An Opera in Ukraine Reminds the World of Putin’s War Crimes Russia’s child abductions are the focus of a new opera, Mothers of Kherson, that premiered in Kyiv, Ukraine. The cast is reported to have received standing ovations for their performance, and the opera was said to have evoked ‘tears and catharsis’ (Higgins and Matveichuk … Continue reading Do Not Forget Ukraine’s Stolen Children
Apocalypse of the American Dream
I was fortunate to attend as a member of the audience for a panel in Oxford on protecting freedom of the press. The all-female panel of four and a moderator were brilliant, representing some of the top journalistic enterprises in the world. It was inspiring for anyone interested in a career in journalism and speaking … Continue reading Apocalypse of the American Dream
Ukraine Interrupts Putin’s Davos: The Latest of Many Advances
Russia’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum – Putin’s Davos – from 3-6 June 2026 was diminished by long range drone strikes on the city’s oil terminal, sending plumes of smoke across the area. Other strikes on the same day hit a military-industrial plant in Western Russia’s Tambov region and an airfield in Crimea.[1] It not … Continue reading Ukraine Interrupts Putin’s Davos: The Latest of Many Advances
Hope Becomes Hype
A post authored by A. Michael Noll, distributed with the author's permission. Hype can be over-hyped, as Michael argues in this post. Hope so easily transforms into and becomes hype. Again and again, history shows how hope for some new product, technology, or service becomes over-promoted with far too much hype. The motivation usually is … Continue reading Hope Becomes Hype
Personal Reflections on Twenty-Five Years of the Oxford Internet Institute
Notes on a presentation to the Oxford Internet Institute on 15 May 2026 at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford. I had the pleasure of speaking at a celebration of the first twenty-five years of the Oxford Internet Institute (OII). I gave a talk followed by drinks and a dinner at Balliol College. I was … Continue reading Personal Reflections on Twenty-Five Years of the Oxford Internet Institute
Bug in the System: The Post Office Horizon Scandal and the Dangers of Blind Trust in Technology
The UK Post Office Horizon scandal stands as one of Britain's most devastating miscarriages of justice. Over 900 sub-postmasters and postmistresses were wrongfully convicted of theft and fraud — charges that were almost certainly the result of bugs in the Post Office's Horizon IT system, with errors traceable as far back as 1999. The human … Continue reading Bug in the System: The Post Office Horizon Scandal and the Dangers of Blind Trust in Technology
From Bell Labs to the Internet: A Question Worth Answering
An old colleague who contributed to the founding of the Oxford Internet Institute in 2001 reminded me of a question he was asked back then: There is no institute for research on the telephone, so why do we need one on the Internet? Back then, I did not think the question merited an answer, but … Continue reading From Bell Labs to the Internet: A Question Worth Answering
Democracy is Alive and Well in Britain
On 7 May 2026, voters across England went to the polls to elect more than 5,000 local councillors and six directly elected mayors. [A note for American readers: think of these as something like county and city government races, spread across a dizzying patchwork of metropolitan boroughs, unitary authorities, county councils, and district councils — … Continue reading Democracy is Alive and Well in Britain
Get Me to My Bubble
We might all know by now that in these hyper-political times of polarization and toxic communication that people often live in their own hermetically sealed thought ‘bubbles’ or ‘echo chambers’. This is a problem because if we often only hear and listen to people who share our views and fail to communicate with people outside … Continue reading Get Me to My Bubble
The Bright Side of the News
I have been a proverbial news enthusiast – maybe even a news junkie – for decades. I roll out of bed to read a couple of morning papers everyday (real newspapers delivered to my door) and subscribe to more online. I’ve always enjoyed humour and cartoons accompanying the news, but never have I appreciated humour … Continue reading The Bright Side of the News