I’ve had my Garmin Fenix 6 Pro smartwatch for a few years now. I left my Apple Watch for the Garmin and have never looked back. I find that it works far better for me, as a pure sports watch rather than trying to be everything.
Sure, Garmin Pay wasn’t supported in the UK (it may be now, I haven’t checked). But I always have my phone with me for Apple Pay. I’ve got the apps I need on the watch (like my Parkrun barcode) and the sports tracking is much better than Apple’s – both in accuracy and variety. I’m sure Apple has improved, but my Garmin has been bomb-proof for years. And the battery life is amazing – nearly two weeks, though I rarely let it go that long.
But, a couple of nights ago it decided not to track my sleep. That was odd, and then I noticed it wasn’t recording my heart rate either. So I rebooted the watch. It’s the first rule of IT support – have you tried turning it off and on again?
I don’t think I’ve ever had to do that in all the years I’ve owned it. Something like four years of uptime. Not bad!
One thing that does annoy me is the charge cable. It’s not a standard USB-C (or USB-anything). Instead, it uses a proprietary four-pin connector on one end, and USB-A on the other. Over time, the connector becomes loose and won’t stay attached to the watch.
The trick here is to gently give it a pinch with some needle-nosed pliers, halfway along the long sides. Close the metal back in and the connector holds firm again. Reliable charging resumes.
Do you have a Garmin smartwatch? Got any tips or tricks to share?
It’s that time of year again. In the UK, A-Level results arrive this week, GCSEs next. Traditional and social media will be full of articles about “what to do if you didn’t make the grade”.
I won’t be writing one of those.
Yes, I messed up my A-Levels. I scraped into my chosen polytechnic, graduated from university with honours, and built a reasonably successful career. But that was over 30 years ago. I’m also male and white, and that privilege has opened doors that might not have opened for others. My experience isn’t a template.
What I do want to write about is the magic of a gap year.
After 14 years of education, maybe you need a break before doing more. Maybe you want time before resits or reapplying to different universities. Maybe university isn’t for you at all. Or maybe you just want to live a bit before deciding what’s next.
Gap years are amazing.
Challenging the “gap year = unemployed” mindset
Some people will tell you a gap year is “just another name for being unemployed”. I think they’re wrong.
A gap year can be a year of growth, challenge, adventure, and learning about yourself in ways that a classroom can’t teach.
Two gap years, two very different stories
As a parent to two adult children, I’ve seen this first-hand.
My eldest son, now 20, took not one but two gap years.
The first followed his passion for cycling. He worked as a holiday rep leading cycling tours, returned to the UK to work in a warehouse, and tested whether he could make it as a professional cyclist. The racing results don’t matter — he’s great, but greatness isn’t the same as being exceptional. What mattered was what he learned along the way:
How to train 16 hours a week alongside a full-time job.
How to plan every meal and every drink to fuel performance.
How to deal with disappointment when a promised training arrangement fell through.
How to adapt in a foreign country, find a house share with a professional cyclist (thanks Sophie), and live his best life until returning to race in the UK.
His second gap year was more “traditional” — travel to a variety of European destinations, a few weeks volunteering for a charity in India, more warehouse work (he needed to fund it all), and more racing but this time without the professional ambitions.
There were challenges too. An internship had led to the promise of a job, but that never materialised. Undeterred, he followed up and found a new opportunity with the same firm — only for that to go quiet as well, this time because of an administrative error that meant no contract was ever issued. By then he was applying elsewhere. And it was the self-confidence built over two gap years, outside formal education, and without relying solely on his parents for guidance and support, that made him shine as a candidate in his assessment centre for the role. That confidence also helped him be certain the degree apprenticeship was the right route for him — so much so that he let go of his deferred place at The University of Sheffield.
Looking ahead
My youngest son is 18. He’ll get his A-Level results on Thursday and we have fingers (and toes) crossed that he gets the grades for his place at Exeter University. But before that, there are travel dreams to chase — which will also be funded by casual work.
Oktoberfest is already in the calendar (inspired by our Interrailing trip together last year). Applications are in for a ski season. There are plans for a few months in South East Asia. He’s seen his brother’s adventures and has role models in his parents and maternal uncle, who all travelled extensively before him.
When I first travelled, I had no idea what I was doing — I was the first in my family to go to university, the first to go Interrailing, and the first to fly around the world (that wasn’t on a gap year — I took time out after a few years in the workplace — and, by then, my career direction was set and it would have been very difficult to change).
The takeaway
Of course, not everyone will have the opportunities that my sons have. I wrote of my privilege, and my sons benefit from this too — perhaps even more so. They have both had part-time jobs alongside their school work, played sports, and taken part in many other extra-curricular activities that expanded their horizons. And my wife and I will continue to do everything we can to support them, just as we always have.
But here’s my message: think about a gap year.
It might not be for you — and that’s fine. It might be harder to make it a reality — but I urge you to consider it, if you can possibly find a way, because it might open your eyes to a world of opportunity. At the very least, it could give you the kind of stories, skills, and confidence that make you stand out from the crowd, spark curiosity in future employers, and set you on a path you might never have found otherwise.
And that’s why a “gap year” is certainly not a euphemism for being unemployed whilst living with your parents.
Two decades on, we came once more, To southern Spain, and sun-kissed shores. Nerja welcomed with skies so wide, Where sea and mountain gently collide.
From terrace high, the blue expanse, Each morning caught us in a trance. Fresh coffee, then to the beach we’d roam, Before the heat would drive us home.
Villages basked in golden light, The sea turned silver come the night. Warmth on skin, cool drinks in hand, We let the days unfold unplanned.
