On BBC Breakfast this morning, recounted by The Guardian here, Robert Jenrick (Minister for Housing, Communities and Local Government) said the following: [Dominic Cummings] has given his explanation to the prime minister, who listened and concluded that he’d acted reasonably and legally. The prime minister then asked him to give […]
Recent Posts
Borders on the ground, borders in people’s heads
Yesterday was a public holiday in Berlin and I took a little cycle trip along the Teltowcanal all the way to the small town Kleinmachnow, sandwiched between Zehlendorf and Potsdam, south west of Berlin. The canal itself was partly the border between East and West Germany, and East and West […]
The deed is done: Mogherini is the new Rector of the College of Europe
So it is done. Mogherini has today been appointed as the new Rector of the College of Europe at a meeting of the Academic Council of the College, to be confirmed by the Administrative Council in June. Not that there is a formal statement about the appointment yet – that […]
The Express on Germany’s Coronavirus stats – a classic of the fake news genre
“Germany’s daily coronavirus cases nearly TRIPLE – states bring back tougher measures” screamed The Express last night. Even some normally level headed friends of mine had fallen for it and shared the piece on Facebook. As I have been in Berlin throughout the lockdown, and follow the news here pretty […]
Open Letter to Herman Van Rompuy
A fortnight ago I wrote a blog post about the possible appointment of Federica Mogherini as Rector of the College of Europe, and why Herman Van Rompuy has questions to answer about this. Since then I have dug. I have investigated. I have asked. And I have found no answers […]
How to use a Mac mini as a home server, part 3 – software
This is part 3 of the series about the Mac mini server. Do read part 1 about the requirements and the hardware, and part 2 about the repairs and the network setup first. Contents of this blog post Music Films and TV Series Photos Music, Films, Photos – the Plex […]
How to use a Mac mini as a home server, part 2 – hardware upgrades, accessing the Mac mini, and Dynamic DNS
This blog post is the second of three in the series, following Part 1 about the requirements for the server and the choice of hardware. Part 3 looks at software installation. Contents of this blog post Hardware upgrades Installation of macOS Initial network setup Accessing the Mac mini and file […]
How to use a Mac mini as a home server, part 1 – requirements and hardware
For some years I’ve been wondering whether to run a server at home. With time on my hands due to the Coronavirus lockdown it was time to finally get around to doing it. This blog post (part 1 of the series) explains the requirements and the purchase of the hardware. […]
Why Federica Mogherini should not be appointed Rector of the College of Europe, and if she is appointed, Herman Van Rompuy has questions to answer
TRANSPARENCY NOTE: I have been teaching at the College of Europe in Bruges for 5 years. I teach the Negotiation Simulation (compulsory course, taught with 2 others) and a short optional course entitled “Online Communications in EU Policy-Making“, both courses in the Politics Department (there are also Law, Economics and […]
Blog spring cleaning, and learning some lessons after 15 years of blogging
Some people have used the Coronavirus lockdowns to clean their homes and flats. I instead have spent a good part of the past fortnight cleaning my online presence instead – essentially getting this blog back into some order after a good while just posting day to day. The aim: to […]
How does an impeccable but essentially typical politician cope in extraordinary times? With Keir Starmer we’re going to find out
A 57 year old straight white man, an ex-lawyer and ex-Director of Public Prosecutions, has been elected as leader of the Labour Party. He is married with two children. He is himself one of five, his father was a toolmaker, and he worked his way up the legal profession, and […]
shop4me V2 – designing a more robust system while we still have time
V1 of shop4me.team went live on Saturday 21 March, and the first deliveries were conducted on Monday 23 March. Getting the first minimum viable product up and running was the priority, and how the tech for that worked is explained in this blog post from Saturday. A couple of things […]