Category Archives: Thoughts on the World
Scarily Bad
Reversing the scarily effective performance of Google Now, I just had a dangerous experience with Google Voice Typing. I attempted to make a note in a busy café with a lot of background noise. After I stopped talking it sat Continue reading
RIP Google Currents
Regular readers may be aware that I became very fond of a Google app called Currents. This took RSS-enabled news feeds, and presented them as attractive “magazines”. For feeds with significant image content (like most of the photography blogs I Continue reading
What Do I Mean by "Agile Architecture"?
A little while back I was approached by EITA Global, a global provider of on-line training, and we have now agreed that I should present for them a webinar entitled "Agile Architects, and Agile Architecture". The current plan is for Continue reading
Ansel Would Be Proud?

I had a day off today from work, chasing contracts and Android development, to focus on photography and writing. The core was a workshop with the famous and venerable landscape photographer Charlie Waite, at the even more famous and venerable Continue reading
Scarily Good
My new phone (I upgraded to a Galaxy Note 2 as I was running up against memory limitations on the Note 1) has a potentially useful but also quite scary feature. There’s a service running on it called “Google Now”. Continue reading
Getting Ahead of the Curve – Update

When I bought the Panasonic GX7 on the day of release I realised there might be a short delay before it was fully supported by third party software. A few weeks on and there was support from Adobe and some Continue reading
Morocco – What Worked and What Didn’t

As a tail piece to my Morocco blog, and as a service to anyone else considering a photo trip there, here are a few notes on what worked, what didn’t, and how you might increase your own chance of a Continue reading
Dysfunctional Hotel – Not Impressed!
Today I was working in Solihull at short notice, and couldn’t get into my regular hotel, so I’m trying the De Vere Village. This is a modern and allegedly upmarket hotel in Shirley, but I’m simply astonished how poorly it Continue reading
Buttons Or Switches? Buttons Are Better!
My Canon 7D, like the 40D before it, has a feature I love and would find it hard to relinquish – three fully programmable custom modes, right on the mode dial. This makes it possible to sort out the myriad Continue reading
Balloon Fiestas – The Awards

We are becoming quite the connoisseurs of balloon fiestas (unless fiesta is its own plural :)). Following on from Northampton 2008 (0 balloons) and Albuquerque 2012 (over 500 balloons) we’ve now added Britain’s biggest festival on Bristol, which featured a Continue reading
World War Z – One from the Ministry of Strange Coincidences…
I’ve just posted my review of World War Z – The Book. In it, I liken the book to a science fiction version of “The World At War”. Now here’s the real oddity – the book of The World at Continue reading
World War Z – The Book
“The World At War” with Zombies! Continue reading