Jan
29
5 Reasons Why the Battle for Online Privacy Will be Lost
January 29, 2014 | Leave a Comment
An admittedly gloomy take on the privacy debate . . A version of this article also appears at the venerable Computerworld.com
Dec
17
First Utility is Officially Cheaper than British gas . . . according to British Gas
December 17, 2013 | Leave a Comment
If you’re not from the UK this post won’t mean much to you. Here though, the 2013 news agenda has been very much concerned with the UK’s power companies (Gas/Electricity) and how competitive they are and whether they’re abusing their dominant market position. Prices for gas and electricity have shot up drastically over the past […]
Nov
27
The Heartlessness of ‘Scotland’s Future’
November 27, 2013 | 1 Comment
A flurry of coverage yesterday of the SNP’s “Scotland’s Future” document . . . one thing stood out for me: the sheer, cold hard-headedness of it all.
Nov
14
The First Signs the Scottish Referendum Campaign is Getting Weird
November 14, 2013 | Leave a Comment
News via the Spectator reaches me of an unlikely speech by the Respect MP George Galloway at a Glasgow town hall meeting entitled ‘Just Say Naw’. When hard left Scottish MPs representing northern-English towns and David Cameron find themselves on the same side of any argument it’s pause for thought. On a topic as emotional […]
Aug
24
Cablog says bye bye . . . .
August 24, 2013 | Leave a Comment
A few days ago I discovered that cablog.com.au had ceased blogging. It was run by Sydney cabbie Adrian Neyland and was such a great example of what a blog is all about (niche subject, good writing, informative, entertaining) that I even featured it in as one of the blogs in the BBC News Superpower season. If memory serves Adrian […]
May
15
Ryan Fogle, Wigs & Modern spying
May 15, 2013 | Leave a Comment
Much talk in the media today about how Ryan Fogle, the captured CIA spy in Russia, was a rank amateur because — amongst other things — he was wearing a daft wig. The whole embarrassing affair seems almost perfectly timed for publication of Jeremy Scahill’s new book “Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield”. In […]
Apr
5
Bitcoin — The New Believers
April 5, 2013 | Leave a Comment
The British current affairs programme Newsnight on BBC television recently aired a report about the woes of Cyprus. Elderly sun tanned citizens clawed futilely at the barren cash machines while eager reporters goaded them on with microphones. It was a day or so before the island’s banks — or what’s left of them — were […]
Mar
21
Pirate: What’s in a Word
March 21, 2013 | Leave a Comment
Usually when celebrities jump onto a cause it’s the A-lister who ends up putting his foot in it so it’s something of a relief to see Harrison Ford sounding platitudes about how getting clean drinking water running in distant “stressed” lands can lead to a lack of Jihadi attacks against the USA — an argument […]