Why Sheep Code?
it's rumored that the mafia, more accurately - the sicilian mafia is known for using the sheep code for communication.
police said many of the messages were used to alert fellow criminals that a new "pizzini" was ready referred to as sheep. among the lines used were: "the sheep need shearing.. the shears need sharpening" or "the hay is ready." the italian police said they did not belive the madia members were discussing argicultural matters. another phrase used was "i've put the ricotta cheese aside for you, will you come by later?
likewise, i write about things that are usually kept behind closed veils. i talk about tech, design, science and life. my essays and random thoughts will forever remain the 'the sheep code'.
29 August 2026 - Startups need customers, not condescension
24 August 2026 - A filter for long-term trust
16 August 2026 - LLMs, hallucinations and claims that do not add up
2 August 2026 - Learning history through Rome
26 July 2026 - What does it mean to be AI-native?
1 July 2026 - Food abundance and the invention of unhealthy eating
29 June 2026 - Relationships are choices, not ownership
24 June 2026 - The freedom to choose what you wear
13 June 2026 - India cannot outsource its technological future
10 June 2026 - Indian startups need not copy Silicon Valley
31 May 2026 - Cities, capital and the freedom to earn
16 May 2026 - Encryption, engineering priorities and wasted talent
14 May 2026 - If You Replace Every Part of Yourself, Are You Still You?
13 May 2026 - What does a government white paper actually tell us?
5 May 2026 - Democracy does not require voters to agree with you
29 April 2026 - Natural is not a moral standard
27 April 2026 - Is Fraud a Tax on Ambition?
23 April 2026 - An election is not a fan club
20 April 2026 - Capitalism and the politics of activism
15 April 2026 - Professional associations and the power they protect
12 April 2026 - Why I criticise the religion I was born into
8 April 2026 - Was Agriculture Ever Natural?
29 March 2026 - “All men” sounds different when it is your daughter
24 March 2026 - Should Adults Be Free to Ruin Themselves?
22 March 2026 - What films teach us without saying it
27 February 2026 - Trust, secrets and divided loyalties
27 February 2026 - Data centres, water and the costs of progress
27 February 2026 - AI, layoffs and the jobs that existed in between
22 February 2026 - Entertainers, patrons and the illusion of independence
12 February 2026 - Why Should Every Manufacturer Buy the Same Tools?
29 January 2026 - Cinema and the policing of women’s clothes
18 January 2026 - Exploitation, gig work and the comfortable middle
16 January 2026 - What Happens When the Social Contract Breaks?
20 October 2025 - Must everyone pick a side?
19 October 2025 - Abortion and the frameworks behind our disagreements
18 October 2025 - Learning to love
11 September 2025 - Political disagreement and the limits of tolerance
17 August 2025 - A school, its alumni and misplaced priorities
26 July 2025 - Food abundance and nostalgia
22 July 2025 - There is only medicine
1 June 2025 - Paid promotion and disclosure
27 April 2025 - What a society owes its own citizens
20 April 2025 - Raising curious children
16 March 2025 - Personal assistants should not be a luxury
16 February 2025 - Software piracy and the Robin Hood defence
3 February 2025 - Borrowing, inflation and the questions a budget should answer
21 January 2025 - The economics of a successful creator
19 January 2025 - Two ways to judge a company
7 January 2025 - A political alternative needs a plan
2 January 2025 - Quick commerce and the bargaining power of workers
25 December 2024 - Should you have a Christmas Star?
1 November 2024 - Hating Apple is not a technical achievement
10 October 2024 - Workers’ rights, unions and political power
20 September 2024 - The laddu controversy: evidence and political incentives
15 September 2024 - Hiring for a culture people understand
13 September 2024 - Are you in the Friendzone?
1 September 2024 - A boycott needs economic power
21 August 2024 - Making creative work sustainable
13 August 2024 - Priors, uncertainty and Bayesian reasoning
8 July 2024 - France’s left and the cost of an electoral alliance
24 June 2024 - Immigration, public trust and the rise of the right
9 June 2024 - An engineer should have something to show
8 June 2024 - Political loyalty is no excuse for violence
4 June 2024 - The best self-defence is getting home
3 June 2024 - Give the film back to the filmmaker
2 June 2024 - Commitment is a practice, not a trophy
29 May 2024 - Virtue signalling and the difference between attention and impact
28 April 2024 - Religious extremism and the people who pay for the backlash
9 February 2024 - A uniform civil code, seen from different sides
