The title of this blog is a little misleading, I admit, in that the Chancellor isn’t giving away food vouchers to those who can afford to eat out at restaurants. Rather, he has committed to using public money to reimburse some of the bill during August, with certain conditions of course. The ‘Eat out to … Continue reading Food vouchers
The big geographical difference
The big difference between last year’s #CyberFest and this year’s is that it is all online. Of the ten events, only the final one has any degree of onsite presence and this is only due to its content. The final conference will reveal a piece of collaborative artwork, bringing a different perception to cybersecurity, a … Continue reading The big geographical difference
New broadband
I’ve been putting off changing broadband suppliers for years. It just never seemed convenient and I was always worried that I would end up with a worse, or even no service at all. I’ve stuck with Talk Talk for some time but have felt over the last few months that it was time for a … Continue reading New broadband
A Benign Dictator
Over the last few months I have been in many conversations about the problems we have with democracy in this country, in that it is not democratic. Often people have said to me that they have lost faith in democracy and that it would be better to have a benign dictator, someone who is mild … Continue reading A Benign Dictator
A change is good as
Morrisons in Morpeth has had a change around. I noticed something was up as soon as I entered the shop as the flower stalls were in your face rather than being off to the side. It was very early in the morning and so it took me a while to notice there was more. Everything … Continue reading A change is good as
Promotional video
I’ve said it before and I will say it again, video is not my forte. There is something about standing in front of a camera that turns me into a blubbering wreck yet these days, if you want to promote anything then video is the only way. I’ve been running a weekly series of ‘In … Continue reading Promotional video
Forget forecasts
The art of forecasting is falling out of favour. Its usefulness as a prediction of the future has come under severe pressure. This is especially true in the world of political forecasting and for one reason, forecasts in this sense are invariably wrong. They have now become synonymous with the other meaning of the word, … Continue reading Forget forecasts
Spicers blues
It was with great sadness that I read of the demise of Spicers, at one time Europe’s largest distributor of office products. It features heavily in my CV and was the point where I first got into IT. It is a long story and documented many times elsewhere yet somehow I managed to become the … Continue reading Spicers blues
Phil loves books
One of the pleasures of having a granddaughter is having to sit and watch CBeebies with her. It’s not that we encourage too much television watching but rather I don’t have the energy to entertain her for a whole day. We have fallen into a routine of an hour in the morning before we go … Continue reading Phil loves books
Pants on fire
In politics these days, the truth is a very fluid concept. Time and time again, leading politicians have been shown to say things that are wrong. This is understandable as we live in a highly dynamic world where no one can be expected to get everything right. What is unacceptable however, is when these ‘facts’ … Continue reading Pants on fire
