Yearly Archives: 2014

Gmail vs Google Inbox – why I keep Gmail

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GoogleInbox-Trash
Twitter version: “The missing GoogleInbox Trash button that keeps me using Gmail”
LinkedIn version: “7 reasons why a Trash button is essential to Google Inbox”
Serious version: “Gmail button refrains users migrate to Google Inbox”

Google tries it again. When Gmail was born in 2004 it did not have “Delete” button. You could, via some menu, move a message to trash. Only two years later, in 2006, they added the delete button to the interface.
Now in 2014 Google Inbox, the next e-mail client of Google, starts again with not giving a quick delete option to some message that you are sure not want to keep. The kind of message that is “not really spam but I don’t care to keep it”.

For this unique reason I keep using Gmail. I’ve my habits of not keeping trash around, for much that I might like to collect things. Does Google has a “hoarding disorder” and wants to propagate it to everyone?

Language preference and cookies

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Webmasters: Please keep the language choice into a cookieOne can not like cookies, but they can in some situations be very useful. I have as preference in my browser the languages in the following order: English, Portuguese, French.

In Switzerland with several national languages most websites have by default the German language. First time I visit them I change to French or English. Second time I visit the same website I would expect that he remembers that I read the website in other language than German. Unfortunately this is not the case.

Webmasters should think about using cookies to keep the language preference of the user. I see none in Switzerland doing it.

Some sites have different web addresses depending the language they target – meteosuisse.ch, meteoschweiz.ch or cff.ch, sbb.ch, ffs.ch. This works well. But the remaining – coop.ch and sunrise.ch – always in German; swisscom.ch – defaults to browser language, english site for me; migros.ch, orange.ch – defaults to browser language, german site if brower asks english…

Dear webmasters: please use cookies instead of obliging the user to change language each time he visits your website!

 

Project – Restaurants

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This project aims to show restaurants with a nice mix of cuisines. This come to my mind after discovering these two:

project-restaurants-bol-dorRestaurant Bol d’Or, Renens, Switzerland, 2014

project-restaurants-tajRestaurant Taj, Genève (Pâquis), Switzerland, 2014

Now I keep looking at other examples of the same kind. Like this one:
project-restaurants-donduarteRestaurant Don Duarte, Genève (Pâquis), Switzerland, 2014

Renault Zoé and Mobility

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Yesterday I tested the Renault Zoe. This is one big advantage of using Mobility instead of owning a car. Renault Zoe is the second electrical car I drive, after the Renault Twizy some months ago.

This time I was very pleased with the car. The ride was short – 10km each director – but at the end I used only 10% of the battery. Without traffic and no highways. I think you can get up to 200k with one charger by driving in ecological way. No noise, great response, all gadgets of normal car – GPS, bluetooth, cruise control – and comfortable. Plus it is beautiful in its light blue.

My commute journey

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commute_journeyAt least three days a week I’ve a 75 minute commute to work. Fortunately I can use it for achieving several objectives of the day. Without that commuting need, I would not do accomplish those objectives.

I start with bicycling about 15 minutes to the train station. It gives me fresh air, exercise and frees my head from all thoughts as I’ve to pay close attention to traffic.

The 45 minute train ride is used to either read the paid newspaper I received early morning at the mailbox or to perform exercises from my German course. No work related activity.

After a 5 minute walk I wait and catch a bus for a final 10 minute ride. I profit this time to read the RSS feeds I follow like HBR or Harold Jarche on management and Pythian on Oracle databases. I consider this time as learning time related to work, while at the train is learning time not work related.

The way back home I redo the same. It allows me to free myself from labor related tasks and arrive home mind free from any work related issue.

This is possible as I don’t own a car and public transport in Switzerland is reliable and comfortable..