I don't often venture into American politics. It is hard to know whether Trump is a master strategist - as Dilbert seems to think - or merely a chaos monkey. But, somehow, he seems to have stumbled on genius tactic. Trump has repeatedly called for Clinton to be thrown in jail. This has provoked a howl of rage from the liberal media elite. In a civilised democracy the victor simply doesn't imprison their opponents. John Nichols@NicholsUprising"Demagogues don't imprison just their political …
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The best ideas occur while drunk, don't you agree? Having just attended the blisteringly brilliant Hackference Brum, a bunch of us were drinking in a pub and chatting about how focused on the future most conference are. There's rarely any time to reflect on the past. That got me thinking... Terence Eden is on Mastodon@edentGENIUS (drunk) idea. Retro conferences. Everyone turns up in 1970s clothes and we discuss Pascal, Dot Matrix printers, and ARPANET! #hf2016❤️ 40💬 13🔁 019:18 - Fri 21 Octob…
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Oh noes! The computer science exams taken by 16 year olds may contain errors! BBC News Technology@BBCTechComputer science exam had coding errors bbc.in/2eHHa0Cbbc.co.ukSQA admits 'coding errors' in computer science examScotland's exam body admits to a series of mistakes in one of this year's computer science tests.❤️ 23💬 1🔁 007:14 - Mon 17 October 2016 As a professional computerist, I was intrigued to see what our fine young minds are being tested on. My memories of "computing" at school was …
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I get to visit a fair few start-ups. Some are hopelessly idealistic (my favourites!) some are hopelessly cynical. Recently, I got to spend a few hours with a new "Quantified Self" start-up. For the sake of protecting the guilty - let's call them "Fronk." Fronk have decided that women are under-served in the wearables market. Their (male) CEO, (male) chief designer, (male) head of strategy, and (male) CTO have the secret to getting women to wear fitness trackers - gold plate them, cover…
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Nestled in a sleepy corner of a 12th Century church in Iffley, is this delightfully modern sculpture. A large knot carved out of stone and placed upon a plinth. Look carefully and at the top of the base you'll see a series of strange runes hewn into the rock. It was a soggy day - as they all are in Oxford - when we discovered it, so we didn't hang around too long to see if there was any information nearby. Nevertheless, I felt sure that these carvings held a meaning. Well, time for a…
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Welcome to my yearly NaBloPoMo - where I attempt to publish a new blog post every day in November. This year is likely to be challenging as I've just started a new job. As of last month, I am the Open Standards Lead at Government Digital Service - part of Cabinet Office. As ever, this blog is personal - and never reflects the views of my employers, past-, present-, or future! I am also now bound by the Civil Service Code which, hopefully, won't cause any issues considering the nonsense I…
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