Oxford Geek Night turned out to be one of my favourite events. Small and perfectly formed, it was laid back, fun and incredibly friendly. Talks included:
David Mills (@DTL) on The Use and Abuse of CT Scanners – Apparently you can 3D scan basically anything with a CT Scanner, so long as it fits inside. Fruit, nuts, bones, Morecambe and Wise film. Amazing. #xraymylunch
Jeremy Keith (@adactio) on Taking Back the Web – Indieweb is about taking control of your own content. Don’t post it on Mark Zuckerberg’s or Biz Stone’s website. Post it on your own! And if you must post it on someone else’s, make sure that it is also on your own. Own your data, own your content.
Beverley Newing (@WebDevBev) on How to Run Awesome Tech Internships – Internships can be a great way to get people from all backgrounds into tech but can be rubbish if not designed right. They need to be open to all, at least 6 months, paid, structured and we’ll supported by mentors.
Not to mention at excellent rendition of Ben Walker’s Ballad of the I.T. Guy by Torchbox’s Tom Dyson with some audience participation. Here’s the original for you to enjoy.
And then there was my talk. I was worried that giving a talk after my bedtime might result in me falling asleep on stage, but luckily the previous speakers had done a great job of keeping me awake and energised.
My talk covered the key issue of growing carbon emissions from the internet and what we as web designers and developers can do to help tackle the problem while also producing better websites that users love. The key take aways are:
- Estimate and benchmark your website emissions (you can use a tool such as our carbon calculator)
- Improve efficiency of every aspect of design, development and user experience to deliver information with minimal data transfer. A key point being, if in doubt, leave it out!
- Switch to a green host that uses renewable energy to power their data centres (see our latest recommendations)
You can download my presentation slides here.
