iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 31/08/2026

Even though it's not an "official" thing any more, I still like to observe #ScrollFreeSeptember, so I'll "see" you in October!

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 31/08/2026

#ScrollFreeSeptember is about to begin, but I'll still update this page with any interesting things that I find. www.advanced-ict.info/theory/impac...

advanced-ict.info

Search Impact Stories

Search the impact stories Database.

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 31/08/2026

We've just been to see Toy Story 5. It was a bit far-fetched in places - who reverses their car into the garage? It reminded me why the phone and social media bans are a good idea, though.

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 29/08/2026

About three months ago I bought a light jacket for those cooler summer moments - evenings on the coast, etc. It's still got the tags on, but today might finally be the day that it gets its first outing.

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 29/08/2026

Hits from Google searches - we're definitely going back to work!

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 29/08/2026

Using a device using an ARM processor? ARM was originally the Acorn RISC Machine. Here is a profile of Acorn from 1982 - I still have my Electron, but it didn't trouble the Spectrum. #TeamCompSci archive.org/details/your...

archive.org

Your Computer Magazine (September 1982)

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Reposted by Computing in a Nutshell

Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

“Dutch people cycle an average of 2.6km each per day. If this pattern was replicated worldwide, annual carbon emissions would drop by 686 million tonnes. This mammoth figure exceeds the entire carbon footprint of most countries, including the UK, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Australia.” @euronews.com

euronews.com

Cycling like the Dutch would slash the world’s carbon footprint

If everybody cycled like the Dutch, we could offset the UK or Australia’s entire carbon footprint.

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 29/08/2026

"Computer science... is the study of two central questions...: 'What can be computed, and how do you compute it?'" I'm probably more in the Donald Knuth camp, but I'm happy with that definition. #TeamCompSci www.quantamagazine.org/does-compute...

quantamagazine.org

Does Computer Science Need Computers? | Quanta Magazine

The theoretical side of the field doesn’t require computing machines. But many questions would never have been posed without them.

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 29/08/2026

It's nice weather for staying in and telling the time.

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 29/08/2026

You can write an email, you can use a search engine, stop deskilling yourself. You might not have the IT/artistic skills to make your house look like gingerbread, but do you need to do that?

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 28/08/2026

If you're looking for a bit of a change this coming year, I've linked pages to the specification. You don't need to use it all, just bits that you think might enhance understanding. It's all I use for GCSE, apart from past paper questions. www.advanced-ict.info/theory/GCSE/...

advanced-ict.info

Resources for teaching OCR J277 content

Resources from this site mapped to the OCR J277 specification

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 28/08/2026

How do flies breed when you only get one at a time? Does it have secret, night-time liaisons with your neighbour's fly?

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 28/08/2026

I often see these stories and notice slight fluctuations, but presumably a lot of web traffic is seasonal anyway? Impressions are up quite a bit for my site, but it's the end of the school holidays. searchengineland.com/google-augus...

searchengineland.com

Google's August 2026 spam update hit rankings harder than normal

Google's spam update caused exceptional search disruption, with dramatic ranking losses across 20 industries, according to SE Ranking data.

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 27/08/2026

I usually start the year with representation. Everything inside the computer is stored using numbers, so what is it about that thing that we can measure or count? And why is it useful to know that? #TeamCompSci www.advanced-ict.info/home/represe...

advanced-ict.info

Representation of Data: Index

Learn about how different types of data are represented inside a computer.

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 27/08/2026

Even things that you'd expect to be getting better are getting worse. I'm looking at budget CD players - the most affordable ones use CD-ROM drives and don't support gapless playback, and the tier above that, with proper red-book drives, no longer have things like track programming and shuffle.

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 26/08/2026

This sounds more like human error to me - unless they've done something strange like using a combination of surname and date of birth as a primary key, rather than something unique, such as National Insurance number. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

theguardian.com

Woman stranded in Spain after UK’s eVisa system mistakes her for twin sister

Nidia Webb, who is legally settled in UK, falls foul of ‘known issue’ with Home Office’s digitised immigration process

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 25/08/2026

If you use a LLM to produce text, it's not your words - "the widespread adoption of large language models (LLMs) as writing assistants is linked to declines in linguistic diversity, interfering with the societal and psychological insights language provides". www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.com

The shrinking landscape of linguistic diversity in the age of large language models - Nature Human Behaviour

Sourati et al. find that variance in writing complexity dropped on social media, news and scientific writing after ChatGPT’s release, a shift from individuality towards uniformity. LLM polishing strip...

