News - Diary Of An ADI

Year Of Code

24/02/2014

Over the last couple of weeks, there has been a lot of media coverage concerning the so-called Year of Code (YoC) – an initiative in the UK to promote computing education in our schools. Before I talk about that, let’s just take a small detour.

Also in the news this week were reports of the passing of Ian McNaught-Davis. It’s likely that no one under the age of 30 (possibly even older) would have had a clue who he was, but back in the early 80s he was the presenter of The Computer Programme, a BBC series which aimed to teach basic (and BASIC) programming to the masses using the BBC Micro (two more shows followed: Making The Most Of The Micro and Micro Live). Altogether, this amounted to about 5 full series running between 1982 and 1987.

To be fair, only the first two series in this run during 1982-83 dealt predominantly with coding, and by the time of Micro Live in late 1983-87 the BBC had already started on its course of diluting technical content. Micro Live was more of an early “gadget show” than a programming one.

Dumbing down aside, McNaught-Davis effectively helped create the technology we have today. His presentation skills and knowledge spawned a generation of coders who shaped the modern computer world as a direct result of those early TV shows.

But running in parallel, ever since that early peak in technical TV programming, the UK has been on a gradual downward slope. In many ways, the BBC has been both creator and destroyer – what it created in 1982, it has been destroying since 1983 with the trend towards consumerism and dumbing everything down. I’ve mentioned before that science shows like Horizon have been ruined by the removal of raw technical content, replacing it with pointless topics, childish narrative, annoying sound bites, and repetitive video effects loops. Well, technology programming has been treated in precisely the same way – all technology coverage nowadays has to be packaged to appeal to the lowest common denominator of viewer. The only way that can be achieved is by broadcasting endless “gadget shows” about mobile phones and mobile phone games.

Going back to the original topic, YoC has got a hell of a task ahead of it if it wants to turn 30 years of progressive ignorance into technological skill inside a year. So the big question has to be: does it have a chance?

Well, it’s worth taking a look at the bottom of the YoC website to see who the guiding lights of the organisation are. Not specifically their names, but their job titles. To start with, there are 28 of them on the YoC foundation’s board. Over half of those are simply listed as “founders” of various obscure websites. Several are venture capitalists, several are representatives from companies like British Gas or newspapers like The Guardian. The two leaders – Chairman and Executive Director (ED) – are listed as “entrepreneur in residence” and “founder, Million Jobs Campaign”. It isn’t exactly a Who’s Who of technology whiz kids.

The ED is Lottie Dexter. and much has been made in the technology media about an appearance she made on BBC’s Newsnight. In it, she said that being able to code was vital to understanding how the world works – but then admitted she couldn’t code herself. The segment is here:

When I watched it my first thought was that they were deliberately focusing on women. Now, we all know that the IT industry is – and always has been – staffed predominantly by males, Depending on your source, the best male:female ratio is 2:1, and as little as 10:1 (when I worked in IT, out of 600 people on the shop floor there were less than a dozen females). It is only higher when you move away from the sharp end and into the administrative side. There is a damned good reason for that: in general, men want to do IT and women don’t. People have got to learn to live with it instead of trying to change it. No one is stopping women becoming techie geeks. It’s just that they don’t bloody well want to (no one whinges about the fact that in nursing, for example, the ratio of women to men is 10:1). The biggest worry for me, therefore, is that YoC is yet another equality drive pretending that it isn’t. And even if it isn’t, there are plenty of unbalanced people out there who will try to make sure it is.

Then we come to Lottie Dexter, the figurehead of YoC. She appears at about 5½ minutes into the segment, and the first thing she reveals to Jeremy Paxman is that she cannot code herself. Paxman expresses surprise at this, and at the fact that she aims to learn “within a year”. She further claims that the teachers who are going to teach coding can “pick it up within a day”. As the interview proceeds, with Paxman doing what he’s good at, it becomes clear that Dexter is basically a one-trick puppy. I lost count of the number of times she uses the word “code” – many times in the wrong context. For example, she considers website design as “coding”, and clearly believes that graphic design is part of that. It isn’t that simple.

The article in The Register asks:

So what made Silva [the chairman] choose Lottie Dexter to lead the initiative? It’s hard to tell. She completed her politics degree in 2010 and formerly worked as the PR chief for the Conservative think-tank founded by Iain Duncan-Smith, the Centre for Social Justice. The only other work experience she cites on her LinkedIn page is as a campaigner: director of the “Million Jobs” campaign, a “charity” that spontaneously emerged to support government-friendly business policies.