Laughter echoed, glasses clinked, We paused, we smiled, we stopped to think. Days defined by time and place — Sun and family, gentle pace.
One final day in Málaga’s hum, Before the holiday was done. Now back to clouds and colder climes, But held inside, those warmer times.
(A collaboration between me, and ChatGPT… showing why I should stick to tech and leave the poetry to poets…)
I’ve been struggling to post retrospectives this year – they are pretty time consuming to write. But, you may have noticed the volume of content on the blog increasing lately. That’s because I finally have a workflow with ChatGPT prompts that help me draft content quickly, in my own style. (I even subscribe to ChatGPT now, and regular readers will know how I try to keep my subscription count down.) Don’t worry – it’s still human-edited (and there are parts of the web that ChatGPT can’t read – like my LinkedIn, Instagram and even parts of this blog) so it should still be authentic. It’s just less time-consuming to write – and hopefully better for you to read.
I’ve been continuing to fiddle with my smart home setup. This month’s project was replacing the ageing (and now unsupported) Volvo On Call integration in Home Assistant with the much better maintained HA Volvo Cars HACS integration. It works brilliantly – once you’ve jumped through the hoops to register for an API key via Volvo’s developer portal.
And no, that doesn’t mean I can now summon my car like KITT in Knight Rider – but I can check I locked it up and warm it up remotely. Which is almost as good. (As an aside, I saw KITT last month at the DTX conference in Manchester.)
Software-defined vehicles
On the subject of cars, I’ve been reflecting on how much modern cars depend on software – regardless of whether they’re petrol, diesel or electric. The EV vs. ICE debate often centres on simplicity and mechanics (less moving parts in an EV), but from my experience, the real pain points lie in the digital layer.
Take my own (Volvo V60, 2019 model year). Mechanically it’s fine and it’s an absolute luxury compared with the older cars that my wife and sons drive, but I’ve seen:
The digital dashboard reboot mid-drive
Apple CarPlay refusing to connect unless I “reboot” the vehicle
Road sign recognition systems confidently misreading speed limits
Right now, it’s back at the body shop (at their cost, thankfully) for corrosion issues on a supposedly premium marque. My next car will likely be electric – but it won’t be the drivetrain that convinces me. It’ll be the software experience. Or, more realistically, the lack of bad software. Though, based on Jonathan Phillips’ experience, new car software contains alarming typos in the UI, which indicates a lack of testing…
Thinking about the impact of generative AI
This update isn’t meant to be about AI – but it seems it is – because it’s become such a big part of my digital life now. And, increasingly, it’s something I spend more time discussing with my clients.
AI isn’t new. We’ve had robotic process automation (RPA), machine learning, data science and advanced analytics for years. I even studied neural networks at Poly’ in the early 1990s. But it’s generative AI that’s caught everyone’s imagination – and their budgets.
In Episode 239 of the WB-40 podcast (AI Leadership), I listened to Matt Cockbill talk about how it’s prompting a useful shift in how we think about technology. Less about “use cases” and more about “value cases” – how tech can improve outcomes, streamline services, and actually help achieve what the organisation set out to do.
The rush to digitise during COVID saw huge amounts of spending – enabling remote working or entrenching what was already there (hello, VDI). But now it feels like the purse strings are tightening, and some of that “why are we doing this again?” thinking is creeping back in. Just buying licences and rolling out tools is easy. Changing the way people work and deliver value? That’s the real work.
Meal planning… with a side of AI
I’ve also been experimenting with creating an AI-powered food coach to help me figure out what to eat, plan ahead, and avoid living off chocolate Hobnobs and toasted pitta. Still early days – but the idea of using an assistant to help nudge me towards healthier, simpler food is growing on me.
Reading: The Midnight Library
I don’t read much fiction – I’m more likely to be found trawling through a magazine or scrolling on my phone – but Matt Haig’s “The Midnight Library“ really got me. OK, so technically, I didn’t read it – it was an impulse purchase to use some credits before cancelling my Audible account – but it was a great listen. Beautifully read by Carey Mulligan, it’s one of those rare books that manages to be both dark and uplifting. Some reviews suggest that not everyone feels the same way – and my reading it at a time of grief and loss may have had an impact – but I found it to be one of my best reads in a long time.
Without spoiling anything, the idea of a liminal space between life and death – where you can explore the infinite versions of yourself – is quietly brilliant. Highly recommended. So much so that I bought another copy (dead tree edition) for my wife.
On LinkedIn this month…
It’s been a lively month over on LinkedIn, with my posts ranging from AI hype to the quirks of Gen-Z slang (and a fair dose of Node4 promotion). These are just a few of the highlights – follow me to get the full experience:
Jony and Sam’s mysterious new venture I waded into the announcement from Jony Ive and Sam Altman with, let’s say, a healthy dose of scepticism. A $6.5bn “something” was teased with a bland video and a promo image that felt more 80s album cover than product launch. It may be big. But right now? Vapourware.
Is the em dash trolling us? I chipped in on the debate about AI-written content and the apparent overuse of em dashes (—) –often flagged as an “AI tell” – usually by people who a) don’t understand English grammar or b) where LLMs learned to write. (I am aware that I incorrectly use en dashes in these posts, because people seem to find them less “offensive”.) But what if the em dash is trolling us?
Skibidi-bibidi-what-now? One of the lighter moments came with a post about Gen-Z/Gen-Alpha slang. As a Gen-Xer with young adult kids, I found a “translator” of sorts – and it triggered a few conversations about how language evolves. No promises I’ll be dropping “rizz” into meetings just yet. Have a look.
Politeness and prompting Following a pub chat with Phil Kermeen, I shared a few thoughts on whether being polite to AI makes a difference. TL;DR: it does. Here’s the post.
