I have to admit that I am not a big fan of radio. Other than the occasional listen to the always excellent BBC Radio 6, I tend to spend most of my listening time with my own music (iPods still rule!), and podcasts. I have been surprised by the endurance Read more
Besides being one of the world’s most popular pop stars, Taylor Swift is usually recognised for her masterful use of social media. Her Instagram and Tumblr accounts are wildly popular, but are also textbook examples of how to use the Internet to communicate a carefully curated image. The savvy online Read more
My new favourite show is Orphan Black, a Canadian BBC production set in a world where human cloning was achieved 30 years ago. I’ve just finished watching the first season on Netflix, and I’m thoroughly hooked. Tatiana Maslany is the greatest actress of her generation. Just trust me and watch Read more
This week, comedian John Oliver landed a huge journalistic exclusive when he travelled to Russia to interview none other than Edward Snowden. Here is the clip, but bizarrely it cannot be viewed in the UK at the time of writing, so fire up your VPNs or proxies. I have to Read more
Last Sunday night Citizenfour, the Laura Poitras documentary about Edward Snowden, won the Oscar for best documentary. This is a great development for those of us who believe that the Snowden revelations constitute one of the most important events of our time, and hopefully it will prompt a wider examination Read more
Many years ago I started reading The Wheel of Time fantasy series (yes… I know…) I started with Book 5, which I think is still the best of the franchise, just before it descended into a nightmarish description of clothes, and endless comments on the act of braid pulling. My Read more
In 2002, Joss Whedon created a science fiction series called Firefly. You will be forgiven for never having heard anything about it, the show was cancelled during its first season by Fox, leaving us with only 14 episodes. But the series became an instant cult classic, it was a charming Read more
Those interested in alternative business models for the music industry may have heard about singer Amanda Palmer‘s astounding success in crowdfunding her next album through Kickstarter, where she managed to collect $1.2 million USD in donations from her fans. Whichever way you look at it, this is an incredible achievement Read more
I find it amusing that the important political debates of our time is being fought not in the op-ed pages of the New York Times, but in your choice of graphic novel. The question of the day is not whether you are Socialist, Labour, Conservative, Tea Party, Libertarian, Democrat, or Read more
Yesterday we got a very interesting lesson about law enforcement online. Imagine that you discover your rights are being violated in some way, and you are almost certain that you are on the right. Traditionally you had three options: do nothing, contact the offender to negotiate, or file a lawsuit. Read more