Nurses and ports Gordon Ansell 23rd January 2021, 07:30 Society, Politics, Opinion 445 words. Why nurses can solve the logistics problems we'll suffer at ports as a result of Brexit.
Conspiracy theories vs science and how they're not even wrong Gordon Ansell 28th November 2020, 09:40 Science, Society, Philosophy, Disquisition 597 words. A look at how the Relativity of Wrong applies to conspiracy theories and science.
Lockdown faff for Christmas 2020 and beyond Gordon Ansell 25th November 2020, 11:15 Society, Coronavirus, Briefly If the aim of the government's plan for managing coronavirus at Christmas and beyond is to confuse people, they have succeeded. Why bother?
Why is the UK so bad at managing coronavirus? Gordon Ansell 18th October 2020, 09:40 Society, Coronavirus, Briefly The UK is put to shame by countries that manage coronavirus well. The lesson is to lock down early and implement track and trace.
Idlis and the Conservation of Flavour Principle Gordon Ansell 9th October 2020, 10:20 Society, Nonsense, News 280 words. The BBC reports on a Twitter row about idlis, which are lentil and rice cakes often eaten in Southern India. I add my own take on this food.
Cambridge's crazy roundabout Gordon Ansell 27th September 2020, 10:10 Society, Briefly Cambridge recently created a new roundabout that operates in the Dutch style. It's supposed to be safer but the jury's still out on that.
Will hacking one day be an act of war? Gordon Ansell 25th September 2020, 09:25 Society, Opinion 291 words. The BBC had a video which considers the how hacking can lead to death. I add my opinions to those of the BBC.
A plea to product manufacturers Gordon Ansell 17th August 2020, 12:10 Society, Products, Opinion 402 words. Why do product manufacturers write instructions in a font only an eagle could read?
The law and banks Gordon Ansell 13th July 2020, 09:00 Society, Companies, Briefly Why the law remains an ass and why banks still stink.
Trump, Twitter and Facebook Gordon Ansell 30th May 2020, 08:00 Society, Social Media, Twitter, Facebook, News 492 words. My own opinions about Trump's recent spat with Twitter and Facebook's subsequent lack of action.
Prospect theory still holds Gordon Ansell 22nd May 2020, 12:10 Society, Science, News, Citation Apparently we still view gains in a different way to losses and Prospect Theory still holds.
Confirmation bias and how to avoid it Gordon Ansell 12th May 2020, 10:20 Society, Opinion 539 words. Confirmation bias is blight on human decision making. Are there ways we can avoid it?
Ryanair and social distancing Gordon Ansell 24th April 2020, 09:00 Society, Coronavirus, Companies, Briefly Ryanair speaks out against the government's social distancing plans for planes.
The UK coronavirus tracking app Gordon Ansell 13th April 2020, 08:40 Tech, Society, Coronavirus, Apple, Google, News 296 words. How the UK's coronavirus tracking app will leverage APIs from Apple and Google.
The useful people Gordon Ansell 10th April 2020, 18:00 Society, Coronavirus, Opinion 278 words. Will society learn lessons from this coronavirus pandemic? Will it reward the people we depend on in the long term?
Tekashi 6ix9ine Gordon Ansell 3rd April 2020, 09:00 Society, Entertainment, Music, Briefly Tekashi 6ix9ine gets released from jail but can still punish us.
What's the difference between Paul Daniels and Uri Geller? Gordon Ansell 3rd April 2020, 08:30 Society, Interesting 971 words. Uri Geller claimed to be an actual psychic rather than just a stage magician and this caused a lot of friction over the years.
Chickens and eggs Gordon Ansell 27th March 2020, 09:00 Society, Nonsense, Briefly There really should not be an egg shortage. I blame lazy chickens.
44 vaccines being developed and tested for coronavirus Gordon Ansell 27th March 2020, 08:10 Society, Coronavirus, News, Citation An article on Wired summarises the vaccines currently being developed to fight coronavirus.
Can an entire planet's economy collapse? Gordon Ansell 23rd March 2020, 13:40 Society, Coronavirus, Opinion 479 words. How does the entire economy of a planet collapse? Surely these things are only relative.
It's a strange world we're living in just now Gordon Ansell 20th March 2020, 19:00 Society, Coronavirus, Opinion 585 words. Just some fairly pointless thoughts about the current coronavirus situation.
Toilet paper Gordon Ansell 16th March 2020, 09:00 Society, Nonsense, Briefly Idiots deprive sensible people of goods, showing a selfish streak and a single digit IQ.
Ducks and locusts Gordon Ansell 27th February 2020, 09:00 Society, Nonsense, Briefly Creating a problem by curing a problem.
Baboons run riot in vasectomy protest Gordon Ansell 26th February 2020, 06:45 Society, News 58 words. The BBC reports that baboons ran riot in Australia as one of them was scheduled for a vasectomy.
The bridge in the Irish Sea Gordon Ansell 14th February 2020, 16:55 Society, News 249 words. The UK government is investigating the idea of building a bridge from Scotland to Northern Ireland. Here are my thoughts on this idea.
Universal Credit's problems Gordon Ansell 7th February 2020, 09:00 Society, Briefly I've sorted out the problems with Universal Credit in a few paragraphs. I wonder why the government finds this so difficult?
BBC licence fee and banging MPs Gordon Ansell 5th February 2020, 09:00 Society, Briefly Why the hell do televisions need to be licenced? They're not dangerous. Also, was an MP banged over a wheelie bin?