Mid-market momentum Finally, there have been lots of posts around the Node4 2025 Mid-Market Report. It was a big effort from a lot of people, including me, and I’m really proud of what we’ve produced. It’s packed with insights, based on bespoke research of over 600 IT and Business leaders.
That’s all for now. I probably missed a few things, but it’s a decent summary of what I’ve been up to at home and at work. I no longer use X, but follow me on LinkedIn (professional), Instagram (visual) and this blog for more updates – depending on which content you like best. Maybe even all three!
Next month…
A trip to Hamburg (to the world’s largest model railway); ramping up the work on Node4’s future vision; and hopefully I’ll fill in some of the gaps between January and May’s retrospectives!
I’m sorry for the clickbait headline, but the urgency is real, because I’m seeing people making purchasing decisions based on a technical feature that’s not available in the UK yet.
If you’re a middle-aged man or woman, you may have noticed that it’s difficult to hear people in some social situations. I certainly have, and so have some of my friends. Generally in pubs and bars with hard surfaces and lots of background noise.
I tell myself that I need to get a professional hearing test. I keep trying at Specsavers when I have my eyes tested but have struggled with appointment availability. And anyway, it’s not that bad. Plus I don’t have a couple of thousand pounds ready for buying hearing aids.
Apple is bringing Hearing Health capabilities to the masses
When I heard that Apple AirPods Pro 2 have hearing aid capabilities, I was very interested. A consumer tech device that might help me in those limited circumstances when I need to wear a hearing aid, without the financial outlay.
Here’s the problem: AirPods Pro 2 do not yet have regulatory approval as hearing aids in the UK.
They do in many other countries, but not here. Not at the time of researching this post in late-November 2024. But there is a global website, and a global ad campaign. Apple even says in the notes for this ad that:
“The Hearing Test and Hearing Aid features are regulated health features that require approval and will be offered after authorization is received. Feature availability varies by region”
Unfortunately, I’ve seen people (including those with profound hearing loss) saying they will ask Santa for some AirPods Pro for Christmas, based on advertising this feature.
So, what can you do?
Firstly, and I rarely give this advice to anyone, turn off automatic updates. Do not let your iPhone update to iOS 18.x. Manually apply updates for 17.x. Of course, that means you won’t get other iOS18 goodness either, but Apple Intelligence isn’t available in the UK yet either (like the Heading Aid feature, it’s “coming soon”).
The new Hearing Health features are for Apple AirPods Pro 2. I checked mine: they are listed on my receipt as “AirPods Pro (2nd generation)”. Is that the same thing? The short answer is “yes”, but it took me a while to get that information.
I had an infuriating online chat with Apple Support, who seemed incapable of understanding my question, despite me providing serial numbers and product codes. Thankfully, I also found an Apple support article, which gave me the answer (yes). Mine are model number A3048 which is now called “AirPods Pro 2 with MagSafe Charging Case (USB-C)”. Why can’t they just say “the marketing folks changed the name”?
This content is 1 year old. I don't routinely update old blog posts as they are only intended to represent a view at a particular point in time. Please be warned that the information here may be out of date.
May’s update was late, and June’s is in danger of rolling into July, so here’s a few highlights from my life in and around tech…
At work
On the work front, it was a short month – I was on holiday for the last week and with public holidays too there was lots to cram into a few short weeks. Nevertheless, I still managed to:
Continue to develop Node4’s new ransomware scanning service.
Finalise a dozen product data sheets for our public cloud services.
Submit some blog posts to our marketing team to support upcoming campaigns.
Keep pushing some pre-sales activities forwards.
And mine and Bjoern Hirtenjohann (/in/BjoernHirtenjohann)’s internal Node4 podcast on public cloud was released:
The @Node4Ltd podcast we recorded a few weeks ago was released today ??. It's internal only (I'd love to create an external version) but it really hit me how using a proper studio with professional equipment (and a great editor ??) makes a huge difference to production quality ?? https://t.co/cHWlo0QTlj
But the biggest activity in the month was presenting at Node4’s Infrastructure Symposium. One of our Practice Directors brought all his teams together to learn about the products and services that we jointly deliver. With four (or five, depending on how you look at it) companies all merged, there’s been a lot of change at Node4 over the last year or so. Getting everyone together is a great way to break down boundaries and understand the direction we’re headed in. And for me it was a chance to outline that our cloud offers span public, private and hybrid delivery models – and that we will deliver what’s right for the client, not for us. We call this Pragmatic Cloud (and I freely admit we didn’t come up with the term, but it I like it a lot).
I also celebrated my 9 year anniversary of joining risual/Node4 in May. And, for those who were confused by my comments last month, I was saying that my recent move has been overwhelmingly positive and I’m in a better place than I have been for a long while!
Elsewhere
Away from work…
My youngest son, Ben, passed his driving test. I was ready for a big insurance bill, but what I wasn’t ready for was: a) no decrease on the bill for the 19 year-old’s insurance (now with 2 years’ experience); and b) a 350% increase in premiums between him passing his test 2 years ago and the 17 year-old passing now. Even with a black box, parents as named drivers, etc. the car insurance bill for the two old cars that our family share with the teenagers was around £4500. For contrast, the bill for my Volvo (with just me and Mrs W as drivers) actually fell and is now back under £500. Public transport is just not reliable enough where we live, so the choices are: a) drive the teenagers everywhere; or b) pay the money. I’m still getting over this assault on our savings… some families just won’t have that money and I dread to think how many uninsured cars there are on the road as a consequence.
