It is a truth universally acknowledged that programmers are consumed by their side projects. This is certainly true of my husband, who can often be found tapping away into the early hours, working on his automated household reports, his home monitoring system, or his train-spotting app. It is one of several things that has made … More A Side Project!
On any given night this week, you would have found me sitting at my desk long past my bedtime, fingers clicking at the mouse erratically, eyes wide and fixed on a colourless monitor full of flickering numbers. No, I haven’t been stressing over PhD work. I have been playing a truly excellent, highly addictive game … More The Paperclip Apocalypse
When I set out to write blog posts at the weekends, I had forgotten what a pre-pandemic weekend looked like. As we ease out of lockdown, it’s slowly coming back to me that weekends are busy, social affairs (even for this introvert!) – perhaps not filled with opportunities for peaceful thinking and writing. So I … More The State of AI
When I was writing essays at school and university, I always began by defining my terms. This was no great hardship – I find words and etymology terribly interesting. It also served me well. There is a reason that it is a staple of essay-writers everywhere: through definitions, key issues and points of contention come … More What (On Earth) is AI?
Today’s post is a little self-indulgent, because I want to tell you a brilliant story about craft, maths and genius. In 1997, a Latvian maths professor called Daina Taimina was taking part in a geometry workshop at Cornell University. A hyperbolic plane was being modelled using strips of paper delicately stuck together in a temporary, … More The Crocheting Maths Professor
It’s dizzyingly strange to be a student again, 5 years after I first graduated. I am older (not a lot wiser), and in the interim I have got married and bought a house. I joke that nowadays while many of my fellow students are out enjoying the nightlife, I am returning to my house in … More On the Origin of Data Science
I get asked a lot what I’m studying at university. When I reply with “data science”, I have come to expect a momentary flicker of panic on the person’s face before they reply with “oh right!”. It’s an encounter that will be familiar to anyone who has done a degree in something outside of National … More Defining Data Science
Cryptic Meg 