Dr Martin James

In the final few years of my PhD I became determined to limp across the line with the tech I started with. We were a team, me & 3 inanimate objects that I sat staring at for 1,000s of hours. It would have seemed wrong to drop any of them towards the end of the…

The big day has finally come: my trusty work computer has been replaced. It will now take up a new role as the main computer in my gym/garage. My red Toshiba has been a total work horse. I wrote my PhD on it, I developed this website on it and I used it for every…

Alas the Tabby Terror’s Winter Palace is complete. It comprises a wooden house, a fancy bed, a high-tech self-heating mat and a cosy blanket. I have also secured a cat sized hot water bottle but it’s not cold enough for that yet. This brings me to the aesthetic touches which include an illuminated tree and…

It’s widely noted that our rich inheritance of ash trees is gravely threatened in the UK. “Ash dieback” has arrived in the country from overseas, spreading rapidly. As the article below highlights, recent weather patterns have only acted to help it along. I’m lucky enough to have an adult ash in my back garden and…

For those of us who have indulged in higher education, we have probably spent more time dwelling on the meaning of words than is ordinarily so. Academia is often a game of (relative) triviality and minutiae, with careers made by branding a particular take on identity or subjectivity or whatever else. A word that I…

It’s not completely finished but the vision is coming together nicely. Cat has already made the most of the opportunity as you can see.

The differences between men and boys are few and are often exaggerated. Both play with toys for example, only the type of toy changes in accordance with age-related structural and social factors. Here’s my latest toy (a leaf sucker) in action this morning… 🙂