4-volume illustrated series about the Magic Pudding, but volume (aka ‘slice’) two was always on the book repair shelf, and couldn’t be read. It turns out that Kel had a copy of this book, so over the weekend I read it aloud …
Netflix: the hundred foot journey
Netflix: The hundred-foot journey. Helen Mirren, Om Puri, Manish Dayal provide some strong performances in something of a formulaic story, but the parts about food and cooking lift it to be a better film than it would otherwise deserve to be. Reminds me of Ratatouille, Doc Hollywood and the Netflix Chef’s Table story in equal …
netflix: overview of what I’ve watched
In a little less than four months of Netflix subscription, I’ve watched quite a lot, as it turns out. Going back through my viewing history (and ignoring the things I skimmed through but didn’t watch) Complete Series: House of Cards Season 3Dark, brooding, the continued rise of Frank Underwood is compelling, even as there is …
humans are the future of wearables
I was chatting about technology and futurism today, and the topic of Google Glass arose. Google Glass makes a little more sense in the context of the Apple Watch – two different technologies (I’ve used neither one, so take all of this with a grain of salt). The difference? Glass attempts to sit in between …
netflix: Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview
Netflix: Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview A long chat from 1995 with the co-founder of Apple about his business philosophy, the good old days, and the future of computers. Watching it for me is a mix of nostalgia (it’s good to see him looking well and healthy as he draws near the end of his exile …
netflix: hummingbird
Netflix: Hummingbird (aka Redemption) The cliche of “ex-special-forces” gets another run in this beautifully shot, well-acted Statham performance. From the writer/director of Locke (the Tom Hardy film where he has a series of phone calls during a long evening’s drive), there are a number of interesting visual ideas throughout (though there are a few scenes of various …
Taking better zoo photos
We went to the zoo today as a family. It was a good day, and we had (for the most part) good access to look at the animals. Which is, after all, the point of going to the zoo. There were some people, though, who seemed to be there to take photos of the …