David Graham

Best Trade Show Ever 🎉

@AlexReilley1 @theLOUNGERS 👍

@DavidAGraham @theLOUNGERS 👍

What a glorious day to open a Lounge with a sea view! This morning we throw the doors open on Bruno Lounge on Poole Quay. Bruno is our 269th Lounge (& 309th overall site) & joins Delfino Lounge as our 2nd Lounge in Poole. @theLOUNGERS #lovelounging

@Sydney1788 @davepl1968 Sounds like the classic good, bad, good, bad versions of Windows. I'm stuck on 10.

@davepl1968 You mean Windows 12.

Microsoft is apparently finally admitting that what many users have wanted all along is a faster, quieter, more dependable operating system. Not more Copilot. In a new Windows Insider post, Microsoft’s Pavan Davuluri laid out a broad quality push for Windows 11 centered on performance, reliability, and what the company calls “craft.” More likely, it's what Steve Jobs called "taste", if you remember THAT interview... And honestly, a lot of it reads like Microsoft finally sat down, opened Feedback Hub, and decided to take the complaints seriously. The headline changes are exactly the kind of practical fixes power users have been asking for: taskbar repositioning to the top or sides of the screen, fewer forced update interruptions, more control over when updates install, faster File Explorer, lower baseline memory usage, better search responsiveness, fewer notifications, and more reliable drivers and wake behavior. Microsoft also says it is reducing “unnecessary Copilot entry points,” starting with apps like Snipping Tool, Photos, Widgets, and Notepad. The Windows Update story is interesting.... Microsoft says it wants updates to be less disruptive, with a move toward a single monthly reboot, the ability to restart or shut down without being forced to install u-pdates, and the option to pause updates for as long as needed. That is a major philosophical shift from the old “we know what’s best, enjoy your reboot” era, even if the real test will be how consistently Microsoft follows through in shipping builds. Performance also seems to be getting real attention instead of marketing lip service. Microsoft says Windows 11 will reduce its own resource usage, improve memory efficiency, make File Explorer quicker and more dependable, and lower latency by moving more core experiences to WinUI 3. The company specifically calls out Start menu responsiveness, search consistency, faster file operations, and a smoother overall feel under load. That is the sort of engineering work users notice every single day, even if it doesn’t make for a shiny keynote demo. My personal benchmark is to be able to type 'Download" into the Start menu and have it find my Downloads folder. Not a Bing search for a Copilot download. The Copilot pullback is equally interesting because it suggests Microsoft has realized there is a difference between useful AI and AI sprayed across every available surface. The company is not abandoning Copilot, but it is dialing back what it describes as unnecessary integration points. That sounds a lot less like “AI everywhere” and a lot more like “maybe Notepad didn’t need to become a sentient billboard.” The most encouraging part of all this is the tone. Microsoft is not pitching this as a revolution. It is pitching it as a cleanup, stabilization, and giving users more control. And that may be exactly what Windows 11 needs. After years of feeling like the operating system was being used to push services, experiments, and mandatory behavior, this looks like a return to a simpler idea: Windows should serve the user, not manage them. I, for one, still advocate for Windows Pro having NO advertisements, bloatware, or needless telemetry. Make people pay, then quit asking for more. But I've been barking up THAT tree for years. Now the obvious catch: these are commitments and previews, not a completed turnaround. Microsoft has promised a lot here, but Windows users have long memories. This is probably still the best Windows news in a while, because it focuses on the fundamentals: Faster. More reliable. Less noisy. More customizable. Less pushy.

@davepl1968 Sounds like you should use Windows IoT, previously called Embedded if you want to switch off features.

@JournoMikeT @SteveHarrisDJ 25p of that is card processing fees. That's the scandal everyone should be taking about.

The Crown Estate has taken over Portland Bill car park and they have hiked the prices up. £3.20 for 1 hour parking! (Pic from Facebook)

@bhajw Sorry you aren't the right fit 🤮 Was a trend a few years back when skill was lacking.

This is one of those soundbites that gets foundrs (sic) into trouble. Starting a SaaS business? Go and hire 3 x mechanics with "character" and see how far you get. Sure, hire for character but without a level of skill and knowledge it's a long slow road.

Congratulations to the Scottish Parliament. #AssistedSuicide.

I did my first Big Shop in Lidl yesterday and I will be doing it again. Even their chocolate doesn't contain Palm Oil and only costs £1/100g unlike £1.70 for Cadbury

@Bournemouthecho @Jess_Journo_ Did the young person use fake ID, No. Did the young person lie about their age when asked, No. It's easy to pass a test purchase and these traders know it.

2⃣ Convenience stores that have previous allegations of sales to minors have been targeted by Trading Standards, writes @Jess_Journo_ bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/25937072.…

Morning everyone. Inside today's paper there's the chance to help your local club win £500 in sports equipment, plus a competition to win a £100 M&S voucher. Here's Monday's front page and headlines #Dorset #LocalNews

Interesting show and tell by Tim at the @TheAmpHour Podcast London meet-up. What could this be used for? LED Lava Lamp?

Sandbanks Ferry goes cashless in the same year they put up the prices. Have they not realise that they have had to put up the prices because of the bank transaction fees?

Disney Pixar Hoppers: The fire is started by the insect, the animals put out the fire and the road build gets cancelled? Wikipedia is also vague on the plot:

Disney Pixar Hoppers : I don't understand the Message of the Film. I therefore feel for all the people who have worked on it for 4+ years. The dialogue is far too complex and intense for Children so unsure who this is targeted at - well we know who that is, it's a Pixar Film.

The only business lesson of Brewdog is: High Strength Alcohol. Unfortunately - Fortunately, Tax is applied onto the strength. Let's see how BuzzBallz works out...

Brewdog was always just a Brand grown artificially by Tesco. Failure is only giving up. The Founders gave up. That's what competitive people do. They like a Start and a End, and to know the result of the Game.

@spenley He was working on a project where people could keep hold of their data and share it as needed. Ask him how that is progressing.

Tomorrow I interview Sir Tim Berners-Lee on-stage at Talent Arena. I have a million questions for him already, of varying levels of geekdom. I even think I may have one question that he's never been asked before. But what interesting question do you want asked, that he might never have been asked before?

Why does Karen and Tim have to be a parody of Nick and Margaret? The Graphics, the Voiceover, the annoying background Music, the Editing, all need a complete overhaul. This show is so stale #TheApprentice

@morningad I don't understand how, if Wetherspoon is finding it difficult to operate Pubs close to each other - Stonegate believes it can operate it's brands next to each other on a highstreet. Customers can detect the similarities and so the Offer is no more than One pub, just spread out.

Stonegate repositions Slug & Lettuce sites The brand celebrated its 40th anniversary last year, marking four decades on the high street. Read more here: morningadvertiser.co.uk/Article/2026/0… #SlugandLettuce

Good move. I always saw this as John Lewis's management creating distraction projects, aka the management equivalent of making you look busy. How would this ever reward a Partner (owner) on the Shop floor? - It never would, so why do it.

@leolaporte Welcome back, we have been waiting :)

MacBreak Weekly listeners: One of our providers (Megaphone) was down for 17 hours yesterday which caused a problem with Apple Podcasts. Some listeners trying to download the show last night were told it was paid only. Not on my watch! It's fixed now. Try again and my apologies!