vivweb01blog

  Smartphone/Tablet Apps – Should they be better documented ? It’s a sad fact that many of the Android and iOS apps that I’ve come across in my travels have been poorly documented and leave the novice user perplexed as to how they work…. I began to wonder why this might be the case quite soon after starting to use smartphones & tablets myself. Having authored quite a bit of software over the years (for pcs rather than mobiles), some of which was produced to support work projects and has been extensively used by professional colleagues, I had some prior knowledge of the coding process - and what goes into validating and documenting an app. This provided some insight into why developers might find it hard work to provide full instructions for their apps. It also provided some clues as to why early releases of some apps have a habit of crashing when used by the unsuspecting. I wanted to explore this a bit further, since these are both important issues to address for any app deve...

 I first published this blog in October 2022. Since then, if anything the political wrangling has worsened, and opinion in the UK became even more polarised in the run up to the July election. Many now argue that the results suggested a voting system at odds with the will of the electorate. Time then, perhaps, for a second look at possible alternative systems.... Introduction The events of the past three years, and in particular the last few months, have shown us that UK politics have entered a state of turmoil that we haven’t seen since the 1970s. As an institution, our post-war political system has never been particularly trouble-free, and the increasingly fractious state of our world is placing ever more strain on both the system and those in charge of it. Can anything be done to improve things, and make our politics more resilient in the face of worldwide changes to come ? Why should we change anything ? Radical change in any system should always be carefully considered...

  Having warned of the dangers of a Momentum ‘coup’ for some months now (see link to previous blog), I was intrigued to see the row developing within Labour ranks this week about Diane Abbott’s candidacy (or lack of it) in the forthcoming election. Starmer has been at great pains over the past 2 years to rid the party of all trace of  Corbynite ‘hard left’ influence, realising its catastrophic effect on the party’s electability after the election debacle of 2019. What little doubt there may have been in the voters' minds that he has singularly failed to achieve his eradication objective will have been removed in the past 24 hours. Far from ‘keeping their powder dry’ until Starmer was safely installed in #10 as many predicted, ‘Abbott’s last stand’ has brought Momentum tumbling out of the woodwork and created an almighty row within Labour’s ranks. Some media reports have even likened it to a civil war. Rayner is already 'on the case' for the left, and has defied Starmer ...

  I first published this blog in February 2022, just before Putin's invasion of Ukraine.  A    report   last year of  the possibility of life existing on another planet also presented a good opportunity for a fresh look at the question, which  seems even more relevant now, given the increasingly fragile state of our planet's ecosystem and our own continuing descent into resource-driven conflict. All in all,  perhaps a fitting time to consider whether there might be a possibility of alternative accommodation for humans elsewhere in the universe.... The combination of dimethyl sulphide (DMS), CO2 and methane in the atmosphere of  exoplanet K2-18b is seen as a 'biomarker' - although it does not by any means confirm the presence of life there, it is certainly intriguing. At a distance of 124 light years, however, the possibility of our ever venturing there are slim, to say the least.  Read on to find out why.... ***** Are We Alone in the Uni...