2026-06-21 -  The UK government wants to ban social media for under-16s. The goal is reasonable, but there are more effective alternatives that don't require sacrificing privacy and anonymity for the rest of the population.

2026-06-14 -  The Online Safety Act brought age checks to websites. Now the government wants them built into your devices – removing anonymity that protects whistleblowers, dissidents, and honest personal writing.

2026-06-07 -  As AI prices rise, companies' unchecked spending is coming under scrutiny. AI has removed speed constraints from development, but faster code doesn't automatically translate to revenue or business value.

2026-05-21 -  If Google's new AI features stop traffic flowing to websites, fewer people will bother running them. That could disrupt the entire online information economy – and deprive AI models of the data they use to learn.

2026-05-10 -  Brian Armstrong is bracing against market volatility with a flatter org chart, hands-on managers, and fleets of AI agents. But Coinbase's pivot comes with its own contradictions – and exposes it to new risks.

2026-05-03 -  From my travels on the small web to Steven Pressfield's theory of creative Resistance, this month's Field Notes is about people who create things because they care – not to chase clout, acclaim, or riches.

2026-04-26 -  Big Tech spent years subsidising AI access to build the habit. Now those subsidies are ending. With prices rising and AI embedded in core processes, businesses need to plan for continuity if it becomes unaffordable.

2026-04-12 -  Before algorithmic bias and advertising took over, search felt different. Kagi is trying to take us back — stripping out ads and SEO spam, and actively promoting the small web that most engines quietly suppress.

2026-04-06 -  An 18th Century plate that keeps returning to mind, Sarah Wynn-Williams' damning account of life inside Facebook, and new music from Muse that takes me back to summer nights in the 2000s.

2026-03-29 -  F1's new rules have given us surface-level entertainment – but the racing feels artificial, the drivers are managing batteries instead of pushing limits, and its leaders seem reluctant to admit there's a problem.