Essays
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80/20: The Subconscious
Part 4 of the 80/20 series. The most extreme imbalance sits inside your own head, and almost nobody uses it on purpose.
80/20: For Life
Part 3 of the 80/20 series. The same imbalance runs through a single life: a fifth of your time produces most of what you achieve and enjoy.
All That Glisters: The Gold the MPF Won’t Let You Hold
Data visuals on 10 years of HK’s MPF with narration from the great Bard.
Making it up, changing my mind, and learning to COPE with AI
AI’s effect on your job is still anyone’s guess. The practical response is getting good at directing it, and COPE gives you a framework for doing exactly that.
We are all going to have to become engineers
What tinkering with agents at home taught me about deploying them at work
America – A Wider England
An eyewateringly large dinner, a business class seat that doesn’t recline, and a NASA engineer who changed history with a nine-page memo. First impressions of America at forty-five.
Strategies and Tools for Coping in the Agentic Age
The bottleneck used to be information overload. Now AI handles the mechanical work — and the real challenge is knowing what to pay attention to.
China – Singapore at Scale
Perfect highways, better consumer products than the West, and a surveillance state that makes it all feel slightly too clean. Notes on a country that builds while others deliberate.
India – Not Bad
Ten days driving cross-country from Delhi to Udaipur. Traffic as a contact sport, English better than yours, and a country that oscillates between boundless energy and voluntary chaos.
80/20: The Business
Part 2 of the 80/20 series focusses on corporate success.
80/20: The Unbalanced Universe
Part 1 of the 80/20 series. Why reality is unbalanced: a vital few causes produce most of the results.
The End of the Nvidia Tax?
AI’s cost base is beginning to shift. Gemini 3 and Anthropic’s move to TPUs show that state-of-the-art models no longer require Nvidia hardware.
What I love and hate about Crypto in 2025 (in Memes)
A meandering, self-serving reflection on the state of crypto in 2025 — from the 2017 ICO bubble through DeFi summer, FTX fraud, and the Black Friday 2025 crash. Part analysis, part therapy, all memes.
What I love and hate about Crypto in 2025 (in Memes)
A meandering, self-serving reflection on the state of crypto in 2025 — from the 2017 ICO bubble through DeFi summer, FTX fraud, and the Black Friday 2025 crash. Part analysis, part therapy, all memes.
The Multi‑Trillion Dollar AI Compute Bet
Big tech are making a huge bet on AI Compute. Whether this pays off is the key investment question of 2025.
On Trump’s Tariffs
Economists and Businessmen invoke Ricardo – trade should flow where it’s cheapest. But look closer, and most countries don’t play by the free trade rules they advocate.
Exploring Ideological Bias in AI Models
Infographic showing Ideologically generated response by LLMs to a simple text question.
The Electricity Economy
Related Posts Investing like a professional
Following the money in AI
Learnings from five podcasts featuring Jensen Huang, Satya Nadella and others in early 2025
The Three Grid Concept
An outline of Micky Malka’s Three Grid Concept, with implications and visuals
The Electricity Economy
Why Electricity is the New Battleground for Global Competitiveness
Nailing brand colours in Midjourney (a follow-up post)
Walk through on how to generate specific colours (using srefs) in Midjourney – an AI image generating app.
AI Stack Economics
Exploring the AI value stack: From compute hardware to end-users, where will the greatest value accrue in this evolving landscape?
The Future of Marketplaces
Unpacking the rise and fall of 2-sided marketplaces: A look at the network effects that fueled their growth—and the challenges unraveling their value in a post-free-money era.
Navigating inaccurate data & misleading narratives
Deciphering Truths: Navigating Through the Maze of Inaccurate Data and Misleading Narratives.
State > Story > Strategy
How to master your mindset and get productive with the State > Story > Strategy mental model.
The Future of Progress
Thoughts on how to navigate the future with the Tech vs. Global Shift model: Embrace accelerating technology (Vertical Progress) while adapting to deglobalization (Horizontal Regression) to unlock growth opportunities.
