Earwigging

Ask any group of people if they know the meanings of the words “synonym” and “antonym” and I guarantee a majority will know the definition of both. Ask the same group of people how they would define “contranym” and I am fairly certain you will be met with blank stares. Rather like English law which… Read More: Earwigging »

Out of juice

Is there a conspiracy out there? I do not normally subscribe to such thoughts but on occasions I have to accept that there seems to be an unfortunate conjunction of events to say the least. A few weeeks back, at a time when some 40 million users of BlackBerries around the world from Europe to… Read More: Out of juice »

Postcard from Boston

Why are you here? What do you do? Who is Millnet? Are you going to set up in the US? Before I went away I mentioned that I had had the honour to be invited to the Fall Conference of the Litigation Counsel of America. What a splendid occasion it was in the beautiful city… Read More: Postcard from Boston »

No tea party

“Listen my children and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere..” Paul Revere’s ride, as retold in Longfellow’s poem, together with the Boston Tea Party are two of the iconic events leading up to the American War of Independence. On April 18th 1775, Paul Revere set off to ride to Lexington, Massachusetts to warn… Read More: No tea party »

No magic roundabout

We have all heard about Silicon Valley and some of us have even heard about Silicon Fen (the area around Cambridge which is home to many dotcom and other technology start ups) and a few will even have heard of New York’s Silicon Alley! However, just when you thought you were safe, along comes the Silicon… Read More: No magic roundabout »

Lost for words

On the flyleaf of a book given to me by a friend appear the words “…I hope this book brings on an afflatus rather than a Winchester Goose….” If you are anything like me, you will not immediately understand where the donor is coming from. Indeed, I had to look up the words in the… Read More: Lost for words »