Feeling silly
Financial spam
I received this on the mail this morning, and felt the urge to share it. Dear Grateful in God: You may be surprised to read this message from me as you do not know me. I need to ask you Read more…
Litigation
EndNote sues open source reference competitor
As many other academics, I have come to rely on reference software to keep my bibliographic resources organised. For some time I have been using Endnote because it came installed with University computers, but I have been increasingly frustrated with Read more…
Conferences
GikIII ends
The third instalment of Gikii (aptly named GikIII) is now over. As with previous years, one is left feeling intellectually stimulated and a bit daunted by the level of smartness emanating from the room. First’s year’s iconic figure was the Read more…
Announcements
GikIII
One of my favourite times of the year has arrived… It’s Gikii time! If you cannot be here the papers are being uploaded as they are presented to this page.
Web 2.0
Bubbles bursting, credits crunching, unweaving webs?
I would like to declare a moratorium on excessive use of adjectives to describe the current financial crisis. Why adjectivise (is that a word? If not it should be) when onomatopoeia will suffice? Zoom! Fzzzt! Eek! Kapow! Kabbloey! Argh! There, Read more…
Cybercrime
Hacking Palin
An interesting cybercrime and politics story came out this week. Sarah Palin’s Yahoo email account was hacked by a group called Anonymous and screenshots were posted in WikiLeaks. Hacking may be too strong a word, what seems to have occurred Read more…
Feeling silly
Happy "Talk like a pirate day"
As a devout Pastafarian, I am obsessed with all things piratical. After all, one of the basic doctrines of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is that global warming is caused by the decline in pirates. Avast me hearties, Read more…
e-commerce
The Internet is for Censorship
I still remember how we looked at the Internet in the early days, and how many of us thought that it could never be regulated. Years later, a large firewall and a rather effective gambling ban have proved us wrong. Read more…
Feeling silly
Palin baby name generator
With names like Track, Trig and Bristol, the world is awash with potential Palin baby names. What would you be named if you were a Palin baby? Now you can find out! Apparently, I would have been Claw Palin. I Read more…
Networks
The predictive power of computers
I have always been interested in the depiction of computers in popular fiction. One early computer meme represented the percentage crunching computer/robot that would helpfully tell the protagonists the percentage rate of survival for X situation (“You have a 2% Read more…