After identifying Dexter as an empty vessel as far as coding is concerned, it goes on to question the already criticised “incestuous relationships” involved in the scheme. It would appear that Silva occupies a post that was created for him by Saul Klein, a partner in the venture capital firm Silva is part of. Klein is also on the board of many of the companies listed in the 28 YoC members. Incestuous isn’t the word. The phrase “jobs for the lads” springs to mind.

Dumbing down over the last three decades has resulted in people like Lottie Dexter – loud and pushy, photogenic, female, but having no substance whatsoever. These are the kinds of people that society is looking for to head ideas like YoC. Those who have the real skills – people like Ian McNaught-Davis, who could teach from the ground up in a clear and concise way – no longer stand a chance.

Mind you, you have to remember that one of the prerequisites of being a techie geek is a complete absence of interpersonal skills – in fact, this trait is often what turns people to coding in the first place. One comment on the YouTube page says:

This woman thinks that you can teach coding after a day of learning.

Ok – let’s hear her views on design patterns, abstraction, polymorphism, programming to the interface, loose versus tight coupling, functional programming languages, declarative programming languages, garbage collection etc. etc.

The problem is that children have NEVER been taught that sort of thing, nor is it (or should it be) the intention to start doing it now. Many of today’s older coders learned their skills from the likes of Ian McNaught-Davis, and all you have to do is look at one of the episodes of The Computer Programme to see that the content was very basic (and the people much less photogenic). But it got the message across and it kick-started a million careers in IT.

And it is this level of information – if it were taught in schools – that could kick-start a million more.

Speed Limit Signs… Or Not, As The Case May Be

20/02/2014

DOAADI

ADI, News, Transport

This story raises an interesting point. A Gloucestershire driving instructor is bemoaning the absence of speed limit signs on a local dual carriageway. Basically, there are speed limit signs – but these occur before a roundabout, and there are no subsequent repeater signs after it.

We have quite a few such roads in Nottingham. The regulations say that small repeater signs should be placed at appropriate intervals, but as long as there is a main sign to indicate where the limit comes into force then no rules are being broken. Usually, repeater signs are missing because someone has forgotten to put them back after road works or the replacement of lights which have been damaged in accidents.

If you look at the photo accompanying the story from the Gloucester Citizen, the street lighting in the background is the new “energy efficient” kind.

I’d lay odds that before this lighting was put in there would have been repeaters, and whoever authorised/planned the lighting upgrade was responsible for not replacing the signage to the same standard. It’s a script played out by councils up and down the country.

It isn’t just speed limits, either. This one around here uses the mini-roundabout sign to warn of an upcoming mini-roundabout.

As far as I’m aware, it should be the red and white triangle sign that warns of an upcoming hazard. The blue mini-roundabout sign is supposed to say “here it is, so give way as necessary”. In fact, just round that bend there’s another blue circle correctly placed at the actual roundabout.

Then there’s this roundabout which is on test routes. Note the blue circle with the arrow – which denotes that you should “keep to or pass on the left”.

All the signs on all exits of that roundabout are the same. They should be a horizontal left-pointing arrow which denotes that you should only “turn left”.

Indirectly it is a dumbing-down problem. Specifically, dumbing-down has resulted in people who are too dumb to put the correct signs back up when they take them down or install new road layouts.

The problem is even worse in road works – and Nottingham is the Road Works Capitol of the World.

I’m not convinced it is specifically a problem for learners, as is claimed in the original article. It’s the same for everyone. In fact, learners should have it easier if they have a good instructor to explain it to them. However, it sometimes takes several trips on the same route to figure these things out, and that can’t be right.

This Story Makes Me So Mad!

20/02/2014

DOAADI

ADI, Education, News

He’s a nice story about a young girl who passed her driving test – after being told she’d never even pass her theory test.

However, the story makes me angry for a number of reasons. First of all, dyslexia is absolutely no bar whatsoever to either passing the theory test or to being a safe driver once you have. At worst, it is an obstacle which has to be overcome (it’s pretty obvious that difficulty in reading or comprehending words is going to be an issue, but it doesn’t have to be a terminal one).

