Using the reflection on an iPad screen to show you the view from today’s “office window”. On my way to Cardiff.

Has any tech gone from “Wow, this is incredible” to “Oh no, it’s rubbish” as quickly as generative AI? I’m not sure. The first demos felt like magic. A few years later, we mostly see generic prose and awful AI summaries forced into every product. People are disappointed. 1/2

How to survive future heatwaves? Make a heat plan. In India, Ahmedabad introduced a heat action plan in 2013, combining forecasts, public alerts, and emergency preparations. The plan helps to avoid 1,190 deaths a year. www.hypertextual.org/p/7-ways-sci...

How to survive a future heatwave? Paint roofs white. If every roof in London had been reflective during the hot summer of 2018, average temperatures would have fallen by 0.8°C, and an estimated 249 heat-related deaths could have been avoided. www.hypertextual.org/p/7-ways-sci...

At 43, I am becoming a student again and starting an MA/MSc in Digital Journalism at Goldsmiths, University of London. Exciting stuff. If you want to support my education, please subscribe to my newsletter, Hypertextual.

Reasons to love Deptford, part 13: These guys have guarded St Nicholas churchyard for the past three centuries.

At 43, I am becoming a student again and starting an MA/MSc in Digital Journalism at Goldsmiths, University of London. Exciting stuff. If you want to support my education, please subscribe to my newsletter, Hypertextual.

How to survive future heatwaves? Plant more trees. During the 2022 heatwaves, London’s leafiest areas were 1.2°C cooler than those with the fewest trees. At night, the gap reached 2°C. More scientific ideas: www.hypertextual.org/p/7-ways-sci...

Last month, a London event on extreme heat was cancelled because of extreme heat. That would be funny if the problem were not killing so many people. Read my newsletter on ways science can help us survive extreme heat: www.hypertextual.org/p/7-ways-sci...

Welcome to my personal cabinet of curiosities: hypertextual.org Subscribe now to get this week’s issue!

Reasons to love Deptford, part 8: Watergate Street, barely changed for centuries.

Didn't expect to see a Zeppelin over London in 2026.

Reasons to love Deptford, part 3: Artmongers, whose site-specific murals turn the streets of Deptford into an open-air art gallery.

Oysters in Hastings. Can't get better than that.

Ghost signs of Hastings.

For years I told the story of the Battle of Deptford Bridge on my local tours. When I started Deptford.org, it was the obvious first feature. The map could not be simpler, but it gave me confidence to try more ambitious things. deptford.org/001/taxfight

Walked 12 miles from Rye to Hastings today. Perhaps the most picturesque stretch of our journey. Breathtaking views. In total, we covered more than 60 miles over five days, walking from Canterbury to Hastings. Celebrated the finish with oysters, obviously.

At this point, I’m obsessed with Rye. What an incredible place!

Walked another 10 miles today, from Dymchurch to Dungeness. Impressive dunes! Had to skip the Dungeness–Rye stretch for logistical reasons, so took the heritage train and then a bus to Rye. We’ll walk it later. Finishing in Hastings tomorrow and already planning what comes next. Any suggestions?

God save whoever’s holding chips.

After the longer and hillier stretches of the previous days, today’s 10-mile walk from Folkestone to Dymchurch felt very relaxed. Still tired: it’s been three days of walking, after all. Two more to go until we finish the first leg of the coastal path in Hastings.

Walked for 12+ miles from Whitfield to Folkestone via Dover today. What a view!

Last year I took the Knight Center’s course on hands-on mapmaking for journalism. Since then, I’ve started making map-based projects about Deptford. I’m still at the beginning of this journey, and learning as I go, but I love it. deptford.org/002/1623

Ghost signs of London, Hoxton edition.

After walking the Pilgrims’ Way from London to Canterbury, the whole Thames Path, the Capital Ring and numerous smaller routes, I decided to up the ante. Next week, we’ll start walking the King Charles III Coast Path, all 2,689 miles of it. The first leg: Dover to Hastings. This may take a while.

