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Richard Morris Richard Morris
Richard Morris has been a journalist for just about two decades. In that time, his hair has fallen out as have several teeth. He has also worked in public relations. First with Yell.com then with Miller Shandwick where he worked on various tech accounts including Digital Island, Microsoft and Claranet. He has subsequently offered strategic advice to Sony, the London Metal Exchange, Revive, the world’s largest paper-merchant, and several UK and Chinese asset management companies who specialise in turnaround finance. His award-winning biography of the Edwardian ghosthunter and psychic researcher Harry Price was published late last year to huge critical acclaim and he is currently working a commissioned biography of a well-known English cultural icon. His hobbies include looking into other people’s business, falling off his bike and laughing maniacally.
Linus Torvalds, Geek of the Week
by Richard Morris | 17 July 2008 |  54 comments |
Linus Torvalds is remarkable, not only for being the technical genius who wrote Linux, but for then being able to inspire and lead an enormous team of people to devote their free time to work on the operating system and bring it to maturity. We sent Richard Morris... Read more...
Dr Richard Hipp, Geek of the Week
by Richard Morris | 04 July 2008 |  12 comments |
Simple-Talk's Geek of the Week is Dr Richard Hipp. His code is probably running on your PC, and running completely reliably, for he almost single-handedly wrote SQLite, the most widely deployed SQL Database system in the world. Then he put it in the public domain... Read more...
Tim Berners-Lee, Geek of the Week
by Richard Morris | 20 June 2008 |  6 comments |
We interview Simple-Talk's Geek of the Week, Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee OM KBE FRS FREng FRSA. , ranked first in The Telegraph's list of 100 greatest living geniuses, and director of the World Wide Web Consortium. What has he achieved? He invented the World Wide... Read more...
Risking your Reputation
by Richard Morris | 27 May 2008 |  2 comments |
IT companies sometimes don't survive an incident that damages their reputation. Often, when happenstance brings a commercial disaster, businesses make things worse by their instinctive reaction to clam up. We sent the square-jawed Richard Morris off into the rain in... Read more...
The Burning Men - The IT drug habit
by Richard Morris | 29 April 2008 |  11 comments |
It would seem bizzare that IT staff who depend on their quick wits for their living should ever think it a good idea to fry their brains with recreational drugs. It is therefore worrying to hear that there has been a 34 percent increase in IT employees in the US... Read more...
Blogged to death
by Richard Morris | 14 April 2008 |  4 comments |
Suddenly, Bloggers aren't just writing the news, they are the news. Are we expected to believe that the pressures of the job are enough to cause premature death and disease amongst professional bloggers? Is it now time to feel sorry for the high-profile... Read more...
The Dark Arts of Journalism
by Richard Morris | 16 March 2008 |  2 comments |
Although the IT industry is usually blamed for security breaches in confidential databases, it is likely that it is usually the staff that operate the databases that are responsible. Should we be designing IT systems that log and report every access by the users? We... Read more...
Level Playing Field
by Richard Morris | 27 February 2008 |  3 comments |
The Federal Government in the States accepts tenders for their IT projects from a wide-range of competent, innovative software companies. In Britain, by contrast, 11 firms account for 80% of the UK government IT projects, despite some spectacular disasters. Why... Read more...
Exporting our Competence
by Richard Morris | 05 February 2008 |  9 comments |
There are several initiatives that have ambitions to replace the Internet. Some of these, in the States and Europe, we know about, but the ones that should concern us are the ones we know almost nothing of. In China, the funding and the political will is at its... Read more...
The Seven Billion Dollar Man
by Richard Morris | 29 January 2008 |  10 comments |
When the incredible news broke, last week, that a trader at the third-largest bank in France, the Société Générale, had allegedly managed to over-ride the entire compliance mechanism of the bank, implemented at immense cost by a department of 2000 IT compliance... Read more...
Cybercrime Cop-out
by Richard Morris | 21 January 2008 |  1 comment |
In the US, the IC3 has shown the world how to tackle the immense threat of Cybercrime. Britain's current government record makes a painful contrast. Richard Morris, our roving reporter, exposes a sad, but familiar, tale of British muddle and spin. Read more...
