Chris Sharp
Copmanthorpe
As seen in:
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Bike Mechanic and owner @CopCycles, Digital Crofter, Cyclist, Railway Modeller. Was an occasional writer and quizmaster for @CityMetric
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Articles by Chris Sharp
Empty compassion fails NC’s homeless
Walk through a city park in Asheville, Raleigh, or Charlotte, and you’re likely to find a sprawling, unregulated homeless encampment with no running water, no security, and no clear path to a better life for residents. The people living in such encampments are often chronically homeless, and many struggle with serious mental illness and substance abuse according to a 2025 report from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Iryna Zarutska’s Alleged Killer Could Walk Free. Here’s Why.
Under both federal law and North Carolina law, no person can be tried, convicted, or sentenced while mentally incompetent. / Public Safety, Health Care, Politics and Law, States and Cities / Eye on the News / Public Safety, Health Care, Politics and Law, States and Cities Last August, Decarlos Brown Jr.—a mentally ill repeat offender out on bail—allegedly stabbed 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska to death on a Charlotte light rail train.
Ex-UFO chief admits mysterious space objects move in ways thought impossible with modern technology
Continue reading Chris Sharp and Josh Boswell The Pentagon 's UFO office former chief has revealed unexplained objects were detected in space – and that some performed maneuvers defying anything in America's known aerospace arsenal. Lieutenant Colonel Tim Phillips, who was acting director of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) until last April, told the Daily Mail that while most cases involved objects in the air, some detections extended beyond the atmosphere.
Ex-UFO chief admits mysterious space objects move in ways thought impossible with modern technology
; ; ; ; Continue reading More for You ; ; ; ; Continue reading More for You
Police chopper's near miss with mystery 'tic-tac' drones over US airbase last year
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Police chopper's near miss with mystery 'tic-tac' drones over US airbase last year
Will the Gunners be able to cope without him? 😬 Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti has said he is ‘really sorry’ after Gabriel Magalhaes had to be subbed off following an injury he picked up for the national team. This comes ahead of a tough run of games for Arsenal, as their next three games are Tottenham in the North London Derby, Bayern Munich in the Champions League, and Chelsea away at Stamford Bridge. 🎥 / @Ronald De Selhadin #gabriel #arsenal #brazil #premierleague #injury
In the footsteps of Bonnie Prince Charlie
Taking the High Road from Inverness to the Isle of Skye. Culloden Moor, outside Inverness, is an emotive place. The final battle to be fought on British soil occurred here, on April 16, 1746. In one hour, the Jacobite rebellion of Bonnie Prince Charlie was crushed. More than 2,000 Scots perished in the battle and with that defeat, the Highland Clearances have spawned: a pogrom that irrevocably altered Highland life and initiated the Scottish diaspora to Britain’s distant colonies.
Are data centers obsolete in the age of AI?
In my role as CTO, I’m often asked how Digital Realty designs our data centers to support new and future workloads, both efficiently and sustainably. How do we ensure that data centers built for the simple enterprise use case of web hosting can support the next generation of AI workloads and the huge volumes of data that must be stored, transmitted, and processed? My answer?
How to harness AI’s potential and navigate disruption
It may seem like artificial intelligence (AI) became a media buzzword overnight, but this disruptive technology has been at the forefront of our agenda for several years at Digital Realty.
Cyber Security Strategy and SMBs
GUEST OPINION by Chris Sharp, CEO at Pax8 APAC : The Government's launch of its near $590 million Cyber Security Strategy is a playbook to make Australia the most cyber secure nation worldwide by 2030. "There's a path in Australia's cyber security opportunity where the little guys aren't left out, but the advice to market - particularly to SMBs - needs to be polished.
The cradle of Scottish Christianity - from Whithorn to Wigtown
From the archaeological wonders of St. Ninian's priory to Scotland's book capital - a journey of exploration and education. Soft swirling mist obscured my view of the archaeological dig, as water droplets condensed on my spectacles. The archaeologists were gray figures shifting in and out of focus, as the vapor wove about them. They were like apparitions from the past, into which they were painstakingly delving, slowly exposing skeletons and artifacts with their brushes and trowels. Skeletons.
