Rude

Far back in the mists of ancient time, before most people I work with — let alone teach — were even born, an American then-colleague explained to me that the Japanese word for goodbye literally translated as “I’m sorry I have been so rude.” It turns out, of course, that this is bollocks, and borderline-racist stereotypical bollocks at that. Still, it has ring to it.

So, to no one in particular (okay, that’s a lie), and in this specifically untrue sense only, please allow me to bid you: goodbye.

It’s been a slice.

Going to the dogs

Neglect of this blog is, obviously, nothing new. WT has been ticking over for the best part of a decade at a frequency so low that any actual entries you see around here are basically a rounding error. But it is a measure of just how remiss I’ve been that I haven’t posted one of these before:

Uncle Keith is more than 2½ years old, having arrived a couple of months before lockdown and the ensuing puppy bubble. Nephew Justin is nearly 1½. Both are, of course, adorable.

Having dogs has been transformative in a variety of predictable and unexpected ways. Mostly for the better, even. I’m not sure I can even remember what life was like without them, although that may also be mixed up with the overwhelming brain fog of the plague years. And the idea that they one day won’t be around is too horrible to contemplate — though Border Terriers are a long-lived breed, and I’m no spring chicken myself, so maybe I won’t have to worry about that.

Self Taught

If you feel like following along at home, the lectures and exercises for COMP0088 – which is basically all the actual content – can be found on the module GitHub.

(I’m not sure whether the lectures are accessible without a UCL login. In the vanishingly unlikely case that anyone wants to watch and is unable, let me know and I’ll poke at the permissions.)

Update: UCL’s media hosting proved unreliable, so all lectures are now available on the COMP0088 YouTube channel.