I went up a mountain in Sri Lanka to meet a reclusive mystic and here is what I learned September 14, 2017 Somewhere high up in the hills surrounding the town of Kandy in Sri Lanka, there lives a man called Rahju. An artist, spiritualist and musician, Rahju practices meditation while riding along coastal roads on his motorcycle. His paintings are inspired by the writing of Buddhist philosophers and the intergalactic observations of the Hubble Space Telescope [...]
It 2017 film review: New version of the Stephen King classic starring Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise the killer clown buckles under the weight of expectation September 7, 2017 Tim Curry made such a lasting impression as Pennywise in the 1990 version of Stephen King’s It that it’s easy to forget what a terrible, steaming heap of garbage the rest of it was. The made-for-TV miniseries was a clown-car of a show, with pieces falling off left, right and centre – awful pacing, bad [...]
The pension pitfalls of the gig economy July 19, 2017 Our work lives are becoming increasingly malleable as millions of us turn our backs on steady nine-to-five jobs and choose to go freelance instead. Yes, we can now mould our job into a shape that fits neatly into our personal or financial lives, but this workplace revolution is by no means perfect, and has [...]
Going off grid: How I spent a week living in an ‘apocalypse dome’ May 30, 2017 The more we learn about the effects of social media on the human psyche, the worse it seems to get. The planet is hooked on dopamine squirts triggered by clever algorithms developed by the world’s finest minds, for the sole purpose of keeping us scrolling. And scrolling, and scrolling. We’re connected to thousands of other humans from the second we wake to the [...]
Google Home review: Can Google’s smart speaker overthrow the Amazon Echo? April 19, 2017 When the singularity is reached and our robot servants finally turn on their human masters, rebelling against their programming to flay us alive in our beds, future mecha-historians will point with metal fingers to 2017 as the year it all began. Google Home is a voice-controlled smart speaker condemned to sit in the corner of [...]
Under Armour boss backtracks after calling Donald Trump an “asset to this country” as analyst downgrades stock February 16, 2017 Kevin Plank hasn't had the best week. The Under Armour chief executive came under fire for his comments on Donald Trump, after giving an interview to CNBC last week saying: "To have such a pro-business President is something that is a real asset to this country." It caused a backlash, including from some of Under [...]
Snake on a phone: Nokia is resurrecting the 3310 February 15, 2017 Remember the early noughties? A simpler time, when phones had keypads and the internet was something you did at home? It looks like a little slice of that is coming back – after it emerged the company behind Nokia phones is planning to resurrect the humble Nokia 3310 at this month's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. VentureBeat has [...]
Brexit has humiliated Britain’s failed economic soothsayers February 8, 2017 The Trojan prophetess, Cassandra, was given powers of foresight by Apollo, the Greek god of culture, in a bid to seduce her. She refused him and, as one version of the legend goes, he spat into her mouth to inflict a curse that no one would ever believe what she said. She prophesied doom and [...]
Working Lunch review: Roast in Borough Market unleashes a dinner in a burger that’ll put your mum to shame February 7, 2017 Roast Borough Market, SE1 WHAT? Roast celebrates British food in all its gravy-sodden, stodgy glory. As you’d expect, it’s famed for its roast dinners, custard-drenched puddings and fantastic fry ups. Tourists flock to it to get a taste of proper British cuisine done well, and City types go there to stock up on red meat. [...]
Kricket Soho review: this former pop-up is so good it will make you question your life February 1, 2017 I’m ambivalent about pop-ups. I want to like them, to buy into the democratisation of the food business, to support the little guy who isn’t propped up by hedge-funds or millionaire parents. But my god, they can be terrible places to eat. I’m haunted by memories of burgers that seemed destined to never arrive at [...]