Tag Archives: nudge unit

Hate is a strong word, but I definitely don’t love Microsoft

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The acid test. I switched on the new laptop and . . .

Let’s just say that things did not go quite as well as they could have done. I forgot my PIN number, then had to recover it. That was when I forgot the password to the new email account I had set up to use this machine. After that it got slightly trickier. However, it finally came right and I have stored the passwords, even though this sort of misses the point of passwords.

I really must get myself sorted out, but after what happened last time I set a computer up I don’t want to take any chances. What happened, you ask? I wish I knew. Somehow I got locked in a circle that I couldn’t break out of. Eventually Microsoft refused to recognise me at all, wouldn’t allow me to access any features  and the only thing I was able to do was to pay. I corrected that by cancelling the payments via Paypal. That’s why I started using Apache Open Office, and, eventually, lost all my work. I can only blame myself in the end, but Microsoft and its intransigence played a part.

Something else I noticed tonight was that it is no longer possible to select a default browser with one push of a button. I’m used to using Chrome, so that’s what I want to carry on with. To replace Microsoft Edge as the default browser you now have to sect it a dozen times, once for each confusing thing that it apparently now does. If I was a cynic, and if I’d ever read Inside the Nudge Unit, I might suggest that Microsoft is trying to manipulate me.

All in all, I think it’s time for a revolution. Half of me wants to stick to Apache, but the other half of me wants the easy life of rolling over and surrendering to Microsoft. I am going to have to do some serious thinking.

That’s not me in the picture, but it’s the only picture of a laptop in my media file.

Nudge nudge…

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You may have noticed I didn’t post last night, though with so much activity on WP you probably didn’t notice. If you did notice, it’s possible that you remembered I posted recently on cutting back on my WP writing and thought, “Aha! He’s cutting back on his WP writing, just like he said he would.”

Of course, if you are one of the die-hard cynics that seem to congregate here, you may have thought “I bet he left it late then fell asleep in front of the TV”.

This goes to prove that, cynical as you may be, you aren’t incorrect.

I can’t remember what I was watching when I fell asleep, but by the time I woke up the TV had switched itself off. As the schedule seems to be full of rubbish, this was probably a good thing. In fact, considering the amount of rubbish on TV, it probably committed suicide out of shame.

We are still decluttering and more bags of books are on their way to the car. I emailed Oxfam to see about taking books in, and was told that I had to email the nearest shop to find out what the local policy was. They did offer to do it for me if necessary, but it seems an inefficient way of doing things.

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Bumblebee on Teasel

At the moment, having been given room to think, we have offered the books to one of Julia’s volunteers who does jumble sales and is currently running a local library service.

If you’ve ever read Inside the Nudge Unit you may recognise my behaviour – looks like I’m a case study from the Behavioural Insights Team.

In summary, if you want people to things for you, you make it easier, or less easy not to do. Governments do this by streamlining forms and by adding a reminder that most people pay their taxes on time. If you don’t want people to do things (like cancelling standing orders) you just add an extra step and that serves to put a lot of people off.

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Bumble bee on bramble flowers – Sherwood Forest