Blogs

How I Became the User a Tech Platform Didn't Expect

Last year, I signed up for a productivity platform because I wanted a better way to organize my work. Like most people, I started with the free plan and explored the basic features without expecting much. Within a few weeks, however, I realized something interesting: the platform had dozens of hidden capabilities that most users never touched.

The more I explored, the more I discovered that software isn't just about the features shown on the homepage. The real value is often buried inside documentation, release notes, settings, keyboard shortcuts, and workflows that very few...

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Liberal economics’ legacy for the planet

Our society today is marked by what we might call ‘excessive liberalisation’. The social and moral limits and controls to human behaviour that have marked previous generations have been eroded or eradicated. This is true in the case of personal ethics where the emphasis on what is apparently good is defined by the short-term effects on an individual person or group. Choices of diet or drink are left to personal choice in which it is assumed that we can all make informed and educated decisions, often based on nothing more than immediate satisfaction or happiness. Any later consequences or...

Homes plan for Feniton questioned after floods

Plans for new homes near Feniton in Devon were today seriously questioned after the village was it by flooding on New Year's Day.

Independent Councillor Susie Bond has written an excellent blog about what happened.

She says in her post:

Along with many others, I was soaked to the skin dashing round the village in an effort to help those who had turned out to keep drains clear. It was metaphorically all hands to the pump (we don’t have any pumps capable of clearing the road).

Water was gushing off the Wainhomes site through the children’s play area, through...

If you can't change The world, at least change Your world!

If you are an athletics fan, you probably know all about the “Fosbury Flop,” a story that tells a world of things about innovation, persistence and a burning desire to win. Dick Fosbury was a good high jumper and he seemed to have reached the maximum height his body could clear. But he kept an open mind and began to experiment with every different way a body could be propelled over the bar. The style he finally developed was different than anyone else had ever seen. The jump is done head first, with the flat of the back clearing the bar and then the knees are drawn up, jackknife fashion....

Failure is a key element of success

Obstacles are the stepping stones of success

A man was walking in the park one day when he came upon a cocoon with a small opening. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through the little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It looked like it had gotten as far as it could, so the man decided to help the butterfly. He used his pocketknife and snipped the remaining bit of the cocoon.

The butterfly then emerged easily, but something was strange. The butterfly had a swollen body and shriveled wings. The man continued...

Lord Mayor's Christmas message

It’s been another eventful year for the city, with the announcement that the Rugby World Cup is coming to Exeter in 2015, putting the city on the world map and giving thousands of fans the chance to see what Exeter has to offer.

Our visitors this year included their Royal Highnesses the Earl and Countess of Wessex, to open the new sport facilities on the Quay and to attend the Two Moors Musical festival concert in the Cathedral. The Cycling Tour of Britain brought Sir Bradley Wiggins speeding through the city on the way to Dartmoor.

I was also privileged to receive and hand...

Dreaming of a green Christmas?

We might like to think we are environmentally friendly but what does it mean when we say we are ‘green’? In reality we probably mean different things which can be seen as a spectrum of colour… So what might this mean if applied to thinking about a low carbon Christmas?

Being Light Green is what might be termed acting in enlightened self-interest by taking small actions that are generally beneficial. For instance, changing to energy efficient light bulbs, turning down the thermostat or heating valves, recycling, wildlife conservation, saving water all help to reduce impact on the...

Mastering the art of managing

Twenty-five hundred years ago a new Chinese emperor took the throne of the Middle Kingdom. Because he was only 18, he called upon the court’s wisest adviser. “O learned sage. O venerable counselor,” said the young emperor, “you advised my grandfather the emperor for many years. What is the single most important advice you can give me now for ruling my kingdom?” And the adviser, who was the famous Chinese philosopher Confucius, replied, “First, you must define the problem.” Certainly sage advice – except most of us don’t have a Confucius to consult. But we can learn plenty from studying the...

Your guide to what's on this weekend

Don't make any plans until you have checked out our essential guide to what's on in and around Exeter this weekend:

THEATRE

English Touring Opera: Agrippina Friday & Saturday, 7.30pm, Northcott Theatre, Exeter Widely regarded as Handel’s first operatic masterpiece, Agrippina stands out for the quality of its music, full of freshness and musical invention. Sung in English. Tickets: £17-£32. www.exeternorthcott.co.uk

A Fool's Proof Friday & Saturday, The Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter A Fool’s Proof takes inspiration from the true story of Jessica McClure, who at...

Exeter Lives: Seth Honnor

Name:

Seth Honnor (@sethhonnor)

What do you do?

I’m the Artistic Director of Kaleider – we work with people from all sorts of backgrounds to design, produce and promote live experiences. And I’m Director of digital arts organisation Albow – we’re the company behind theatredevon.net and wider network and we built my wife’s very lovely madebyhandonline.com In the next few months we’ll be releasing a new events app called thisison.

How would you describe yourself in 5 words?

Wow, really? Too hard. Dreamrunner. (My 11 year old made it up but I only...

To get what you've never had, you must do what you've never done

Pushing the envelope

“Pushing the envelope” is a phrase that originated with American test pilots like Chuck Yaeger and John Glenn in the 1940s. It described max stress situations for the metal skin (“envelope”) of a jet aircraft. In other words, the plane was designed to fly safely up to a certain speed for a certain distance at a certain altitude. The job of test pilots was to “push the envelope” by making the plane go faster, farther and higher. The term “pushing the envelope” came into popular parlance in the blockbuster book and movie (1983) “The Right Stuff.” Naturally, this...

Blogs

How I Became the User a Tech Platform Didn't Expect

Liberal economics’ legacy for the planet

Homes plan for Feniton questioned after floods

If you can't change The world, at least change Your world!

Failure is a key element of success

Lord Mayor's Christmas message

Dreaming of a green Christmas?

Mastering the art of managing

Your guide to what's on this weekend

Exeter Lives: Seth Honnor

To get what you've never had, you must do what you've never done

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