The Byways of Appellate Jurisdiction

I'm just back from appearing before the Judicial Appeals Committee of the Privy Council.

This isn't quite as impressive as it sounds: I was there to collect a judgment, and since one never (well, almost never) argues about costs when doing so my involvement consisted of leading in the column of barristers for the respondents in some eight appeals, bowing in the right place, sitting still for ten seconds while judgement was given (the reasons for judgment aren't read out, just delivered on paper afterwards, all you get are the headlines), rising again and bowing in the right place (I think I got this bit wrong) and leaving as the next case was called. All in wig and gown of course. There are worse ways to earn a hundred quid.

( The Judicial Appeals Committee of the Privy Council )

Plug and Play my arse

Well, you see, I 'bought' (for a price equal to a discount on my next bill) a new mobile phone, as I was entitled to a free upgrade, and with a sigh of relief ditched the piece of Samsung crap that has bedevilled my life for a year and more and put me off ever buying anything made by Samsung at all again. Ever. Ever.

Said phone has a camera, which had nothing to do with my choice: to be honest the current mania for sticking a camera on every new gadget seems vaguely pointless to me and despite Orange's best efforts I continue to use my mobile phone almost solely for that archaic purpose, making phone calls.

Nonetheless, I thought I'd give the camera a try out, and took a couple of photos today.

And now what? The bugger actually has a USB port, but neither Linux nor Windows (the first time I've logged into Windows since shortly after I bought this machine, I suddenly realised) knows what to do with it. Windows helpfully tells me that it knows it's a Motorola V220 but that it knows of no drivers for it, sorry guvnor. I can, at enormous cost, access my email through the phone, and thus send myself an email, but I don't appear to be able to attach anything. So I can sent other people text messages including the photo. How, um, pointless.

Which is a shame because to my surprise the photographs were significantly better than expected, though obviously not as good as if I'd used the digital camera I was carrying in my jacket pocket instead.

Links

Splendid piece of invective.

(Edited to note that Chrysaphi, Christina and doubtless thousands of others with roots in or connexions to the southern states of the USA (for any one of a number of possible values of "southern") justifiably take exception to the page. I see their point.)