Month: January 2004

It had been forecast for more than a week, but when some real winter weather finally arrived yesterday, much of England was, as usual, totally uprepared. We got about a whopping 2 inches of snow (which fell in about 10 minutes, accompanied by thunder and lightning). And the temperature plunged to well below freezing (0 degrees C as opposed to 0 degrees F, which I think is when you can really start saying it’s cold). I love this kind of weather and really miss having real winters, even though I haven’t lived in cold country for 28 years now.

A while back I speculated about the strange words that were turning up in the spam email in my inbox. Now Wired reveals that it’s just the latest escalation in the spam wars.

Very good piece in the New York Times on John Edwards. I have a feeling he’s going to surprise a lot of people in Iowa and New Hampshire. You read it here first.

Crikey! Reigate is suddenly the center of the Princess Diana/car crash/tabloid/royal/scandal universe! Wonder if my traffic will go up?

Radio Free Reigate is broadcasting again after some technical problems. Listen now!

With the annual Macworld expo taking place in San Francisco next week, the usual speculation and rumours are flying as to what new products will be introduced by Steve Jobs during his keynote address. Many people seem to be putting their money on a cheaper version of the iPod. But why undercut a market you already dominate? And when has Apple ever been interested in the bargain basement? The whole ethos of the company is quality for a price. So instead of the mini iPod, I am more inclined to believe Jobs’ big surprise will be the iBox, which could be the next must have product in consumer electronics. Just the kind of thing Apple could do better than anyone else. Just like it did with the iPod.

Almost like being there: an amazing QuickTime VR panorama as the clock struck midnight in Times Square last night, by Jook Leung.