Welcome to My Blog

Our lives are all constrained, to a greater or lesser extent, by the mental and physical boxes in which we find ourselves.

Welcome to My Boxes Chris Reynolds

As someone who was bullied unmercifully at school I tend to be a quiet retiring individual who does not go out of my way to draw attention to myself. For this reason this blog will be quite an adventure.

Four years at the unconventional  Dartington Hall School  provided an escape from bullying. and taught me to think for myself.

I Love Science I studied Chemistry at University College London and Exeter University but almost anything covered by the New Scientist magazine interests me.. Expect me to ask some interesting questions on my blog

In 1965 I got sucked into the computer industry. I worked on one of the biggest Leo Computer systems in the UK. Haven't things changed! This computer was less powerful than my mobile phone.

In 1967 I  discovered CODIL, which was a way to build "computers" which understood people. The "high priests" of the Computer Industry didn't want to know!!!

I spent 17 years as Reader in Computer Science at Brunel University researching and teaching about human computer interaction. The University was the location for the film "A Clockwork Orange"

My daughter Lucy became trapped in a "box" nick-named the Muppet House and killed herself a year later. As a result I suffered badly from stress, took early retirement, abandoned my computer research,  and have since worked with charities and the N.H.S. to help the lot of the mentally ill.

I could not stop doing research, so in retirement I switched to local and family history and wrote a book about Hemel Hempstead. I now provide help and advice on the Genealogy in Hertfordshire web site

And to relax (when I feel trapped by the mental and physical boxes that surround me) I enjoy walking the countryside taking photographs. You will find a number of mine on Geograph, such as this one at the College Lake Nature Reserve, near Tring, Hertfordshire.

How the blog develops will depend on what catches my attention - and what reactions I get from people posting comments. Many of the blogs will place an emphasis on the boxes that trap us - and a significant number will relate to the ways computers and technology affect our lives.

Enjoy!