The Times - Tech columns
David Rowan, former editor of The Guardian's websites, wrote a weekly technology column for The Times from 2001 to 2004. He has contributed tech-related reports for Channel 4 News, and writes opinion pieces on technology issues for The Times's Op-ed pages. Sample tech writing:
Magazine features:
Inside eBay: The online revolution that conquered Britain (Sunday Times Magazine, February 2005)
Making the web safe for children (The Times, December 2004)
How technology is changing our food - an investigation (The Observer Food Monthly, May 2004)
Teenage internet camgirls at risk - the schoolgirls trading raunchy photographs for gifts (The Observer, July 2002)
Blocking your in-tray: Where all your spam is coming from (The Times, January 2004)
Spies like us - how camera phones change everything (The Times Magazine, December 2003)
How the iPod became cool (The Times, December 2003)
Hackers Threaten to Short-Circuit E-Voting Plans (The Times, November 2003)
The Times Op-Ed page, 2003-present:
The wrongs of extending copyright (June 2005)
Why MGM v Grokster matters for the consumer (March 2005)
Why the British Phonographic Industry's fight against file-swappers is misguided (October 2004)
God isn't dead - he just needs an upgrade to keep up with Google (April 2004)
Whacked by Google: Why the search engine war matters (February 2004)
The real reason Microsoft is giving up on chatrooms (September 2003)
What makes a computer-virus writer? (August 2003)
Beware, your pullover may be watching you: The privacy risks of RFID chips (July 2003)
Channel 4 News films:
**Chips with Everything: How microchip "RFID" trackers, no bigger than a grain of sand, are going to become the latest weapon in the battle of the high street (broadcast July 27 2003)
**Watching them, watching you: How interactive television is learning more about your personality than you realise (May 2001)
**The new language of the internet age: How technology - from email to SMS - is changing the nature of the English language (December 2001)
The Times Magazine: Trendsurfing column, 2004-present (examples of tech themes):
Urban Gaming (The Times Magazine, July 23 2005)
Exertainment (The Times Magazine, July 16 2005)
Online promise exchanges (The Times Magazine, July 2 2005)
Fan films (The Times Magazine, June 11 2005)
Vlogging (The Times Magazine, June 4 2005)
The 'long tail' effect (The Times Magazine, May 21 2005)
Child tracking (The Times Magazine, April 2 2005)
iPod parties (The Times Magazine, March 26 2005)
'Free gadget' marketing (The Times Magazine, March 12 2005)
Online car clubs (The Times Magazine, January 22 2005)
Toy hacking (The Times Magazine, January 15 2005)
Tech-enhanced fashion (The Times Magazine, December 4 2004)
Alternate reality gaming (The Times Magazine, November 29 2004)
Ebay drop-shops (The Times Magazine, November 15 2004)
Podcasting (The Times Magazine, November 8 2004)
Scam baiting (The Times Magazine, November 1 2004)
Mobile clubbing (The Times Magazine, October 25 2004)
Video mash-ups (The Times Magazine, October 11 2004)
Freecycling (The Times Magazine, September 25 2004)
In-game advertising (The Times Magazine, September 18 2004)
The Times: Weekly tech column, 2001-2004:
Voice spam (August 2004)
Penguin vs Katie.com (August 2004)
Blackberries/Google tricks (August 2004)
Wikipedia/Odeon online (July 2004)
Virtual currency fraud/Vodafone censorship (July 2004)
Skype/Adidas 1 (June 2004)
Video product placement/Gmail (June 2004)
Corporate weblogs/iTunes sharing/ISP standards (June 2004)
Google's IPO/Unfair pricing (May 2004)
Google under attack/Bluetooth risks (April 2004)
Children's database/DVD censorship (April 2004)
VoIP/Online books ( (March 2004)
Hit Song Science/A Flight Risk/Virus flame wars (March 2004)
EU Copyright Directive/Ricin (March 2004)
Toy trends/Viruses/Belle de Jour (February 2004)
Hacker risks/Women virus writers (February 2004)
IM wars/Un-free email/Virus hype (February 2004)
Spammers' literary tricks/Virus hype/Urban myths (February 2004)
Government snoops/Edge laws/Price rip-offs(January 2004)
Google alternatives(January 2004)
2004 predictions (January 2004)
Home media hubs (December 2003)
E-voting risks (December 2003)
Amateur media/RFID/Bill Gates' philanthropy (November 2003)
Biometrics/distributed computing (November 2003)
iTunes economics/social websites/Microsoft domain renewal (November 2003)
Newham IT/robots-txt files (November 2003)
Oystercard privacy/political websites/Amazon (October 2003)
VeriSign mischief/spellcheck hell (September 2003)Gadgets for Christmas (September 2003)
A Euro DMCA/airline data/Scientology (September 2003)
