I’ve been watching friends, neighbours and readers sweat over rent letters that arrive with thinly veiled threats: “renew at this rate or we’ll seek new tenants.” With rents still rising across many parts of the UK, renewing a tenancy can feel like a pressure cooker. I’ve negotiated my own renewals and advised others — and I’ve found that a calm, evidence-based approach gets better...
I remember the first time I seriously compared the cost of a Tesla Model 3 with a petrol car: the headlines made EVs...
I ordered my first direct-to-consumer DNA kit out of curiosity: would my family stories about a great-grandfather from...
I remember the first time a planned medical procedure was cancelled on the day because of an administrative mix-up —...
I’ve spent months testing wearables in the name of sleep hygiene — wristbands that buzz, rings that measure...
When I evaluate a company claiming to be "sustainable," I try to look past the glossy sustainability report and the...
When I look out over a city, what I see most clearly is opportunity: the chance to turn everyday transport choices into...
I remember walking into a small neighbourhood bistro in my city during the height of global supply disruptions and watching the owner quietly rewrite the evening menu at the pass. The specials board had become a live document: one moment it listed wild mushroom risotto, the next it read “market...
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I’ve been following four-day workweek pilots for years now, and when companies ask whether the model can boost productivity, my answer is inevitably careful: yes — but only when it’s designed and measured properly. I’ve read the data, spoken to managers and employees involved in trials, and...
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I remember the first time I heard a politician’s voice in a clip that didn’t feel right — the cadence was off, some breaths were missing, and a phrase landed with a strange mechanical edge. My newsroom instincts kicked in: verify. In the years since, deepfake audio has moved from a technical...
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When I first wandered into Brixton’s back alleys looking for a late coffee and a break from headlines, I stumbled into a small patch of green that felt out of place among the market stalls and terraced houses: a community garden tucked behind a row of shops, overflowing with chard, runner beans...
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I’ve spent years watching how small settings and default options quietly hand over pieces of our lives to companies and apps. Smartphones are powerful tools, but they’re also the most intimate data collectors we carry. If you want to stop silent data leaks—location pings, background mic...
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I remember the first time I sat across from a fintech lender pitching venture debt for my startup — the room hummed with charts, growth metrics and optimistic timelines. It sounded tempting: non-dilutive capital, runway extension, and the chance to keep more ownership while scaling. But I’d...
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I’ve spent years watching how a single weekend festival can change the energy of a neighbourhood, and why those effects often outlast the music and the last plate of street food. French cultural festivals — from the global pull of Cannes and Avignon to regional fêtes like Fête de la Musique...
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I remember the winter I moved into my first flat in the UK and nearly fainted when the first energy bill arrived. Since then I’ve learned a few practical tricks that cut costs fast without turning my home into an icebox. If you want immediate savings that don’t force you to sacrifice comfort,...
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I still remember the first time I used ChatGPT to brainstorm angles for a late-night deadline: I typed a messy prompt, hit enter, and watched an outline appear that saved me an hour of staring at a blank page. That moment didn’t feel like a threat — it felt like a collaborator. Over the past...
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I’ve spent years translating complicated topics into useful guidance for readers — and children’s screen time is one of those issues where nuance matters. It’s tempting to give a single hard number and move on, but parents and carers need a practical, context-sensitive approach that...
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