I woke this morning to news that Notre Dame cathedral was afire. It shocked me; this is one of the world’s great buildings of all time. I’m glad the French were able to save at least part of the structure. The story took me back a dozen years to the day when my wife and … More Notre Dame cathedral before the fire
I saw reports a few weeks back, suggesting that the pilot of the Lion Air Boeing 737 Max 8 that crashed off Indonesia last year spent the last minutes of his life frantically looking through the operating manual to find out how to prevent the aircraft from diving, against their control inputs. Just the day … More What happens when we’re caught by ‘automation surprise’?
I am hugely impressed with what New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, did after the horrific terror attack in Christchurch on 15 March. She told us – and the world – that New Zealand utterly rejected what the gunman had done and stood for. It would not be allowed to change New Zealand’s way of … More Defeating terror with the strength of kindness
I write this with heavy heart and deep sadness. My thoughts are with all those affected by the tragedy in Christchurch; I stand by them, as do all Kiwis. As I write this, I hear reports that the youngest victim was just five, pursued and gunned down in cold blood. There are no words to … More New Zealand’s darkest day
It would be nice to say that we always exaggerate our fears of pending Armageddon. The idea of imminent doom is a common thread across human societies through time. It appears to be hard-wired into us; and often it’s an over-blown fear. Right now, the world is entering an unprecedented era of human-driven climate change … More Armageddon by nuclear winter – it’s still a thing
It seems incredible that we’re already nearly a week into 2019 already. Just 20 years ago I was trying to get over the fact that I had been partying like it was 1999. Where have the years between gone? Here’s that crossroads again. What have you got lined up for 2019? Any resolutions for the … More A few New Year anti-resolutions
One of the things that always irritates me about Christmas is the incredible commercialisation that goes with it. The frenzy starts around October these days and has got to the point where the major retail chains are advertising their Boxing Day sales weeks ahead of Christmas itself. Apparently the act of giving away avalanches of … More That ‘ol Christmas shopping zombie thing again
