Parc life: the people who changed the world
SA Mathieson looks back on the work of far-sighted technologists at Xerox Parc - and their plans for the future
Computing, May 11, 2000

New York, London, Paris, Munich: Fear and loathing on the IPO trail
Place your bets for the floatation roadshow, financing's answer to the Grand National. It's not so much about finishing first, more about simply making it to the line.
Business 2.0, Jul 1, 2000

Smallest post office gets net
A new network could transform the fortunes of rural post offices. SA Mathieson visits Britain's tiniest post office to find out more
Guardian Online, Jul 26, 2001

The country switches on
Broadband is finally conquering rural areas - and just in time for many businesses, writes SA Mathieson
Guardian Business Solutions, Dec 4, 2003

Your life in your hands
Since 1998 the emergency services have been able to automatically locate 999 callers dialling from landlines. Now this potentially life-saving technology is starting to embrace mobile phones as well. SA Mathieson reports
Guardian E-public, Dec 1, 2004

'It's our David!'
David Cameron has built up a strong rapport with his constituents in the small towns and villages of Witney, a safe Conservative seat with high hopes for his future, says local resident SA Mathieson
Guardian Politics, Dec 8, 2005

Spread the word, and join it up
Data is the key to taking the world wide web on to the next level, says its inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee. But how near are we to realising it? SA Mathieson reports
Guardian Technology, Apr 6, 2006

A sidestep in the right direction
An innovative exercise in electronic mapping aims to bypass the block on access to data subject to Crown copyright
Guardian Technology, May 11, 2006

Broadband's turn-on frustrations
It's synonymous with high-speed connectivity, so why do new users have to wait so long to get broadband? SA Mathieson delves into BT's exchanges to find out
Guardian Technology, Jan 11, 2007

How staff helped Mid Staffordshire make a clean start
A hospital trust that became notorious for poor care is using its employees' ideas to turn itself around
Guardian Healthcare Network, Aug 31, 2011

How Birmingham moved into its new NHS hospital
University Hospitals Birmingham's chief executive Julie Moore has needed all her operational management skills to transfer patients and staff
Guardian Healthcare Network, May 18, 2011

Final call for NHS Direct's national service
The government will replace NHS Direct's national 0845 service with locally commissioned 111 services in two years' time. How does the organisation plan to evolve?
Guardian Healthcare Network, Apr 6, 2011

Salford Royal's flight to safety
How a Greater Manchester teaching hospital has used its staff's ideas to make it safer
Guardian Healthcare Network, Mar 9, 2011

Minister destroys national identity register
Damian Green has marked the end of the identity card scheme by feeding its drives into an industrial shredder in Essex
Guardian Government Computing, Feb 10, 2011

Wythenshawe: a hospital on green alert
University Hospital of South Manchester has won the Guardian Public Services Awards for building sustainability into its infrastructure
Guardian Society, Nov 24, 2010

Doctors and nurses turn managers in Oxford
The hospital trust chief executive tells SA Mathieson why he is putting clinicians back in the driving seat
Guardian Healthcare Network, Nov 10, 2010

Avenue of trees leading to Ditchley
This half-mile avenue of trees points towards Ditchley, which is visible on the horizon. The path is part of Shakespeare's Way.
Geograph.org.uk, Apr 14, 2006

St Andrew's Church, Kingham
The church's tower is 15th century, but most of this church of England is 19th century, according to Pevsner.
Geograph.org.uk, Aug 9, 2005

North Bristol NHS trust plans alternative to 'outdated hospital model'
Has North Bristol NHS trust found the answer to providing efficient health and social care after hospital closures?
Guardian Society, Jan 4, 2012

Designing a new Bristol superhospital
North Bristol's new hospital is already built and much needed. SA Mathieson takes an early look through its concept and design
Guardian Healthcare Network, Jan 3, 2012

Oxfordshire reveals ANPR traffic camera sites
A council using automatic numberplate recognition to manage traffic has released the locations of the cameras, having previously refused to do so
Guardian Government Computing, Aug 3, 2009

A tale of two cameras
Data from two councils, a rural district and a London borough, suggests big differences in spending on CCTV
Guardian Government Computing, Sep 23, 2010

Wee Mad Road by the sea
This section of the road is built into the coastline, so narrow that it is difficult for a car and a pedestrian to pass and the telephone posts get pushed into Loch an Eisg-Brachaidh.
Geograph.org.uk, Sep 19, 2006

MI5 makes 1,061 bugging errors
Security Service was responsible for 62% of wrong applications for communications data in 2010
Guardian Government Computing, Jul 1, 2011

Eyes on the child: should you use mobile phone tracking?
The Soham murder trial highlighted the use of mobile phone tracking. But how effective is the technology for consumers, asks SA Mathieson
Guardian Online, Jan 29, 2004