During heatwaves like this, I think about the old Dubai house I once stayed in, with its thick walls and shaded courtyard. The outside temperature felt like someone else’s problem! I explained the benefits of traditional Gulf architecture here: special.mrdn.world/architectura...

I’m not saying my Meaco fan has saved my life this week, but I’m also not prepared to rule it out. This machine has done more public service in 48 hours than the whole cabinet.

“Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians are seen as people who can be paid less money, equal to Chinese workers, while Germans are quite expensive and prestigious.” In China, a German foreigner will be paid two to three times as much as a Russian. www.hypertextual.org/p/7-facts-ab...

Can’t stop thinking that the 1969 Soviet comedy The Diamond Arm was secretly about a gay mafia. A bejewelled camp villain literally in a closet, an absurdly stylish male model sharing a flat with a bear with a fake 1970s moustache. Soviet cinema was trying to tell us something.

DNA from fossilised poo shows that ancient relatives of ground squirrels ate plants and insects and also scavenged the carcasses of megafauna, including woolly mammoths. The next Ice Age remake should be much more violent! www.hypertextual.org/p/7-facts-ab...

I’m not saying my Meaco fan has saved my life this week, but I’m also not prepared to rule it out. This machine has done more public service in 48 hours than the whole cabinet.

Larry the @number10cat.bsky.social has now outlasted so many prime ministers that I’m starting to suspect he keeps their cursed portraits in a Downing Street cellar.

British politics. The best in the world.

Great volunteer training session at the Creekside Discovery Centre. Learned a lot and had a chance to explore a new stretch of the Ravensbourne!

Ghost signs of London, Enfield edition.

My scrollytell feature on the 1905 Deptford murder case has won the Special Kudos prize at the CSS Design Awards. I’m pretty sure they gave it to everyone, but hey, I’ll take it. Guess it makes me an award-winning Deptford blogger now! deptford.org/001/fingerpr...

British politics. The best in the world.

Old houses in Drury Lane, London, 1876. Courtesy of the British Library.

Love this Forty Hall window in Enfield.

London has all anyone could dream of: reliable (mostly) public transport, lots of open data, and folks who can combine the first two things into something great. Zone One is a live map of central London’s buses, trains and boats, made by @jamespotter.dev. london.jamespotter.dev

Waiting for Glengarry Glen Ross at the Old Vic.

For more than a century, Iceland had its own Dracula. Published in 1901 as a translation of Bram Stoker’s novel, it was only recognised in 2014 as a very different book. It is shorter, some characters have different names, and it places more emphasis on the characters’ sexuality.

Another dubious personal challenge completed: as of yesterday, I’ve been to all 32 London boroughs, plus the City. Enjoyed them all. Still, Deptford is the best place around.

Another dubious personal challenge completed: as of yesterday, I’ve been to all 32 London boroughs, plus the City. Enjoyed them all. Still, Deptford is the best place around.

Ghost signs of London, Enfield Lock edition.

13 years sober today. One of the best decisions I ever made. Highly recommend.

Invasive plants use rivers as transport systems. Himalayan balsam, giant hogweed and Japanese knotweed love damp places and riverbanks. The river does the delivery work: seeds and plant fragments move through the catchment and settle on the banks. www.hypertextual.org/p/7-alarming...

Ghost signs of London, Earl’s Court edition.

London’s terrapin problem is a Ninja Turtles hangover. Kids got the pets, the pets grew up and became less cute, so owners released them into local rivers and lakes, where they’re eating fish eggs and even ducklings. www.hypertextual.org/p/7-alarming...

Who was the earliest-born person you ever spoke to? I met one of my great-grandmothers: she was born in 1906 and died when I was about five. But I do not remember her. The oldest people I actually remember talking to were relatives born in the early 1920s.