I’d like to think that computers are neutral, a tool like any other… But there is something in the system itself, in the formal logic of programs and data, that recreates the world in its own image. the computer is not really like us. It is a projection of a very slim part of ourselves: that portion devoted to logic, order, rule and clarity. We place this small projection of ourselves all around us, and we make ourselves reliant on it. the more we surround ourselves with a narrowed notion of existence, the more narrow existence becomes. We conform to the range of motion the system allows. We must be more orderly, more logical. Answer the question, Yes or No, OK or Cancel. We think we are creating the system, but the system is also creating us. We build the system, we live in its midst, and we are changed.
How to be a better employee - Use Your Judgement
08 April, 2015Tags
Very often, junior colleagues ask me what they should do in a particular situation. Very often, to the point where I feel like a broken…
The trouble with content management systems is that they allow people to manage content
07 April, 2015Tags
Most designers and developers have got their fair share of horror stories about clients finding cruel and unusual ways of mangling the CMS…
Panic as a Weapon at Squeaky Bum Time
04 March, 2015Tags
There are periods in some software projects when the atmosphere gets very strange. It’s what Sir Alex Ferguson would call “squeaky bum time…
How to be Rude to People you've Never Met, or How the Medium Defines Etiquette
16 February, 2015Tags
We need new mental models for modern communication methods. Think of instant messages like post-it notes.
What cycling has taught me about work
16 November, 2014Tags
Some lessons learned from cycling that can be applied to project management.
What is it about the new Amazon Echo that gives me the creeps?
11 November, 2014So Amazon have released Siri in a box. Big deal. But there’s something faintly disconcerting about it all. As the Guardian’s writer alludes…
Covers and cover versions
22 October, 2014Tags
I like cover versions. At least I do when they’re doing something interesting with the song. I don’t really see the point of recording…
Component Based Development for the Enterprise
21 October, 2014Tags
This article was originally posted on the Capgemini Engineering blog. Recently 10 members of the Drupal development team at Capgemini went…
Keeping clean: why coding standards are important
12 June, 2014Tags
Recently I had to investigate a strange bug that only happened on our pre-production environment. Code that was fine all through our other…
Curve stitching in code - parabolas, lasers, flash and canvas
28 May, 2014Tags
While most of the attention during Seb Lee-Delisle’s session at smashing conference was focused on the lasers, something else he showed…