8 February 2024 - Credentials do not buy an audience
4 February 2024 - The value of a real conversation
25 January 2024 - Employees are not bonded labour
4 January 2024 - Skills, fitness and the comparison trap
3 January 2024 - Falling fertility and the cost of raising a child
17 December 2023 - Why would anyone buy a loss-making news agency?
10 December 2023 - Diversity is more than a hiring quota
8 December 2023 - Dowry and the contradiction of masculine pride
8 December 2023 - BluSmart: The Warning Signs Behind an Investment Promise
29 November 2023 - Learning AI starts with taking notes
24 November 2023 - The small business economy we underestimate
28 October 2023 - When a small transaction freezes an entire bank account
9 October 2023 - The AfD and Europe’s political backlash
2 October 2023 - Knowing where your food comes from
29 September 2023 - How an industry manufactures a talent pipeline
28 September 2023 - Pondy’s traffic conundrum
25 September 2023 - Viral fame and the machinery of outrage
24 September 2023 - Waste management needs incentives, not virtue signalling
14 September 2023 - Why an agency’s profit disappears before the invoice is paid
7 September 2023 - Learning engineering beyond the service-company job
31 August 2023 - The environmental cost of replacing a plastic bag
26 August 2023 - Social media and the way we treat each other
23 August 2023 - The platform that farms your creativity
22 August 2023 - Reading research beyond the headline
21 August 2023 - Hiring through conversations instead of job boards
20 August 2023 - A patent is not a substitute for execution
18 August 2023 - Why a country needs ports
18 August 2023 - When activism alienates the people it needs to persuade
16 August 2023 - When outrage becomes a media business
14 August 2023 - The wedding photography problem that starts after the wedding
11 August 2023 - A founder's publicity is not a business result
29 July 2023 - The dating app that needs you to stay single
27 July 2023 - Go back to basics and take notes
26 July 2023 - Why a superconductor would change the world
23 July 2023 - What if every child could take a different path through education?
14 July 2023 - The operations behind an ecommerce business
8 July 2023 - Whiteboards, calendars and a two-phone experiment
5 July 2023 - Why I say no to college invitations
2 July 2023 - Read aloud with your children
1 July 2023 - What the gym changes beyond your body
29 June 2023 - Teaching children to solve problems and think ahead
25 June 2023 - India’s AI ambitions and the talent question
24 June 2023 - Opening the film industry to independent creators
19 June 2023 - The financial conversation every couple needs
15 June 2023 - Women, work and the trade-offs behind policy
5 June 2023 - The productivity tool is not the work
3 June 2023 - The industry that pushed internet technology forward
1 June 2023 - Human progress is a continuing transformation
21 May 2023 - The limits of the onsite dream
15 May 2023 - What women go through during a groom search
13 May 2023 - Playing the hand you were given
12 May 2023 - Crime, punishment and the people we romanticise
5 May 2023 - Layoffs begin with management decisions
3 May 2023 - What real customer feedback taught us
30 April 2023 - The trade-offs behind paper straws
28 April 2023 - How engineering education manufactures resources
25 April 2023 - Know your company’s burn rate and runway
24 April 2023 - The professional–managerial class and political power
7 April 2023 - The appeal of the men who sell masculinity
10 March 2023 - Encryption, privacy and the demand for access
9 March 2023 - A startup’s first job is to build
17 February 2023 - The reality behind the service-industry engineering job
14 February 2023 - Re-Examining the License Raj
18 January 2023 - Cheap capital, overhiring and the layoff cycle
8 January 2023 - Moonlighting, contracts and the work you own
25 December 2022 - The Dangerous Dance
28 October 2022 - A democracy needs credible opposing media
28 October 2022 - Science survives by being challenged
26 September 2022 - Why Europe is turning to the right
13 August 2022 - Who benefits from the degree you are told to choose?
9 August 2022 - Strangulation with Compliances
26 June 2022 - Abortion, state power and the missing middle
8 June 2022 - What if we treated a college education like a service we bought?
21 May 2022 - Can you start a Startup?
20 May 2022 - A billion people are not a billion paying customers
9 May 2022 - What screens take away from a child’s imagination
29 April 2022 - Political organising happens on the ground
24 October 2021 - The television and the child’s imagination
2 October 2021 - The social psychology behind a political message
All rights reserved. Copyright © 2026 Jason Samuel