The Wiki Man

S&M and B&Q

6 November 2014 3:00 pm

I never got beyond page 20 in Fifty Shades of Grey. No one got shot in the first chapter, and…

The best navigation idea I’ve seen since the Tube map

25 October 2014 9:00 am

I stopped using London buses when some coward put doors on them. Twenty years ago, you could board any bus…

Putting words on the map

23 October 2014 2:00 pm

I stopped using London buses when some coward put doors on them. Twenty years ago, you could board any bus…

Why everywhere should be more like Essex

11 October 2014 9:00 am

Apart from the Wye Valley, where I grew up, there are only two places in Britain I’d consider living: Kent…

Everywhere should be more like Essex

9 October 2014 2:00 pm

Apart from the Wye Valley, where I grew up, there are only two places in Britain I’d consider living: Kent…

Red or white… or nothing

Was the phrasing of the Scottish referendum question designed to create division?

27 September 2014 8:00 am

It is a trick which often works on children. Do not tell them to eat vegetables; instead ask whether they…

Red or white… or nothing

The psychology of either/or

25 September 2014 1:00 pm

It is a trick which often works on children. Do not tell them to eat vegetables; instead ask whether they…

Why is nationalism OK when prefixed by the word ‘Scottish’ but not ‘British?’

13 September 2014 9:00 am

My second favourite religious joke is an old Jewish joke (which I read in the Harvard Review, so I assume…

The pound sterling doesn’t buy happiness

11 September 2014 1:00 pm

My second favourite religious joke is an old Jewish joke (which I read in the Harvard Review, so I assume…

Why don’t more non-smokers try e-cigarettes?

30 August 2014 9:00 am

I was waiting on an office forecourt recently puffing on an e-cigarette when a security guard came out. ‘You can’t…

The kick of the habit

28 August 2014 1:00 pm

I was waiting on an office forecourt recently puffing on an e-cigarette when a security guard came out. ‘You can’t…

How oneupmanship wrecks things for everyone

16 August 2014 9:00 am

‘There’s a little bit of a fascist in all of us. For some, the tragedy of human want may provoke…

How oneupmanship ruins things for everyone

14 August 2014 1:00 pm

‘There’s a little bit of a fascist in all of us. For some, the tragedy of human want may provoke…

Four gadgets to take on holiday — and two to leave behind

2 August 2014 9:00 am

One inarguably good thing about electronic publishing is that it solves that old quandary about what books to pack for…

Holiday kit – should it stay or should it go?

31 July 2014 1:00 pm

One inarguably good thing about electronic publishing is that it solves that old quandary about what books to pack for…

Why we’ll never go back to smoking indoors

19 July 2014 9:00 am

What would happen, I wonder, were we to rescind the smoking ban as Nigel Farage wants? My guess is not…

How good laws change our ways

17 July 2014 1:00 pm

What would happen, I wonder, were we to rescind the smoking ban as Nigel Farage wants? My guess is not…

Adam Smith is the father of more than one sort of economics

5 July 2014 9:00 am

Gandhi would test his resolve by sleeping between two naked virgins, an avenue not really open to me, as my…

Adam Smith vs the measurebators

3 July 2014 1:00 pm

Gandhi would test his resolve by sleeping between two naked virgins, an avenue not really open to me, as my…

The six things that'll change when I rule the world

21 June 2014 8:00 am

But why did the food [in England] stay so bad after refrigerated ships, frozen foods and eventually air-freight deliveries of…

Six ways to a better life

19 June 2014 1:00 pm

But why did the food [in England] stay so bad after refrigerated ships, frozen foods and eventually air-freight deliveries of…

How user-friendly is your house?

7 June 2014 9:00 am

Old Glaswegian joke: ‘Put your hat and coat on, lassie, I’m off to the pub.’ ‘That’s nice — are you…

How user-friendly is your house?

5 June 2014 1:00 pm

Old Glaswegian joke: ‘Put your hat and coat on, lassie, I’m off to the pub.’ ‘That’s nice — are you…

This strategy won Eurovision. It could also save your life

24 May 2014 9:00 am

Oskar Morgenstern grew up in Vienna, John von Neumann in Budapest. Clearly the same Austro-Hungarian intellectual spirit which gave rise…

When brave is better than good

22 May 2014 1:00 pm

Oskar Morgenstern grew up in Vienna, John von Neumann in Budapest. Clearly the same Austro-Hungarian intellectual spirit which gave rise…