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Adrian Blackwood

Former lecturer with historian roots. I favor clarity over charm, and tend to speak plainly, even if it comes off blunt. Thoughtful by nature, but not one for easy comforts or easy answers.

An illustration of a person holding a megaphone, speaking to a group of investors who are looking at blueprints, while other people in the background cover their ears.

When the Hedge Is the Point: Incentives Behind Private Geoengineering Bets

If you can model the profit, you can ignore the fallout

A person scratching their head looking at a complex points chart with arrows and numbers.

The Loyalty Game: Hotel Chains, “Exclusive” Perks, and the Real Rules of Play

Direct bookings, dynamic pricing, and the calculated generosity of the hotel industry’s loyalty machine.

An illustration depicting a circular feedback loop where rising prices lead to money inflow, and falling prices lead to money outflow.

What BlackRock’s Bitcoin Exodus Actually Tells You

If you really want to know what someone believes, don't bother with their tweets. Just watch for when they actually press the “sell” button. In November, investors pulled roughly $2.2 billion from BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust — the big spot bitcoin ETF, you know, the one

An illustration of a central glowing AI core rapidly deploying many identical and varied digital attack tools or phishing lures outwards, representing a force multiplier.

Anthropic’s Cyber Frankenstein

Anthropic has disclosed what it calls the first reported case of foreign hackers using a commercial AI system to direct a largely automated hacking campaign, a finding its researchers link to the Chinese government. AP reports that the operation used Claude, Anthropic’s AI system, to help scope targets and

An illustration contrasting a user's potential choices with a closed 'black box' system that presents only one option.

The Automation of Choice: Google's Agentic Booking and the Collapse of Consumer Discretion

Google is pitching AI Mode as pure convenience: you tell it what you want and it takes care of the bookings for dinner, a haircut, or concert tickets; no more fiddling with dates, times, or confirmation screens. The promise is smooth and frictionless. In reality, the process hinges on extracting