As with most tasks in life, there are two paths you can go by - the easy way, or the right way. Sadly, many of us choose the easy way which, in the long run, means more work for us all. Take, for example, the seemingly dull task of email unsubscription. A developer wants to make it easy for a user to unsubscribe from an email newsletter. They want to place an unsubscribe link at the bottom of …
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I don't usually get involved in legal blogging. I am not a lawyer, and I find the finicky details somewhat hard to follow. That said, I do appreciate how (most) judges in the UK write their judgements in a relatively clear and unambiguous manner. Jack of Kent today pointed out the recent judgement on Operation Weeting - which is looking into the alleged illegal interception of voicemail…
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Sites like Klout and Kred are perfect examples of social media frippery. A vaguely plausible "score" that you can use to justify your "investment" in tweeting all day long. When they're used as a silly little badge, or an informal competition with friends, they're a (mostly) harmless way of gamification. Of continual annoyance is the complete lack of transparency these services show. How is…
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I've spent the last few months sporadically writing stories to help young people code. I've now placed the four Python Pals stories up on GitHub. Here's how you can help. Write your own story and contribute it to the GitHub site (or send it directly to me). Read the stories and let me know how they could be improved (spelling, grammar, plot). Play test the adventures! Am I missing …
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There gets a stage in every large company's lifecycle when there are too many people working on a single project. This usually manifests itself in strange internal struggles over the heart of a product as different teams compete for their "vision" to succeed. What often happens is that the user is forgotten and a manager, somewhere, has to make a compromise which sacrifices usability for…
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I'm very pleased to announce the launch of 莎士比亚.org - beautiful and readable copies of Shakespeare plays in Chinese. If you would like to help, the text is available on GitHub for people to correct. Why? I've long held a fascination with Shakespeare - hence the name of this website. At university I studied Mandarin as my minor degree. I was a clumsy student, but enjoyed the regularity and po…
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Remember text adventures, eh? They were pretty nifty! "You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike" >Go East "You have been eaten by a Grue. A dwarf starts singing about gold" Smashing! Just like the pictures are better on the radio, so the graphics are immeasurably superior when they're in your head. Don't get me wrong, I love the 5.1 surround sound snarl of a rabid beast rendered…
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BitCoin and other crypto-currencies are gaining popularity at the moment - but I remain firmly convinced that they're too hard for the average person to use. I have, however, watched with interest as an ecosystem grows around them. In particular, I like the way The Pirate Bay (and others) have used QR codes to facilitate easy payments and donations. The QR codes contain only three variables -…
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Earlier this year, I pointed out that Media Discovery (New Web Ltd) is encouraging blogs to run paid for advertorials, without disclosing to their readership that the content is an advert. This appeared to be in breach of the advertising industry's code of practice. I complained to the Advertising Standards Authority who have confirmed that they are looking into this company and their business…
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It's only a silly number - and not a very accurate one - but it makes me happy. Thank you for reading - it has truly been my pleasure to write for you. …
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The newspaper photographer is dead! Long live the newspaper photographer! I remember - many years ago while I was still at school - being interviewed by BBC Radio. A nice man came in, set up a feindishly complicated tape recorder, positioned microphones, checked the tape, and - on his nod - gave the signal to the interviewer to begin her questions. Nowadays an interviewer is likely to shove…
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The leaders of several huge corporations have issued statements saying that their companies do not allow the US Government to illegally spy on their users. I'm sure they believe that. I'd even go so far as to say that I'm sure the entire board and top management genuinely have no knowledge of any malfeasance. Why would they? We're talking about spies - experts in the art of subterfuge and…
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