Category: Aside

  • Jingle and Mingle should be the Tories’ epitaph

    Jingle and Mingle should be the Tories’ epitaph

    The recent chaos in the political landscape in the UK reached an apogee of sorts this week with a vote in the House of Commons in which members approved the censure of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his literal ex-communication from the seat of power. Last week Johnson resigned as a member of Parliament…

  • WordPress: a poster child for open source accessibility

    WordPress: a poster child for open source accessibility

    Yesterday May 27, 2023, was a milestone date in the history of WordPress, marking the 20th year since the first version 0.70 was publicly released on May 27, 2003. In all, the open-source software has gone through 47 public versions over the past 20 years to its current version 6.2.2, evolving along the way from…

  • How robust will the screen be in the next-gen Galaxy Z Flip foldable phone?

    How robust will the screen be in the next-gen Galaxy Z Flip foldable phone?

    It’s fair to say that the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 foldable smartphone has greatly changed how I use a mobile phone. It’s not just the foldable aspect even though I get a huge kick out of using the Flip 4 for Zoom or WhatsApp video calls where the L-shape I fold the phone into…

  • Bill Gates: the Age of AI has Begun

    Bill Gates: the Age of AI has Begun

    Last week, Bill Gates published a lengthy essay about artificial intelligence and what he believes it heralds for humanity and the world. He introduced his story by recounting what he had witnessed last year with the results of a challenge he had set the team at OpenAI with an AI chatbot model they were developing.…

  • Coca-Cola brings Old Masters to life with AI

    Coca-Cola brings Old Masters to life with AI

    Masterpiece follows the journey of a Coca-Cola bottle from one iconic painting to the next as it makes its way to a thirsty student in need of inspiration. The VFX team at Electric Theatre Collective and creative agency Blitzworks used a mix of live action shots, digital effects and AI to create the commercial and…

  • iPAQ: A leading edge mobile device in its day

    iPAQ: A leading edge mobile device in its day

    Rummaging in my magpie’s nest – aka the cupboard where old gadgets, cables and what not live – I came across this absolute gem: a Compaq iPAQ Pocket PC that was launched in April 2000. My original recollection was that I bought this in 2002. However this model, the 3630, was released in April 2000.…

  • By design or not, Liz Truss sets the scene for why time is up for the Tories

    By design or not, Liz Truss sets the scene for why time is up for the Tories

    Publishing a 4,000-word essay in The Sunday Telegraph is a logical step to take for Liz Truss in her first public outing to set out her case for why and how her term as UK Prime Minister abruptly ended last October after just 49 days when she resigned her office. She was the shortest-serving prime…

  • We’ve got things a bit backwards

    We’ve got things a bit backwards

    Yesterday I shared a post on one of my Twitter accounts linking to an Amberfi blog post that included the image you see here, Pablo Picasso’s “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. My tweet shared the post, but the image in the post was blocked by Twitter…

  • The Galaxy Z Fold 5 could be the foldable worth waiting for

    The Galaxy Z Fold 5 could be the foldable worth waiting for

    Rumours are flying that Samsung will have addressed the problem with the crease in it’s foldable smartphones when the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is expected to be released in August. The Verge is one of many media outlets reporting that Samsung could adopt a “droplet”-style hinge that allows the display to form a teardrop shape…