Richard Feynman and the pleasure of finding things out
The BBC Horizon series has been inspirational for me over my life. For example, the programme Painting by Numbers was one of the main inspirations...
21 sure signs that you’re a geek
Are you a geek? If you’re asking the question, you probably are – curiosity is the defining characteristic of geeks. But here are 21 more...
The secret history of computer games
If you want to know why computer games are the way they are today, you need to study the games of the past. See how nearly 70 years of...
Geek or creative: which personality type are you?
I’m a self-confessed geek. My ex-wife is a creative – an actress. My daily life was once a kind of experiment in reconciling two very...
Why I’m awesome: The Dunning-Kruger effect
I have finally found the explanation for irrational overconfidence: the Dunning-Kruger effect. It explains the bombast on the internet and...
How to quantify risk
The ability to quantify risk is a totally essential skill. We live in world of miscalculated risk. This article gives some examples of that...
Are you a Looney Tunes person or a Disney person?
There are two kinds of people in the world: Disney people and Looney Tunes people, according to historian Charles Carney. Which are you?