Ten years ago

Ten years ago, a spunky young newsletter called Need To Know was reporting the launch of Mac OS 8, the Unixy future of the Mac (BeOS, not Steve Jobs), a new program called Alexa that allowed you to annotate websites, and Netscape shares dropped 18%. Wish I’d bought Apple shares around that time.

The real battle of Hastings


940th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings, and I’m in Battle for a huge re-enactment. It’s very spectacular, though of course the result is never in doubt. Even more spectacular, and a lot less organised, is the melee of kids with wooden swords charging around while their parents watch the battle.

The old Blackfriars

The old Blackfriars

A surprising sight walking down to Southwark tube the other day. A
quick shot on my phone in the rain doesn’t really do it justice, but
underneath the railway viaduct is the huge (original?) sign for
Blackfriars station – a small station on the London Bridge – Charing
Cross line that was open at this site for a few years in the 19th
century. The question is – who took the trouble to restore the old
station entrance and sign, and why?

Social signal failure

A strange mix of social signals on my train today. A rather well-
dressed young woman sat down opposite me, plonked a copy of Crime and
Punishment on the table, and then started devouring Best magazine,
featuring a lose 5 lb in 5 days superdiet, and more Jordan baby news
than you could shake a stick at. Perhaps I’m being an old snob about
Best magazine, but I would have thought the crossover audience for
real life stories and Dostoevsky was quite small.