Highlights
Count Binface and electoral theatre
Don’t be a costumed loon — It’s trivially easy to stand for Parliament in the UK. Any loon can do so. You need ten electors to nominate you and £500 for a deposit – and it’s actually been getting easier. The deposit was introduced in 1918 (£150 – quite a lot of money then). Before […]
I hate this
But does it matter? — I don’t usually say that sort of thing here. I try to be more measured, less personal. I’m talking about the police face recognition vans obviously. This might not surprise you: I mean that I don’t like them. I’m an old git after all, a man who’s written here before […]
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 […]
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Winding up MPs
Proper exciting to hear Stef Magdalinski talking about They Work for You on Today in Parliament Friday. MPs of various stripes are pretty pissed off with They Work for You…
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Sheila Duke, neé Bowbrick, 1930–2006
My Aunt Sheila (in the front of this picture), a funny, generous, rude and slightly loopy Cockney who always cheered me up and was a proper anchor for the Bowbricks…
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Stock markets booming. Stock exchanges failing
Stock exchanges evolved from informal institutions – places where blokes in top-hats swapped cash and promises. Since those early days they’ve acquired some respectability – although they’re still stuffed with…
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These men could make it all better for the music business
At yesterday’s Beyond The Soundbytes music biz conference I ran into Paul Sanders, a major blast from the past (like it says on his web site: “since 1994”) and the…
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A small masterpiece from La La Land
My favourite comment for ages. Not spam, just completely mad…
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From acceptance to accommodation
So I went down to Carlton House Terrace for a MusicTank conference called Beyond the Soundbytes. Fascinating. There’s a sort of melancholy thrill to be had from watching an industry…
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More information about that eBay widget
Like I said the other day we’re looking for someone to develop a clean, usable web widget for eBay. We’ve had a number of promising responses to our request but…
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Reaching for my gun
I’m writing some think pieces for a new web site from the DCMS’s Culture Online. I started with one about the future of radio and the second one is about…
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The evolution of the API
I don’t pretend to understand how it works but I do like the look of Mashery. If APIs are going to transform business, if they’re going to become a feature…
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Widgets are hot
Ivan’s in California engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the competition at Widgets Live. Here in London Jay’s been judging the BBC Backstage widget competition. Entries had to make use of…