Movie Review · 1 comment · 300 words
I wish I was clever enough to get all the symbolism of this movie! Dev Patel is consistently one of the best British actors of the modern age. He doesn't just carry this film - he elevates it. Usually I'd tire of an actor being in every single shot, but he has this gift of remaining interesting and allowing the focus to flow to the other characters. It feels like the sort of movie that Terry…
Continue reading →emoji tetris · 100 words · Viewed ~2,055 times
These tetrominoes are built from emoji and have roughly the same colour as the pieces from Tetris. They are not accessible to people with screen readers. But they're quite fun if you want to play Tetris via a text-only medium. ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️🟦 ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️🟦 ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️🟦 ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️🟦 ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️ 🟩⬛️🟧⬛️⬛️🟥🟥⬛️⬛️⬛️ 🟩🟩🟧⬛️🟨🟨🟥🟥⬛️⬛️ 🟫🟩🟧🟧🟨🟨⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️ 🟫🟫🟫🟧🟪🟫🟫🟥🟦⬛️ 🟦🟧🟧🟧🟪🟪🟥🟥🟦⬛️ 🟦…
Continue reading →MSc yak shaving · 2 comments · 2,100 words · Viewed ~1,385 times
Some of you may be familiar with the Feynman Algorithm. It is a general technique to solve any problem. The steps are as follows: Write down the problem. Think real hard. Write down the solution. Easy! As part of my MSc, I have to write a series of assignments. These are essays with a strict word count and an even stricter marking scheme. I'm proud that I've successfully developed a…
Continue reading →Movie Review · 250 words
If you enjoyed this, I would thoroughly recommend that you watch シン・ゴジラ (Shin Godzilla) - a brilliant Japanese film about the bureaucracy involved in the Japanese state's reaction to a Godzilla attack. It's a biting satire - expertly showcasing the number of photocopiers it would take to organise the response. Brilliant film! Don't Look Up is a lot less subtle. But, it does have the A-List of com…
Continue reading →blockchain MSc · 650 words · Viewed ~234 times
Sometimes - only sometimes - slowness is a feature, not a bug. A few weeks ago, I was reading about a purported use for "smart contracts". If your plane is cancelled, a smart-contract could automatically pay out your travel insurance, the millisecond the cancellation was reported. Nifty, right‽ Slowness for crap reasons There are plenty of processes which are slow for annoying reasons. The i…
Continue reading →bitcoin blockchain MSc · 5 comments · 400 words
Here's a (possibly) daft idea. What if you could pay for goods using a transferable bank account? Say you want to pay a friend some money. But you're not physically close enough to hand over cash. You create a new bank account with a unique username and password. As quickly and easily as getting a new email address. Couple of clicks and it is done. You move money from your main account into…
Continue reading →https security ssl · 29 comments · 500 words · Viewed ~35,152 times
Julien Savoie has written a brilliant post explaining how you can enable https on your intranet. This is useful for several reasons. It means your employees aren't constantly fighting browser warnings when trying to submit stuff internally. All your http traffic is encrypted. You don't need to install a self-generated root certificate on devices. Lovely! But there's a downside. Every TLS…
Continue reading →Doctor Who dvd review · 1 comment · 400 words
This is the semi-mythical "lost" serial from Doctor Who. Written by Douglas Adams at the height of his powers, and cruelly lost to an industrial dispute. There have been many attempts to recreate the show - but this is the definitive edition. All the missing sequences have been animated - with the original cast providing their voices. And what a show it is! The dialogue is sharp - rarely a…
Continue reading →Book Review Sci Fi · 1 comment · 300 words
Palia’s emotions are in turmoil. After watching her son succumb to Empyrean fire, she barely escapes the same fate. Guilt ridden and alone, she will not stop until his killer is brought to justice. The Protectorate forbids Ferrash to have emotions. That suits him, since he cannot avoid the people who control the Empyrean. Making this sacrifice prevents them from hijacking his feelings and using …
Continue reading →fiction satire Sci Fi speculative fiction Tales Of The Algorithm · 5 comments · 850 words · Viewed ~3,531 times
(I *sure* this was the basis a short story I read - but I can't find it. So I'm (re)writing it. If you know of the original, please let me know…!) The speed of light is a universal constant. This "speed limit" is fundamental to everything we understand about physics. Information - when propagated via the electromagnetic spectrum - cannot travel faster than 0.3 Gigametres per second. There is no a…
Continue reading →Doctor Who dvd review · 500 words
This is not one of the best Doctor Whos. But it is fascinating as a template for New-Who. A cold open on an alien planet! A celebrity comedian cameo! A feisty female companion! Wales! On paper, Delta contains all the ingredients for a great serial. What if all the weird people at your holiday camp are weird because they're aliens?!!? Is that bus really a spaceship? What if your best friend's…
Continue reading →blogging meta · 2 comments · 400 words
At the start of 2020, for some strange reason, I decided to publish a new blog post every single day of the year. And, a third of the way through that, COVID struck. In a way, it was good for my motivation. I didn't have any fun and exciting trips to go on - so I had plenty of free time. But there's only so long you can stare at four walls while your friends are sick and dying, without going out …
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