I get fed up with hearing Richard Dawkins repeatedly rant on about how religion is bad, how religious people are stupid, and how anyone who disagrees with him can’t possibly consider themselves a scientist, because religion is specifically about not thinking. There are a number of reasons I get fed up with hearing this. Partly [...]

If you weren’t already sufficently paranoid about data security (although whether it can be described as paranoid when people are out to try and steal your money is maybe open to debate), here’s a new one for you. Imagine you bank online. Imagine you’re at home, with a totally secure connection to your bank; you [...]

Much has been said about the tenure of Mike Ashley at Newcastle United. Ever since Mike Ashley bought the club, he’s been going to sell it, according to some sources. Every week we’ve been linked with yet another foreign billionaire who would inevitably then distance themselves from the stories. Nigerians, South Africans, Indians, Americans. It’s [...]

It’s obviously a time to be thinking about death — not ideal for someone who suffers from thanatophobia — but sometimes you have to think about death in order to accept the absurdity of life in the first place. All I can say is that it wasn’t me who started it. First, we had Lady [...]

Was applauded off the pitch when he came off against Manchester City tonight. We looked a poorer side without him; he was fighting for every ball and using his physical attributes (big, strong, lanky) very effectively. While I’m not a booer of players in general, and certainly not of players like Shola who I feel [...]

Take one of the characters you made up a history for in the last exercise and write a monologue for that character of about 200 words. When you’ve done this, see if the way they speak has something unique about it. Take another character, one who is very different, and do the same again. Have [...]

Also known as “The US Presidential Election”. Some people would suggest that I, as a UK citizen, haven’t really got any right to have an opinion about the election. That’s nonsense. I haven’t got any right to vote in the US election, but I’m entitled to have an opinion on it. Firstly, I think it’s [...]

Don’t worry, you don’t need to understand the words, just so long as you can look at the pictures. What? No, it’s not that sort of site. So far as I can tell, it’s some sort of shopping site, I just think it’s pretty funny. Have a look for yourselves. (Thanks to LSW for pointing [...]

As someone who spends quite a bit of time on the train — where I normally read through the back issues of Computer Weekly that I have allowed to pile up — it’s nice to have something to do when you’ve not got much space, or you’re in that inevitable position of having fifteen to [...]

Kids birthdays. Hard work for the parents — and frequently expensive, if you’re hosting the party — but can be very rewarding. Oh, and noisy. Do bring earplugs. There are certain birthday traditions. We have the ‘Grandma Jenny Cake’, where the kids pick some sort of birthday cake and Grandma Jenny makes it. This year, [...]