MSc Managed


Photo of a bearded man, wearing full academic dress and a VR headset.

This is the final post in my MSc journey. Last month, in an academic congregation at Northumbria University, I was formally awarded a Master of Science Digital and Technology Specialist (Data & Analytics) with Distinction. Look! Actual proof! Thanks to Mike, my Father-in-Law, for ripping that stream. As my research was about "Exploring the visualisation […]

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Rejected Sci-Fi Ramblings from my MSc


VR view of a room. A graph floats in midair.

It was only after I started editing my MSc down to its prescribed word-count, that I finally understood the phrase Kill Your Darlings. I spent ages writing florid prose, only to realise it was needless verbiage. The delete key was hammered mercilessly. But... As all fans of Jasper Fforde know - there is a "Well […]

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I got a DOI from arXiv for my MSc!


The DOI logo.

Welcome to acronym city! I recently published my Master's Dissertation. I say "published" - I just shoved it up on a website. But real academic publications should have a DOI - it's an identifier which is supposed to make it easier for people to find and cite paper. You know how books have a unique […]

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Using Pandoc to format a Dissertation from Markdown to HTML, PDF, and ePub


Cartoon showing Pandoc turning data into a document.

Metawork is so much more fun than real work. Sharpening your pencils. Colour coordinating your filing system. Creating Gantt charts of what you intend to do. Marvellous! In that spirit, here's how I used the venerable pandoc to convert my MSc dissertation from .md into a variety of more readable formats. Prep I've no idea […]

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MSc Dissertation: Exploring the visualisation of hierarchical cybersecurity data within the Metaverse


VR view of a room. A graph floats in midair.

Well gang, I did it! After two years I've finally finished my MSc! My final project was a 10,901 word epic about... The ✨Metaverse✨. Have I gone a little bit peculiar? No. I don't think so. I was advised to pick a project which would sustain my interest for 6 months. So I chose something […]

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MSc - completed!


Screenshot of my graduation notification. I got a distinction!

Back in November 2020 I started studying for an MSc. And, yesterday, I got this... All done! I've got to say, it has been... an experience. I've relentlessly blogged about the process. The academic content was pretty good, but the administration by QA.com was nothing short of atrocious. Missed deadlines, unhelpful staff, incompetent tutors, and […]

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How to write a L7 Apprenticeship Portfolio


Some giant question marks standing in a field. Photo by https://www.flickr.com/photos/dbrekke/181939582/

I've recently completed my Level 7 Apprenticeship. One of the more onerous tasks was completing the portfolio. This document was the source of much stress and confusion with our cohort. This blog post attempts to demystify it and provides a template to make it easy to complete. My main piece of advice is that you […]

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Questions asked at an End Point Assessment Professional Discussion


Some giant question marks standing in a field. Photo by https://www.flickr.com/photos/dbrekke/181939582/

The last part of my MSc Apprenticeship was my EPA Professional Discussion. It's designed to be a 90 minute chat to make sure you've actually learned something on the course. The official guidance is available. But I thought you might find it helpful to see the questions that I was asked. Disclaimer I jotted these […]

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Page numbers aren't the answer


The PDF file icon with a big red line through it.

There's a new pre-print paper called Pinpointing the problem: Providing page numbers for citations as a crucial part of open science by Leon Y. Xiao and Nick Ballou. It's a short, easily understandable paper, and well worth a read. I think I disagree with nearly all of its conclusions! The main point, I agree with. […]

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Is it cheating to use spell check?


Clippy - an anthropomorphic paperclip is asking if I want help writing a letter.

When I was a kid, our school had one computer per classroom. Luxury! Teachers had long-since given up on the state of my handwriting. So I got special dispensation to write up some of my work on whatever primitive word processor was installed on the PC. With one caveat: no spell check! Which, even as […]

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