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Last night a DB saved my life (Part 1)
Every so often, a technology comes along that is magical in how well it works, and transformative in terms of its impact on your work. Wifi was one of those: I *still* remember the first time I used it and the computer that I used it on. There was no going back to cat-5 at…
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The Full Stack: Tools & Processes for Urban Data Scientists
Recently, I was asked to give talks at both UCL’s CASA and the ETH Future Cities Lab in Singapore for students and staff new to ‘urban data science’ and the sorts of workflows involved in collecting, processing, analysing, and reporting on urban geo-data. Developing the talk proved to be a rather enjoyable opportunity to reflect on more…
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Microsoft’s Table-Top Computing: Shades of Mobile 5
I know why I keep expecting Microsoft to produce something useful: they periodically manage to pull themselves together and release an Operating System that is a measurable improvement over its predecessors (e.g. the Windows 98 to XP to 7 trajectory). However, for the most part they have a real knack for developing (or buying) a…
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Robot Wars: Android Off-line Mapping Face-Off
I’ve got a few trips coming up to places where either: a) I don’t want to use data because it will be expensive (i.e. America), or b) I won’t be able to use data because I will have no reception (i.e. Skye). However, in both cases I would like to be able to use my…
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Design by Committee
A while back I upgraded to an HTC Touch (well, technically a T-Mobile MDA Touch Plus) because I wanted to try out a ‘Smart Phone’ and T-Mobile was willing to let me have it for £15 and helped me to adjust my account so that I get ‘unlimited’ (known is the real world as 1GB)…