Image thanks to Haggis_UK By-elections are never a good indicator of what will happen at a general election. The two in June, however, have got the Tory’s rattled and quite rightly. Wakefield is in the so-called red wall of former Labour seats while Tiverton and Honiton is at the opposite end of the country, both … Continue reading Dishonest pact
Let’s go to the Innovation Festival
I can’t believe it’s less than a fortnight to Northumbrian Water Group’s Innovation Festival, back as an in person event at Gosforth Park Racecourse. If you have never been, you should as it is one of the highlights of the North East calendar. This is an international event with between one thousand and fifteen hundred … Continue reading Let’s go to the Innovation Festival
Dynamo 22
Last week I was at the Dynamo 22 conference. It was amazing. There is so much pressure on the events calendar now, especially since COVID is now on the back burner, and it is quite hard to stand out from the crowd. But this conference did. It is some time since I have been actively … Continue reading Dynamo 22
That strike
I was supposed to be in London today at InfoSec but the rail strike has put a stop to that. In a way I am upset as I would like to have gone to the conference and feel that CyberNorth ought to have been there. On the other hand I am quite glad that I … Continue reading That strike
Green housing
Wandering round the dust bowl that is Great Park with my grandchildren, one in a pushchair and the other free running, got me thinking about recycling. It’s strange how your mind wanders yet the building site is huge and seems to have been going on forever. It must be nearly twenty years now since the … Continue reading Green housing
Online abuse
Social media is a murky place at times. Even though I spend a fair amount of time on it both for pleasure (?) and work, I don’t often get trolled. Occasionally I do, admittedly in a very mild form. Even so it can be upsetting and I cannot begin to imagine how horrific it must … Continue reading Online abuse
Protocol
The signing of the Withdrawal Agreement is a fantastic moment, which finally delivers the result of the 2016 referendum and brings to an end far too many years of argument and division. Boris Johnson 24 January 2020. Here we are, two and half years later, some six years after the referendum and it still feels … Continue reading Protocol
Snagging list
My eldest daughter has just moved into a new house. It’s lovely and well worth the inevitable stress that moving causes. Apparently it is one of the three most stressful things you can do. The house will stand her and her daily in good stead for years to come. It is a new-build and is … Continue reading Snagging list
Another ITT
When I heard that the government was putting out a tender that should really be up our (CyberNorth) street I had to take notice. I couldn’t attend the briefing and ended up paying someone to attend on my behalf, that’s how important it felt. In this way we were registered as interested and therefore eligible … Continue reading Another ITT
Time for change
Perhaps it's the circles I move in but most of my colleagues are against having a monarchy and have avoided any ‘celebrations’ over last weekend. Even those who did join in did so less from a sense of support for royalty but to enjoy the spectacle. There is a growing republican movement in this country … Continue reading Time for change