Why is this Presidential Election so weird?

We've had a load of elections around here lately - we're in our stride - so why does the looming Presidential Election feel so... weird? We're about 10 weeks out (we think - there is still no date) and it feels like both no-one

Irish data centres are facilitating surveillance and targeting of Palestinians, reports The Guardian

Some incredible new investigative reporting from The Guardian revealed today that Irish based Microsoft data centres are likely involved in a population scale Israeli military effort to surveil and plan airstrikes on Palestinians. The reporting is here - it is by Harry Davies and Yuval Abraham. They found that the

Meta “bans” political ads in the EU

Last night - a Friday night, in July - Meta announced that it would “no longer allow political, electoral and social issue ads on our platforms in the EU in response to new regulation”. The first thing I thought of when I read this was that scene from The Office

The pursuit of dirty fingernails

For the last few weeks a group of us from the neighbourhood - parents with kids around the same age - have been gathering on a patchwork of picnic blankets on a designated evening. It is so simple and yet feels like a miracle. Out there in the multiverse is

A moment of truth for Europe's tolerance of Ireland's tech ties

All going well, I will be on The Tonight Show this evening to talk tech and tariffs. Sharing my thoughts here; please do reply / email me with your own if you think I'm wide of the mark. The tariff triple threat The Irish state faces at least three

The Lookout: two recent good listens on tech stocks

This is the first of a new series of recommender newsletters. I'm starting with two recent podcast listens I've really enjoyed, each looking at the precarious world of tech stock valuations, and reflect on what it can mean for all of us. As always you tell

How to squander an empire

It is easy to look rich if you raid the family silver.

The Elizabeth Holmes of government efficiency

I have a piece in the Irish Times today about Elon Musk's performative vandalism of the US government. He has unleashed a band of inexperienced twenty somethings - some reportedly still teens - to "disrupt" government. And it is profoundly idiotic (not the same choice of

Are politicians' AI dreams making them the electric sheep?

What Keir Starmer’s recent policy announcements show about his hopes and fears for AI, and the potential folly of his FOMO

It's the Grifter Olympics, and this is just the Opening Ceremony

I cannot stop thinking about the Trump Meme Coin "$TRUMP", possibly the largest grift - and corruption opportunity - ever orchestrated by a political figure. And we can only anticipate more.

Guest explainer: what next for TikTok, and tech, following the US ban?

The US Supreme Court has upheld the ban on TikTok to come into effect Sunday, 19 January . What happens next?

Audio: Ireland in the queasy middle

Mark Zuckerberg's comments on Europe yesterday seem to have gone under the radar, drowned out by his announcement of a radical shift in content moderation at Meta. But they really are striking. He said that Meta would: “work with President Trump to push back on governments around the