The headline in the Big Issue (issue #1362) said that spiraling rents are forcing young people to stay in small towns instead of moving to cities with better jobs. This follows some research by the Resolution Foundation. The implication is clear, small towns are bad for young people. They do not offer them the range … Continue reading Young people trapped in small towns
Understanding poetry
I never know if I understand poetry but that is a silly thing to say. Does it really matter? It is just the same as when I am reading a book. Sometimes I understand the twists and turns of the plot, the interrelations of the characters and the underlying story that the author is trying … Continue reading Understanding poetry
Buy a newspaper
I’ve done something I haven’t done for a long time. I’ve bought a newspaper. It must be fifteen years or so since I last bought one and this was around the time when online news was starting to take off seriously. This isn’t the reason I stopped however. I had been reading a copy of … Continue reading Buy a newspaper
Forcing creativity
This is a topic I have covered before and is the third to come out of the amazing Thinking Digital 2019. It is something that divides opinion. Can you force creativity? In other words are there circumstances that encourage or even determine people to be creative? One of the speakers, Roger Mavity, the Creative Conjurer, … Continue reading Forcing creativity
Thinking Digital is good for the soul
This is my second blog from this year’s Thinking Digital conference. It is the must attend event in the region for me, not wishing to denigrate any others . I think I have been coming for about ten years and have got to know @herbkim, the driving force behind the event, quite well. It is … Continue reading Thinking Digital is good for the soul
Both sides of the crime
Doesn’t time go fast when you are enjoying yourself. I can’t believe that Thinking Digital has come and gone again for another year. It is such a good event that I end up buying my tickets for next year the day they go on sale. I always get a few blogs out of it as … Continue reading Both sides of the crime
The average reading age is…?
The average reading age of the UK is 11. That’s what the speaker told us at the last Socitm meeting I attended. It struck me as an interesting statistic and possibly a damning indictment of our education system. Of course it may not be true and I felt I needed to explore it a bit … Continue reading The average reading age is…?
Ethics? Whatever
If there was ever a fascinating subject to get your head around then ethics is it. Someone’s ethics are the moral principles that govern their behaviour or the way they conduct an activity. At its simplest, ethics is about doing or being right or wrong. People have argued about the subject for years and no … Continue reading Ethics? Whatever
A&E App
Matt Hancock, the Heath Secretary is proud of the NHS’s latest app. It is designed to help patients find the accident and emergency department with the shortest waiting time. He claims that the app will be’ good for patients, good for clinicians’. It won’t work for two reasons, firstly it is tackling the wrong problem … Continue reading A&E App
An act of God
I’m watching the news. There are pictures of flames licking the sky above Paris. The roof of Notre Dame is on fire with great swirling vortices, yellow and orange leaping from the building. On the television, what seems like a single stream of water pathetically tries to douse the flames and save this iconic French … Continue reading An act of God
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 