After railing against eSIM-only phones for over a decade, I've finally succumbed. It appears impossible to buy a modern phone without them. Thankfully, most seem to be dual-SIM. So I can have a regular SIM card and an eSIM. I find dual-SIM phones handy. I have a disposable number which I give out to people who don't need my main number. And when I go abroad, it's useful to have a local SIM. When I'm at home, I like my 2nd SIM to be used as a backup in case I'm somewhere with no signal on my…
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The UK is almost certain to have a General Election this year. The Boundary Commission for England has reworked the existing Parliamentary constituencies to make them more fair. As such, constituencies are generally more equal in terms of electorate. But, of course, geography trumps geometry. So the Isle of Wight now has two constituencies of 56k and 54k, whereas the average constituency has 73k. I wanted to know if these new boundaries meant that a political party could win the majority of…
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Weeks before Britons go to the polls, there's still no comprehensive list of candidates. Four citizens' initiatives have joined forces to tackle the problem. They've been gathering basic information about thousands of candidates and making the data public. "It may seem surprising but there simply is no single listing for all prospective parliamentary candidates. We want people to make an informed choice and that's difficult because so many new people are standing this time - and a record…
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