The Wiki Man

How your brain buys a sofa

19 May 2016 1:00 pm

Almost every popular commercial product owes its success to two different qualities. First, it does the job it is ostensibly…

Tea and honesty

7 May 2016 9:00 am

We recently moved -offices from Canary Wharf to Blackfriars bridge. When you move after a long time in one place,…

Tea and honesty

5 May 2016 1:00 pm

We recently moved -offices from Canary Wharf to Blackfriars bridge. When you move after a long time in one place,…

How to do better at darts – and life

23 April 2016 9:00 am

I have always been intrigued by the scoring systems for different sports, and the degree to which they contribute to…

How to do better at darts – and life

21 April 2016 1:00 pm

I have always been intrigued by the scoring systems for different sports, and the degree to which they contribute to…

My tip for the next cool shop: Argos

9 April 2016 9:00 am

When I was at school in the 1970s, some of the richer kids would come back from their summer holidays…

My tip for the next cool shop: Argos

7 April 2016 1:00 pm

When I was at school in the 1970s, some of the richer kids would come back from their summer holidays…

Directions your phone can’t give you

26 March 2016 9:00 am

In many ways a satnav is a miraculous device. A network of US military satellites more than 10,000 miles above…

Directions your phone can’t give you

23 March 2016 3:00 pm

In many ways a satnav is a miraculous device. A network of US military satellites more than 10,000 miles above…

What’s the point of the driverless car?

12 March 2016 9:00 am

A first last week: a Google driverless car in autonomous mode was partly at fault in a collision, interestingly one…

What’s the point of the driverless car?

10 March 2016 3:00 pm

A first last week: a Google driverless car in autonomous mode was partly at fault in a collision, interestingly one…

The 5 per cent of people who get to decide everything

27 February 2016 9:00 am

What happens when 95 per cent of people like something, but 5 per cent of people prefer something else? You might think…

The 5 per cent of people who get to decide everything

25 February 2016 3:00 pm

What happens when 95 per cent of people like something, but 5 per cent of people prefer something else? You might think…

Tax me more, but don’t touch my dishwasher

13 February 2016 9:00 am

There was a big fuss a year or so ago about a book by a French chap called Piketty about…

Tax me more, but don’t touch my dishwasher

11 February 2016 3:00 pm

There was a big fuss a year or so ago about a book by a French chap called Piketty about…

Contactless payments have taken the fun out of buses

The power of painless payment

30 January 2016 9:00 am

I am one of those annoying, mildly claustrophobic people who sit at the end of a row in cinemas. There…

Contactless payments have taken the fun out of buses

The power of painless payment

28 January 2016 3:00 pm

I am one of those annoying, mildly claustrophobic people who sit at the end of a row in cinemas. There…

Q: What is a good school? A: One that other people like

16 January 2016 9:00 am

A few months ago I received a call from someone running a small private school near New York. They believed…

Q: What is a good school? A: One that other people like

14 January 2016 3:00 pm

A few months ago I received a call from someone running a small private school near New York. They believed…

Things we don’t mind paying for

2 January 2016 9:00 am

Here’s a challenge for film buffs: can anyone remember, from the entire canon of cinema and television, a single scene…

Things we don’t mind paying for

31 December 2015 3:00 pm

Here’s a challenge for film buffs: can anyone remember, from the entire canon of cinema and television, a single scene…

Why the greatest innovations do only one thing, but do it well

12 December 2015 9:00 am

McDonald’s got rid of cutlery. Uber does not allow you to pre-book taxis. Amazon began by selling only books. Conventional…

Why the greatest innovations do only one thing, but do it well

10 December 2015 3:00 pm

McDonald’s got rid of cutlery. Uber does not allow you to pre-book taxis. Amazon began by selling only books. Conventional…

The other side to the division of labour: the concentration of attention

5 December 2015 9:00 am

Adam Smith’s theory on the division of labour first appeared in 1776 in The Wealth of Nations. The idea was…

The other side to the division of labour: the concentration of attention

3 December 2015 3:00 pm

Adam Smith’s theory on the division of labour first appeared in 1776 in The Wealth of Nations. The idea was…