Car insurance quotes for newly-qualified teenager now up 3x on what we paid 2y ago for the eldest. Family car insurance bill looks like it will be £4-5k, maybe more. We’ll find the money, because we have to, but I wonder how many people don’t and just drive uninsured…
My eldest son, Matt, continues to race his bike up and down the country. After a catastrophic failure of the fork steerer tube, his Canyon road bike was hastily replaced. That meant a drive to Wakefield to collect the new bike, but it is rather lovely. I don’t get to all his races these days but I did manage to watch him in Ixworth and I was in the team car again for the Lincoln GP. Unfortunately, when he went to Ireland to race the Rás Tailteann I had to make do with watching for updates on Twitter!
Another great afternoon of crit’ racing at Ixworth today. P7 for #VeloMatt so another 10 points towards his Cat 1 licence (and first race on new bike). Added bonus in that I got to meet @AlexDowsett who was gracious enough to pose for a selfie with me #CyclistsDad#RideRevolutionpic.twitter.com/Q4ost8oH5s
It feels very odd having a few weekends without #CyclistsDad duties… #VeloMatt rode the #UCIGravelWorldSeries@GrallochGravel race today ??????????? and next week he’s off to the Rás Tailteann #Ras2024 stage race ??????. I’m back at home… trying to catch up on my admin
Ben and I have been planning our Interrail trip – and now we have bought our passes along with inbound/outbound travel. Plus, we’re going to be taking the NightJet sleeper train from Berlin to Vienna! There were a few challenges with seat availability (things have changed since last time I went – we can use high speed rail, but there’s limited availability and we need to pay a supplement). This is more of a problem when dates are fixed so we had to change our route a little. On the flip side, with the start and end locked in, the middle section of the holiday is now free for us to be flexible.
I completed the home network upgrade. Was the switch from AmpliFi to UniFi worth it? Time will tell. It’s certainly more flexible but it’s cost me more and my house does not lend itself to structured cable runs. Maybe I should have just replaced the broken AmpliFi mesh point but it felt like I could fall into the trap of the sunk cost fallacy.
That’s the end of the Wi-Fi upgrade… the final power supply arrived a few minutes ago, so the house is now UniFied up, with an AP on each floor (and in the Man Cave), in the best way I could do it without a reliable Ethernet backbone… pic.twitter.com/ejh29BILso
Octopus Energy sent us a Home Mini, which should give more granular data on electricity consumption, once I get the Home Assistant configuration right (I’m still tweaking).
I’ve also continued to play around with Home Assistant, including a bed occupancy sensor (which I can link to turning off the lights). I will admit that’s probably a step too far into nerd territory.
The month ended with a short break in Spain. Originally scheduled for May 2021, we never did get to go on a family holiday to Barcelona and the Costa Brava, though Matt made it out there on a training trip to Girona earlier this year. So, half the holiday, with only one of the “children” (though he is now twice the size!), Nikki, Ben and I spent a glorious few days in an around Begur.
Writing
These retrospectives are a bit of a blogging catch-all, but I did write a post on LinkedIn that turned into a blog in its own right. You can read it at the link below:
Matt Ballantine (@ballantine70)’s 100 coffees story:
The Protestant work ethic, interchangeable divisions of Outlook time, meetings without agenda, serendipity, and sending his Dad viral on the Internet… @ballantine70’s wonderful story of #100Coffeeshttps://t.co/7DDAkctT67
Commentary on technical debt and the British Library’s ransomware attack woes:
Interesting thread on the British Library hack and technical debt. It’s worth noting that, like actual debt, it can substantially juice your returns while the environment remains benign, and running with little leverage looks disappointing. https://t.co/EYTIYgJhSn
Seeing lots of talk of families and location tracking, like it’s a bad thing…
…we use it a lot. Helps us all to get context about where a family member is and if a) they are safe b) they might be home soon c) are in a location where they might be able to help us out
Why it’s better to find a real application compatibility fix instead of just giving users admin access:
Interesting thread on app compatibility and avoiding the default action of reducing security just to make it work. Shows the value of app packaging skills too… https://t.co/UnNmJVr2a8
Interesting thread on why encrypted messaging services are hard. TL;DR is that encrypted messages are relatively straightforward, protecting the metadata is the tricky bit https://t.co/xciEE4hYEq
Finally, shipping sunlight for green energy. Not as bonkers as it sounds!
Interesting thread on why encrypted messaging services are hard. TL;DR is that encrypted messages are relatively straightforward, protecting the metadata is the tricky bit https://t.co/xciEE4hYEq
This content is 2 years old. I don't routinely update old blog posts as they are only intended to represent a view at a particular point in time. Please be warned that the information here may be out of date.
This week’s weeknote is short. It’s also a little earlier than usual because today’s my wedding anniversary and I was busy trying to get everything wrapped up before flying away for the weekend…
…so, in chronological order – but all mixed up between work and play:
Two weeks ago I saidOne Day (on Netflix) was a rom-com. Well… maybe not a comedy. A romantic drama? Regardless, we finished the series last weekend. There were tears. Mostly mine. And I highly recommend it for anyone who left uni’ in the UK in the 90s…
After passing my amateur radio foundation exam a couple of weeks ago, I have my callsign from Ofcom. I’m now M7OLN…
Last weekend, I met up with Christian Payne/Documentally (G5DOC) and talked radios among other things over an enjoyable cafe lunch…
I’m having trouble getting into local repeaters on a handheld radio from my place but we worked out my config issues so I know the radio is set up properly.
I can hear the local repeater but I need to put a better antenna up at home. That could be tricky. If only I could safely get closer to this chimney stack…
I’ve also ordered an antenna and window mount for the car. And discovered that there is a radio shop close enough to click and collect (Moonraker).