The Future of Progress
Thoughts on how to navigate the future with the Tech vs. Global Shift model: Embrace accelerating technology (Vertical Progress) while adapting to deglobalization (Horizontal Regression) to unlock growth opportunities.
Reimagining Literature: How AI is Transforming the Way We Visualise Books
My workflow for recreating scenes from books using MidJourney
MidJourney – the unexpected challenge of colour (and how to overcome)
Mastering MidJourney Colors without HEX Codes – using Named Palettes to Nail Branded Visions.
Crypto in Crisis
DCG and the crypto lending crisis
Strategies and tools for coping in the information age
Taming the Info Tsunami: Strategies, Tools, and AI-Powered Hacks I use to Conquer Overload and Spark Insights
Global debt – walking on shaky ground
Global debt is at an all-time high, with governments, businesses, and households all facing increasing stresses due to higher interest rates.
Monetary policy – Interest rates, higher for longer
Decoding Inflation Drivers, Fed Pivots, and the High-Rate Reckoning Reshaping Investments
The collapse of FTX – Thoughts and opinions…
Analysis of the background and what investors missed.
Reasons to be cheerful – Crypto edition
Reasons to Be Cheerful despite the bear market in Crypto: Emerging Innovations in DeSo, PBDAs, Web3 Gaming, Big Tech Adoption, and NFTs Signal the Start of a New Cycle
Investing like a professional
This is an article documenting how I plan to add structure to my investing process.
2022 Macro Investment predictions
Macro thesis on 2022 investment landscape
Axie Infinity – Investment Analysis
Write-up on Axie Infinity, currently the world’s biggest P2E game. Written from an investment perspective.
Classic images which inspire me
A collection of classic images which influence my photography and inspire me to take photographs
Investment Landscape 2021
2021 Investment Landscape
Investment Landscape 2021
2021 Investment Landscape
COVID19 – Winners & Losers?
As the COVID-19 situation started to look ominous and the quantity of news on the topic reached overwhelming levels, I decided to mind-map thoughts on implications across each industry, and sub-sector. I then tried to link the sectors to large/prominent listed companies, so one could (seek to) quantitively track these ‘predictions’.
C19 & finding silver linings
2019 will go down as the ‘worst of times’ for many in Hong Kong and 2020 feels like it has started as a ‘winter of despair’. COVID-19 couldn’t really have come at a more inopportune time. Outside Hong Kong and China it has been an extraordinary fortnight. It’s become evident to most people that the impacts of the virus will be global, with deep economic implications.
The National @ Alexandra Palace, London 2013
The National Live in London 2013 – Images from the Alexandra Palace Gig
Legacy Nikon Glass on micro-four-thirds, and a comparison to film
Nikon (G) – M4/3 lens mount In a fit of boredom I recently bought a Nikon (g) to M 4/3 adapter from a company called K&F concept, via this ebay seller for GBP 10: A brief intro to K&F mount adapters is available at the link below I’ve been using the mount with two Nikon […]
Fair Warung Bale – My favourite Restaurant in Indonesia
I think the title says it all. We stayed in Ubud for four days and went to this restaurant every day. I’ve been going back there for 10 years + now (every time i go to Ubud). Address Jl. Sriwedari No. 6 | 100m Up From Main Road Ubud, Ubud 80571, Indonesia The food Not […]
Jakarta eats – yummy pork medan noodles in Tangerang
Name: Bakmi Medan Kebon Jahe My kind of restaurant – one item on the menu (as pictured). Three size options – Small, Medium or Large. More info: Related Posts Local Tips: Bima Bagus – Affordable framing in Jakarta Cycling in Jakarta – a few thoughts Thinking of relocating to Jakarta? Expat moving advice. Related […]
Local Tips: Bima Bagus – Affordable framing in Jakarta
I’d been looking to get some photos printed and framed for a while. I’d had two quotes for c. IDR 400k to frame a single A3 photo – black wooden frame and white 6cm mount. A friend at the fantastic Galeri Hadiprana in Kemang recommended Bima Bagus. Hadiprana use Bima Bagus for some of their […]
Cycling in Jakarta – a few thoughts
Being recently inflicted by a bout of cycling-mad-itus, these were two of my top questions, on prepping for a move from London to Jakarta: 1) Is it at all possible to cycle in Jakarta (i.e. traffic, road conditions, etc.)? and do people? 2) Should I ship my road bike (given the expense and difficulty) or […]
Thinking of relocating to Jakarta? Expat moving advice.
