My head is still hurting. I have spent all morning in an introductory session to R, the open source statistical computing and graphics package. Now, I am no programmer and much of what was shown to us went over my head but I am blown away by the power of the tool set. It gives … Continue reading Say R
Food Waste
According to the Food Standards Agency, In the UK, we throw away 7 million tonnes of food and drink from our homes every year, the majority of which could have been eaten. It was all over the news and so it must be true. That sounds terrible. Stacked up in metre blocks it would form … Continue reading Food Waste
Disruptive opportunity
I was once told a story by someone who had been to an open air opera. I think it was Sarah and it was in Italy but those bits of information are not germane to the tale. What is important is that it was in the open air and the sun was shining, or at … Continue reading Disruptive opportunity
Six degrees of database separation
According to Frigyes Karinthy, everyone in the world is separated from everyone else by six degrees of separation. You know some people and they now some other people and they know some others etc. until eventually everyone knows everyone. In my peregrinations of late I am becoming more convinced that this is true, People I … Continue reading Six degrees of database separation
Housing shortage
Housing shortage, what shortage? Every time I turn on the television or follow a news feed there is someone banging on about a housing shortage. It is clearly true to a large extent. There are not enough homes available in the UK for people to buy. This is is reflected in the cost of housing … Continue reading Housing shortage
Data assets
Data assets are hard to get your head around. They not like physical assets such as PCs or laptops or services or buildings. I mean electronic data assets here. They hide in the ether. Just like that thing called love ‘You can't see them with your eyes, hold them in your hand, but I like … Continue reading Data assets
A perennial problem
Our voyage of discovery continues. It would seem that all of the messages are just not getting through. It's not just us though. This is not an ICT services problem. The delivery services have the same problem as well. People do not know why we have bought a specific system. They do not understand the … Continue reading A perennial problem
Durhack
Sometimes it works out that people can’t make the meetings that have been arranged and so you end up with some spare time to catch up. Not that you can ever catch up as there is always more to do but it helps. This is how it was this morning with my first two meetings. … Continue reading Durhack
Open data
What is the idea? Use the active release of Open Data in a controlled way to facilitate regional e economic growth. Background The UK Commission For Employment and Skills in their report of December 2014 Careers of the Future said ‘While we can’t predict the future, it seems increasingly likely that technology will pervade all aspects … Continue reading Open data
General regulation
In this post-referendum, pre-Brexit era, the reach of the European Union can still be felt throughout the land. I’m not stating my position on the in or out campaign but anyone who really knows me would be clear about my views. Instead I wanted to talk about the General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR for … Continue reading General regulation
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 