I have used the following for many years. They are part of the reason I stick with Windows. They add things which I find enormously useful. (This page is not "done". I wanted to test a feature of my WordPress site. Sorry. But the recommendations are heartfelt and sincere!) Shortkeys- there is a "lite" version …
Word wrap in emails
There was a time when ordinary people never wrote words to a computer or smartphone screen. Lines ended where the author decided to end the line. And if he/she wrote... I am no poet I have no art But do my part ... then that STAYED at three lines, each of four words. Which was …
Plain text emails
"In the beginning... " all emails consisted solely of "plain text". Then people wanted "more", and the programmers delivered. Then the marketing people started pushing for "give them anything they want... and don't count the cost." So now we can do (almost) anything... and sometimes it works. In The Good Old Days, if I sent …
The hippo in the room
This is about water. Or rather, our impending lack of it. ("Elephant in room" -> "hippo": another big African mammal, the hippoPOTAMUS, "horse of the river", one that suffers dreadfully at times when water is scarce. (Yes, I forgot to take my pills this morning.)) Two challenges for you... a) How much water do you …
Please turn off pagers, no photos, exits…
In London the standard announcement before the show was done with a recording, but at least they made it less boring by having the text read by one of the children from the cast. For a long time, I thought it was being read by Small Boy, which would have been quite amusing, especially for …
Smaller, bigger, biggest
The first boy ever, anywhere, on the stage for the show was Dean Charles Chapman. As Small Boy. Originally, the show opened with Small Boy passing through the audience, climbing onto a dark stage, settling with his back to the audience, and then newsreel ("This great experiment in Socialism...") played on a curtain hanging at …
The ultimate Older Billy
When the show opened, one of the original Billies was Liam Mower, who has since gone on to great things- many years with Matthew Bourne's New Adventures. When the show was recorded, for relay to cinemas, the recording that became the "Billy Live" DVD, Older Billy was done by Liam.
I haven’t got the words…. (site’s first story)
This happened at the start of Electricity- Billy (Elliott Hanna, as I recall) had walked to the back of the stage. The nice lady has just asked, "What does it feel like, when you're dancing?" Billy turns. Effectively alone on the stage, in the spotlight. 1500 people waiting with bated breath... and he blanks. Couldn't …
Continue reading I haven’t got the words…. (site’s first story)
Odds and ends 