Dyscalculia isn’t something I have any direct experience of as far as I am aware. I have quite a bit of experience teaching dyslexic pupils, but for all practical purposes dyscalculia is simply “dyslexia with numbers instead of words”. Apparently, about half of all dyslexics are dyscalculic as well, although dyscalculia can be manifest by itself, so I have probably experienced it without realising.

I find that a significant number of my pupils either have dyslexia, or have been tested for it for specific reasons while they’ve been at school. Some are only “mildly” dyslexic, whereas one or two have been severely so. I always point out that many famous – and very successful – people have been dyslexic, and it didn’t stop them. My favourite one – though not many pupils have heard of her these days – is the case of Susan Hampshire, who was a famous actress when I was growing up.

So it is both surprising and very frightening that in the 21st century someone like Abigail Elstone should have apparently been written-off so early in her life (when she was seven) by the system.

Incompetence And Your Driving Licence

16/02/2014

DOAADI

ADI, Bad Drivers, Driving Tests, News, World

This story from Australia is interesting. It refers to a woman, Michelle Leanne Thiele, who – twice in seven years – caused the death of other drivers by failing to give way at the same junction.

Deputy Coroner Anthony Schapel found Thiele was an incompetent driver who probably failed to look before she drove into the intersection.

She had five other serious traffic offences to her name. Her licence was revoked in 2010 and she has been denied even the opportunity to obtain a learner licence since then. She has appealed, and in its response the Motor Vehicle Act Review Committee said:

While the committee is of the view that you may be technically competent to operate a motor vehicle and you may pass a practical driving test if required to do so, it was not satisfied that you addressed and overcame your tendency for complacency and inattention to road rules.

The committee was not satisfied that issuing you with a learner’s permit subject to conditions requiring further technical driver training would necessarily address those attitudinal issues. The committee is not persuaded by the materials for consideration that the risk of you causing injury or death by accident to a member of the community was low.

Wow! Why can’t we have officials like that over here?

It’s a serious point. There are drivers out there who really shouldn’t be on the road, yet in the UK we absolutely never do anything about it other than maybe ban them for a short time. Oh, there are people at the end of their driving careers who – through reasons of deteriorating mental health just can’t handle a car anymore – who occasionally lose their licences, but even they would be allowed back on the roads if they passed their tests again. There is no competence-based assessment of someone’s suitability to be on the road in the first place – just the basic driving test.

In Australia, Thiele is quite rightly denied even that opportunity, and the reason given is basically incompetence when it comes to the practical part of driving. She is appealing further and the hearing is due next month.

Mind you, back in this hemisphere there have been recent rumblings in the EU about some sort of pre-licence assessment. Unfortunately, these have been of a psychometric nature – and anyone who has ever worked in industry will be fully aware of the pitfalls of psychometric testing – which is right up the alley of the current crop of coaching advisors and lifestyle coaches.

Ironic "Tram Update"

13/02/2014

DOAADI

General, News, Transport

I had a political flyer through the door today, and I couldn’t help but laugh at the “Tram Update” in flowery script from Jane Urquhart – the imbecile directly responsible for the tram at this point in time. One line in particular is worth quoting:

All shops will continue to be open as usual during the works.

Sorry, Jane, but you are totally and utterly wrong. The Clifton Chinese on Varney Road and Michael’s Fresh Bake at the top end of Clifton won’t be. Both of those went bust as a direct result of your beloved tram. Outside Clifton, there have been others forced to close. Many others are almost bankrupt, and there’s no guarantee they’ll recover. They’ll certainly never recoup what they’ve lost, and it’s all thanks to the tram and whoever has been its mouthpiece during its construction.

Indeed, Urquhart’s cronies at NET are apparently just as bad when it comes to idiotic and misinformed rhetoric. In that link concerning the Beeston florist, they are quoted:

If the owners of the Greenfingers Flower Shop believed the tram works were affecting the business, we could have looked into it, but they have not been in touch with us.

What a complete and utter arrogant twat. Maybe NET should have looked at completing the work ahead of time instead of allowing it to fall many months behind. What does he think NET could have done? Given the shop keeper a skip full of money? Because that’s the only thing that will work if you have been stupid enough to close a road off for a year, then incompetent enough after that to extend the closure by half as much again.

The tram is a complete screw up. You can make up your own mind about those who are responsible for building it.

