Today I finally uploaded a PDF copy of my PhD dissertation to lod.ashtonmason.net, my subsite devoted (in a lethargic kind of way) to my uni thesis work. So take a look if you're interested - but be warned that it's 203 pages long...

A good post on the Economist's technology blog about why interest in computing as a school subject is shrinking steadily instead of growing: http://economist.com/blogs/babbage/2010/08/computing_schools

Taken? Taken what exactly? Or where, and by what?

I had a bit of a run in with the owner of my hosting service last night regarding the password retrieval function on their forum.

Since most of my coding at work involves geometric algorithms, I've had some exposure to the limited numerical accuracy of geometric calculations. In this first of potentially several articles I'll try to introduce the problem and describe some of the approaches available in dealing with it.

As a C++ programmer who uses templates a lot, I've often found myself writing something that I call a static class. Roughly speaking, static classes are to types what traditional classes are to data. But the ability to weild them satisfyingly in C++ is hampered by what look like quirky design flaws in the language.

Taking pride of place in our kitchen are a Rancilio Silvia espresso machine and Rocky grinder. Because this combination produces pretty good results, friends in the market for a home espresso machine sometimes ask me what I would recommend.

Next time you're standing at the counter in Caffe Nero, order a single espresso and watch carefully as the big four-group Faema machine pours your shot.