Alastair Revell on IT-Director.com

There Be Dragons!

Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 18:17:23 +0100

Over the last couple of weeks, I've spent a couple of fun days at the University of Plymouth being a dragon! I probably need to explain � [Read More...]

Bletchley Park

Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 09:29:01 +0100

I was pleased to hear recently that both IBM and PGP have between them made a grant of �57,000 towards the upkeep of Bletchley Park. The BBC has reported that the donation will help curate... [Read More...]

Do Young IT Professionals Deserve a Career Track?

Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 16:46:13 +0100

I think one of the long term problems that faces the IT profession is how we train new entrants to our profession. Established professions, such as law and surveying, have long had well-defined... [Read More...]

Microsoft: What does the future hold?

Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:29:39 +0100

I suspect that at some point in the future, today may well be seen to be very significant! Why? Simply because today was the first day that Microsoft moved forward without its founder at the helm.... [Read More...]

Web Compliance? It is often simply unbelievable!

Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems — Sat, 31 May 2008 14:56:25 +0100

I can't believe just how many web designers claim that their web sites are compliant with the standards when they are demonstrably not! I'm talking in particular about the World Wide... [Read More...]

A Contentious Lunchtime Thought?

Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 15:40:18 +0100

I came across an interesting article by Bruce Lawson on The Web Standards Project web site about the UK Government Accessibility Consultation that was held by the Cabinet Office last November... [Read More...]

EMail: The Beginning of the End?

Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 14:32:41 +0100

I was interested to read Ben Limberg's article on the BBC News web site this morning about how stressful email is becoming. It highlighted for me that spam continues to grow and it reminded me of... [Read More...]

Internet Attacks: It Won't Happen to Us...

Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 21:35:25 +0100

The lack of understanding of IT-related security issues in many small-to-medium sized businesses that I encounter as a management and technology consultant often worries me. There seems to be a... [Read More...]

Personal Details of 25M People Compromised by UK Government

Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 21:28:24 +0100

I suspect the loss of 25 million child benefit records by HM Government in the United Kingdom will have considerable, long-term ramifications. I understand that the compromised data represents the... [Read More...]

Do You Have a Good Web Site?

Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 17:43:17 +0100

What is the minimum for a good web site? I am often asked to give an opinion on whether a web site is good or not. I normally start by assessing whether the web site complies with relevant law... [Read More...]

Sweeping Spam under the Carpet

Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 18:43:11 +0100

Unless I am greatly mistaken, there has been yet another surge in spam in the last few weeks. Like many firms, Revell Research Systems uses a fairly sophisticated anti-spam system, which... [Read More...]

Plymouth University's Best Computing Graduate Receives Recognition

Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 22:04:38 +0100

I'm pleased to announce that Darren Rees, from Llantwit Major in South Wales, formally received the 2007 Revell Research Systems Prize at the University of Plymouth at a small ceremony in Exeter... [Read More...]

Northern Rock Not So Sturdy for Online Customers

Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 11:00:00 +0100

I've just read the BBC News report about the problems Northern Rock's online savers are having in accessing their funds. ... [Read More...]

Do Bloggers Prefer FireFox or Internet Explorer?

Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:00:00 +0100

Hans-Eric Gr�nlund has an interesting article on the popularity of FireFox (FF) on his blog, entitled The Firefox Domination which you should read. [Read More...]

Backwards IT Thinking?

Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 20:50:00 +0100

I was interested to read Martin Atherton's blog post, which ponders the somewhat odd move by Boots and the House of Fraser not to re-appoint new IT directors when their current incumbents leave. [Read More...]

Straight Back to Google!

Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 17:55:00 +0100

I'm constantly surprised by web sites that still have some form of doorway page. I've always felt that such designs probably allude to the designer's origins in print media, where one ... [Read More...]

Nostalgia for Turbo Pascal

Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 08:00:00 +0100

I was interested in Hans-Eric Gr�nlund's post on the decline of Delphi and (implicitly) its predecessor Turbo Pascal. I used ... [Read More...]

Banner Blindness

Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 21:00:00 +0100

I've just read an interesting article by Jakob Nielsen (who is an expert on web site usability) on [Read More...]

Language Convergence

Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 11:00:00 +0100

I've just read an article on Hans-Eric Gr�nlund's blog, which discusses how close Java and C# are ... [Read More...]

Comparison of UK and French Wifi Charges

Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 18:00:00 +0100

I've recently been working from France and have often had to rely on wifi hotspots operated by Orange. I consider the charges made by this firm ... [Read More...]