16 August, 2024
Hertz doubled the cost of my car rental. Here’s their process design trick.
This year, during my family holiday, I discovered how Hertz – and many other car hire companies – have crafted a process involving dark patterns to trick stressed travellers into paying far more than necessary for their car hire. I’ve used Hertz several times over the years, particularly in the 2000s, so I expected good […]
28 June, 2023
Recovering from a heart bypass. The physical and mental challenges.
Having a coronary artery bypass isn’t much fun and comes with challenges. Four years later I thought I’d describe some more of my experiences.
15 February, 2022
Interesting times in the world of software
About a decade ago, I was at a conference and talking to a fellow developer (I still call myself one, even though I don’t code so much these days) when he giddily told me about the funding he’d got for building a new piece of software he was hoping would make it big. It was […]
26 April, 2021
I broke my heart in five places and got it fixed
A year ago, I was sitting, shorn of all body hair and waiting to go in for a five or six hour operation. I knew the next two weeks would be hell.
17 December, 2017
Why political parties lose support by winning.
People do like to look back angrily, don’t they? Yet many a time, their anger today doesn’t reflect how they really felt back then. If you look at the Iraq War, and the UK’s involvement in it, most people supported the action. For sure, an awful lot of people today don’t think it was right […]
18 July, 2012
It’s OK, Coming Second Isn’t So Bad
One of the lessons I’ve learned, from motorsport and life in general, is that coming second is actually OK. You’re brought up in school to believe that winning is important. Anything else is being a loser. Well, they’re wrong. The minute you learn to accept that you win by being the best that you can […]
31 August, 2010
Off to San Pedro
Just about to start packing for San Pedro de Atacama. I’ve been there before, so it’s a relatively familiar spot, though I didn’t spend long in the town. So this time I’m going to explore the locality a little more. I’m even thinking of sticking with it for a week or so and treating as […]
1 December, 2008
Spectacu.la, the New Design, and Why I’ve Been So Quiet…
Some of you may have noticed that this blog hasn’t been updated properly of late. Not much fresh content, no motorsport reports… in fact, not much at all. Here’s why…