On the homepage of my website, I describe myself as a “computer science PhD student”. That’s because I am. But I have a confession to make to you: I don’t know much about computers. Let me explain. I am a data scientist and a programmer: I write code, I play with data, I use this … More Computer basics: a hardware murder mystery!
I’ve been doing a computer science PhD and I have a particular interest in AI. Over the last few years I’ve tried quite a lot of different podcasts to keep up to date with relevant developments and discussions. This is a personally curated list (that I’ll aim to keep updated) of the podcasts that have … More My Top Tech Podcasts
I have previously written about re-committing to the habit of reading. I wanted to share a couple more changes that I have made in the last year which have assisted in this endeavour. The first is that I bought a Kobo e-reader. In my previous post, I said that I was “more inspired by the … More Reading with Ease
I have long been interested in photography. Always as an amateur, mind – I don’t profess to have any great skill! I just enjoy taking what I believe to be good photos. When I was 16, I got an SLR, and for a few years took the photography hobby quite seriously. It was a Canon … More A Picture Perfect Birthday
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?
Cryptic Meg 