What I’ve been reading

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. Civility in service | Public Strategist – "Civil servants should understand the constraints they accept as part of the job. They – and everybody else – should understand the limitations…

What I’ve been reading

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. Google’s Chromebook set to transform how we think about computers | Technology | The Observer – “On 15 June, Google will officially take the next step on its road to…

Future of local gov IT strategy

Gotta love blogging local government types. Great post here from Warwickshire County Council’s Jim Morton about their developing IT strategy. My favourite bit: 1. Embrace the practice of using ICT as a Utility: It is now possible to consume software,…

A Masters in Public Technology?

Tom Steinberg: There is barely a not-for-profit, social enterprise or government body I can think of that wouldn’t benefit from a Duncan Parkes or a Matthew Somerville on the payroll, so long as they had the intelligence and self-discipline not…

The end of the IT department

37 Signals’ David Heinemeier Hansson: When people talk about their IT departments, they always talk about the things they’re not allowed to do, the applications they can’t run, and the long time it takes to get anything done. Rigid and…

Bookmarks for October 3rd through October 19th

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. Solace 2010 write up; Localism, hash tags and a reflection on priorities – Great write up from Catherine Howe. Thriving too: Big Society: Yours Mine and Ours – "So how…

Back to school

I’ve just registered to do some proper studying – for the first time since I left university in 2001. It’s through the Open University, and the qualification is a BSc (Honours) Technology. I’m entirely self taught when it comes to…

My setup

One of my favourite bits of technology porn is Shawn Blanc’s series on sweet Mac setups. It basically just gives dorks like me an opportunity to drool over other people’s kit. But there’s another purpose to this, which is that…

Recording and transforming

Some great stuff recently from Public Strategiest. Firstly, on records management in the digital age: Finding things again remains a challenge: Rosenberg’s argument about entropy and Lapping’s about the need to manage not just current formats but obsolete ones and…