Hold onto your keyboards, folks! In this episode of What A Lot Of Things, Ian and Ash embark on a wild ride through the treacherous waters of R&D tax credits and the murky depths of technical debt.

Watch as Ash dons his cape and mask as the Testing Avenger, attempting to save Ian's poor, test-less Ilkley Live website from certain doom. Marvel at Ian's creative excuses for avoiding automated tests, and cheer as he finally succumbs to the relentless pressure of good practices in context.

Along the way, our intrepid hosts navigate the choppy seas of database migrations, wrestle with the kraken of personal project maintenance, and attempt to decipher the ancient runes of government innovation incentives.

It's a rollicking adventure filled with British wit, playful banter, and enough tech talk to make your CPU overheat. Don't miss this episode - it's more entertaining than watching a Clanger try to use Twitter!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

If you haven’t already, we’d love it if you would contribute to our listener survey.

Links

• Sifted: UK startups warn they ‘won’t survive’ if HMRC claws back tax credits
• HMRC: Claiming Research and Development (R&D) tax reliefs
• Innovate UK
• AWS Amplify
• The most excellent Mark Steadman and his podcast health check service.
• Ilkley Live (this is significantly more interesting in the 3 months before the event) and the Ilkley Live Facebook group.
• Ilkley Live technologies: React, NextJS, NodeJS, Javascript, Typescript, Tailwind CSS, and Vercel. Zod and Yup. Oh, and Bun.
• …also, Notion and Notion Databases
• Testing frameworks, Playwright and Cypress.
• Ministry of Testing for learning about testing.
• Technical debt

..and you should email us, either at TechnologYeeyores@whatalotofthings.com or, for the more timid, IanAndAsh@whatalotofthings.com.

Strap in for a wild ride as Ian and Ash tackle the dystopian world of employee monitoring software! Marvel at the horrors on sale as our hosts ponder whether these digital taskmasters are the future of work or just really creepy ways to watch people type.

But wait, there's more! Venture into the mind-bending realm of the Cynefin framework, where our intrepid duo attempt to make sense of not a model, but a framework. It's also not a quadrant (although it kinda looks like one).

From mouse jigglers to Welsh castles, this episode has it all. Will Ian and Ash successfully navigate the complex waters of these topics, or will they end up in the "confused" domain? Tune in to find out, and remember - in the chaotic world of What A Lot Of Things, sometimes you just have to act first and think later!

Links

• PC Mag: The Best Employee Monitoring Software for 2024
• Mouse jigglers on Amazon (not an affiliate link because we know that nobody reading this will buy a mouse jiggler)
• Homer Simpson's keyboard bird
• HP Quality Center (tl;dr it changed hands)
• The Cynefin Framework as invented by Dave Snowden
• Cynefin wiki, including a page on the Domains which mentions the carnival example.
• The Rodecaster Pro II that we use for our recording, and that provides all-too-easy access to silly voice processing effects. Sorry.
• Wardley Mapping
• Use Due for iOS and MacOS to be persistently nagged to remember what you went into the kitchen (or any other room in the house) for.
• Time and motion studies
• Welsh castles, although Dave Snowden apparently doesn't live in one.
• Fairport Convention's website, including info on Cropredy Festival where Ian could hear Rick Wakeman and Richard Thompson, but not sadly Trevor Horn for health reasons.
• WOMAD festival
• Siphonaptera, a poem about fleas which was not, in fact, by Spike Milligan.

Step into the origins of What A Lot Of Things with this special bonus episode that takes Ian and Ash back to where it all began - the hiking trails of Ilkley Moor! Long before they were podcast hosts, the duo's casual walks and pub visits sparked the conversations that would eventually become the show.

Now, armed with new wireless microphones, they're recreating that magic on the move. Join them as they ramble through picturesque landscapes, discussing everything from recent tech outages to the state of software testing, all while navigating steep hills and encountering local wildlife. Listen in as they ponder important questions - like whether it's possible to learn carpentry while running - and share impromptu observations that capture the essence of their friendship and the spirit of the podcast.

With plenty of tech talk, gentle ribbing, and a dash of nostalgia, this unique "podcast-on-the-go" episode is a treat for long-time fans and new listeners alike, offering a glimpse into the show's roots and the camaraderie that makes What A Lot Of Things so special.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​