Archive for February, 2007
Google Apps Premier Edition announced
I’ve been a user of Google Apps for your domain for some time – primarily to let me use the great gMail interface for my own mail domains (thanks to the domain alias feature they introduced last month).
Logging into my mailbox this morning I was surprised to find that my account is now considered a Standard Edition but that a Premier Edition is available too.
For $50 USD per year per account you get:
- 10gb of email storage (vs 2gb normally)
- AdSense can be switched off
- Calendar sharing
- API to integrate with existing infrastructure (single sign on, user management etc).
- Migration tools (limited right now)
- 24×7 assistance and telephone support
You can upgrade right now for a free trial on your existing account however you’ll have to provide a credit card number that will be billed come April 30th if you haven’t cancelled by then.
Google have also rolled Spreadsheets, Documents and Document management into the Apps services for everybody and now include a rolling 90-day graph of user activity on the dashboard.
Now where’s the pop mail collection facility that hit the non-app/domain version of gMail a couple of weeks ago…
[)amien
Hot Fuzz – Pegg, Frost & Wright on form
I just got back from an advanced screening of Hot Fuzz – the new cop buddy comedy from the same trio behind Shaun of the Dead and three-quarters of Spaced.
Simon Pegg plays Nicholas Angel – one of the Metropolitan Police’s finest. The problem is he’s so good he’s making the rest of the force service look bad in comparison so he is quickly dispatched to the idyllic village of Sandford out in the countryside.
Angel soon meets the local constabulary who are used to dealing with the odd escaped goose or accident and have their own interpretation of alcohol and gun laws. Long-time friend and former flatmate Nick Frost stars as local officer Danny Butterman who images city policing to be much like Point Break and Bad Boys II.
Director Edgar Wright produces plenty of slick visuals much in the style of those found in Shaun of the Dead and Spaced albeit more action based yet finds time to slip in plenty of grisly deaths as the plot unfolds and the body count starts to rise as a bizarre series of ‘accidents’ befouls residents of this sleepy hamlet.
There are plenty of laughs including physical slapstick, in-jokes and movie references though it has lost some of the magical charm Shaun of Spaced possess. Despite the setting being firmly English west-country it feels like the script was written with more of an international/American mainstream audience in mind with both the plot and the genre nods being spelt out so much as characters holding DVD’s of the film to the camera and reading the tag-lines.
Some moments playing up to the action genre cliche go on too long – like talking slowly at the end of a joke hoping for someone to get it an laugh. Shave that down a bit and slip in a few more jokes and it would have been perfect but nether less worth the wait and certainly recommended providing you don’t mind a bit of gore in with your comedy. Adam Buxton (half of the legendary Adam & Joe Show) goes out in the most horrific way I’ve seen in a while (but then I avoid horror films :D)
Overall highly enjoyable and probably the best film I’ve seen so far this year – although it is only February.
Alas given the likely success this and the prior success of Shaun there is almost zero chance of that elusive third series of Spaced.
[)amien
Where do the recycled things go?
We interrupt this blog of technical snippets and personal commentary to bring you an interesting look (courtesy of the BBC) at what happens to the various bottles, cans and plastics that are sent for recycling – at least in the UK. (Hit the "In pictures" link next to each person).
It is interesting that the companies involved highlight a few items that are troublesome to recycle – this information needs to make it back to consumers so that we know they’re not going to be part of the recycling process and choose to adjust our buying habits.
From what I can see green bottles are currently in overload, envelopes cause a problem especially brown or windowed ones and telephone directories (perhaps use an on-line one instead).
Here in Guernsey the government does not collect items for recycling but offer advice and information on a number of recycling points you can take items to. Friends of the Earth Guernsey also have a page about various items that are accepted by various charities.
[)amien