Dr Laura James's writings

Marriage may end your career in scientific research, vice versa, or not. There's an interesting article discussing the issues in AAAS Science . The spookiest part is when one apparently successful marriage is described: the couple sitting together in bed, both doing work on laptops, and instant messaging each other. Ouch! Whatever happened to voice?

I don't believe in just recycling links, but if Cambridge-based people haven't seen MySociety's latest offering it's worth a look. Fascinating to see where you should live if you work at Microsoft Reearch.... now, with some data on real bus arrival times and delays, and some more destinations (city centre, science park), this could get very useful very quickly.

It's been good weather in Cambridge, mostly, this week. I've even quite enjoyed the rainy phases! Still, I haven't really appreciated it all, as I've been resting up after being ill last week. It's amazing how much I can sleep per day without feeling I'm overdoing my time in bed or napping. I'm hoping that I'll be properly recovered soon, and able to be awake for more than, say, 4 or 5 hours at a stretch without really wanting not to be. And perhaps I'll have woken up in time for the next beer festival, given that I totally missed this one. Today's link is to tips for making sure your startup is bulletproof . Doesn't mention making sure you are awake...

Inspired by the iDucks from BugBash, we're getting an Nabaztag for our office - we're going to see how long we last before it drives us mad . At least we won't feel guilty when we dismember it, unlike if we forget to water the office plants we don't have.

Not only am I Dr Laura now, I am also a Chartered Engineer, at last...

Just back from a lovely week in the Dordogne, staying at Maumont near Hautefort. (Many thanks to Rosie's Mum!) Also, I'm now officially Dr James, as shown in these pics. Both sets of photos are somewhat out of order for a variety of complex technical reasons :-D

... designing gadgets on a new page from Scenta .

Watch a Smart outpace a Ferrari F430 over 400m. (The Smart has a bike engine, not a Smart engine, but it's still cool.) Cambridge UK restaurant menus now listed online (Thanks, Samuel, very useful!)

ARM-based and open source firmware. I can't wait to get my hands on this :)