Privacy groups take Royston's ANPR plans to ICO
Hertfordshire police has defended its plans to circle a town in the county with automatic numberplate recognition cameras
Guardian Government Computing, Jun 10, 2011

Leeds spending data shows PFI burden
Leeds Teaching Hospitals has released data showing that 30% of its supplier budget goes to two construction firms, including a deal lasting until 2041
Guardian Healthcare Network, Nov 17, 2010

A tale of two cameras
Data from two councils, a rural district and a London borough, suggests big differences in spending on CCTV
Guardian Government Computing, Sep 23, 2010

Inside two of Britain's smartest new hospitals: one private, one NHS
Guardian Healthcare visits Circle's private hospital near Bath and the new NHS Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham
Guardian Healthcare Network, May 25, 2011

Video ring to unite islanders
Orkney Island Council and videoconferencing
Government Computing, Aug 31, 2002

Pushing the button
Local authorities are keen to widen participation in democracy through the use of technology, but many campaigners are sceptical, says SA Mathieson
Guardian Society, Mar 23, 2006

Stepping stones at end of Loch Bad an t-Sluic
These stones are part of the path running from the A837 near Little Assynt to the bothy at Suileag, which is about half a mile south of here. Suilven is in the background.
Geograph.org.uk, Sep 17, 2006

Tree on Akeman Street
This is one of a line of trees along the Roman road Akeman Street, now the Oxfordshire Way
Geograph.org.uk, Sep 2, 2006

Tree and Ash Copse
This image is taken facing north-east from a track that runs south-east from the B4022 to near Stonesfield
Geograph.org.uk, Oct 19, 2005

Sancreed Beacon
The stones are cists, Bronze Age burial mounds. The background shows Mount's Bay (including St Michael's Mount) and the Lizard
Geograph.org.uk, Sep 18, 2005

Hundley Way
This track goes from the edge of Charlbury to another path on the edge of the Ditchley estate
Geograph.org.uk, Aug 2, 2005

UK male life expectancy mapped, from Glasgow to Kensington
Including article first published on Guardian Datablog
SAMathieson.com, May 7, 2012

Newcastle will extend Cerner to primary care
A foundation hospital trust plans to use its newly installed software suite to help run its local health centres
Guardian Healthcare Network, Dec 3, 2009

Full tilt
Virgin's 140mph Pendolino trains
T3, Mar 1, 2002

Collaborative public services: lessons from Northumberland
One council in the north-east has found numerous benefits from co-locating services including running parents young child groups at its fire stations
Guardian Public Leaders Network, Feb 24, 2011

Coastwatch hut at Cape Cornwall
This is one of the lookout stations operated by the National Coastwatch Institution. In the background are the Brisons.
Geograph.org.uk, Sep 21, 2005

Brumspotting from Broadway Tower
How to see Birmingham (and Coventry) from the Cotswolds
SAMathieson.com, Jan 27, 2012

Brumspotting from Dover's Hill
How to see Birmingham (and Coventry) from the Cotswolds
SAMathieson.com, Jan 27, 2012

Brumspotting from Ilmington
How to see Birmingham (and Coventry) from the Cotswolds
SAMathieson.com, Jan 27, 2012

Brumspotting
How to see Birmingham (and Coventry) from the Cotswolds
SAMathieson.com, Jan 27, 2012

Brumspotting
How to see Birmingham (and Coventry) from the Cotswolds
SAMathieson.com, Jan 27, 2012

London hospitals need better connections: Royal Free IM&T head
Trust's plan to buy finance system with UCLH demonstrates local co-operation
Guardian Government Computing, Jan 30, 2012

Pine trees by Fairspear Farm
This row of pine trees is on the east side of a road connecting Farfield Corner near Leafield and the B4437 near Ascott.
Geograph.org.uk, Aug 20, 2005

Dip in road at Bagg's Bottom
The bus from Oxford to Charlbury rushes up and down this dip, known as Bagg's Bottom. The new houses are on the edge of the village of Stonesfield, LinkExternal link proof that it is possible to build handsome new houses in the Cotswolds.
Geograph.org.uk, Apr 28, 2006

Blackpool vs Scheveningen
Which is the better fun, if slightly faded, seaside resort?
SAMathieson.com, Feb 10, 2012

Harvesting of field near Kingstanding Farm
This is taken from a minor road running between the B4437 and Kingstanding Farm.
Geograph.org.uk, Aug 27, 2006

Blackpool vs Scheveningen
Which is the better fun, if slightly faded, seaside resort?
SAMathieson.com, Feb 10, 2012

