I am a big advocate of using research to improve our daily lives. Some research is tangible, such as the invention of a device or machine that you can buy and use, but others is less so. A recent piece of research was completed by Shaver-Troup where she found that the font that some text is written in has a measurable impact on how easy it is to read. With Thomas Jockin’s help, she created a font named Lexend which…
I ordered some sourdough bread from Bread SRSLY because, as a celiac [UK: coeliac] I always want to try new things that are gluten free. I ordered Sourdough, Sweet Onion Sourdough and Seeded Sourdough. I thought it best to try the standard sourdough first. It is a bit heavier than real bread, but it definitely had that sourdough taste. I was diagnosed as a baby, so I don’t know how things should taste, but my gluten-able wife confirmed it’s a…
It’s been a weird old time recently. I expect we will look back on this time with vague memories of how it felt. Some, like me, will remember being given back my commute time and being more efficient despite a tiny bit of network-slowness. Some have experienced the ‘Covid-19 experience’ popularized by the media: hundreds of exhausting Zoom, Webex, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams meetings Zoom-bombing having their children climb over their shoulder during a meeting, and feeling stir-crazy. Others,…
I thought about COVID-19 while I was flying to California a little while ago. This is what I wrote. Please forgive the stream-of-consciousness, but when I re-read it, I thought it was suitable to share. The world is under-going an event which will long be remembered. I don’t think, ultimately, it will be remembered as a health crisis – the number of lives lost might not turn out to be significant in the long-term – but it could have long-term…
As US airlines are accused of buying back shares, I thought it might be helpful to explain what buying back shares really means, and why you might want to sell and buy shares at all, if you’re a company. The airlines are being criticized because they might become short of cash now, as people stop flying and as the economy overall is likely to slow significantly. [That’s right, this is the third COVID-19 post in a row because, let’s be…
In my previous role as a Risk Manager at Just Group plc we developed plans to deal with pandemics and similar crises in workshops that brought together all the key decision makers involved in providing on-going service to customers and shareholders etc. Some of the things we considered were the closure of schools, the staff fearing going to work, and other things that are manifesting now. While no sane person can derive any positive emotions from the impacts we are experiencing now, from premature…
This article discusses subjects that are scientific in nature. Therefore, a list of references is included at the end. When I say something that needs supporting through a reference, the name of the source and the year of the information is in braces ( and ). Most of us were told to wash our hands, as children, before we started to eat dinner, after we came in from playing outside, and after going to the bathroom. Similarly, many of us…
I have recently been learning how to use WebGL to make some computer graphics. In the last six weeks I have progressed from simple wireframes, to lit, textured models, casting shadows etc. I thought it would be fun to show such an animation here. Every week what I have been able to produce has been improving, so I am excited to see what I am able to produce next week. I think, largely, what WebGL is capable of is only…
I’ve not written about Star Wars publicly before, but I had a thought this morning, and felt it needed to be shared even though, I am sure, other people have noticed and thought the same thing. Note: Spoilers below this point.
If you’re like most people, you will have seen the image in this post and thought something like “Why is the world upside down?” If you’re particularly keen, you may have noticed that the countries in the extreme north are also smaller than usual. So: What am I up to?