Author Archives: rob

John Terry vs Chris Huhne, Fred Goodwin vs Johann Hari: why it pays to wait

Posted on February 9, 2012 by rob

TweetI can’t help thinking about four recent falls from grace. In essence, two are about awards, the other two about pre-emptive punishment. In all cases, we could benefit from being less hasty. I’ll explain why. Let’s start with pre-emptive punishment. … Continue reading →

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Why Gmail’s new look is a usability nightmare

Posted on November 3, 2011 by rob

TweetI am absolutely furious with Google’s changes to gmail. I don’t really care about the design. The themes allow you enough scope to personalise. The problem is a technical one that has screwed up usability. It’s fundamental, and is the … Continue reading →

Posted in technology | Tagged | 5 Comments

Occupy Wall Street: how quick were the media on the uptake?

Posted on November 1, 2011 by rob

TweetThe Occupy Wall Street movement is spreading and sprawling, into different countries and encompassing many issues. But how fast did it take for the news media to catch on? This is possible to quantify using two things – Factiva to … Continue reading →

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How Georgia rules the newspaper web fonts

Posted on September 23, 2011 by rob

TweetWhat have the Guardian, Times, Telegraph, FT and Independent got in common (aside from being UK newspapers)? Politically? Not much. Ownership? Couldn’t be more different. Style? Now you are getting somewhere. If you’ve ever surfed a few news websites and … Continue reading →

Posted in ideas, Journalism, Media | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Congestion vs population

Posted on September 6, 2011 by rob

TweetI’ve seen a few references to a study on big cities and congestion recently, so I thought I’d take a closer look. It’s a survey by IBM – so caveats aplenty are needed. For starters, it’s based on a sample. … Continue reading →

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The crazy cost of Switzerland

Posted on August 31, 2011 by rob

TweetI’ve just got back from a long weekend in Geneva. Lovely place, beautiful lake, painful exchange rate. Switzerland was always quite expensive, but with the Swiss Franc a safe haven for investors, hanging out in Geneva suddenly looks like a … Continue reading →

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What if cricket counted centuries differently?

Posted on August 12, 2011 by rob

TweetAlistair Cook’s 294 against India got me thinking today – why does 200 not count for 2 in the 100s column in a batsman’s career stats? And if it did? How would the stats look then? Going from 99 to … Continue reading →

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The perils of comparing the greatest at different sports

Posted on August 5, 2011 by rob

TweetIt could almost be a sport itself – debating who is the greatest sportsman of their sport / generation / all time. The great names are easy to think of – Pele, Federer, Bradman, Woods. Or is it Maradona, Laver, … Continue reading →

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Big data is underestimating the emerging markets

Posted on August 5, 2011 by rob

TweetConsultants and analysts – and bloggers, of course – are keen to tell us how big the world’s data is, and how fast it is growing. We have entered the “zetabyte age”. But for all the talk of “Big data” … Continue reading →

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How to live dangerously – a book that does statistics a disservice

Posted on July 22, 2011 by rob

TweetBeing a statistics junkie, a couple of people recommended to me the book How to live dangerously by Warwick Carins. Normally, I would read it, enjoy, and move on. But this book has prompted a mini-review (several years late, but … Continue reading →

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