British Intelligence to Wi-Fi Hunters: Keep Nose Out

On family holiday in London, we were riding in a taxi out to the Imperial War Museum. As we passed the riverfront headquarters of MI6, a.k.a. the Secret Intelligence Service, my wife happened to be futzing with her iPhone. A list of Wi-Fi networks popped up. At the top: a network called KeepNoseOut.

Coincidence? I’d like to think not. I like this even better than the Dutch cafe that labeled its Wi-Fi network BuyAnotherCupYouCheapskate.

London is of course full of happy surprises for American visitors. The “chewable toothbrush,” for instance, for sale in a tube station:

And, in the Parliamentary Bookshop in Parliament Square, I spotted a single American book: Nudge, by Thaler and Sunstein (see earlier blog posts here), which has been embraced in something of a bear hug by the Conservative Party here.

I also spotted (but failed to photograph) a tube ad for a personal health kit to fight MRSA and other “superbugs.” You’re supposed to buy such a kit and bring it to the hospital if you happen to wind up there, since, as we know, doctors do not always wash their hands when they should.