As a slight tangent from amateur radio (I can’t bring myself to call it HAM), I’ve discovered LoRa and some Meshtastic nodes are on their way. More on what that means when I have them set up…
I now have an identity on the Node4 Microsoft 365 tenant (don’t get me started on how difficult it is to bring multiple organisations into one but I have huge respect for my colleague who is managing this). Judging by the emails I’m receiving, I’m not the first person to have used this alias. I can deal with the emails for trainers and other fashion items… but it seems they were a Manchester United fan too, which is harder to take.
On Tuesday, I recorded a podcast with my colleague Bjoern (in/bjeorn-hirtenjohann). It was great fun and I was very chuffed when the producer, Beth, told me I could have a new career as a radio host. It may have been a joke but I would like to do more of this.
Will Rowe (@MSFTRecruit) made us laugh, a lot, at about recruiters.
I made some great connections.
I learned some cool things about AI prompting from Lydia Carroll (in/lydiacarroll) and about digital ecosystems from Chris Huntingford (@ThatPlatformGuy).
I also did some improv’ – volunteering for an unscripted, 1-2 minute talk on AI, that children would understand. Thanks to Stephanie Stasey (in/missai) for giving me the chance to get out of my comfort zone whilst practicing something I want to do more of – presenting.
I’ve also started to kick some thoughts around about what it means to be technical leader… and how I can encourage others.
And, in a discussion about recognition, someone who will remain anonymous shared this comment with me… I feel seen:
“I’m also an introvert that overcompensates BTW. People confuse my enthusiasm, facilitation, and contribution as me being extrovert. Secretly I’m like a Duracell Bunny using a bad battery – it wears down quite quickly!“
(I was exhausted on Wednesday, after Tuesday’s exploits.)
Thursday ended with an example of when AI chatbots go wrong:
This content is 2 years old. I don't routinely update old blog posts as they are only intended to represent a view at a particular point in time. Please be warned that the information here may be out of date.
Last week’s weeknote was huge.
This week’s weeknote is more… focused.
(I may finally be finding the right balance…)
At work
There have been some changes. A minor re-organisation that brings the Office of the CTO closer to the delivery end of the business – with a renewed focus on innovation and technology leadership. This makes me much happier.
I brokered a successful introduction between a data science contact I made at the recent AWS event and my OCTO colleague who looks after data and analytics.
I did some script-writing as preparation for some podcasts we’re recording next week.
And I published a blog post about the supposed demise of cloud, where apparently lots of people are moving back on-premises because it’s “too expensive”. Hmmm:
Also, because nobody engages with AI blog posts, I made a little observation on LinkedIn:
I spent quite a bit of time working on the ransomware offering that I’ve mentioned a few times now. Once we finalise the cost model I’ll start to shout some more.
And someone actually booked some time with me using my Microsoft Bookings page!
Matt is happy in Spain (for a few weeks), riding his bike in the sunshine and mixing with professionals and amateurs alike.
Two new cyclocross frames arrived last week too, so his bedroom back home looks like a workshop as he prepares for gravel/cyclocross later in the year.
Unfortunately, his groupset is wearing out (the interior components on Shimano 105-spec shifters are fine for leisure riders like me, but not for people who ride more miles on their bike than many people drive). Alpkit were selling off some surplus 105 Di2 groupsets and one is now in our house. The theory being that there’s less to wear out with an electronic groupset. I’m not convinced!
Ben had a great half term holiday with friends in Devon. He’s back home safely now. The Young Person’s Railcard is a wonderful scheme.
And I’m bouncing from day to day, ticking things off lists and generally trying to balance being a good Dad, a good husband, and to get myself back in shape, mentally and physically. Once I’d finished work for the week:
I took myself along to a talk about using multimeters, at one of the local clubs and societies in Olney, which filled a few gaps in my geek knowledge before I caught up with my friend James for a couple of pints.
And I took a ride on a local railway line that’s recently reopened after a year or so with no service. For a few weeks it’s £1 each way between Bedford and Bletchley so I decided to get a different view of the various developments along the Marston Vale. Old brickworks are now energy recovery facilities and country parks, but there’s lots more to see too.
In tech
OpenAI launched a text-to-video model called Sora:
Amazing, yet incredibly scary. We don’t yet have the social constructs to manage how we use (and guard against misuse of) AI. Detecting fake from real images is already hard. It just got significantly more difficult… https://t.co/VigmM3MILV
Whilst I feel for Kate (@katebevan), I’m pleased to see someone else finds these UI features as frustrating as me. See also country dropdowns where I scroll and scroll to get to United Kingdom but someone thought the USA was important enough to put at the top of the list:
Filling in your date of birth is LITERAL VIOLENCE when you're as old as I am and have to scroll back through untold numbers of decades to reach the year you were born pic.twitter.com/EHMA3atAC7
This content is 2 years old. I don't routinely update old blog posts as they are only intended to represent a view at a particular point in time. Please be warned that the information here may be out of date.
The feedback I receive on these weeknotes is generally something like “I’m enjoying your weekly posts Mark – no idea how you find the time?”. The answer is that 1) I work a 4-day week; and 2) I stay up far too late at night. I also write them in bits, as the week progresses. This week has been a bit of a rollercoaster though, with a few unexpected changes of direction, and consequently quite a few re-writes.
This week at work
I had planned to take an extra day off this week which looked like it was going to squeeze things a bit. That all changed mid-week, which gave me a bit more time to move things forward. These were the highlights:
Making a couple of introductions from last week’s AWS re:Invent re:Cap event.
