My first snowfall

A clue as to my present whereabouts, and a record of the incredible experience I had not more than a few hours ago: seeing and touching snow for the very first time in my life.

No wonder this is one of my favourite cities in the world.

Happy New Year!

With profound gratitude for all that has happened, and in eager anticipation of all that is yet to come, Diego sends you his very best wishes for the new year.

In princípio erat Verbum . . .

. . . et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum. Hoc erat in princípio apud Deum. Omnia per ipsum facta sunt: et sine ipso factum est nihil quod factum est: in ipso vita erat, et vita erat lux hóminum: et lux in ténebris lucet, et ténebræ eam non comprehendérunt.

Diego wishes you, your family, and all your loved ones a very happy Christmas.

Unboxing Hoshi o Ou Kodomo (Blu-ray)

A week after leaving Italy with a lifetime’s worth of incredible memories in tow (more on those in future posts), Diego quietly slips back into his old otaku ways with a quick unboxing session.

Today the spotlight falls on the limited edition Blu-ray release of Shinkai Makoto’s 2011 film Hoshi o Ou Kodomo.

There and back again

. . . and, in due course, perhaps there once more.

In search of the real Neo Venezia

Diego’s off to the land of undines, feline executives, and golden sunsets for a much-needed half-month round of rest and recuperation.

Not that I’m expecting to find any actual undines, feline executives, or (in this rather chilly season) golden sunsets. No matter – what this sublimely beautiful country does have to offer will no doubt be well worth the long journey.

Assuming the transport strikes and gladiatorial politics don’t mess things up too badly, that is.

Cheerio.

It’s the little things that count

In the midst of all the chatter and excitement surrounding the recent release of Apple’s iOS 5 – to which I dutifully upgraded my iPad a few days ago – one particular enhancement has piqued my interest far more strongly than any of the 200 or so new features that are being touted as part of the renovated software.

It’s not for the operating system itself, but was rolled out for the Pages word processing app as part of a suite of iOS 5-related improvements.

Take a look at the following screencap from a document I typed up a short while ago. Does anything in particular stand out?

Most people probably wouldn’t have noticed its absence, but for anyone wanting to create documents of an academic nature on the iPad, lack of native support for this feature has been a real spanner in the works. Effective workarounds (such as creating a template on a desktop word processor and then opening it within the iPad) have existed for a while, but with the ability to insert these things now built into the slick machinery of the app itself, I can toil away on my draft history of the Third Punic War without having to resort to improvised remedies.

A mere footnote to history? In the grander scheme of things, perhaps – but one can look at this as proof positive that those little upgrades can mean a world of difference to some of us.