Duncan Stephen

Article — 13 March 2013 — 963 words

Lake District – Day 3: Stock Ghyll Force, Wansfell, Grasmere and Kirkstone Pass

This was a day of getting lost and unexpected adventures. But it was probably the highlight of our holiday. We took in a waterfall, two high hills, a lake, a beautiful village and a great pub.

Article — 5 March 2013 — 615 words

Lake District – Days 1 and 2: Ambleside and Windermere

Personal — Walking

Last week I went on a holiday to the Lake District with my girlfriend. This is the first post in a short series about our adventures in the Lake District. In days one and two we explored Ambleside and walked to Windermere.

Article — 11 February 2013 — 795 words

Living your life at random

Economics — Personal

A shortage of spare time has seen me deciding how to spend my spare time by using a random number generator. An experiment by Steve Levitt of Freakonomics fame has got me wondering if I could make even bigger decisions at random.

Article — 2 February 2013 — 994 words

On the web, big is beautiful — but not in extremes

User experience — Web

No matter how great a design trend feels at the time, we always look back and cringe. What is today’s clanger? I am worried that everything on the web is getting too big.

Article — 28 January 2013 — 990 words

Subscription options and the failed promise of RSS

User experience — Web

RSS feeds were once a promising feature of the web, but are usually only used by geeks. So is it still a good idea to publicise RSS feeds on your website?

Article — 20 January 2013 — 527 words

Newtyle Railway walk

Walking

Our project to complete 40 walks in Dundee and Angus gave me the perfect excuse to explore the Newtyle Railway.

Article — 8 January 2013 — 355 words

Balmashanner Hill

Walking

My girlfriend and I are attempting to complete 80 walks in our area. Our first walk was at Balmashanner Hill in Forfar.

Article — 1 January 2013 — 1,421 words

Was Joyce Hatto always a con artist?

Media — Music

Joyce Hatto was a revered pianist until her recordings were revealed to be fakes after her death. But was the truth about her recordings staring everyone in the face all along?

Article — 24 December 2012 — 593 words

Colour

Accessibility — Web

Concluding my look at the decisions I made while designing this website, this article looks at the issues surrounding colour.

Article — 23 December 2012 — 601 words

Layout and responsive design

User experience — Web

Continuing my series explaining the decisions I made while designing this website, this article looks at the process of creating the layout and working on a responsive design.

Article — 22 December 2012 — 558 words

HTML5 and web fonts

Accessibility — Web

This series of posts will cover some of the decisions I have made while designing this website. This first article looks at the issues surrounding HTML5 and web fonts.

Article — 20 December 2012 — 497 words

Some notes on my new website

Personal — Web

I have decided to start blogging again — sort of. I explain why I had to stop in the past, and how I plan to carry on in the future.