Nudging forward the new service that I’ve been working on, and which I’m itching to write about. A little teaser… it’s all to do with ransomware…
This week away from work
Last weekend
I was cycle coaching on Saturday, then dashed home as my youngest son, Ben, said he would be watching the rugby at home instead of with his mates. England vs. Wales is the most important Six Nations fixture in my family. My Dad was Welsh. He wasn’t big into sport, but, nevertheless I remember watching 15 men in red shirts running around with an oval ball with him. Nikki’s Dad was Welsh too. Even though we were both born in England, that makes our sons two-quarters Welsh. Cymru am byth! Sadly, the result didn’t quite go our way this year – though it was closer than I’d dared dream.
On Sunday, our eldest son, Matt was racing the Portsdown Classic. It’s the first road race of the season and there were some big names in there. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the result he wanted – finding he has the power but is still learning to race – but he did finish just ahead of Ed Clancey OBE, so that’s something to remember.
???? Loved being back in the saddle at the Portsdown Classic after a racing hiatus! Finished 45th – not bad, but a HUGE shoutout to organisers, sponsors, and fellow riders for making it unforgettable. ? #PortdownClassic@VeloUK@BritishContipic.twitter.com/ACFucxCuHp
I’m just glad he avoided this (look carefully and Matt can be seen in white/blue on a grey bike with white decals on the wheels, very close to the verge on the left, just ahead of the crash)
I didn’t see this year’s race as I was working in Derby. Then driving back along the motorway in torrential rain, in time for a family meal. We were supposed to be getting together before Matt flew out to Greece for 10 weeks, but those plans fell apart with 2 days before his outbound flight. Thankfully he’s sorted a plan B but I’m not writing about it until it actually happens!
For a couple of years I’ve struggled to ride with Matt without him finding it too easy (and actually getting cold). I miss my riding buddy, but it was good to hear him say he’d like to ride with me again if I can get back into shape. Right. That’s my chance. Whilst he is away it’s time to get back on Zwift and prepare for a summer on the real bike. I need to lose at least 20kgs too, but that’s going to take a while…
…which reminds me. I must find a way to pull all my information from the Zoe app before my subscription expires.
As last Sunday’s bike race was “only” around 75km, I didn’t have any roadside bottle-passing duties so I took “the big camera” (my Nikon D700 DSLR). Then, I got home and realised my digital photography workflow has stopped flowing. My Mac Mini has run out of disk space. My youngest son, Ben, now uses my MacBook for school. And my Windows PC didn’t want to talk to the D700 (until I swapped cables – so that must have been the issue). It took me a while, but I eventually managed to pull a few half-decent images out of the selection. You can see them below, under “this week in photos”. I love using the DSLR, but do wish it had the connectivity that makes a smartphone so much more convenient.
The Portsdown Classic was my first opportunity to take a hand-held radio to a race. I’d seen spectators using them at other National Races last year but I didn’t have the equipment. I’d asked someone what they used and considered getting a Baofeng UV-5R but didn’t actually get around to clicking “buy now”. Then Christian Payne (Documentally) gifted me a Quansheng UV-K5(8) at Milton Keynes Geek Night. A chat with a friendly NEG rider and a little bit of homework told me which frequencies British Cycling uses. It was fascinating to be able to listen to the race convoy radio, both when driving behind the convoy at the start of the race and then when spectating (at least when the race was within radio range).
I mentioned that Christian had gifted me a radio last December. That was on condition that I promised to take the exam for my RSGB Foundation Licence. Well, I took it this morning and passed. The results are provisional but, assuming all goes well and I get my licence from Ofcom, I’ll write another post about that journey into the world of RF and antennae…
Finally, I wrapped up the week by meeting up with my former colleague, manager, and long-time mentor, Mark Locke. I learned a lot from Mark in my days at ICL and Fujitsu (most notably when I was a wet-behind-the-ears Graduate Trainee in the “Workgroup Systems” consultancy unit we were a part of in the early days of Microsoft Exchange, Novell GroupWise and Lotus Notes; and later working for Mark on a major HMRC infrastructure project); he was the one who sponsored me into my first Office of the CITO role for David Smith, back in 2010; and we’ve remained friends for many years. It was lovely to catch up on each other’s news over a pint and a spot of lunch.
This week in TV/video
My wife and I started watching two new TV series this last week. Both are shaping up well, even if one is a rom-com (not normally my favourite genre):
#VeloMatt was racing the Portsdown Classic today – his first road race of the season, ahead of a couple of months' training overseas. Not the best result but some good stats – and I also accidentally snapped @alexdowsett. Ed Clancy and Alex from GCN were also in the race ???????????? pic.twitter.com/a4Jjfu5AxY
At least one good thing came out of the VMware-Broadcom situation:
Best bit of the conversation when I got home went like this: Amanda – “What the **** are you planning to do with that?” Me – “What part of this looks like I had any kind of plan?” https://t.co/QDIRLT4zjI
The NCSC appears to have rebranded 2FA/MFA as 2SV:
hang on, when did we start calling 2FA "2SV"? It's probably more accurate, but if we use loads of different abbreviations (see also "MFA", multi-factor authentication) then it gets really difficult for actual humans not immersed in security jargon to follow. https://t.co/zs5voZA8S3
The river Great Ouse in Olney saw the biggest floods I can remember (for the second time this winter). The official figures suggest otherwise but they measure at the sluice – once the river bursts its banks (as it now does) the sluice is bypassed through the country park and across fields. The drone shots are pretty incredible.
This is a fantastic project. The pedant in me can almost forgive the errant apostrophe in the final frames of the video because the concept is so worthwhile:
Transport for London decided to rename six formerly “Overground” lines, This is one of the more educational stories about it:
A lovely post on the naming of London Overground lines including tales of how some of the current @TfL map colours were arrived at and the significance of the new names (HT @lisariemers).