How To End A Career: II

13/02/2014

DOAADI

ADI, Bad Drivers, News

Last November I mentioned a driving instructor who had been measured at twice the legal alcohol limit while conducting a lesson. Well, here’s another instructor who chose a more creative way of throwing away all the hard work getting a green badge in the first place.

Andrew Paton from Aberdeenshire claimed he needed to get to a toilet urgently. He appears to have been about 3-4 miles away from his chosen lavatory location when he was observed undertaking a car, braking sharply, then passing a police patrol at 86mph. He accelerated up to 120mph at one point. Police commented:

This is a ‘professional’ driver that should have known better.

Note the use of inverted commas around the word “professional”. Ironically, the area this occurred in is extremely rural, and it happened last April – so the trees would have had some leaves for cover. He could have stopped in any one of a number places if he was that desperate.

Bearing in mind he was apparently clocked at 86mph and then 120mph by police, he denied these charges – precisely why is a mystery.

He was disqualified for two years and fined £350. A great way to end a career – assuming that the DSA removes him from the Register.

UK Floods: Now The Thames Is Involved, It’s Personal

12/02/2014

DOAADI

General, Nature, News

When the Somerset Levels got flooded, government response was low-key and sluggish. Now that the “beloved” Thames is brimming over – though not to anything like the extent of rivers down in Somerset – that jackass Cameron is walking around trumpeting that “money is no object”. Funny how it was an object two weeks ago, when Lord Smith said there wasn’t a bottomless purse. But hey, as I said: it’s the Thames, now. So it’s personal.

The media is even publishing photos showing a few centimetres of water in the gardens of multi-million pound properties along the Thames (this one is in Wraysbury).

Meanwhile, in Somerset, many properties are literally waist deep in water (as shown in this picture). Guess where this suggests the money ought to be spent.

To make matters worse, the Environment Agency has had to withdraw staff from Wraysbury because the local morons with the collective IQ of a tadpole decided to direct abuse and intimidation at EA workers.

It’s not clear what form this abuse took, but it appears to have been of a physical nature.

Let’s get a few things straight, here. I absolutely detest this government, but there is nothing it – or any of its agencies – could have done to avoid these floods.

No amount of dredging would have prevented the Somerset flooding. And the flooding on the Thames has bugger all to do with anything. It’s just shit that happens, as the saying goes. Let’s face it: if you’re going to spend the money you made being a plumber buying a semi-mansion next to a big river to park your white van outside of, you’re partly responsible if it gets flooded out. Floods happen. Especially near rivers.

Apart from the fact that a lot of water has fallen, by far the biggest problem is idiot councils building on flood plains and creating extra run-off. But quite how significant even this is isn’t known.

Avoiding A Ban By Deed Poll

12/02/2014

DOAADI

Bad Drivers, News

Old post!

Another candidate for the 2014 Darwin Awards, I think. Ronald Murray, 34, was banned from driving for two years back in 2011 for dangerous driving. Then, in 2012, he changed his name to Paul Murray and took and passed a driving test.

He was stopped by police some time later – whatever it was he was stopped for was serious enough to warrant them taking fingerprints – and his previous identity confirmed. He continued to drive while on bail and then had a “minor” accident outside a school. His response to this was to drive off at speed on the wrong side of the road, and over a crossing (with red lights) which had people on it.

Remember also that by doing what he did, he was effectively driving uninsured through all of it, since his insurance would have become void the instant his true identity was verified. He was initially stopped because the BMW he was driving showed no insurance. In the school crash he was driving another BMW – his choice of car provides a lot of background to the type of person he is.

After being bailed a second time he attempted to make a fraudulent insurance claim using a forged no-claims document. It was later revealed that Murray has form going back to 1997, with offences involving deception, and seven involving driving while disqualified.

Murray – who has to be the current front runner in the Darwin Awards this year – pleaded guilty to:

dangerous driving
driving while disqualified (two charges)
having no insurance (two charges)
fraud (four charges)
making an article for use in fraud
possession of the drug Diazepam

Now – and wait for this… in spite of his lengthy record stretching back to when he was 17, and in spite of the absolute deluge of recent criminal acts on his part, his defence lawyer Katya Saudek said in mitigation:

This is a peculiar case. This is a man who, unlike many people who want to drive while disqualified, did not simply get into a car and drive.

He made efforts to get legal, but in doing so committed these offences.

