A Small Island Man

Some time around 2012, my son was doing his PhD in Nottingham. He had a Greek friend in his group who was marrying a Greek girl. His parents came from Athens, hers from Thessaloniki. The parents were arguing over where the wedding would be. The kids decided on Sifnos! My son came here with the wedding party. Half an hour after he stepped off the ferry I received a call. "Dad..," a long pause, "...I think you need to come here." My son and I are very close, and very similar in our views and tastes. A few months later I came to Sifnos with my partner at that time. Half an hour after we disembarked from the ferry we were sitting in a portside café. I had ordered the local traditional dish of deep fried chickpea balls, revithokeftedes, a caper salad, and some chips. I bit into the chickpea ball; assailed by the scent of herbs, the warm breeze coming over the sea, the picture-postcard beauty of the mountains, the sea, the sky, the beach; something significant shifted ins...

  Stare at the picture for 20 seconds before reading what follows... A desolate, deserted rocky outcrop.  We're on holiday, there is a group of us.  It's hot but the wind blows with a hard chill.  We're sight seeing.  We walk to the edge of the ravine and stare across the vista.  There is no safety rail to hold on to, so don't get too close to the edge.  The others have wandered back, they are 50 feet behind me now.  I crouch down, the precipice frightens me.  It falls a thousand feet, two thousand feet, I don't know how far.  It's as deep as loss.  I crouch down, my knee rubs in the sun baked dry dirt.  Small stones chisel into me, it's uncomfortable.  I put out an outstretched hand to steady myself.  It's unsafe here, on the edge.  A big gust of wind might blow me over.  I need to get lower, lower my centre of gravity.  Closer to the ground to keep myself safe.  One leg is sliding out behind me a...

This afternoon my AI subscription ran out. The assistant that had been guiding me through building a specialised AI system for classifying chromosomes abruptly degraded. That was when the penny dropped. AI is not merely a tool, it is the most powerful educator available. Whether used for cooking or for mastering convolutional neural networks. Artificial intelligence is often described as a tool. That misses the point. In practice, it is an educator, and potentially the best teacher humanity has ever created. Tireless. Personal. Infinitely patient. Able to explain anything from basic cooking to the deepest layers of modern science, at the precise level the learner can absorb. But here is where I have to sound the klaxon. This teacher does not belong to the public. AI is not governed like schools, and offered according to ability. AI is owned by commerce, and offered only to those with the ability to pay. This is not merely an extension of private education. It dwarfs it. Ver...

Introduction In 2014, I visited the small Greek island of Sifnos for the first time. It was an instant infatuation that remains undiminished to this day. My initial visit was followed by repeated and extended visits to Sifnos. Seven years ago, I settled here permanently, just before Brexit would make that an impossible dream for all but the very wealthy. For six years, I was joined by a long-term friend as my partner, but that relationship has now come to a sudden end. There are no regrets. One inevitably feels very alone after a long-term relationship ends, and being on a tiny, remote Greek island definitely accentuates that feeling of isolation. So here I am, alone in paradise. I am not rushing to fill that hole, and I have my ever-faithful and loving constant companion, Ronnie, always at my side (a husky springer mix). Education and Occupation I graduated in computer science and have worked in software development ever since. For the last twenty or so years, I have run my own compan...

A sales order received from an Indian company requires me to supply a corporate certificate of residence. I applied for this three weeks ago through the UK Government corporate tax website. I received an email confirming that my application had been received, with the following reference number: You have submitted a certificate of residence application Dear Michael Paul Ellis We have received your certificate of residence application. Your submission reference is: XXXX-YYYY-00Z0 Once we have processed your application, we will send the certificates to you in the post. Why you are receiving this email We send a confirmation email for a notification submitted online. From the Corporation Tax Services team Days and weeks go by, and my client is waiting. My client emails me: Dear Michael, We have checked with our tax consultant, and in case of non-availability of a TRC, payment will be made after a 20–25% deduction, approximately, as per government norms. Kindly confirm so that we can ma...

The full lunacy and hypocrisy of this article beggars belief. The Daily Express reports:  https://tinyurl.com/24ywc6p7 “...plans by the EU to hit the UK steel industry with import tariffs of 50% could have a ‘catastrophic’ impact on the nation.” So let’s see... EU imposing 50% tariffs on UK steel industry – good for the UK? NO. Can the EU impose tariffs on goods moving between its own member states? NO. Can the EU impose tariffs on goods moving between non-member states? YES. At the time of the referendum, did the UK have substantial trade with the EU? YES.    ~£558 billion (imports + exports) ≈ 43–44% of all UK trade. Was this ALL known at the time of the referendum? YES. Who were the driving forces for Brexit?    UKIP and the Tory ERG. Did Labour, as the official party of opposition, oppose Brexit? NO.    Corbyn, a long-time Eurosceptic, adopted a stance of faux neutrality, hoping the Tories would do his dirty work for him. Did the Daily Express back...