One of the hardest things about attending conferences with multiple tracks is deciding which talk to go to. 👩🏻💻Karina Pencarski@kary_keyReplying to @hackferencebrum@hackferencebrum is breaking my heart, 2 amazing talks by @supersole with Servo and @etiene_d with my lovely Lua at the same time! #hf2016❤️ 2💬 1🔁 013:21 - Fri 21 October 2016 If your friends are talking opposite each other, it is pa…
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Imagine you have a series of number you wish to sort. Sorting is a well known computer science problem - generally speaking you compare one value to the next and then move the item either up or down a list. With "English" characters, that's fairly easy. When a computer sees the character 1 it's really seeing the Unicode character U+0031. When it sees 2 it's really seeing the character U+0032…
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The history of slavery and its devastating aftermath is too complex for a simple blog post, but I wish to draw your attention to how slave owners were compensated when slaves gained their freedom. And whereas, towards compensating the Persons at present entitled to the Services of the Slaves to be manumitted and set free by virtue of this Act for the Loss of such Services, His Majesty's most…
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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…
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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…
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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 intrig…
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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,…
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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…
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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…
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I like to tinker. My wife picked me up the new Raspberry Pi Zero. It's an ultra small and ridiculously cheap computer. How small and cheap? They give it away free on the cover of magazines... Terence Eden is on Mastodon@edentIf you hurry down to WHSmith in Oxford, there are still a few @TheMagP1 copies left.❤️ 3💬 0🔁 208:10 - Fri 27 November 2015Terence Eden is on Mastodon@edentReplying to @eden…
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Another day, another bug! LetsSaveMoney.com is a "money saving" site. It offers discounts on a wide range of products and services, and is financed through affiliate marketing. Links removed, because the site has disappeared. My Trade Union, Prospect, has just launched a white-labelled "Members' Rewards" based on LetsSaveMoney - that's how I came across this bug. It's a depressingly familiar…
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It's always interesting to read over older Sci-Fi books and see what they got right about their future. I was re-reading Cory Doctorow's excellent "Makers" recently, when I came across this passage: Now the place was spotless -- and what's more, it was minimalist. The floor was not only clean, it was visible. Lining the walls were translucent white plastic tubs stacked to the ceiling. "You…
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