So, probably against my better thoughts with respect to quantified self stuff, I got a fitness tracker for Christmas: the Jaybird Reign. The trouble was, regardless of what I tried, it just wouldn't pair with my phone (I'd followed all the instructions). I grudgingly waited until the tech. support team was open and got in touch, thinking I'd have to RMA the unit.

Dear Sir/Madam, I write in a personal capacity to request an internal review of my partially denied FOI request with the reference [FOI2015/25797](https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/302242/response/745563/attach/3/FOI%20Request%20ref%20FOI2015%2025797%20Meetings%20between%20BIS%20officials%20ministers%20and%20Elsevier%20Thompson%20Reuters.pdf) (pertaining to meetings between senior BIS officials and Elsevier/Thomson Reuters). Details in the

This post is part of an [ongoing series](https://martineve.com/GreenPaper/) where I intend to develop my full _personal_ (_not_ institutional) response to the HE Green Paper. Comments are welcome to refine this.

Over the holiday period I wanted to visualize the differences between two editions of a text that I had found to be very different (more on this in the new year). I couldn't find a ready-made solution, so I put together a small piece of software to achieve this: [SankeyVariant](https://github.com/MartinPaulEve/SankeyTextualVariant). The software is based on d3.js and the Sankey plugin and, with the modifications that I have introduced, it allows

This year was a good year for me in terms of academia. I started my job as a Senior Lecturer at Birkbeck, I launched the Open Library of Humanities with a substantial Mellon grant, and I finished writing two books that I hope will be published next year (_Password_ and _The Anxiety of Academia_). I also began supervising some really great Ph.D. students, including Stuart Lawson on the politics of open access.

This post is part of an [ongoing series](https://martineve.com/GreenPaper/) where I intend to develop my full _personal_ (_not_ institutional) response to the HE Green Paper. Comments are welcome to refine this. The Green Paper asks in Question 22: > a) Do you agree with the proposed powers for OfS and the Secretary of State to manage risk? Please give reasons for your answer.

[Let'sEncrypt](http://letsencrypt.org/) is a brilliant new service that aims to bring mass-scale SSL, free-of-charge to the wide web. It's in beta at the moment but it works pretty well.

This post is part of an [ongoing series](https://martineve.com/GreenPaper/) where I intend to develop my full _personal_ (_not_ institutional) response to the HE Green Paper. Comments are welcome to refine this. The Green Paper asks in Question 21: > a) Do you agree with the proposed duties and powers of the Office for Students? Please give reasons for your answer. > b) Do you agree with the proposed subscription funding model?

This post is part of an [ongoing series](https://martineve.com/GreenPaper/) where I intend to develop my full _personal_ (_not_ institutional) response to the HE Green Paper. Comments are welcome to refine this. The Green Paper asks in Question 20: > What steps could be taken to increase the transparency of student unions and strengthen unions’ accountability to their student members? Provisional response: None should be taken.

This post is part of an [ongoing series](https://martineve.com/GreenPaper/) where I intend to develop my full _personal_ (_not_ institutional) response to the HE Green Paper. Comments are welcome to refine this. The Green Paper asks in Question 19: > Do you agree with the proposal for a single, transparent and light touch regulatory framework for every higher education provider?

This post is part of an [ongoing series](https://martineve.com/GreenPaper/) where I intend to develop my full _personal_ (_not_ institutional) response to the HE Green Paper. Comments are welcome to refine this. The Green Paper asks in Question 18: > a) Do you agree with the proposed changes to the higher education architecture? Please give reasons for your answer.