Author Archives: Charles

How smart is your home?

Named after the Butler in Batman, Alfred promises to be a solution for all smart home enthusiasts like myself by integrating all my devices into a single platform. No more will I have to search for the Philips Hue app to control my lights, the Belkin or Geo apps to control my power sockets, or the Nest app to control my heating – Alfred can control all of my smart devices from a single interface…

Data and the war between Business and IT

Have you ever been caught in the cross-fire between the Business and IT? Do IT have too much power, do they not understand the needs of users? Are the Business a dangerous maverick bunch who should be restricted, controlled, and monitored – prevented from straying outside governance and policy? You decide.

Review of Blockchain: Blueprint for a New Economy, by Melanie Swan

A blockchain is a transaction ledger where groups of transactions are encoded into ‘blocks’ then ‘chained’ together and distributed across the network. There are a number of features that make it special, in particular the fact that the blockchain is massively distributed.

One Way Track

Why can’t we automate the London Underground (and other mass transport networks)? Is safety really at risk, or is this just a smokescreen from the Unions? Could the threat of automation dissuade workers from taking industrial action in the future…?