I’ve spent years watching payments evolve — from cash to cards to contactless wallets — and lately one question keeps popping up from the small retailers I talk to: can we cut card fees by switching to open-banking payments, and how do we actually start? I’ve tested options, talked to...
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Technology
I remember the first time I saw a photograph that felt like a small miracle: a...
Technology
I recently spent time talking with clinicians, IT managers and community...
Politics
I want to start by saying something simple: public money is not a private piggy...
Business
I’ve spent years watching how small cultural institutions adapt — and the...
I want to start by saying something simple: public money is not a private piggy bank. Yet time and again we see stories of lawmakers using allowances, staffing budgets or campaign resources in ways that stretch — and sometimes break — the rules....
I’ve spent years watching how small cultural institutions adapt — and the ones that succeed do two things brilliantly: they meet people where they are, and they make coming back an easy, low-friction habit. Community cinemas are sitting on a...
When I talk to clinicians and managers in local hospitals, the excitement about cheap AI triage tools is palpable: faster intake, reduced wait times, and better allocation of scarce resources. But I also hear a common fear — that poorly designed...
I remember sitting in a cramped meeting room with the founders of a promising UK hardware startup and listening to them explain a perfect product-market fit, healthy unit economics, and a go-to-market plan that had angels salivating. Then someone...
I get asked all the time which phone lock is the “safest”: Face ID, fingerprint, or a plain passcode. As a journalist who’s spent years writing about tech and security, I don’t like simplistic answers — each method has trade-offs between...
When I first started looking into how small retailers can fight back against rising card fees, I expected a tangle of jargon and expensive tech projects out of reach for independent shops. What I found instead was a fast-evolving set of tools —...
I have spent years covering the intersection of technology and institutions, and few shifts seem as imminent — or as contentious — as the rise of AI transcription in courtrooms. As someone who cares about both accuracy and access to justice, I...
I was surprised the first time I read about a town council being offered a “solar buyback” deal by Shell. It sounds simple: the company installs solar panels on council-owned sites, sells the generated power back to the council or to residents,...
I’ve been watching the fate of high streets for years, and one recurring idea keeps popping up: converting vacant shops into affordable work hubs. It’s an appealing solution on paper — reuse empty space, support small businesses, provide...
I get pitched AI startups almost every week. Some founders come with code, clear metrics and a prototype you can try in 10 minutes. Others arrive with buzzwords, an impressive slide deck, and a demo that somehow never quite answers the simple...