The Digital Covid Test That Nearly Was


Photo of a lateral flow test.

These are notes that I wrote during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. I've published them a few years later. By now, you're probably sick and tired of shoving a swab up your nose and / or down your throat. You've grown blasé about the little medical marvel as it reacts to whatever antibodies are […]

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So, farewell then COVID-19 App


Pop up notification saying the NHS covid app is shutting down.

Today is a day of mixed emotions for me. The UK's COVID tracing app is finally closing. The app was, by any reasonable measure, a success. A team of experts at the Pandemic Sciences Institute at the University of Oxford and Department of Statistics at the University of Warwick estimate the NHS COVID-19 app prevented […]

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Getting Jabbed With EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE!


A sign pointing down to the 52 Club Clinical Research Facility.

This is a Retropost. I wrote it contemporaneously - but was only allowed to publish it a year later. Today I took part in "A Phase 2/3, Randomized, Observer-blind, Active-controlled, Multicenter Study to Evaluate the Immunogenicity and Safety of Omicron Variant Vaccines in Comparison with mRNA-1273 (Prototype) Booster Vaccine". In the name of science, I […]

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Chatting Solar Panels at EMF Camp


A lot of very blurry faces overwhelmed by the light saturation.

I fucking loved my first visit to #EMFcamp. After two years of lockdown, I was over-excited at the chance to be with all my friends in a field this year. I was over-excited about doing a talk about my beloved solar panels. I was over-excited about sleeping in a goddamned camper-van! I was even - […]

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Vax³💉💉💉


Leaflet describing SpikeVax.

I am in awe of how simple the booster shot booking process was. I visited the site on my phone while in bed and hungover, typed in my NHS number, confirmed a few details, and it listed a pharmacy a 20 minute walk away as having appointments. A couple of weeks later and my 2xAZ […]

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Vaxed and Waxed


Me holding my NHS vaccination card.

Nine weeks ago, I got my first does of the AZ vaccine. Yesterday, I received my second. Despite all the dire warnings of overloaded websites and limited slots, the booking process was boringly anticlimactic. I entered my NHS number, date of birth, postcode - and was then given a choice of locations. I picked one, […]

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Book Review: Quarantine Comix


Cartoon of small white woman surrounded by a big black dog.

It's hard reviewing a comic book like this. A weekly or daily feed of little vignettes of lockdown life regularly raises a chuckle. But it long-form, it doesn't quite work. We already know how the story ends - after a year, you're still in lockdown. You've grown around the belly, but have you grown as […]

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Predicting The Future - What 1981 Got Wrong


A microchip with a British flag on it. Technology and the office of the future There is considerable scope for improving the productivity in offices. The major technological advances which will have an impact on this sector are the low-cost VDU, mass data storage, the digital network and voice command by B.W.Manley

As part of my MSc, I fell down a research rabbit-hole of 1980s "Office Of THE FUTURE!!" articles. Ultimately, I couldn't find a way to include it in my research - so you're getting my cast offs. So, I present to you some choice predictions from "Technology and the office of the future" by B. […]

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Weeknotes: Vaccinated - Part 1


Me holding my NHS vaccination card.

I know exactly what I was doing on 9th April 2020. I was worrying about open-sourcing the NHS Covid Tracing app. I was worrying about tech standards for booking test slots. I was worrying if I'd ever see my family and friends again. I was worrying if the NHS websites would contain enough semantic HTML […]

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Is it stealing to read by the light of your neighbour's candle? Or, should companies pay for employees' broadband?


A speed test result.

Back when I worked for an ISP, my employer paid for me to have broadband. I was expected to work from home a few days a month and they needed their workers to have high-bandwidth connectivity. Because it was a business expense, we all received BIG SCARY WARNINGS that the broadband was only to be […]

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