Duncan Stephen

Article — 1 March 2018 — 2,087 words

Media dinosaurs have the wrong scapegoat in Facebook

Anyone who reads this blog will know by now that I am no fan of Facebook. But I will defend them on this. The newspaper industry’s attempt to pin the blame of their woes on Facebook is wrong.

Article — 25 February 2018 — 1,059 words

A brutal redesign

Personal — Web

When I started to experiment with different ways of blogging, I realised what I was doing was a bit off. So I decided to redesign the blog.

Article — 18 January 2018 — 334 words

People don’t want technology

Technology — User experience

Technology firms are full of technologists who love technology for technology’s sake. But it’s causing problems for people who just want to get stuff done.

Article — 2 January 2018 — 1,303 words

Happy new year 2018 — reflections and resolutions

Personal — Technology — Travel

2017 is a year that showed that I have a lot to be grateful for. But even though I don’t normally set new year’s resolutions, I am setting myself three broad goals for 2018.

Article — 29 December 2017 — 1,673 words

Voyage to Iceland

Personal — Travel

My second visit to Iceland made up for what I missed the first time round. But it left me still wanting more.

Article — 27 December 2017 — 381 words

40 years of the Voyager golden record

Culture — Music

The 40th anniversary of the launch of Voyager has created renewed interest in the two gold-plated phonograph records that are on board.

Article — 16 December 2017 — 209 words

The George Street Sessions: A new CD featuring musicians from north east Fife

Music — Personal

A new CD has been recorded in Alex’s family’s front room — and it sounds great.

Article — 15 December 2017 — 2,973 words

Highlights from our holiday to New York

Travel

In March, Alex and I took a trip to New York. It was such a brilliant holiday that it has taken me 9 months to write about it all.

Article — 7 December 2017 — 975 words

Help! I’m becoming an audiophile

Music — Personal

After years of dilly-dallying, I have finally bought myself a new record player. But I’m still not convinced vinyl provides the superior sound quality.

Article — 23 November 2017 — 193 words

Why I wouldn’t reduce the length of my commute

Business — Personal — Politics

We often think of commuting as wasteful and inconvenient. But is it entirely negative?

Article — 18 November 2017 — 1,609 words

A summer of cycling for Pedal for Scotland

Personal

This year I took part in Pedal for Scotland, an annual charity cycle from Glasgow to Edinburgh. I had never cycled anything like that distance before.

Article — 13 November 2017 — 1,239 words

Facebook and Twitter are repeating the catastrophic mistakes of past designers

Architecture — Digital — Technology

Architects had to face up to the problems that eventually emerged with bold modernist designs. Now Facebook and Twitter need to wake up to the fact that their platforms are damaging society.