"Wedged as we are between two eternities of idleness, there is no excuse for being idle now" (Anthony Burgess)

Hi, I'm an Honorary Reader in the Department of Computer Science at The University of Manchester. Having worked at the University since 1983 and been Director of Undergraduate Studies (Computer Science) from 2011–2019, I took early retirement in 2020.

From 2008–2018 I was proud to establish and lead the team running the annual UK Schools Computer Animation Competition.

My academic field is computer graphics (projects|publications) although I am a general-purpose geek. These days I enjoy fiddling about with generative computer arty things and creative coding. I'm also a member of a University project cataloguing the history of the computers developed at Manchester since 1948.

From 1989 to 1998 I was joint editor (with Steve Donnelly) of The Skeptic magazine.

I founded and edited Elephant Talk, the newsletter for Robert Fripp/King Crimson enthusiasts, from 1991 to 2006.

Interests: photography (flickr|license my stuff), guitars, cooking, crosswords, 日本語, old films (especially British B-movies), recreational maths, reading, pondering, writing, walking, prog rock, dogs.