Or in other words, he committed fraud to stay legal, which Saudek seems to believe should somehow be lauded. Remind me never to choose her as my defence.

Murray was jailed for three years and five months.

Nonsense About Advanced Driving Qualifications

12/02/2014

DOAADI

ADI, Driving Tests, News, Training

This is an old article, and I have edited it to my more recent style. I have not changed it, though.

IAM (the Institute of Advanced Motorists) is at it again. In poll it has commissioned, it reveals that “only 60% of drivers concentrate when they are behind the wheel”. The IAM chief executive comments:

Signs of not concentrating such as missed turnings or uncancelled (sic) indicator lights are commonplace. Simply not concentrating is a key cause of crashes yet it is not borne out in statistics because drivers rarely admit to it in police reports or on insurance forms.

What he’s saying is that out of a poll of 1,500 people – who are at liberty to lie as much as they want and will if it makes them look good – is more accurate than factual data. And the facts do not tally with the inane poll.

Everyone loses concentration occasionally, and if 60% of drivers claim they don’t then they are either liars, or they didn’t understand the question. IAM is muddying the waters with nonsense like this.

Then, another story refers to two brothers who have recently got IAM certificates. The article quotes their mother:

Knowing my two boys are that much safer on today’s dangerous roads is a huge reassurance. Lots of young people pass the DOT’s (sic) standard test by the skin of their teeth and go around thinking they’re fantastic drivers, so the fact James and Ben have the IAM certificate makes me feel 100 per cent better.

An IAM certificate does not make you a good driver. And it is suicidal to go around thinking that you are a good driver, especially if you lack experience.

It’s great that these two lads have a positive attitude about driving. But it is precisely that – their positive attitude – which their lack of experience could end up exploiting. An IAM certificate for these two lads is as worthless as the “DOT” one the mother deriding. Experience is the key, with caution while you are gaining it. Experience does not fall down like manna from heaven just by taking an IAM test. It is acquired over many years. This is indirectly confirmed by IAM:

[IAM] Group secretary Denara Holmes says it’s unusual for people younger than this to take the IAM test.

Yes, because it is pointless for them. It’s just a badge they can wear. Without experience, advanced assessments are a waste of time.

Advanced driving courses and certificates are not a panacea by a long mile. It becomes irritating that those who take them almost invariably end up decrying the normal driving test and, by implication, people like me who work bloody hard to teach people to drive.

In spite of what “Ben” (one of the boys involved) says, driving lessons do not “just teach you to pass the test”. They put you in a position to go out and safely gain experience, and that has always been the purpose of the driving test. It’s the first step on a lifelong learning curve – and you are not at the end of that curve merely because you did an IAM test!

Taking an IAM test and getting the official customised Zimmer frame as a reward may well be part of that learning curve for many, but the normal driving test is right at the front of it. You can’t do the IAM test before it and doing it just after is absolutely pointless – except to gain some sort of badge. Indeed, a lot of information is missing from this story, and it wouldn’t surprise me in the least to discover that a Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme was involved somewhere.

DSA And VOSA Merger “End User Device Contract” To Cost £12m

11/02/2014

DOAADI

ADI, Computers & Tech, DSA, News

Back in December 2013 I reported that the upcoming merger between DSA and VOSA – which was supposed to save money due to streamlining – was planning to spend £35m by contracting someone “to help manage and organise the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency’s (VOSA) and Driving Standards Agency’s (DSA) legacy IT infrastructure after the two organisations merge in 2014”.

Well, if I’m reading this right, they are now looking for someone to support their IT after the merger. This appears to be a completely separate issue, and is set to cost a further £12m for at least two years.

Remember that this is not the DSA’s or VOSA’s fault. It is the government.

As I said previously, there is no way the DSA can perform at its current level by merging with VOSA (and ditto for VOSA). They are totally separate functions. This was made all the more apparent when I realised that VOSA uses Lotus Notes for its email system, whereas DSA uses Microsoft Exchange.

The company I used to work for switched from Microsoft to Lotus at one stage, and it was utter chaos. Lotus Notes is a pile of crap on so many fronts that its benefits are completely eclipsed. It appeals only to Microsoft-haters just on principle, and anyone switching from the logical Microsoft system is going to have a nightmare adapting to the illogical Lotus one if that’s the route they go down – and since VOSA is the dominant body in the merger, that route is quite likely.

Category - News