As one comment says, the Gospel Oak to Barking LINe will always be the GOBLIN though… https://t.co/wt9e0VjR9I
I have no issue with renaming Underground or Overground lines, but to miss out on calling one 'Wombling Free' is criminal negligence on the part of Transport for London. pic.twitter.com/a6izk9Px44
— The Dobson Family and Colin the Dalek (@DobbersW) February 15, 2024
Or at least some of British Twitter. Those outside the gravitational pull of London were less bothered:
Things you notice when you live/work outside of london: nobody cares what colour the Tube lines are ????
Every now and again, the social networks surface something really wholesome. This week I’ve picked three St Valentine’s Day posts. Firstly, from “the Poet Laureate of Twitter”, Brian Bilston:
For #ValentinesDay, here’s an old poem; as old as they get, in fact.
It’s considered to be the world’s oldest surviving love poem, written 1.5 million years ago by one of our earliest ancestors, homo unrequitus. pic.twitter.com/GtdoIyZl33
The coming weekend will be a busy one. Ben is heading off to the West Country for a few days away with his friends. It’s also Nikki’s birthday… but I won’t spill the beans here about any plans because she has been known to read these posts. And then, hopefully, on Monday, Matt will finally get away to train in a sunnier climate for a while.
Next week is half term but with both the “boys” away it will be quiet. When they are at home, we have the normal chaos of a busy family with two sporty teenagers. When they are away it’s nice to enjoy some peace (and a slightly less messy house), but it sometimes feels just a little odd.
Right, time to hit publish. I have a birthday cake to bake…
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Another week, and lots of positive feedback from colleagues on these weeknotes, so they keep going. This time I’ve written it over the course of the week, rather than in one huge writing session at the weekend. I’m not sure it really helped… it’s still way too long. Anyway, here it is.
(I’m also slightly concerned that some people think I have too much time on my hands. I really don’t. I just stay up too late and don’t get enough sleep!)
This week at work
I struggle to write about work at the moment. I’m doing lots of cool stuff, but I don’t really want to tell competitors what Node4 is developing. Even so, it’s no secret that we’re driving forwards with our Digital delivery (that’s why Node4 bought TNP, risual, Tisski, and ThreeTwoFour) – and public cloud is a big part of that, particularly in the Microsoft space.
My presentation to the Node4 Go To Market community on our public cloud transformation capabilities seemed to go well. And it would be remiss of me not to say that, if you want to know more about how we can potentially help your organisation on its Microsoft Azure journey then I, or my colleagues, would be pleased to have a conversation. Feel free to get in touch on email, or book some time with me.
Beyond that, I joined an interesting call with IDC, looking at the European cloud market in 2024. And I’m just getting involved in a project with some cool tech to help address the ransomware challenge.
Most exciting though is that I’ve submitted a request to join Node4’s Innovate Leadership Development Pathway for 2024. This looks to be a great programme, run over several months, that results in an ILM qualification. The reason I’m excited is that, for the first time in a while, I feel that I’m in a role where I can exploit my leadership potential. I had a career diversion into management, because I thought I needed that experience. Then I got out of it, only to fall back into it (and was very unhappy for quite a long time). Management and leadership are very different things, and over the years I’ve learned that I want to be a leader, not a manager.
Coffees (virtual and IRL)
Much is made of “watercooler moments” as a reason to return to the office (RTO). Well, is there any reason that such moments can’t happen outside the office too?
“Coffee here is a metaphor. A metaphor for being intentional about making space in our working days to create serendipity, build relationships, reflect, have new ideas, share old ideas and a wealth of other benefits that come from conversations without agenda.”
Earlier in the month I had some “coffees” with some colleagues I no longer work with on an daily basis. It was brilliant just to check in and see what they are up to, to keep myself in touch with what’s going on in a different part of the organisation. This week, in addition to some “quick chats” with a couple of my peers, I met several people outside the company for “coffee”. Their roles included: a Chief Evangelist; a Managing Director; and a Digital Transformation Consultant.
One I hadn’t seen since we worked together over a decade ago. Another is part of a “coffee club” that Matt set up to encourage us have a monthly conversation with someone we don’t normally talk to. And one has become a friend over the years that we’ve been catching up for coffee and occasional lunches. My own lack of confidence makes me think “what do I have to add to this conversation”, but invariably I learn things. And I assume that the value of meeting up with no agenda to “just have a chat” goes both ways.
Some of the things we talked about
Our conversation topics were wide and varied. From family life to:
Recognising when to buy services vs. learning to do something yourself.
“Thought leadership” and qualitative vs. quantitative metrics – looking at the “who” not the size of the reach.
Next-generation content management systems.
How localisation is more than just translation – sometimes you might rearrange the contents on the page to suit the local culture.
How UK town centres seem to encourage chains to flourish over independent retailers.
The frustrations of being an end user in a world of corporate IT security (managed devices, classifying information, etc.)
Being proud of your kids.
What travel was like when we were young, when our location wasn’t being tracked, and when our parents must have been super-worried about where we were. (Is the world more dangerous, or just more reported?)
Finding your tribe by showing things in the background on virtual meetings.
Bad service and food vs. great coffee but no space. And on what makes a good English breakfast.
Parenting young adults and supporting their life decisions.
Publishing newsletters, weeknotes, blogs. Owning your own content, and why RSS is still wonderful.
Fountain pens, a place for everything (and everything in its place) – and why I’d like to be more like that… but have to accept I’m just not.
Four day weeks, balancing work, health and exercise (or lack of).
That’s the whole point. No agenda. See where the conversation leads. Get to know each other better. Learn new things. Build relationships.
