Technology
Why our greatest inventors are supreme hucksters
People often tell me I have a strange way of looking at the world. Obviously, it doesn’t seem strange to…
Trick or treat: the pros and cons of being hacked
The pros and cons of being hacked
Finally, we’re unboxing the teleporter
This week’s Wiki Man may read a bit oddly. You see, I haven’t ‘written’ it at all; I’ve dictated it…
The stupidity of the ‘spare bedroom’
The Tesla Model 3 is an astounding achievement, but one thing baffles me: why do electric cars lack even the…
Have you caught the remote-working bug?
One of the few benefits to emerge from this pandemic is that the world’s population has been given a crash…
You’re not special – just ask Google
My research assistant, John Steele, is also a songwriter. A friend emailed him with the lyrics of a Fleetwood Mac…
Much-hyped technological innovation isn’t necessarily progress
Modern advances in communication technology, computer power and medical science can sometimes be so startling as to seem almost like…
My Japanese toilet has made me a lockdown hero
Compared with every other household chore, progress in bum-wiping has been glacially slow. It’s only in living memory that schools…
NHS workers deserve our applause – but so does the telecoms industry
Next time there is a highly deserved round of public applause for NHS workers, do add one additional clap for…
The trick that will let you have a conference call from your home phone
For the past 12 years, Roger Alton and I have shared this half page like Box and Cox: he writes…
The simple trick that will hugely boost your phone coverage
In the recent debate over Britain’s 5G infrastructure, one dog didn’t bark in the night. At no point did anyone…
Britain needs to rediscover failure if it wants to prosper
Britain needs to rediscover trial and error, serendipity and speed
My 2019: mice, Marrakesh and a fond farewell to my dear friend Christopher Booker
Another year over and it wasn’t all bad, you know. Here are some of my personal highlights. Best birthday parties:…
We’ve just had the best decade in human history. Seriously
Let nobody tell you that the second decade of the 21st century has been a bad time. We are living…
Technological progress is as messy as Darwinian evolution
There is a famous chart which shows the time it took for various technologies to be adopted by 50 million…
Don’t tell me model railways aren’t art. My little engine is a thing of spirit and beauty
It’s a summer day at Llangenydd station, and the afternoon train is already late, not that anyone seems to mind.…
This year’s top gadgets – according to my inner chimp
I’d hoped to spend this week writing about my new Geberit Japanese-style toilet, but since the grout is not yet…
Are you tingle-minded? The rapid rise of ASMR
I once had a flatmate called Tom, who behaved very oddly when our cleaner came round. On mornings when she…
I’m a doctor, and tried the new GP app. My experience was terrifying
Everyone agrees something dramatic has to be done to help the NHS. It is crumbling and the canary in the…
Why extravagant things don’t have to feel expensive
‘Suppose you bought a case of claret a few years ago for £20 a bottle. It now sells at auction…
What I’ve learned from 20 years without a TV
In the summer of 1999 I did something radical. Spurred on by my husband’s universal loathing of television I took…
Selfie-surveillance: Who needs Big Brother when we constantly film ourselves?
Did you see the Welsh Tory MP David Davies and a pro-Brexit protester arguing outside parliament, pointing cameras at one…
We all have servants now
Montego Bay, Jamaica When the Kennedy clan were children, JFK and his siblings would tear off their clothes before leaping…
In praise of privacy
David Niven’s younger son Jamie, now an old man and a bit overweight, approached my table and announced that he…
Ignore the science fiction: AI isn’t out to get us
Every ten to 15 years there is a technology breakthrough that really changes what it means to be human. The…
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