"History is not erased when statues are pulled down. It is made." Some people celebrated when Saddam's statue was toppled in Iraq. Yet those same voices condemn the felling of Coulson, Rhodes, and a dozen other statues. Why? Alex von Tunzelmann has a knack for getting to the heart of history in an accessible manner. There isn't a hefty amount of ponderous academic theory to wade through - just well researched stories mixed with contemporary accounts. Statues don't have human rights. But our…
Continue reading →
Did you know that a Suffragette invented the UK's electrical plug? Dame Caroline Haslett was an electrical engineer who foresaw the way that electricity could be used to remove domestic drudgery from women's lives. There is a slim biography of her, written by her sister, which is sadly out of print. Luckily, the book is available for free on Archive.org. It is a curious book. It dwells on her faith as much as her technical prowess. Her waistline is the subject of wry amusement. There's…
Continue reading →
This book didn't really resonate with me. I enjoyed both Station Eleven and Sea of Tranquillity, so I think I was expecting something in a similar vein. Instead of ethereal sci-fi, this is a tangled tale which feels like a mish-mash of half a dozen movies. The central premise of a Ponzi scheme which warps the lives of those around it - which leads to a jumbled cast of characters, none of whom really get a chance to be fleshed out. The pivotal mystery at the start of the novel is resolved in…
Continue reading →
This is a weird book. The politics of the Star Wars universe are rarely deeply examined. The various tax-related shenanigans of The Phantom Menace were derided by geeks but here become a potent source for art as a dozen artists reimagine classic propaganda posters from Earth and remix them with pop-culture. There are some stunning pieces of art - with a real feel of history. Here's a typical sample: Others just look like they were stitched together from clipart. The images are a decently …
Continue reading →
Every technology is a transitional technology. This book makes the case that the complexity of modern technology is, well, complex! Systems are designed by so many people that their outputs are an utter mystery to anyone - even those deeply enmeshed within them. It is somewhat scattershot - leaping between sextech, payment processors, architecture, and half a dozen other subjects. Each chapter is a worthy examination of a complex technology - but I felt it would have benefited from being a…
Continue reading →
Oooh! This is an interesting slice of philosophical fiction. On the surface, it is a fairly standard story about a mysterious Victorian book which contains dark secrets and has since been lost to history. You probably know how it goes; our fearless heroine finds a long-lost copy, unlocks a weird world of intrigue, and is pursued by sinister forces. But then it hits the philosophy - and hits it hard! A one-two punch of Heidegger and Derrida, taking us on a journey into deconstruction. The…
Continue reading →
Infrastructure is impossible. You have to wrangle thousands of people over dozens of months, with a budget of millions, to deliver something made of hundreds of plans, which has to fit seamlessly into the world. How does any infrastructure get built? It mostly doesn't. This is the terrifying true story of all the different ways big projects fail. If you've ever been part of a big IT project, some of the themes will give you flashbacks. What kills me is how normalised this has become. We all …
Continue reading →
This is a fascinating story told on an almost geological timescale. It is a tantalisingly glimpse, into a much larger world. It is a story of contradiction - there's an epic universe, but we're stuck in a parochial backwater. It is full of un-human creations - yet its politics are firmly a reflection of the 2020s. I loved the story - it's almost impossible to describe how wild it gets - but found myself continually frustrated with the po-faced nature of the characters. The protagonists are…
Continue reading →
The problem with autobiographies is that every anecdote ends with "needless to say, I had the last laugh!" This corporate-autobiography is no different - as it details the rise and impact of Bellingcat - a team of investigators and journalists. I am in awe of Bellingcat - and have seen them give talks on a couple of occasions. This book is a thrilling account of how they perform "open source" investigations; solving crimes with freely available data. But every few pages, I got an uneasy…
Continue reading →
The central schtick of this book is a cliché brilliantly delivered. Take a side-character from a beloved book and retell the story through their eyes. I only have hazy memories of reading 1984 - where Julia is little more than a femme fatale. This book is an explicit and visceral journey through Julia's life in Airstrip One. We see how, from her point of view, Winston Smith is little more than a pathetic dreamer. His childish fantasies of toppling Big Bother are the last gasp of a snivelling …
Continue reading →
This book is a rather pleasing wander through two interconnected topics. From the earliest chat rooms (A/S/L?) all the way to haptic-feedback in the Metaverse, this breezes through the way sex has advanced the technology and the resulting impact technology has had on sex. The book is well illustrated - skirting a fine line between being overly prudish and unnecessarily graphic. There are diversions into the religious weirdos behind some online dating sites, the original cam-girls, and BBS…
Continue reading →
I love Fforde's provincial epics. They are dystopias set in the endless wastelands of suburban England. Whole new worlds brought to life in sleepy villages. The Constant Rabbit isn't exactly subtle in its politics - fears that "the Rabbits" might out-breed us leads to a rise in an anti-rabbit dictatorship. But it is the way he deftly weaves polemic and punchline that is so delightful. ‘Rehoming rabbits in Wales’ policy was won on a slender majority and with half the country not voting at al…
Continue reading →
