There’s been some interesting thinking coming out of Dan Hon’s thoroughly excellent daily email newsletter recently around what “smart” devices really are, and I’m inclined to agree with a lot of the thoughts in this particular post.

Or, are my diamond shoes just a bit too tight?

I found myself having a bit of an existential debate (with myself) this weekend — perhaps it’s just the shadow of my impending 39th birthday, but something got me thinking about what it is that I do each day, and whether it’s actually what I want to be doing.

Connected devices, the "Internet of Things", smart watches, and all that jazz.

There have been a raft of articles posted recently that have trumpeted 2014 as the year of the connected device, and yes, this is another one.

You know what? I like it.

It’s a £30 gadget that doesn’t do anything I couldn’t already do with my Xbox360 hooked up to my TV and my home network, but it’s a great bit of kit - compact, easy to set up, and easy to use.

There was a time when every developer job vacancy posted online seemed to be looking for “Rockstar” developers — fortunately it seems to have subsided a little now, but it’s still definitely a “thing” and it needs to be stamped out.

So, the governments of the USA and UK have managed to acquire unwarranted access to pretty much any and all digital communications, and now they can crack encryption?

Scary stuff - apparently the price of freedom was freedom itself.

Or was it?

I went to a university reunion recently - ostensibly to celebrate the 50th aniversary of the founding of York University, but mostly to catch up with the old York RAG crowd with whom I spent most of my 3 years as an undergraduate.

Or, the ethics, etiquette and implicit conventions of emerging social media.

An interesting question came up in my twitter feed earlier today - Does following someone signify endorsement of them / their content, or can it be agnostic and baggage-free interest?

Since I was a kid my only real career aspiration has been to become a Bond-style villain and hold the world to ransom. Is that so much to ask?

What should we make of last nights Question Time appearance by Nick Griffin, head of the controversial BNP?

His appearance on that stage marked a watershed in modern british politics, with mainstream politicians sharing a platform with a man that many consider to be very dangerous indeed, representing as he does an organisation with historic overtones of overt racism, violence, and civil discord.