Oxbridge applications mapped
London and the south east dominate
SAMathieson.com, Feb 18, 2012

Oxbridge applications mapped
London and the south east dominate
SAMathieson.com, Feb 18, 2012

The biggest council CCTV spenders per resident
Westminster… then Tamworth
SAMathieson.com, Feb 22, 2012

CRM revamp begins at Great Ormond Street Hospital charity
Charity devoted to London's hospital for children wants better support for supporters using mobile devices
Guardian Government Computing, Feb 17, 2012

The biggest council CCTV spenders per resident
Westminster… then Tamworth
SAMathieson.com, Feb 22, 2012

CI Colin Paine
The tweeting policeman of West Oxfordshire
Chipping Norton News, Feb 27, 2012

Bring your iPad to work scheme trialled at Liverpool hospitals
Liverpool Women's trust is letting some staff use their own tablet devices for work, and may help pay for them in future
Guardian Government Computing, Mar 23, 2012

A44, A361, A34
Chipping Norton at the crossroads
Chipping Norton News, Mar 26, 2012

A44, A361, A34
Chipping Norton at the crossroads
Chipping Norton News, Mar 26, 2012

Hinchingbrooke hospital chief: unions do not doubt our intentions
Ali Parsa, chief executive of the private company running a Cambridgeshire NHS trust, tells SA Mathieson how he aims to make the hospital one of the best in the country
Guardian Healthcare Network, Apr 5, 2012

Religion and healthcare
Why the NHS provokes holy arguments
SAMathieson.com, Apr 30, 2012

UK male life expectancy mapped, from Glasgow to Kensington
Including article first published on Guardian Datablog
SAMathieson.com, May 7, 2012

Bletchley Park: where government started computing
The wartime codebreaking centre is preserving the British government's leading role in creating and developing electronic computers
Guardian Government Computing, May 15, 2012

Technology can transform the NHS – but not on its own
The health secretary believes technology can help change the health service. The NHS Confederation conference heard how Bradford GP surgery is taking a lead
Guardian Healthcare Network, Jun 27, 2012

London 2012: NHS confirmed as national religion
In the opening ceremony of London 2012, NHS is confirmed as a core part of Britain's national myth
SAMathieson.com, Jul 28, 2012

Olympic football
South Korea, Switzerland and a big hand for Coventry
SAMathieson.com, Jul 30, 2012

Track your every move
Using the Data Protection Act on supermarkets, ISPs, banks and telcos
Guardian Online, May 15, 2002

You can ring, but you can’t hide
Mobile phone tracking of user locations
Guardian Online, Nov 29, 2001

Let me be your fantasy
Virtual actors, Final Fantasy, Guinness squirrels and Eyes Wide Shut
Guardian Online, Apr 26, 2001

Hartlepool shows how pension funds could save NHS hospitals from PFI
Trusts building a new hospital do what anyone buying a new home does: they take out a mortgage
SAMathieson.com, Sep 24, 2012

Oxford Times hikes cover price by 53%
...but it still beats coffee
SAMathieson.com, Sep 7, 2012




The good cathedral food guide to Hereford, Brecon, Chester and London
Café @ All Saint’s
SAMathieson.com, Dec 24, 2012

The good cathedral food guide to Hereford, Brecon, Chester and London
Pilgrims Tea Room and Restaurant, Brecon
SAMathieson.com, Dec 24, 2012

The good cathedral food guide to Hereford, Brecon, Chester and London
Refectory café, Chester Cathedral
SAMathieson.com, Dec 24, 2012

Aberdeen doubtful about risking liquid assets
Scotland’s oil and gas capital is booming as part of Britain. A straw poll of Aberdonians suggests they would rather stay in the UK than risk independence, although some feel this with their heads rather than their hearts
Beacon, Jan 24, 2014

Salford Royal Hope building
A hospital that looks like a design hotel/art gallery
SAMathieson.com, Jul 8, 2013

The Book Ring: Birmingham reinvents its library as a shopping centre with a view
The Library of Birmingham, a spectacular new civic building in Britain’s second largest city, is a brave attempt to reinvent its public library for the 21st century. But is it worth £188.8m?
Beacon, Mar 28, 2014

Manchester: torn apart by Conservative love of bizarre municipal triangles
Greater Manchester, once governed as a single unit, was split by Margaret Thatcher’s government into separate councils, including the cities of Manchester and Salford. This can be parochially entertaining, but like London the city would be greater together
Beacon, Apr 10, 2014

Keeping Wales in Britain: it needs parch mawr
Wales seems comfortable in its British skin, with its strong culture, own language and devolved government. But to keep it this way, English politicians need to cut down on cross-border sniping
Beacon, Apr 17, 2014

