Archive for October, 2021


It’s exactly 50 years since I moved from Manchester to London

October 31st, 2021 by Roger Darlington

On Sunday 31 October 1971, I moved from Manchester – where I was brought up and went to school and university – to London – where I had a job as Accommodation Officer at what was then the Polytechnic of North London. I only held that post for around six months and then followed a […]

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When and how did the Internet start?

October 29th, 2021 by Roger Darlington

International Internet Day is marked annually on 29 October. The day commemorates the anniversary of the first message that was sent between two computers on 29 October 1969 through ARPANET, the predecessor of the Internet. They intended to transmit the word “LOGIN,” but the system crashed just after they had sent the first two letters. Hence, […]

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A review of the novel “The Plot Against America” by Philip Roth

October 28th, 2021 by Roger Darlington

This work of fiction essentially poses two questions: could America become fascist? if it did, would it do so through a popular non-politician becoming president with the secret manipulation of a foreign power? When this novel was first published in 2004, these questions must have seemed fantastical. When I eventually read the work after a […]

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Some more reviews for my book of short stories

October 25th, 2021 by Roger Darlington

“A little gem.” “These stories from the many rooms in the author’s mind are so interesting, topical, yet vividly animated by ‘look backs’ on the characters’ lives.” “An incredible read with meaningful lessons.” “Loved the interesting read, lots of variety and an extraordinary grasp on the art of writing short stories, with each one containing […]

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A review of an impressive new book: “Exponential” by Azeem Azhar

October 24th, 2021 by Roger Darlington

Around a decade and a half ago, Azeem Azhar – what a wonderfully alliterative name – and I served together as members of the Consumer Panel of Ofcom. the UK’s regulator of telecommunications and broadcasting. He is much younger and much smarter than me and went on to become a tech entrepreneur and tech analyst. […]

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Word of the day: ruminant

October 22nd, 2021 by Roger Darlington

I’d never come across this word until recently when I was reading an article about the climate crisis. I checked it out and found that a ruminant is an even-toed ungulate mammal that chews the cud regurgitated from its rumen. The ruminants comprise the cattle, sheep, antelopes, deer, giraffes, and their relatives. Ruminants produce a huge […]

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A break in Slovenia to visit Lake Bled and Ljubljana

October 10th, 2021 by Roger Darlington

For many years now, top of my bucket list has been, for as long as I have the health and wealth, to have visited as many countries as my age. I am currently 73 and I’ve visited a total of 77 countries. Of course, as for everyone on the planet, the global pandemic has severely […]

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Word of the day: disinformation

October 8th, 2021 by Roger Darlington

Disinformation is a subset of propaganda and is false information that is spread deliberately to deceive . It is also known as black propaganda. It is sometimes confused with misinformation which is false information but is not deliberate.

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The growing death toll from covid in the UK

October 7th, 2021 by Roger Darlington

It troubles me that the announcement each day of the previous day’s deaths from Covid-19 disguises the size of the cumulative figure. The number of deaths within 28 days of a positive covid test now totals 137,417. The number of deaths with covid 19 mentioned on the death certificate now totals 160,824. These figures compare […]

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Word of the day: immiserate

October 6th, 2021 by Roger Darlington

I’m reading a book called “Exponential” by Azeem Azhar, someone I used to know when we sat together as members of Ofcom’s Consumer Panel. One of his favourite words – one I’ve hardly seen before- is ‘immiserate’, a verb meaning to make miserable or to cause to become impoverished. It seems that many new technologies […]

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