The admissions from the Metropolitan Police this week about the Ian Tomlinson case, where an officer was found to have used unauthorised and unnecessary force which led to the newspaper seller's death a few years ago, mark an interesting turning point in our video-surveillance society. Whilst the UK has become one of the most videoed … Continue reading Big brother is us
Category: Other Stuff
Today marks the the centenary of my grandfather Bertie's birthday (that's him on the left above, along with my dad, Gran and uncle pictured in around 1948). Grandad was a physicist. After completing his education at Queen's University in Belfast, he headed over to the mainland to work for GEC. This was in an era … Continue reading Centenary
I fundamentally don't trust Ian Duncan Smith. I do trust, however, that he holds deep beliefs that social security benefits dissuade people from working. For me, I agree, but only in the same way that I believe a lack of oxygen dissuades people from breathing. I don't think he's right about causality, and he and … Continue reading Balance of evidence-based policy
Last night was the first public outing for some of the material I've been working on with my "inevitable" side project, Stamp. I ran an hour long webinar for a few kind folk who volunteered to be Guinea pigs exploring some ideas about developing personal digital strategies. If you are interested, you can find the … Continue reading Stamp
It was quite a weekend to be a Watford fan. I get to say that roughly every seven years. Yesterday, after 180 minutes of hard-fought football, a startling 20 seconds at the end of the Watford-Leicester match at Vicarage Road resulted in the Hornets getting through to their third ever Championship play-off final. On Bank … Continue reading The most valuable game in football
My wife is currently working in the United States, and in conversation yesterday she expressed her unease about being there in light of the terrible events in Boston. That is at once both completely understandable, and utterly illogical. But sadly as a species our ability to assess and balance risk is utterly under-evolved to cope … Continue reading Relative risk
In conversation in the pub last night (a rare event, that - going to a pub these days), my drinking buddy Andy asked me if I got nervous before doing presentations. "Yes", I said. But that I knew how to manage it. We talked further, and at one point I said that one of … Continue reading On presenting…
I'm off for the week. Have a good Easter break!
I've recently completed Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha's book about careers in the 21st Century, The Start-up of You. It's an interesting read - part practical guide to networking, part sage-like advice on the future of work and jobs and careers, and part LinkedIn user manual. That last bit can grate a bit at times, … Continue reading The Start-up of You – Review
I've just got back from a very pleasant weekend in the Bavarian city of Munich. It was interesting to see how some things are done very differently on the continent. Take train travel, and what we euphemistically refer to as "revenue protection". In the UK these days there are on the spot fines for travelling … Continue reading Assumed innocence
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