Social networks are not really social—they’re informational. While they may appear to be social, and perhaps we flock to them and participate in them because we feel a need to socially connect, the real currency is information. Whereas we might go to a bar, a cocktail party or a dinner and spend 90% of our … Read more
Increasingly I find that if I enter a search on Google for something that I need explaining to me, the first result is a book. Of course, the book is in Google’s Book Search, but chances are the search is in a page that has been scanned and is available without having to buy the … Read more
Banks always talk about being global, and thinking local, and all that tosh. And it is tosh. Really. My bank just called me, for example, to congratulate me for linking my bank accounts in different parts of the world so I can see them from one website. Great idea, weird it hasn’t been possible until … Read more
It amuses me that banks talk about security but rarely apply it in a consistent enough way to save people like you and me from getting scammed. Take what just happened to me this morning: My bank rings me up (the number is a private number so doesn’t show up on my screen, but that … Read more
For those of you who thought the former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was living it up in Europe buying soccer teams, you’re wrong. He’s having serious financial problems and needs your help, according to this email I just received in his name: Good day. This may appear a bit surprising to you but very … Read more