This week’s weeknote is short. It’s also a little earlier than usual because today’s my wedding anniversary and I was busy trying to get everything wrapped up before flying away for the weekend…
…so, in chronological order – but all mixed up between work and play:
- Two weeks ago I said One Day (on Netflix) was a rom-com. Well… maybe not a comedy. A romantic drama? Regardless, we finished the series last weekend. There were tears. Mostly mine. And I highly recommend it for anyone who left uni’ in the UK in the 90s…
- After passing my amateur radio foundation exam a couple of weeks ago, I have my callsign from Ofcom. I’m now M7OLN…
- Last weekend, I met up with Christian Payne/Documentally (G5DOC) and talked radios among other things over an enjoyable cafe lunch…
- I’m having trouble getting into local repeaters on a handheld radio from my place but we worked out my config issues so I know the radio is set up properly.
- I can hear the local repeater but I need to put a better antenna up at home. That could be tricky. If only I could safely get closer to this chimney stack…
- I’ve also ordered an antenna and window mount for the car. And discovered that there is a radio shop close enough to click and collect (Moonraker).
- As a slight tangent from amateur radio (I can’t bring myself to call it HAM), I’ve discovered LoRa and some Meshtastic nodes are on their way. More on what that means when I have them set up…
- I now have an identity on the Node4 Microsoft 365 tenant (don’t get me started on how difficult it is to bring multiple organisations into one but I have huge respect for my colleague who is managing this). Judging by the emails I’m receiving, I’m not the first person to have used this alias. I can deal with the emails for trainers and other fashion items… but it seems they were a Manchester United fan too, which is harder to take.
- On Tuesday, I recorded a podcast with my colleague Bjoern (in/bjeorn-hirtenjohann). It was great fun and I was very chuffed when the producer, Beth, told me I could have a new career as a radio host. It may have been a joke but I would like to do more of this.
- Then, I headed Bletchley for the Bletchley Park Microsoft AI User Group event. I was AI-jaded when I arrived. I was AI-buzzing when I left.
- Will Rowe (@MSFTRecruit) made us laugh, a lot,
atabout recruiters. - I made some great connections.
- I learned some cool things about AI prompting from Lydia Carroll (in/lydiacarroll) and about digital ecosystems from Chris Huntingford (@ThatPlatformGuy).
- I also did some improv’ – volunteering for an unscripted, 1-2 minute talk on AI, that children would understand. Thanks to Stephanie Stasey (in/missai) for giving me the chance to get out of my comfort zone whilst practicing something I want to do more of – presenting.
- Will Rowe (@MSFTRecruit) made us laugh, a lot,
- I’ve also started to kick some thoughts around about what it means to be technical leader… and how I can encourage others.
- And, in a discussion about recognition, someone who will remain anonymous shared this comment with me… I feel seen:
“I’m also an introvert that overcompensates BTW. People confuse my enthusiasm, facilitation, and contribution as me being extrovert. Secretly I’m like a Duracell Bunny using a bad battery – it wears down quite quickly!“
- (I was exhausted on Wednesday, after Tuesday’s exploits.)
- Thursday ended with an example of when AI chatbots go wrong:
Err… @VOXI_UK. Your bot has gone rogue ?. You might want to send it off for some retraining? pic.twitter.com/hUxS6lpybO
— Mark Wilson (@markwilsonit) February 29, 2024
- There were some blog posts not written this week that need to be:
- My journey into amateur radio
- Writing better AI prompts
- Next week is looking even busier (with only 3 days at work) but I’ll try and write them soon.
Right, time to go, I have a plane to catch.
This week in photos
Not that many… I’m sure there will be more next week.
Featured image: author’s own, from the last time I flew with Wizz Air…