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 25/08/2026

Without "AI", a complaint might be "one side of A4 about your bins not being emptied.", but when "AI" gets involved it "could be between 19 and 27 pages, include case law, and quote various Acts of Parliament." www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

AI flooding public bodies with complaints and requests

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 24/08/2026

Hmm... my guess is that none of your favourite artists has an A level in music. I suspect that most of my favourites were self-taught and therefore have quirky and distinctive styles. www.lbc.co.uk/article/uk-m...

lbc.co.uk

UK faces losing its 'next Sam Fender': Gareth Malone says as A-level entries for music falls to record low | LBC

The choirmaster and Classic FM presenter described the situation as a "crisis" for the industry

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 24/08/2026

I've just noticed that Red Box released a new single last week! Other streaming services are available. open.qobuz.com/album/acpg99...

open.qobuz.com

Open Qobuz

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 24/08/2026

I've just been in a sports shop. I think I'm going to have to watch a woman answering questions on TfL seat covers (whilst wearing a jumper that matches one) to make up for it.

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 23/08/2026

This is interesting - they've now added YouTube channels to Google Search Console. The origin of the visitors is very different from the website, where about two-thirds of the referrals from Google come from the UK.

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 23/08/2026

What would be the computing equivalent? What is a bit? What is a truth value? #TeamCompSci

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 23/08/2026

The thing that surprised me when driving abroad is how many British cars didn't have UK number plates or stickers. If people couldn't be bothered to spend £1 on a sticker, did they bother to register to comply with emissions regulations, adjust their headlights, etc?

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 22/08/2026

What makes something a souvenir? Is it a souvenir if you don't buy it in the place that you're reminded of, e.g. if you see something you like but buy it when you get home so you don't need to pack it and transport it back?

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 22/08/2026

In France they have baguette vending machines (presumably for a bread-related emergency when the boulangerie is closed), but in Germany we saw a sausage vending machine. I was driving, though, so couldn't take a picture.

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 22/08/2026

My car warns me that I should take a break. We live in Warwickshire, and if we're going to, say, Manchester, it can do it as soon as getting just past Birmingham, but this month I've driven Germany and back and it hasn't done it once. I wonder if they forgot to recalibrate for driving on the left?

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 22/08/2026

Last night we stayed in a hotel that had pictures of motorways on the corridor walls.

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 20/08/2026

In the olden days the occasional joke from these lists used to make me smile. Our family favourite was "I bought a dog from a blacksmith, and when I got him home he made a bolt for the door." I can't imagine telling any of these in ten years' time. www.theguardian.com/stage/2026/a...

theguardian.com

Magicians and margarine: 10 of the funniest jokes from the Edinburgh fringe 2026

Every year, hundreds of standups from across the world descend on the venerable festival. Here are some of their finest one-liners

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 20/08/2026

I'm not really one for souvenirs, but I couldn't resist this beauty for €0.75.

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 17/08/2026

I did a comparison with CDs - even only looking at equipment in the house, CD playback used less electricity than streaming. www.whathifi.com/hi-fi/turnta...

whathifi.com

Good news! Vinyl is more environmentally friendly than music streaming, provided you do it right...

Another benefit to vinyl.

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 17/08/2026

One of the joys of going abroad is the foreign supermarket. Today I had my first lime yogurt.

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 17/08/2026

It looks like some rain has been forecast and website traffic is starting to rise, so it looks like we might be getting towards the end of summer.

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 15/08/2026

The (German) guide at the East/West border museum just told me that it's a shame that Nigel Farage was re-elected instead of "a more humorous candidate"!

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 14/08/2026

What's his appeal to the people of Clacton when he treats them, and the Parliamentary process, with contempt? Why have they re-elected an MP who has only voted once and hasn't done a single surgery?

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Reposted by Computing in a Nutshell

womaninterrupted.bsky.social @womaninterrupted.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Come on Clacton! Bin him!

Pic of Nigel Farage alongside stats that show, when an MEP for British Fisheries he attended 1 of 42 Fisheries meetings.
As an MP he's voted once of 77 votes in Parliament . He's hel 0 surgeries in Clacton since becoming MP 2yrs ago

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 13/08/2026

We're currently staying in what was East Germany. I wondered whether we'd notice the difference. This is the neighbour's car.

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 12/08/2026

It's not often you see other brands of Worcester[shire] Sauce - especially when you're abroad!

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 11/08/2026

I'm currently in Germany and they're very good at doing this - they also move to the outside of the road to leave a gap down the middle. I like the way they paint temporary road markings, e.g. for contraflow, in yellow so there's no confusion with existing markings. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

What is 'zip-merging' on a motorway and when should you do it?

How should motorists in the UK merge lanes to ensure safe and smooth driving conditions?

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 11/08/2026

The "ASCII art" generator is getting more interest this week. I made it because I was wondering whether it's as simple as ordering the characters by density and choosing one based on the darkness of the pixel - and it turned out that it is! #TeamCompSci www.advanced-ict.info/interactive/...

advanced-ict.info

Interactive: ASCII Art Generator

See how you can represent an image using ASCII characters.

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Computing in a Nutshell @advanced-ict.info · 10/08/2026

I do like a foreign railway station.

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