> Intel to skip Vista upgrade!

For any given release of Windows, there are companies that choose to skip it. But when the company is Intel, it’s a big deal.

Following a report Monday on the Inquirer, the New York Times reported Wednesday that Intel’s IT department “found no compelling case” for upgrading to Windows Vista.

And that’s despite the fact that it’s been nearly seven years since XP debuted. It’s not a good thing, if your customers are electing to stick with 7-year-old technology, although XP did get a fairly big update with Windows XP Service Pack 2 some 4 years ago.

Microsoft, which once predicted businesses would adopt Vista at twice the rate they moved to XP, has scaled back its ambitions and these days talks a lot about how long the adoption curve is for businesses when it comes to new operating systems.

http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/software/0,39044164,62043152,00.htm

> Police: Fire extinguisher behind display motorcycle accessible in an emergency

Police officers made sure that a fire extinguisher was accessible in an emergency before parking a motorcycle in front of it as an exhibit on display at a Punggol Plaza exhibition, the police said.

Earlier, a STOMPer wrote about his concerns regarding a police motorcycle parked in front of the fire extinguisher.

In an email reply to STOMP, the police said:

“The police motorcycle was one of the exhibits on display at the recent Police recruitment exhibition at Punggol Plaza last weekend.

“Our officers made sure the fire extinguisher was accessible in an emergency when positioning the display and they were also stationed nearby to assist.

“There were no security or safety concerns.”

http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/singaporeseen/viewContent.jsp?id=26840

Is the fire extinguisher easily accessible?

Is the fire extinguisher unobstructed?

Is the fire extinguisher easily located?

Is that a helmet on the fire extinguisher box?

Does the motorcycle have shades of red similar to the fire extinguiser?

Is SPF’s exhibition above SCDF’s Fire Safety Act that fire extinguishers should be clear of obstructions?

Who decided whether there are any security or safety concerns? Is he/she qualified to make that decision?

“There were no security or safety concerns.”

Apologising when “things should not have happened this way, I’m sorry it had” is way too late. Having officers “stationed nearby” does not matter when people can run out of subordinate courts and top security installations when there are more professionals “stationed” there.

> The big taxi surcharge muddle

NEXT time you board a taxi in town, be extra-vigilant of the surcharges you have to pay.

A confusion over what constitutes the ‘City’ area means that some people could end up paying $3 more than they should.

Technically, it sounds simple enough: If a passenger boards a taxi in the City area between 5pm and midnight from Mondays to Saturdays, then he is subject to a $3 surcharge.

But what exactly are the demarcations of ‘City’? Therein lies the confusion for some passengers and taxi drivers.

The inconsistent implementation of the surcharge has riled passengers who say they are being ripped off by errant cabbies.

Mr Fattah Salim, 19, a polytechnic student, was almost made to pay the surcharge for a cab ride last Saturday at 9pm.

Despite the fact that he had boarded at Kembangan – in the eastern part of Singapore and well outside the the Central Business District (CBD) – the driver implemented the surcharge.

When he queried the driver, the latter insisted Kembangan was part of the city area where the surcharge was applicable.

The driver reluctantly waived the surcharge only after Mr Fattah protested.

The three taxi companies- namely, ComfortDelGro, SMRT and Premier Taxis – said the City area surcharge was applicable if the point of hire is within demarcated CBD zones.

ComfortDelGro added that the surcharge also applies if the point of hire for its cabs is in the Orchard Road stretch.

All three companies also said their drivers are briefed on the areas covered by the surcharge.

Despite this, some taxi drivers mypaper spoke to said they only have a sketchy grasp of it.

my paper spoke to several passengers who suggested that a proper map displayed in the taxis for everyone to see so as to eliminate confusion. According to them, some cabbies have been arbitrarily imposing the surcharges even if the point of hire is outside the city area.

According to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) website (www.lta.gov.sg), the demarcated areas considered as the CBD include Tanjong Pagar, Republic Boulevard and Havelock Road.

Unlike ComfortDelGro, Premier Taxis and SMRT do not include the Orchard Road stretch as part of the City area.

Both passengers and taxi drivers agree that having one uniform map for display will go some distance to solve the problem.

When contacted, an LTA spokesperson said that the surcharge is independently imposed by the taxi companies themselves. — my paper

http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/STIStory_252210.html

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Oh so now such things areindependently imposed by the taxi companies themselves again?

Wasn’t that long ago when LTA stepped in to show their knuckles when some taxi drivers decided to waive off the 30% peak hour surcharge.

Make up your mind.