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About me

By background I’m an engineer with an interest in systems and networks. I’ve been an academic and a newspaper columnist all my life, so (as my one-time Editor-in-Chief, Conor Cruise O’Brien, once said to me), I “have a foot in both graves”. I’m also a keen photographer, an assiduous autodidact, a grandfather and a long-time blogger. In terms of Isaiah Berlin’s metaphor about the two kinds of thinker — the hedgehog (who knows one big thing) and the fox (who knows many little things) I’m definitely a fox, and this Substack reflects that three times a week. I’d be honoured if you’d join me on this erratic voyage through the world of ideas.

To find out more about the company that provides the tech for this newsletter, visit Substack.com.