Tag Archives: computer

A transatlantic upgrade (Rousse)

I was dreading the journey: a transatlantic flight in economy. As soon as the fasten seat belt sign went out I made my move for the on-board lavatory, as did many of my fellow passengers. Rather than wait in a … Continue reading

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Queen meets her great-great grandmother in holographic form (Rousse)

We all knew that BB had been working on something rather special. I was excited to be the first to discover the output of his secret project. BB unlocked the massive door to the St Andrew Square house and I … Continue reading

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How to write a winning grant proposal (Rousse)

Was this cheating? I could just about see the competing grant application on the screen across the room. The authors were huddled around the computer, unaware of my presence. I didn’t know any of them personally, even though two of … Continue reading

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Cowboy computer salesmen fail the assignment (Rousse)

I volunteered to assess some third year presentations. The students’ assignment was to sell me a computer system. These lads – all mature students well into their forties – exhibited some sense of humour, turning up to perform their pitch … Continue reading

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Secret military airbase at Edinburgh airport harbours unexpected relations (Rousse)

I knew that it was too good to be true, but this didn’t stop my enjoying the company of my long-dead aunt, uncle and grandmother when I stumbled across them living happily together in a small house on the edge … Continue reading

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How to survive the first week of term (Rousse)

My work life was falling to pieces: the only computer available to me for running a complex statistical package was an ancient XT; my first tutorial of the academic year lasted only 30 minutes because I hadn’t prepared enough material; … Continue reading

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Katie Price’s (aka Jordan) career on the conference circuit, and a life of crime in Australia (Rousse)

Katie Price (aka Jordan) was my new, self-appointed, right-hand woman. She accompanied me to all my speaking engagements, often with her two younger children Junior and Princess. On this occasion I was delivering a keynote paper on computer security at … Continue reading

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Rousse’s shoe crisis

It was already ten past ten and I really did need to leave for the office, but I couldn’t find a suitable pair of shoes to go with my brown trousers. I had packed a pair into my rucksack for … Continue reading

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Crime by letters and Vera Wang (Rousse)

The criminals’ mission had been to kidnap a toddler. They were stealing to order. Only a child who shared the famous surname would do. Unfortunately, in their confusion the kidnappers had targeted a child whose surname was Smith. We had … Continue reading

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Rousse astounded by Edinburgh taxi fares, abducted colleagues and brown jelly fish

We ended up in the lobby of the Scotsman Hotel on North Bridge in Edinburgh. The journey taken earlier to collect a couple of documents from my office was less than half a mile, so I guessed that the five … Continue reading

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