Quick notes for expats thinking of relocating to Indonesia. Based on my experience in 2014
Galeri Pot in Kemang Timur | Home decor in Jakarta
beautiful lamps and great prices
Adventures in Analog – 3rd batch (rolls 6 – 9)
After my childish earlier attempts with the Nikon FM3A and Pentax LX, i seem to be getting into the swing of things with film SLRs.
6 days in Cyprus
Notes from 6 days in Cyprus in June 2014.
Photoessay: up in the air
All taken with the iphone 5 on route from Luxembourg to London City. Related Posts The Evolving Landscape in AI
Photoessay: up in the air
All taken with the iphone 5 on route from Luxembourg to London City. Related Posts The Evolving Landscape in AI
Embracing the commute + photography on the go
For nine years often at the end of my commute i felt myself teetering on the edge of anger and rage – Delayed buses / packed tubes / cramped spaces / fume and sweat choked air / squeezed in / disagreeable odours / thoughtless people… True, there were some cool moments: But they were few […]
Adventures in Analog – 2nd batch (Rolls 3 – 6)
After the euphoria of getting my first two rolls of film back…the second batch has been a massive anti-climax. I’d previously shot with the Contax T2 and Ricoh GR1v – two high end film compact cameras. The films were developed by Snappy Snaps in Soho and I was really happy with the results. Since then i’d […]
Days of being wild..
Nottingham University c. 2001. Happy memories.. Just had this film processed and scanned by mistake – Kodak Advantix – Can’t believe how well the film lasted…
Friday evening in central London
Just some photos from a friday night in central london. If there’s no lens info they were taken with the Nokton 42.5mm f/0.95:
Adventures in Analog – 1st batch (rolls 1 – 2)
Experiments with film photography using a Contax T2 and Ricoh GR1v
Voigtlander Nokton 42.5mm f/0.95 – Micro four thirds lens – Low light samples
Low light samples from one of the fastest lenses on m4/3.
Kuala Lumpur in a day
Local tips for a day or two in KL.
Singapore in a day
Spending a day or two in Singapore and wondering what to do? – this is for you!
E-M1 – Shooting Tips
Configuring and street shooting with the E-M1.
The National – Alexandra Palace
The National live at Alexandra Palace, 15 November 2013 — a photo diary from the floor: blue stage light, smoke, and the crowd in silhouette.
Contax T2 v Ricoh GR1v… in pictures
Side by side images of the Contax T2 and Ricoh GR1v film camera. Two of the best film automatic fixed focal cameras.
Olympus 75mm Field Test (On E-M5) – 2 weeks in Burma.
Mounted to the Olympus E-M5, the Olympus 75mm 1.8 is near photographic perfection
Myanmar – Trip Report.
Quick trip notes from Myanmar (2012).
Myanmar – Trip Report.
Quick trip notes from Myanmar (2012).
Taking a look back – my top 12 photographs of 2012
2012, the year that I fell in love with photography.
5 days in Sicily
A great break in Sicily, with stays in Palermo, Taormina and Syracuse
Fanqie Chao Dan (Tomatoes and fried Egg)
Cheap, delicious dish anyone can easily cook. Mother-in-law’s recipe.
Red cooked pork steak (Hong Shao Pai Gu)
Mother-in-law’s recipe for a cheap, simple and delicious pork dish. Yum!