Simon Birtwistle

So, I thought this might happen.  Following exams, graduation and a (very) short break, I’m not in New York training for my new job.  As a result, I haven’t updated my blog in ages.

Still, New York is a nice place to have job training!  Though there’s not as much here as you would think.  After two weeks I think you’ve pretty much seen all there is to offer. 

Anyway, I’ll be posting further updates on my return to the UK.  Which isn’t too long away, fortunately!

So it has been a while since I last wrote an article thanks to a combination of factors including a looming dissertation deadline and slightly further off, my final year exams!  However, today I had a sudden brainwave about an application I used to have for an old mobile phone.  What it did was lock your computer when you walked more than (say) 10m away from it, and unlock it when you returned.  To me, this is an obvious way of improving the security of any device, but especially laptops or workstations at work.

As Stephanie Flanders points out today, one of the options for reducing the horrifying budget deficit over the next 10-20 years is raising the state retirement age.  For the record, this was done for women (raising the age from 60 to 65) quite recently, so a further jump would, for women, represent 10 extra years added to their working lives in a very short time period.

That aside, I think it’s a good policy.  By the time it comes in life expectancy will be well over 80 years, and the gap between retirement age and life expectancy reduced to more like the orignal maths under which the state pension was based (as detailed in this Panorama programme).

So, slightly later than planned I get around to writing on Robert Peston’s talk.  There wasn’t anything controversial here, or even anything that he hasn’t said before on his excellent blog.  However, it was good to hear the financial crisis summed up in a concise and connected way.

I have to say that I take a different view of the crisis so far than most other commentators.  Banks have certainly had a lot to do with the crisis, and I’m certainly not going to deny that here, but one of the areas not considered properly by the mainstream media is that of consumer debt.

The consumer debt boom was and is a huge problem, and it seems that most ordinary people in the world are not willing to accept their obvious roles in the crisis.

So, after almost 3 years of studying for a degree at Cambridge, I feel qualified to talk about the life of a Cambridge student.  What it’s like at other universities I couldn’t say, hence the title of this article.

 Firstly, it has become obvious over the years that university life is what you make of it.  I hate cliches, but in this case it’s hard to put it any other way.  I know people who have gone through university enjoying themselves while still getting the grades (usually, a 2:1 or 2:2) which most people graduating from Oxbridge would be reasonably happy with.  These people might have been capable of more, but generally aren’t bothered, so long as they are enjoying life.

At the other end of the scale are the people who have locked themselves in their rooms and hardly left in 3 years.  I would say that Cambridge has more than the average number of people like this.  Some of them may be geniuses, but by and large they are people that work very hard and get good, but not exceptional, results in return.

I've just sat through a business studies seminar here at University, given by the CEO of a small consulting firm (he has an impressive CV). Apparently, the dream career involves getting a job at the McKinsey consultancy on graduation, followed a few years later by an education in business at Harvard. After that, you get a job at Goldman Sachs doing some investment banking, and finally you run your own company.

A belated look at this year's budget for the first post to my fledgling blog. You may think I'm a little behind the political curve on this one, but the life of a student is a busy one these days! Having said that, there's not really much to look at. There weren't really any serious economic policies in this budget - Alastair Darling managed to talk for a very long time about not much at all. There were the standard tax rises on booze, tobacco and fuel, which are unremarkable and not much else.

This is the first post on what will hopefully become a regular blog from myself and perhaps a few others. I won't claim that this blog will be brilliantly different from any of the thousands of others out there, or that I have a unique perspective on anything, but hopefully my eclectic mix of topics will keep you interested. I'll be commenting on politics, technology and computers, sport, the web and a few other things. Everything will be tagged, so if you're not interested in one or more of those topics, you can ignore them! More to follow soon, but first I have a cricket match to play!