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Image thanks to Allride I know it’s a bit pathetic but I have tried very hard not to buy from Amazon. I know my efforts will not make a difference to the inexorable creep of the company’s global influence yet I am reluctant to give up. If many people did the same then there would … Continue reading Trying to avoid Amazon

It’s been a long time coming but we have finally decided to come off Twitter at CyberNorth.  I still find it hard to call it by its new name as that is when the rot set in for me. When I first started using Twitter it was a new and exciting platform. OK, a lot … Continue reading Saying goodbye to the bird

Back to last month’s UK Cyber Cluster Collaboration pan-cluster meeting and my mind is thinking about proving the success of CyberNorth projects. It’s important to be able to show value for the work that we do, to help get further projects and to secure support from members. It’s also important for our relationship with local … Continue reading Cause and effect

Last week’s first ever CyberNorth Community Conference, part of CyberFest was a bitter sweet affair for me. Having led the North East’s biggest cyber security festival for 6 years, it felt a little odd to be taking more of a back seat. I am reminded of that old joke about bacon and eggs, where the … Continue reading Community Conference

My father and I had a lot in common, we were related after all, may he rest in peace. One thing we had that bound us closely was the amount of time we spent driving down and up the A1. Somehow he ended up with a factory in Stevenage, a mere 251 miles from his … Continue reading The book my father never wrote

It is upon us again, that time of year where there are so many events to go to that you really are spoilt for choice. Our annual CyberFest begins tomorrow and we already have more than twenty events lined up. Most days have something and on other days we have had to double up. Others … Continue reading The event season

Image thanks to Jenkins Pest. Back in the day, a drive down the motorway would have meant carnage on your windscreen as you ploughed your way through millions of flying insects. A long journey would require a good wipedown of the front number plate. Indeed you could even buy ‘fly squash remover’ at your local … Continue reading Where are all the flies?

The strange thing about being involved in running a cluster organisation is that it is not like a normal business, if such a thing exists. Every day I get spam emails telling me how I can grow the business, get more leads and turn them into customers, have a more sticky website and drive traffic … Continue reading A funny kind of business

Picture thanks to Facebook One of the great pleasures in looking after your grandchildren is trying to keep them entertained during the school holidays. Half term is bad enough and the long summer vacation is just around the corner. Don’t get me wrong, I love being with them, they are such fun yet they can … Continue reading Child’s play

My friend Meera, who knows about these things, tells me that quantum computing is real, it has moved from science fiction to science fact. Pictures of IBM’s machine are available online and, so I am told, you can hire processing time on the machine by the minute. Blimey, that doesn’t seem long but then I … Continue reading Mutually Assured Quantum