Just a short follow on from my litter data post. As I mentioned, I’m recording myself wandering the streets of West Lothian and narrating what I pick up to put in my bag. I then save a transcript of the recording, give it to an AI which produces me a list of items, highlighting any … Read more
You may or may not know that I am an avid litter picker in my spare time. We have a very strong litter picking community in West Lothian (West Lothian Litter Pickers – WLLP) and pick thousands of bags of litter across the county year-on-year. I have volunteered to help out as the Social Media … Read more
Ok … so this is not your usual Karen blog post. It’s less about tech and more about my other interest in life – litter and the environment. There’s a lot that frustrates me about how we deal with litter and recycling in the UK… but I do eventually get to the technology bit in … Read more
I’ve been doing a bit of work that’s made me go away and think about OER in more detail than I probably have done in many years. If you don’t know about OER, they’ve been around nearly as long as I have – and have had their ups and downs. You can find out about … Read more
Anyone who knows me well will know about my dislike for litter. I can often be seen wandering around Bathgate of an evening or weekend, litter picker, hoop and bags in-tow, trying to tidy up our beautiful countryside. I don’t understand why people litter in such a beautiful part of the world but that’s an … Read more
People who know me or have read my blog posts before likely know that I’m a bit of an environmentalist. I litter pick in my spare time and recycle anything I can. I’ve been interested in digital sustainability for a while now too. However, some of you might be thinking… then why do you spend … Read more
I moved to Argyle House when I changed job and moved to IS in 2018. I remember being nervous about the open plan office space and wondering if I’d be able to concentrate given the general hubbub of industry. When I arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to find I actually enjoyed it – it helped … Read more
I’ve been doing a bit of thinking about AI agents/agentic AI. If you don’t know already, AI agents are AI systems which can collect data, make decisions and take autonomous actions to achieve goals (see this helpful description by Amazon). They can do this on your behalf without your intervention. Clearly however, you need to … Read more
Ada Lovelace Day was on the 14th of October this year. We’ve been celebrating her day here in IS for a decade now (long before I joined IS) and this year, like the last 2 years, I was on the organising team for our celebration. This year we had an even more packed schedule than … Read more
I don’t really understand how we got to the end of August (well, nearly) already. It feels like minutes ago we were welcoming the summer in with our new intern cohort and today is the day that most of our summer internships finish. I can’t tell you how much I love and appreciate the opportunity … Read more
