Finding the chase and cutting to it

The past five weeks have had some interesting learning code wise 🙂 Normally, smime messages are signed with the public key signature embedded in the message.  It allows quick and simple verification of who has sent the message and whether that signature is valid against a root certificate.  The root certificate is typically held in […]

One of the things you forget as you get older is when certain things not only kick in (legal sex. cigarette smoking and drinking) but also that you not only have the means to prove your identity easily (credit cards are always my fav. as legally you cannot have a credit card in your name […]

Doesn’t sound like you!? Mid-March, I  found myself in the position of taking on a team which was considered failing (doing amazingly clever stuff, but not delivering to time scales).  Great people and coders but not measuring up to expectations.  Which wouldn’t have been so bad, but I was heading out on leave for 3 […]

Not many people know this, but I am an European first, British second and English third. As someone living in the UK, that doesn’t come close to describing me, but it is at least a start.  I believe in free speech, the politeness of an orderly queue and in driving on the left hand side […]

As a working engineer, may I say a big thank you to the recession.  (Slightly tongue in cheek). No longer will managers have doubts that women on their return to work from maternity leave need to be there.  The house price boom, university fees and the multitude of other direct incentives to holding down a […]

Not interesting, so what? I’ve had a couple of interesting conversations.  As a graduate, when I left university, I did’t expect to be having great conversations as a 43 year old.  I was very wrong. Please find the chase! Sorry.  My endocrinologist was a young lady which in 39 years was the first time (at […]

I mean it.  If you live in the UK, you have 2 hours 49 minutes left to exercise your democratic right. I don’t have time? We walked the half mile to the voting station, there and back, registered, filled in the ballot paper and posted it in the box.  37 minutes including going and getting […]

Actually that’s a little unfair, I have been considering this for a while but the resolution harden at 1:04am this morning. In 2002, I bought my first insulin pump and it was nearly perfect.  Unfortunately, its design based around an insulin pen cartridge is not a profitable one for any manufacturer, so I now cannot […]

Being a type 1 diabetic puts me in a reasonably unique position as far as NHS prescriptions matter. If my insulin was re-branded tomorrow, my prescription with the old name would still be valid as it is describing a medicine.  In fact, under UK and European law, we now order medicines via their generic names […]

I’ve just spent some time catching up with the comments made to my blog. Thank you so much for your enthusiasm! Rather than reply to the five most common questions in line, I am going to reply in a post. The power of words People all over the world have many talents.  I’m OK with […]