Some notes on Identity and Identification

Here are some excerpts from the identity article that I mentioned yesterday, in case you find it useful for your work. For context, I should say that, at the time, I was working on my PhD investigating money laundering detection systems, and that I wrote an opinion piece about identify fraud detection systems. Identity The … Continue reading Some notes on Identity and Identification

Of tea and serendipity

Today, over tea, I was talking with someone about how the way that others see us can be so different from how we see ourselves. The focus of the conversation was national identity, and what place we call ‘home’. That conversation reminded me of an article that I wrote nearly 10 years ago, where I … Continue reading Of tea and serendipity

October round-up

This month I did not manage to finish (and submit) a journal article; I learned that I was not shortlisted for a fellowship that I had applied for, and my inbox has practically exploded. But, it wasn’t all bad news. These are some of the highlights from October. Researching I may have failed to be … Continue reading October round-up

New book ‘Social Media in Social Research: Blogs on Blurring the Boundaries’

Today is the day. It’s the launch of the book ‘Social Media in Social Research: Blogs on Blurring the Boundaries’, to which I contributed a chapter on using social media for qualitative research. The book was curated by Kandy Woodfield and is original in that she invited a broad range of social research experts to … Continue reading New book ‘Social Media in Social Research: Blogs on Blurring the Boundaries’

Advice for creating short video presentations?

I was searching for some materials for my lecture, and came across the video below, summarising an academic journal article that I use in my teaching, and which I blogged about here. I really, really liked this video. The camera follows a woman walking in a busy high street, while a female voice-over talks about … Continue reading Advice for creating short video presentations?

Counting the days until January

I am not one to wish away time but, boy, I am sooo looking forward to January!!! The reason I am looking forward to 2015 is that I have some study leave scheduled for the first part of the year. A sabbatical. According to this dictionary, sabbatical is an "extended period of leave from one's … Continue reading Counting the days until January

The writing group

It’s the ultimate irony: as an academic, you need to write to get promoted (or to even keep your job). Yet, doing the job leaves you no time for writing. So, you just agonise in silence, thinking that everybody else is managing this whole thing better than you. An effective counter-measure to these feelings and … Continue reading The writing group

A marketing take on payment technologies

Last month, the Bank of England published a very interesting article about payment technologies and, in particular, the evolution of digital currencies like Bitcoin. You can access it here, and I warmly recommend that you read it: it’s an easy read, it provides a useful overview of the evolution of payment systems, and is a … Continue reading A marketing take on payment technologies

The old phone

The 7yo found this phone in the bottom of a drawer. He has been playing with it for a few days and, today, he asked: But how did you write in it? I explained about clicking on a key once to get the first letter, twice to get the second one, etc... He insisted: No, … Continue reading The old phone