Premier Inn: Welcome to the Hotel Britannia, Doncaster
The practices of a national budget hotel chain tell you a lot about a country; in Britain’s case, its need to have constant access to cups of tea and, in the morning, a large cooked breakfast
Beacon, May 1, 2014

Spain’s nationalised heritage paradores
Unlikely in Britain, sadly
SAMathieson.com, Oct 7, 2013

Art galleries in northern France
La Piscine Roubaix beats Louvre Lens
SAMathieson.com, May 13, 2013

Four Scottish communities purchase their neighbourhoods
Helped by grant money, three community groups have succeeded in purchasing their land collectively
Guardian Social Enterprise Network, Feb 22, 2013

Art galleries in northern France
La Piscine Roubaix beats Louvre Lens
SAMathieson.com, May 13, 2013

70 years after D-Day, we need to stop mentioning the war
The Second World War still looms large in Britain’s popular culture, in comedies and in documentaries about the Nazis. Germany has moved on; with most Britons now too young to remember, we need to do the same
Beacon, Jun 6, 2014

Cake, tea and pork pie at Hobbit motorway services
The owners of Britain’s best motorway service station, Tebay in Cumbria, have waited four decades to open a second one, on the M5 in Gloucestershire. With a grass roof and excellent cakes, it’s a place that Bilbo Baggins might appreciate
Beacon, Jul 1, 2014

To see an awe-inspiring ancient place of worship, visit Salisbury not Stonehenge
Stonehenge’s new visitor centre is a huge improvement on what it replaced, but it remains difficult to appreciate the stone circle with a jammed-up major road just a field away. You can do better a few miles south
Beacon, Aug 1, 2014

London’s re-opened Olympic park: spaceport Britain, complete with wildflowers
The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and Westfield Stratford City shopping centre have a sense of hyper-reality, but are the two most important elements of a newly-revamped, globalised quarter of London
Beacon, Aug 22, 2014

France and Britain: trouvez les différences
The UK and its closest Continental rival are similar in more ways than they like to admit. The differences and rivalries have spurred both to improvements… although Britain is currently having the best of these
Beacon, Oct 10, 2014

PizzaExpress: Italian food with middle-class British characteristics
The UK’s ubiquitous pizza chain tells you several things about Britain, including its liking for classy interiors, discount vouchers and consistent, comforting food. It can be worth bringing earplugs though
Beacon, Nov 14, 2014

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust completes £200m Epic and HP IT project
For a £200m project which was only agreed in April 2013, going live on the weekend planned counts as a success
ComputerWeekly.com, Dec 8, 2014

Suffering satellites! Goonhilly’s ARTHUR REBORN for SPAAAACE
Geek's Guide to Britain: BT's sat comms site repurposed
The Register, Nov 25, 2014

The city which tells Britain it is not an island
Amsterdam has influenced Britain for centuries, as its revamped Rijksmuseum shows, and it continues to innovate today. Britain, which in 2014 has been obsessed with nationalism, should start listening again
Beacon, Dec 19, 2014

25 years after the Berlin Wall fell, Britain wonders why Germany doesn’t like borders
If Britain had been divided by the Iron Curtain – or its politicians had a bit more empathy for those of other countries – it would not be asking Germany to agree to curtailing freedom of movement for European citizens
Beacon, Nov 7, 2014

Two Warwickshire mansions: the time capsule and the gallery
Charlecote Park and Compton Verney were both built as grand private houses, occupied by their founding families until the 20th century. They are now both open to the public, but offer contrasting visions of Britain
Beacon, Jan 2, 2015

Marconi: The West of England's very own Italian wireless pioneer
A trip to the Lizard King's monument
The Register, Feb 23, 2015

Marconi: The West of England's very own Italian wireless pioneer
A trip to the Lizard King's monument
The Register, Feb 23, 2015

From Tynemouth chic to Whitley Bay, where every day is like Sunday
Tyneside in England’s north-east has a revived centre for everyone in Newcastle and Gateshead, but its coastal edges are struggling, like Whitley Bay, or moving upscale like Tynemouth
Beacon, May 1, 2015

Planet killer: Ex-army officer's Welsh space-rock mission
Tunguska, Chelyabinsk... Powys
The Register, Jul 6, 2015

How Spain built itself into a country for tourists
Spain has turned much of its coastline into a playground for foreign tourists, in particular Britons buying second and retirement homes. That doesn’t mean the UK shouldn’t treat it seriously
Beacon, Aug 7, 2015

How British spies really spy: Information that didn't come from Snowden
GCHQ days of form-filling and 'bulk' intercept
The Register, Jul 23, 2015

Rock reboot and the Welsh windy wonder
Centre for Alternative Technology
The Register, Aug 21, 2015