#CyberFest is the North East’s biggest cybersecurity festival and has now completed its second year. With 11 events, 700 attendees and over 60 speakers it has become one of the highlights of the regional tech calendar. There are huge ethical issues in cyber security both in terms of those who perpetrate criminal and antisocial behaviour … Continue reading NEBIzEthics as part of #CyberFest
My favourite CyberFest event
I expect to get a few blogs out of this year’s #CyberFest, indeed I’m surprised that this is the first seeing that it is at least two weeks old. I guess my head has been down trying to visit, organise, speak at and generally deliver the events. A couple of people have asked me, during … Continue reading My favourite CyberFest event
Until the referendum
I came across this on Quora Digest, an app where people can ask questions for others to answer. Politics looms large in the content they send me. It was from Marco Geleijnse, who studied at Radboud University Nijmegen ‘Until the referendum in 2016 I couldn’t care less about the EU. I thought of it like … Continue reading Until the referendum
A sixth sense
I have taken to listening to audiobooks, to while away the longer drives in my car, not that I drive that much these days. I used to cover 60,000 miles a year but now the furthest I travel, at least for work, is about 100 miles. Still, this means about an hour or more each … Continue reading A sixth sense
Where’s your commitment?
I’ve been using Duolingo to try and learn Dutch. It’s a useful tool and allows me to practice every day. It speaks the sentences to be translated and allows me to hear the language in action. In the main I really like the application though sometimes it has the annoying habit of correcting my English … Continue reading Where’s your commitment?
Rent in twain
The veil of the Temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. Brexit has rent this country in two. Gone are the traditional party lines of boss versus worker, white versus blue collar and in has come a new schism. You are either a leaver or a remainer. The referendum of 2016 … Continue reading Rent in twain
Artificial stupidity
There is a thought that humans were more intelligent when we were hunter gatherers than we are today. Not as individuals but on average. The need to be able to retain huge amounts of information about what was edible and what was poisonous, what would make you feel better and what would make you sick, … Continue reading Artificial stupidity
Mobile phones in schools?
For a brief flurry, a story on the BBC website lit up my Twitter feed. It was about children using mobile phones at school and hooked us in with the headline ‘Half of parents want mobile phones banned in schools'. You can read the article here. Of course, half don’t and so once again another … Continue reading Mobile phones in schools?
Collaboration is good
Another distasteful outcome of the current political crisis is the poisoning of the English language. Words that have perfectly good meanings have become tainted. Obvious ones such as leaver and remainer have become tarnished with age, color and educational attainment. Each side of the argument uses these innocent words as pejorative. That, however, is the … Continue reading Collaboration is good
The New European
I am continuing my peregrinations into the printed media. On a periodic basis, though not as regularly as I would like, I have been visiting my local newsagent or supermarket to buy a newspaper. I have not gone for the same paper, instead buying those which I have not bought before or in a … Continue reading The New European