Show notes by Sam Knowles. In England’s distant past, long before the spread of wealth and the explosive growth of the middle classes, holidays were a rarity. Overseas holidays were unheard of, except for those gilded few who’d grown fat on the Empire and took a ‘grand tour’ of Europe for months at a time, or else went off to add new lands to said Empire. The closest most workers got to any kind of holiday was being taken in a charabanc to the nearest seaside resort, where enforced fun … [Read more...] about SDF Podcast 28: Summertime Special
Brexit
SDF Podcast 27: When April Fool’s meets Groundhog Day
So this is the episode when the three stooges of the SmallDataForum were meant to reflect wistfully on what was Great Britain exiting Greater Europe. The irony of recording this on April Fool’s Day wasn’t lost on us. Brexit Fool’s day is every day, these days. Our resident classicist Sam even managed to squeeze in Juvenal’s Satire VI, and even though the reference was in regard to another April Fool’s – Facebook regulation, haha – Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes might just as well … [Read more...] about SDF Podcast 27: When April Fool’s meets Groundhog Day
SDF Podcast 26: To regulate, or not to regulate, that is the question…
“We can have democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we cannot have both.“ So the famous US Supreme Court Justice and ‘crusader for social justice’ and breaker-upper of Gilded Age monopolies, Louis D. Brandeis is said to have said, perhaps sometime in the early 1930s. Today, perhaps the best-known neo-Brandeisian anti-trust advocate is Tim Wu, Columbia law professor, ‘father of net neutrality’ and author of a series of books … [Read more...] about SDF Podcast 26: To regulate, or not to regulate, that is the question…
SDF Podcast 24: Reading the runes for 2019
The SmallDataForum celebrated its third Christmas with a highly calorific and somewhat alcoholic Italian lunch, followed by post-prandial musings about high- and low-lights of 2018, and some crystal ball gazing for 2019. Our regular followers / listeners – or just about anybody with any interest in tech and communication – won’t be surprised by a list being topped by Facebook, and then some more Facebook. Followed by GDPR and other regulatory activities, mainly by the EU. And of course we … [Read more...] about SDF Podcast 24: Reading the runes for 2019
Please stay, please go – Europeans make their case to UK voters
This article titled "Please stay, please go – Europeans make their case to UK voters" was written by Letters, for The Guardian on Monday 20th June 2016 19.22 UTCDon’t EXIT … EXIST! As citizens of France and as citizens of the world – whatever our social or artistic milieu, whatever our opinions – we are writing to say that we love you. We love Britain, your culture, your history, your civilisation, your temperament, our common history. You cannot vote to leave us, for to leave Europe would be to … [Read more...] about Please stay, please go – Europeans make their case to UK voters