Awesomeness Fatigue

This is a commentary piece I’ve recorded for the BBC World Service. I call it awesomeness fatigue – the exhaustion that comes from being bombarded with stories, videos and pictures designed to amaze you. The problem is not that they don’t work: it’s that they’re too good. In the past week or so I’ve watched … Read more

The Rising Noise of Silence

This is a commentary piece for a semi-regular slot on the BBC’s World Service. It’s not content that appears on Reuters, nor does it reflect the views of my employer.  I’m here to report a new scourge of the public space: folk who watch video on their tablets in public without a headset. Just the … Read more

Making waves: In the hunt for invisibility, other benefits seen | Reuters

Making waves: In the hunt for invisibility, other benefits seen | Reuters: SINGAPORE | BY JEREMY WAGSTAFF A new way of assembling things, called metamaterials, may in the not too distant future help to protect a building from earthquakes by bending seismic waves around it. Similarly, tsunami waves could be bent around towns, and soundwaves … Read more

Software as Silo

Software is a funny thing. How important is it? Apple has just announced it’s giving most of its away for free — effectively costing it some $900 million in the short term. Samsung has just convened its first developer conference in the hope of persuading more people to write software for its devices. Microsoft, known … Read more