And all three “coffees” ran out of time!
This week in tech
Here’s something I wrote a blog post about. I had intended there to be more posts, but I overestimated the amount of time I have for these things:
I don’t understand why Google opening a new data centre in the UK this is news. All of the hyperscalers already have data centres in the UK. This is just another one. I’m not sure that they contribute much to the economy though, except maybe in construction and through services consumed (electricity, water, etc.). As for the PM’s statement that “Google’s $1 billion investment is testament to the fact that the UK is a centre of excellence in technology and has huge potential for growth”. Poppycock. It shows there is a demand for cloud computing services in the UK. It’s got nothing to do with excellence.
I found a new setting in Microsoft Teams that makes my video feed look like I’m using a decent camera! It’s so much better than the old background blur.
I was just about to ask my colleagues what fancy webcams they were using. Their blurred backgrounds looked so much better than mine on #MicrosoftTeams calls… then I found this setting! pic.twitter.com/fvDo2znsWN
Reminder: if someone talks about "old people" as a group who don't understand how to do things online, they're thinking about people who've already been dead for a decade or more https://t.co/YGJoQozDad
Parcel delivery firm DPD have replaced their customer service chat with an AI robot thing. It’s utterly useless at answering any queries, and when asked, it happily produced a poem about how terrible they are as a company. It also swore at me. ? pic.twitter.com/vjWlrIP3wn
? "French police officers decided not to investigate a robbery. The robbery would have increased their district’s crime rate that in turn would have cancelled the officers’ end-of-year bonuses." – Frey et al. (2013), Organization Studies#quantifiedsociety#indicatorismpic.twitter.com/kznUxbOs1C
I defo had similar reaction to you and after paying for it I’d say it was interesting but I agree with “Tom, 44” in The Times article. It mostly assumes the food you log has a barcode or is home cooked (difficult when eating out) and I have a backlog of “lessons” creating anxiety
And I have a holiday to look forward to… or at least a mini-break. Mrs W and I have just booked a long weekend in Tallinn for a few weeks’ time…
This week’s watching
After finishing our recent dramas, it was time to start something new. Several people had recommended Lessons in Chemistry (on Apple TV) and we’re really enjoying it. As an aside, we still have a long way to go on diversity, inclusion and equality but, oh my, we’ve come a long way since the 1950s.
This week’s listening
I listen to a lot of podcasts when I’m walking the dog, or when I’m driving alone. The Archers is the first on my list but please don’t judge me.
I also like to listen to The Bottom Line, though sometimes find Evan Davis’ views on modern work to be a little “traditional”. This week’s episode on e-commerce returns was fascinating, though I do wonder why no major UK retailers (e.g. Next, John Lewis) or online-only retailers like Amazon or even Wiggle wanted to take part…
I used to listen to The Rest Is Politics – it’s a great podcast but there is just too much of it – I found the volume of content overwhelming. But I did listen the Rest Is Politics Leading interview with Bill Gates. I was looking for a link to the podcast episode to share, but I found it’s available on YouTube too, so you can watch or listen:
Some of the things I took away from the interview were:
It’s well-known that Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard, but it’s clear he was a very smart kid… he quietly mentions finishing his classes a year early.
I was interested in his responses to tough questions – like asking if his approach at Microsoft was “flattening competition not creating excellence”. And on monopolistic views of the world and how they needed to lower prices to gain market share. Remember the mission was to get a computer onto every desk and into every home.
On his position as a rich and powerful person, and why he follows the philanthropic path that he does of trying to kill malaria rather than direct giving to those in poverty.
On family, the impact he can have on his granddaughter’s future world, and the advantages/disadvantages of growing up with wealthy/famous parents
On the future of AI.
On politicians he admires (and giving very guarded responses!)
His rather odd (IMHO) views on climate change.
On learning from Warren Buffet, and on a lifetime of staying curious.
Maybe that’s what I should call this blog… “staying curious”.
After initially being flattered to be contacted by a major UK newspaper for comment on the importance of public sector work to Fujitsu, I declined to comment. Not sure if it was my media training or common sense, but it feels right. I had already written a brief post on LinkedIn, but a lot will have changed in the time since I left and anything I can remember would already been in the public domain.
More thoughts on the Post Office Scandal
I was going to write about this last week, but I was still reeling from some of the comments I’d received on social media, so thought on for a bit more.
Understandably, this is a very emotive subject. Lives were ruined. Some who were affected took their own lives. It’s nothing short of a tragedy.
Even so, it was upsetting to be told last week on Twitter/X that anyone who has Fujitsu on their CV should never work again (or words to that effect). I was at ICL or Fujitsu for around 16 years over one internship and two periods of employment. In common with most people there, I had nothing to do with (or knowledge of) Horizon, other than knowing of its existence, in a separate business unit. And, in common with most people who saw the recent ITV Drama, I was shocked and appalled.
I can’t defend Fujitsu – but I am going to use someone else’s words, because they sum up the situation about their future in the UK public sector market perfectly for me:
“A lot of innocent people [may] lose work at Fujitsu. All of us who have worked for outsourcing partners will know the nature of contracts means many will know nothing of other ongoing projects. Today many workers at Fujitsu [may] be ‘at risk’ for something they had no control over.”
From a technical perspective, I found this video from Dave Farley to be an excellent explanation of the types of technical issues in the Horizon system that led to accounting errors. Then add in believing the computer over the humans, together with an unhealthy dose of corporate mismanagement (as is being uncovered by the ongoing inquiry), and you get the full horror of the Post Office Scandal.
This week in photos
Looks like I didn’t take many, but I did wrap up the week with a nice dog walk in the winter sunshine.
