Over the last year Justin and I have been working with a small number of rural businesses to help them develop. We struggled with what rural meant in this context. Is a rural business one that is based in an area with few homes or other buildings and a low population density? Or is it … Continue reading Rural problems
Socitm #North18
Once again I had the pleasure of talking at this year’s Socitm North Conference. I had not expected to be involved as such and so it was all a bit last minute, yet one of the advantages of blogging (and being opinionated) is that there is always a pile of material to draw from. The … Continue reading Socitm #North18
The world according to me
I used to think of myself as a liberal, of the bleeding heart kind until I read ‘Sapiens, A Brief History of Humankind’, or rather listened to the audio book by Yuval Noah Harari. What made me stop and think, figuratively rather than literally as I was driving at the time, was that liberalism included … Continue reading The world according to me
Digital hoarding
In a previous blog I said how I had started to build a home archive. I have been working through all of the papers that we keep and scanning the important ones, or those that don’t have email copies, and storing them on a pair of hard drives. One I keep in the house and … Continue reading Digital hoarding
Respond to the question
Perhaps I have set myself too high standards but I have been disappointed recently throughout an interview process, not as an interviewee but rather as the interviewer. I have had the pleasure, or rather the misfortune, to sit in front of people who could not express themselves, articulate their opinions or construct reasonable answers to … Continue reading Respond to the question
Tips should be banned
The trades union Unite is delighted that the government has decided to ban restaurant owners from keeping back a share of tips that customers give to staff. According to its website, Unite has been exposing rip-off tipping practices in the hospitality industry since 2008. In response to the announcement, a Unite regional officer Dave Turnbull … Continue reading Tips should be banned
Imagine a car
The opening speaker on day 2 of the Unit4 conference gave us his thoughts on the future of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). It was at the Conference Centre in Harrogate. I am not the greatest of advocates for ERP in that I don’t think grand systems solve anything and in the effort to combine all … Continue reading Imagine a car
Stadium of Cyber
The sign over the door on one of the conference rooms in the Stadium of Light, Sunderland Football club’s ground, said ‘Magic Moments Bar’. I’m not sure that it was referring to the latest #CyberFest event that was being held in the room next door yet it could well have done. The fifth event in … Continue reading Stadium of Cyber
Party politics
Over the last few weeks we have been witness to a perfect example of why party politics is bad. It is a distortion of our democracy yet it has been around for so long that we think it is an inevitable consequence of the democratic process. Perhaps it is, yet it prevents us from having … Continue reading Party politics
Energetic buildings
Someone once told me that an introvert is someone who feels drained by engagement with people rather than invigorated. I’m not sure how true this is but since then I have taken myself to be an introvert. I like dealing with people, I am perhaps at my best when amongst groups of people yet afterwards … Continue reading Energetic buildings
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 