A few years ago, we installed solar panels on our roof in Oxford - I've enjoyed blogging about them. I've released open data from them, inspected them with a drone, and measured what happened during a solar eclipse. They've even been on the BBC! But the best thing I did, was release this little Twitter bot. Edent's Solar Panels@Edent_Solar AutomatedToday I generated 17.37kWh of solar…
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At a recent Staff Away-Day, we were encouraged to write a "Manual of Me". A quick summary of the general ways that you like to work. I don't spend much time on introspection and I found it disturbingly personal. So here's mine for you to enjoy! Excuse my crappy drawing and even crappier spelling. Here's a cleaner version with a bit more detail: Conditions I like to work in Quiet I hate…
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Once in a while, I'll see someone Tweet a "link" to file:///C:/users/... - that's the Microsoft Windows way of representing a location on a filesystem. Usually this means that the user has tried to either drag 'n' drop something, or copied a link from their file explorer. There are some (mild) infosec risks you should be aware of. Find local user names - this shows you what their username is…
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*sigh* These scams are really common. And pretty easy to pull off. Renting an expensive sports car for a day is relatively cheap. Drive it to some fancy locations, wear a couple of rented designer clothes, perhaps pay for a pretty model to pose as your girlfriend, take a load of photos and you can fool Instragram users into thinking you're rich and successful. And then you tell people on…
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Dark times, my friends. Dark times. It's up to all of us to pull together. And that means making vital health information accessible. One of the easiest things you can do is make your Twitter content accessible is by adding descriptions to your images. Go to twitter.com/settings/accessibility and turn on "Compose image descriptions". Here's why. This is a screenshot of a Tweet I recently saw.…
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In British culture - the handshake is the default greeting. It's as ubiquitous as a hearty "good morning" or offering to buy people a round of drinks in the pub. To deliberately not shake hands is rude. It indicates that you are breaking normal social behaviour. Handshakes are political. Back in the 1990s, the Prime Minister shook hands with the Sinn Fein president - leading to protests: …
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One of the (many many many) things our team worked on this week finally went live: Terence Eden is on Mastodon@edentYou can now access most NHS services from your mobile, with no data charges.In awe of the team who pulled this together very quickly. gov.uk/government/new…gov.ukMobile networks remove data charges for online NHS coronavirus adviceFree access to online NHS services will be a…
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Back in the 1980s, when my family first got a micro-computer, there were only limited ways to program your machine. The Internet was basically non-existent for domestic users. You could buy thick computer manuals, swap cassettes with other enthusiasts, or build a light pen and point it at a flashing square on your TV (Really!) Or, you could go down to your local newsagent, buy a magazine, and…
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In today's edition of "All My Faves Are Problematic..." I was re-watching Life of Brian for the umpteenth time, when I suddenly felt uncomfortable. You can probably recite this scene from memory: REG: What's the point of fighting for his right to have babies when he can't have babies?! FRANCIS: It is symbolic of our struggle against oppression. REG: Symbolic of his struggle against reality. …
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Due to COVID19, I'm using a wide range of video conferencing services. Those of us who have work-supplied laptops usually have locked-down hardware. No unauthorised apps can be installed. That's not a problem for Google Hangouts - it just works in any browser. No need to install plugins or apps. Voice and video just work. But Zoom - one of the most used VC services - falsely claims that users…
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Every so often, I get a glimpse into the thought processes of someone who has a very different view of the world to me. I don't deal with people's personal information often. So I was surprised to receive an email with a multi-megabyte spreadsheet called "Pay and Bonuses 2020". The email contained this doozy of a sentence: “Due to GDPR the attached file is password protected, I will send the p…
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A few weeks ago, I was asked if I wanted a free ticket to a conference about the health industry. The line-up of speakers looked pretty interesting, so I said yes. I speak at a lot of conferences, and sometimes it's nice to go as a guest. Even though I'd agreed, the conference organiser started with the hard sell. The location was at a famous sports club (yawn!) and we'd get a behind the scenes…
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