The Winter of our Missing Disc Content
by Richard Morris | 08 January 2008 |  11 comments |
The UK government, ten years ago, launched several reforms of the public sector, pinning their faith in radical IT initiatives to create a powerful, efficient, welfare state. Only now is the full extent of the failure of this dream becoming apparent. Our... Read more...
A Life After Crime
by Richard Morris | 25 November 2007 |  5 comments |
Our redoubtable reporter goes in search of the stories of some of the IT high-flyers who blew their tech career by getting in trouble with the law. Read more...
Restraining the Workplace Bully
by Richard Morris | 05 November 2007 |  10 comments |
Workplace bullying is not to be taken lightly. For the victim it can be traumatising. It is a symptom of poor management and badly-functioning teamwork, and now, at last, it is not only contemptible but also illegal Read more...
IT Interviews and the law
by Richard Morris | 09 October 2007 |  4 comments |
Have you ever wondered whether those odd questions and tests you are sometimes asked at interview are actually legal and pertinent. The answers may interest you and are important for any interviwer to know Read more...
Handcuff Your IT Staff
by Richard Morris | 24 September 2007 |  3 comments |
Our fearless and intrepid reporter investigates the constant struggle between IT headhunters and the IT departments that are using employment contracts to defend against their activities. Read more...
When the wheels come off
by Richard Morris | 21 August 2007 |  3 comments |
It is somewhat comforting to know that even the great and the good in industry make mistakes. The IT industry is amongst the leaders. Our investigative reporter is on the trail... Read more...
The DBA and the Battle for Reputations
by Richard Morris | 18 July 2007 |  8 comments |
Richard Morris comments on the perception amongst some DBAs that the reputation of their profession is declining. In today’s world of burgeoning information theft, are DBAs part of the problem or part of the solution? Read more...
Enabling the Blind to See the Web
by Richard Morris | 14 March 2007 |  1 comment |
For most net users, trying to navigate a badly designed website means irritation. For disabled people, particularly those with a visual impairment or who find it difficult to use a mouse, bad design means many sites are out of bounds. Not only are these websites... Read more...
Second Life: A Virtual World of Real Money
by Richard Morris | 29 January 2007 |  4 comments |
As more and more people invest in alter egos to live a pseudo life online in Linden Labs' latest creation, Richard Morris investigates the potential of Second Life's cyberspace and the motivations of many corporate brands to join the international virtual world. Read more...
Why editorial freedom is worth fighting for
by Richard Morris | 05 January 2007 |  3 comments |
One of the biggest challenges in running any publication is balancing editorial freedom …the ability to report on all events that affect the community without fear or favour …against the need to meet your "bottom line". Currently, the advertorial, pop-up and... Read more...
The India Skills Gap
by Richard Morris | 28 December 2006 |  15 comments |
As outsourcing demands continue to grow, Richard Morris investigates a worrying shortage in India's pool of IT talent, and its potential consequences for their burgeoning technology sector. Read more...
An Interview with Tim Berners-Lee
by Richard Morris | 20 December 2006 |  2 comments |
Richard Morris offers some revealing insights into what the "father of the web" thinks about his invention, where it is heading, and how it can fulfil its full potential. Read more...
Tales of Corporate Espionage
by Richard Morris | 16 November 2006 |  1 comment |
Corporate espionage eats into an organisation's wealth, but Richard Morris explains how corporate detectives are often hired at great cost to root out what is sometimes viewed as a harmless crime. Read more...
Cyber Crime
by Richard Morris | 23 October 2006 |  8 comments |
Richard Morris investigates the increasingly sophisticated tactics of an industry that survives and thrives by feeding off the wealth of others. Read more...
The CV Detectives
by Richard Morris | 12 October 2006 |  24 comments |
As more and more CV fraudsters creep into the technology sector, increasingly covert tactics have to be employed to hunt them out. Richard Morris reveals all... Read more...
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