Highlights
Nearly half a bicycle
The atomic theory in Kilburn — This place (on Kilburn High Road) has been morphing steadily from dry cleaner’s to bike shop over the last few years. I remember being surprised one morning to see a few kids’ bikes lined up for sale outside but I’d say the shop is now approaching 50% bike shop. […]
Where is my patriotism?
Come, love of country, fill my heart… — I do love Britain. I guess I love England more. London most of all. I hope that in my life I’ve honoured the place I live and not disgraced it or undermined it (I support England and GB in sporting events – I fly a little flag […]
Some bullet-points about regulation
In case you’d got the wrong idea about how the ’regulatory state‘ is supposed to work — UPDATED 23 May 2025. I could update this thing daily. Regulation is always a news story in the UK (Search any news service for ‘regulation‘ right now and you’ll get a long list of current news stories about […]
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A dot-com cyber-futurist library
Over 100 books from the dot-com era looking for an appreciative home I started buying books about the internet in the mid-1980s, long before I’d actually encountered it. I was…
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In Britain, when Parliament turns on the Crown…
…the Crown must act — How to explain the persistence and apparent indestructibility of the British monarchy. More to the point, how to explain its desperate and paranoid response to…
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Bad bad net
The Internet, which we thought was going to be liberating, turns out to be a tool of control: repressive, coercive and damaging to our most basic freedoms — So it…
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Working in space
It’s a review of 2001: A Space Odyssey from my Hollywood history newsletter GROSS, but it’s also an essay about working in space and a comparison with Director Bong’s Mickey…
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Art book sale!
I’m having a bit of a clear-out. Here are some of the art books I’ve accumulated over the years. All priced to sell (I don’t think you’ll find any of…
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Hillman in Hendon and in Tehran
Is the Israeli attack on Iran the first on a country that manufactures electric cars by one that doesn’t? — I met this gorgeous car and its proud owner in…
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Nationalise what?
Public ownership as end-of-life care. — This is a quick note in response to the head-spinning fact that, apparently, both ends of the British Parliamentary political spectrum are now positively…
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On the beach after the gold rush – annotated
I wrote this article for Mark Ellen at The Word fourteen years ago (I hope he won’t mind my putting it up here). The events described – my stupid progress…
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Paragraphs about AI
All these thoughts I keep having about AI, I’m going to put them here… — Jared Bush, writer/codirector of Zootopia 2 and Chief Creative Officer at Walt Disney Animation Studios,…
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What have we learnt?
The liberal world order, the whole post-war, rules-based thing that we treasured. That’s obviously over. It’s not just what’s happening now, and not just in theatres of war: the symptoms…
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Where is my patriotism?
Come, love of country, fill my heart… — I do love Britain. I guess I love England more. London most of all. I hope that in my life I’ve honoured…