Typosquatting/Drudge profits/TiVo (September 2003)
Gaming and health/biometrics/flashmobs (September 2003)
[More columns to follow]
Magazine features:
Inside eBay: The online revolution that conquered Britain (Sunday Times Magazine, February 2005)
Making the web safe for children (The Times, December 2004)
How technology is changing our food - an investigation (The Observer Food Monthly, May 2004)
Teenage internet camgirls at risk - the schoolgirls trading raunchy photographs for gifts (The Observer, July 2002)
Blocking your in-tray: Where all your spam is coming from (The Times, January 2004)
Spies like us - how camera phones change everything (The Times Magazine, December 2003)
How the iPod became cool (The Times, December 2003)
Hackers Threaten to Short-Circuit E-Voting Plans (The Times, November 2003)
The Times Op-Ed page, 2003-present:
The wrongs of extending copyright (June 2005)
Why MGM v Grokster matters for the consumer (March 2005)
Why the British Phonographic Industry's fight against file-swappers is misguided (October 2004)
God isn't dead - he just needs an upgrade to keep up with Google (April 2004)
Whacked by Google: Why the search engine war matters (February 2004)
The real reason Microsoft is giving up on chatrooms (September 2003)
What makes a computer-virus writer? (August 2003)
Beware, your pullover may be watching you: The privacy risks of RFID chips (July 2003)
Channel 4 News films:
**Chips with Everything: How microchip "RFID" trackers, no bigger than a grain of sand, are going to become the latest weapon in the battle of the high street (broadcast July 27 2003)
**Watching them, watching you: How interactive television is learning more about your personality than you realise (May 2001)
**The new language of the internet age: How technology - from email to SMS - is changing the nature of the English language (December 2001)
The Times Magazine: Trendsurfing column, 2004-present (examples of tech themes):
Urban Gaming (The Times Magazine, July 23 2005)
Exertainment (The Times Magazine, July 16 2005)
Online promise exchanges (The Times Magazine, July 2 2005)
Fan films (The Times Magazine, June 11 2005)
Vlogging (The Times Magazine, June 4 2005)
The 'long tail' effect (The Times Magazine, May 21 2005)
Child tracking (The Times Magazine, April 2 2005)
iPod parties (The Times Magazine, March 26 2005)
'Free gadget' marketing (The Times Magazine, March 12 2005)
Online car clubs (The Times Magazine, January 22 2005)
Toy hacking (The Times Magazine, January 15 2005)
Tech-enhanced fashion (The Times Magazine, December 4 2004)
Alternate reality gaming (The Times Magazine, November 29 2004)
Ebay drop-shops (The Times Magazine, November 15 2004)
Podcasting (The Times Magazine, November 8 2004)
Scam baiting (The Times Magazine, November 1 2004)
Mobile clubbing (The Times Magazine, October 25 2004)
Video mash-ups (The Times Magazine, October 11 2004)
Freecycling (The Times Magazine, September 25 2004)
In-game advertising (The Times Magazine, September 18 2004)
The Times: Weekly tech column, 2001-2004:
Voice spam (August 2004)
Penguin vs Katie.com (August 2004)
Blackberries/Google tricks (August 2004)
Wikipedia/Odeon online (July 2004)
Virtual currency fraud/Vodafone censorship (July 2004)
Skype/Adidas 1 (June 2004)
Video product placement/Gmail (June 2004)
Corporate weblogs/iTunes sharing/ISP standards (June 2004)
Google's IPO/Unfair pricing (May 2004)
Google under attack/Bluetooth risks (April 2004)
Children's database/DVD censorship (April 2004)
VoIP/Online books ( (March 2004)
Hit Song Science/A Flight Risk/Virus flame wars (March 2004)
EU Copyright Directive/Ricin (March 2004)
Toy trends/Viruses/Belle de Jour (February 2004)
Hacker risks/Women virus writers (February 2004)
IM wars/Un-free email/Virus hype (February 2004)
Spammers' literary tricks/Virus hype/Urban myths (February 2004)
Government snoops/Edge laws/Price rip-offs(January 2004)
Google alternatives(January 2004)
2004 predictions (January 2004)
Home media hubs (December 2003)
E-voting risks (December 2003)
Amateur media/RFID/Bill Gates' philanthropy (November 2003)
Biometrics/distributed computing (November 2003)
iTunes economics/social websites/Microsoft domain renewal (November 2003)
Newham IT/robots-txt files (November 2003)
Oystercard privacy/political websites/Amazon (October 2003)
VeriSign mischief/spellcheck hell (September 2003)Gadgets for Christmas (September 2003)
A Euro DMCA/airline data/Scientology (September 2003)
Typosquatting/Drudge profits/TiVo (September 2003)
Gaming and health/biometrics/flashmobs (September 2003)
[More columns to follow]
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