Young, middle-aged and old Gordon Ansell 16th January 2020, 06:30 Society, Opinion 365 words. At what age are we considered young, middle-aged or old? I've done a little research.
Royalty and Flybe Gordon Ansell 13th January 2020, 09:00 Society, Companies, Briefly Why all the fuss about what the Royal Family does? Also, the Flybe potential collapse situation.
Council planning departments need to put more thought into things Gordon Ansell 8th January 2020, 07:25 Society, Rant, Opinion 917 words. A rant at council planning departments and the lack of thought they show when approving planning applications.
Rail fares and the suffering of UK commuters Gordon Ansell 5th January 2020, 08:35 Society, Opinion 233 words. Comments about how the UK rail network is so expensive these days. It seems to have lost the main reason it exists.
I'm sick of baby boomers getting all the blame for climate change Gordon Ansell 24th November 2019, 08:55 Society, Opinion 1564 words. Why do baby boomers get all the blame for climate change? All generations have played their own part in it.
Why not do away with world timezones altogether? Gordon Ansell 28th October 2019, 11:30 Society, Opinion 498 words. Steve Hanke and Dick Henry suggest doing away with timezones. And they suggest reformatting the calendar whilst we're at it. Here's my take on that.
Crashing a fighter jet Gordon Ansell 19th September 2019, 09:00 Society, Briefly Pilot has a bad experience after crashing his jet and bailing out.
HS2 and government projects in general Gordon Ansell 27th August 2019, 09:30 Society, Opinion 386 words. The government underestimates another project, this time it's HS2. Why do they always underestimate these things?
On optimism Gordon Ansell 27th August 2019, 09:00 Society, Nonsense, Briefly Optimism is overrated anyway.
Brexit and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson Gordon Ansell 21st August 2019, 09:00 Society, Entertainment, Films, Briefly The puzzling issue of the Brexit backstop, and the even more puzzling issue of The Rock's acting.
Drug crime Gordon Ansell 12th August 2019, 09:00 Society, Briefly Just some nonsense about drug crime in relation to my area.
The crackers world we live in now — my weekend rant Gordon Ansell 11th May 2019, 12:45 Society, Rant, Opinion 985 words. An advert draws the ire of the Advertising Standards Authority because someone jumps off a cliff and sprouts wings.
The UK’s Online Harms white paper - summary Gordon Ansell 9th April 2019, 07:55 Tech, Society, News 525 words. A summary of the UK's Online Harms White Paper, which aims to prevent 'online harm' by regulating certain internet-based companies.
Brexit demystified Gordon Ansell 3rd April 2019, 10:10 Society, Opinion 619 words. My own view of the Brexit situation based on an (admitedly small) number of friends whose preferences I'm aware of.
Cloth nappy influencers — the world has gone bonkers Gordon Ansell 28th March 2019, 06:01 Society, Social Media, News, Citation It seems we now have cloth nappy 'influencers' and I wonder if the world has reached a new level of crazy.
We can't comment on individual cases Gordon Ansell 16th March 2019, 08:45 Society, Companies, Rant, Opinion 452 words. Why do organisations use the phrase 'we can't comment on individual cases'? Is it really always for confidentiality?
The biggest threats to humanity Gordon Ansell 15th February 2019, 07:50 Society, Interesting, Citation The BBC looks at the biggest threats to humanity but I believe it overlooks one of the most important ones.
Saving the UK high street - do we want to? Gordon Ansell 27th December 2018, 08:18 Society, Opinion 797 words. The High Street appears to be in trouble and Mike Ashley recently told MPs how to save it. But I'm not so sure we want to save it anyway.
What do people do at cashpoints? Gordon Ansell 27th November 2018, 08:45 Society, Rant, Opinion 297 words. Why do people spend so long at cashpoints, standing in front of me, making me get wet in the rain?
Trump blustering on about Google Gordon Ansell 29th August 2018, 08:00 Tech, Society, Google, News 283 words. Donald Trump now thinks Google Search is biased agains him and blusters on about it, threatening consequences. Google issued denial.
Corbyn's plans for Big Tech Gordon Ansell 26th August 2018, 08:15 Tech, Society, News, Citation Gizmodo takes a look at Jeremy Corbyn's plans to promote journalism by levying a windfall tax on big tech. There are some problems with this plan.
Instagram face and the quest for perfection Gordon Ansell 17th August 2018, 08:15 Tech, Society, Interesting, Social Media, Citation An interesting article by Alexandra Jones on the BBC about 'Instagram face'. I'm more interested in how this reflects on society in general, if indeed it does at all.
Clamp down on fake news, says MP Gordon Ansell 29th July 2018, 10:45 Society, Tech, Social Media, Facebook, News, Citation An article by the BBC about the prevalence of fake news. Some MPs are calling for greater regulation to combat this, particularly online.
Flying cars are as likely as flying pigs in the UK Gordon Ansell 20th July 2018, 15:40 Tech, Science, Society, News, Citation A BBC article announces that Larry Page's flying car company is now training people how to fly them.
Is it illegal to do something someone might 'take offence' to? Gordon Ansell 6th May 2018, 09:50 Society, News, Citation A BBC article about a butcher who has been told his light-hearted, humorous signs might be offensive.
There’s too much pointless fuss about politics Gordon Ansell 25th April 2018, 09:38 Society, Opinion 1094 words. A rare diversion into politics for me about why it's all rather pointless when it comes to effecting real change.