I walked into an unfamiliar toilet recently. You've probably done the same, looking around to find the stalls, work out whether the driers are near the sinks, if there's soap available. I was completely taken aback when I saw this monstrosity of a sink. It's well known that we Brits love our separate hot and cold taps - but I'd never seen anything like this before! Why are the taps so far away …
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Half-a-dozen years ago, I proposed that web developers spend one day a year browsing without JavaScript. It's a great way to see how the web works when things break. Similarly, April 9th is CSS Naked Day. A chance to throw off the shackles of good design, and see the raw beauty of your HTML. Today is intended for websites to remove their own style sheets - as this blog has done. The idea…
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My wife wasn't allowed to go for a post-lunch nap yesterday. Our smarthome wouldn't let her... OK! OK! It wasn't as bad as all that. I built an Internet-connected electric blanket so I can yell at the Alexa to pre-warm the bed. One of the IoT switches needed a firmware update. All over and done with in a few minutes. But I can't help wondering how much time we lose to software updates. Every…
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It is a truth universally acknowledged that the WiFi router supplied by your ISP is crap. It will be slow, buggy, and have an atrocious user interface. This is especially true of Virgin Media. The Arris manufactured router is so bad that they've released a supplemental app to help you manage your Internet connection. The app mostly reflects the options in the web UI - but adds one piece of new…
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I've got a "fun" new hobby! Step 1) Find a racist sticker. Step 2) Remove it. Decentralised sticker production is a mixed blessing. Anyone with a printer and an Internet connection can print off dozens of lo-fi propaganda hits. Of course, the crappy stickers were of crappy quality. All the stickers in my community were removed. I reported them to the police, which took the issue seriously …
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Way back in the 1990s, the word "Netizen" was coined. I always took it to mean "someone who lives on the Internet". In modern times, the neologism has been superseded with "webizen". I find this an interesting development. It is well known that people often confused the Net with the Web. Hence the need for these "explanatory" t-shirts: Of course, the original meaning of Netizen was…
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My laptop battery has died. It was working fine yesterday, but today I shifted slightly on the sofa, dislodging the power cable and the laptop blinked out. It still works when tethered to the wall - but the battery is shot. TIME TO BUY A NEW LAPTOP! Because shipping in non-essentials from China is so easy right now... Nah, I'll just replace the battery. A fifteen quid job rather an a grand…
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I hate writing CVs. But I love reading them. I recently had the chance to review applications for some fairly senior positions at work. I'd like to talk about some of the common - and downright weird - mistakes people make on them. I promise you these are all real - only lightly adjusted for privacy. Hopefully they'll help you realise that even senior people make mistakes. Bring your whole self …
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Way back when Blackberry was the smartphone, my team at Vodafone obsessed over the idea of the "Unified Inbox". "What if," the marketing chaps said, "you could see all your notifications in one place!" Imagine a single inbox where your MySpace friend requests mingled with your Email. And your Facebook and Google Buzz notifications were in the same list. It was a lovely idea. And users all…
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I'm right about everything. My opinions are wholly rational and a product of logical analysis. Your opinions are scattered thoughts and half-remembered fairy-tales. That's how most of us think, right? The only way we can get through the day is by thinking we're correct. I want to examine some of the things I think I'm right about - but secretly worry I'm wrong about. Let's start with a gentle…
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My friend, the superhero Jess Rose, posed an interesting question. are you giving your interview questions to the candidate in advance? If not, why not? I've just conducted interviews for some senior roles at work. We run a structured interview process where every candidate gets asked the same set of questions. The interviewers record their scores. Then, after all the interviews are done, we…
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I've been building digital products and services since the dial-up era. I spent many years working in the private sector. Good design is seen as a necessity. Customers will switch to another service which is easier to use, has a better app, or offers a nicer experience. I now work in the public sector, where things are a little different. Jeffrey Allen@jallen300We're hiring #servicedesign-ers…
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