Technology
Every 73 seconds, police use snooping powers to access our personal records. Who'll rein them in?
Police are using an anti-terror law to run wild in the public’s mobile phone records
The age of selfie-obsession
People can’t seem to stop taking pictures of themselves – and their private parts. It’s the ultimate expression of our increasingly puerile and narcissistic society
Switching on to a new generation gap
In the world of YouTube and Netflix, generations no longer share a culture
Why don’t more non-smokers try e-cigarettes?
I was waiting on an office forecourt recently puffing on an e-cigarette when a security guard came out. ‘You can’t…
The surer we are that machines can think, the less sure we'll be about people
Having written (for a Times diary) a few sentences about consciousness in robots, I settled back to study readers’ responses…
Four gadgets to take on holiday — and two to leave behind
One inarguably good thing about electronic publishing is that it solves that old quandary about what books to pack for…
Plutarch on smartphone addiction
Adults, we are told, as much as children, become gibbering wrecks if deprived of their mobiles or iPhones for more…
Spectator letters: Press regulation, heroic Bulgarians and the case for Scotch on the rocks
Beyond the law Sir: In your leading article of 28 June you make the point that the hacking trial demonstrates…
The voice of Big Mother does more for women than any Twitter feminist
Feminism in modern Britain is not for the faint-hearted. Only the smartest, mouthiest girls on the social media scene dare…
The sheer stupidity of artificial intelligence
Believers in omnipotent machine intelligence are reshaping the world to fit their fantasies
Adam Smith is the father of more than one sort of economics
Gandhi would test his resolve by sleeping between two naked virgins, an avenue not really open to me, as my…
How user-friendly is your house?
Old Glaswegian joke: ‘Put your hat and coat on, lassie, I’m off to the pub.’ ‘That’s nice — are you…
The gilded generation - why the young have never had it so good
The statistics speak for themselves. Today’s gilded generation is the most blessed that ever lived
Sugata Mitra interview: ‘A reduction in resources can cause something nice to happen’
Children can teach each other, believes Sugata Mitra — if you give them the internet, a big screen and a helpful granny on Skype
Why I no longer want to live in America
A few years ago I would have quite liked to live in America. I’m not sure now. For one thing,…
You can buy happiness. Here’s how…
If you are reading this article online, perhaps you could go to the comments section and let us know what…
I was forced on to the internet in the 1980s. I still don't belong there
With regard to modern technology, I find that people of around my age — by which I mean people in…
Any other business: The friends of Putin taking home gold from the Sochi Olympics
Imagine if the BBC’s excitable commentators had been asked to cover the building of Sochi’s facilities, rather than the Winter…
Will self-driving cars know what to do in the middle lane?
I am convinced that when I took my driving test in 1983 I was asked by the examiner, ‘What lane…
Ten reasons why conservatives should take Edward Snowden seriously
So why are British conservatives determined to ignore his revelations?
How James Goldsmith's wisdom on mistresses could revolutionise mobile phones
I wouldn’t worry much about the future of the British economy. Because I have a simple plan to make the…
Rory Sutherland: Why don't Americans have kettles?
I enjoy reading reviews of kitchen gadgetry. Clever new kitchen products are often under-appreciated. Many rituals around food preparation are…
What Vodafone should do with its huge windfall: invest it in the next Vodafone
Vodafone, which has just collected an £84 billion windfall from the sale of its 45 per cent stake in Verizon…
You’re never really on holiday with a smartphone
Why not give your smartphone a holiday?