Hampden Risk Partners Implements Optalitix Quote Workbench
InsurTech Optalitix, the specialist data analytics solutions provider, today announces that Hampden Risk Partners (HRP), a prominent Lloyd’s syndicate primarily supported by Hampden Agencies (the largest provider of capital in the Lloyd’s market), is driving its future profitability and strategic growth with Optalitix Quote.
The Landlords of AI
The sudden emergence of large-scale commercial AI over the past year, especially new generative AI applications such as ChatGPT, has pushed a new set of technical requirements onto the data center facilities where these applications reside. The infrastructure that supports them will draw more power, chew through more data, and use more bandwidth than ever before, all within facilities that may have been built 20 years ago.
Tove Jansson - Reactor
"It is shocking to find how many people do not believe they can learn, and how many more believe learning to be difficult.”
Data center technology predictions
Predicting the future is hard. Predicting the future of technology is even harder. Technology – by design – evolves so rapidly, often in response to our ever-changing needs as a species. Take the global health pandemic, for example. Under normal circumstances, producing a vaccine can take anything from ten to 15 years. The development of the Covid-19 vaccine took under a year, highlighting the power of technology and innovation. 2022 was an interesting year for advancements in technology.
The cradle of Scottish Christianity - from Whithorn to Wigtown
From the archaeological wonders of St. Ninian's priory to Scotland's book capital - a journey of exploration and education. Soft swirling mist obscured my view of the archaeological dig, as water droplets condensed on my spectacles. The archaeologists were gray figures shifting in and out of focus, as the vapor wove about them. They were like apparitions from the past, into which they were painstakingly delving, slowly exposing skeletons and artifacts with their brushes and trowels. Skeletons.
Lord Nelson and The Battle of Trafalgar
On the 9th of Jan, 1806, Lord Nelson, naval commander, and hero of the Battle of Trafalgar was buried at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. Nelson's Column and Trafalgar Square are two of Britain’s most iconic landmarks. When remembering Lord Nelson, it is appropriate to acknowledge the crucial role he played in shaping Britain into what it is today.
Why is it acceptable to kill someone? On the mysterious history of Britain’s road death toll
A decade ago I became fascinated by a graph. This one: I had been tracking the underlining data for years. The figures were easy to remember. Every year it was 3,500, plus or minus a percentage point or two. Yet when the 2008 data was released, it had fallen to 2,538. This was 1,000 less than the figure in 2003. I plotted the above graph, and as I said, I became fascinated. Because this is a really important graph. This is a plot of the number of people killed on Britain’s roads each year.
Quiz: Where do London Underground names re-appear?
The Labour Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region writes. Underinvestment in the North’s transport infrastructure has acted as a brake on our economy and a drag on our living standards for too many years. As Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region I’ve been pushing central government for more investment in the rail network across the north, but also to devolve decision making around how we use that funding.
Is Hull really in Yorkshire? A brief history of the boundaries and identity of God’s Own Country
I’ve argued the case previously that Yorkshire will always be consumed by in-fighting, and that to be united it needs a common enemy. On this great day last year, CityMetric stress tested my theory, publishing, from the safe distance of London, its official ranking of the Great Cities of God’s Own Country. This improvised explosive device ripped through Twitter leaving chaos and mayhem in its wake, just at a time when a Chris Grayling had united us.
Football’s building homes: on an under-discussed source of brownfield land
The whole of England is convinced that Football’s Coming Home. We at CityMetric are more interested in the “home” bit than the football, of course – but don’t worry lads, I’ve found a link. For much of my teens and twenties I followed Hull City around the country. The football was miserable, but the trains, beer and friendships were great, and more than compensated for the inevitable defeat in Burnley or Brighton. The event that stopped me going was Hull City’s move to a shiny new stadium.
So why is Northern Rail in chaos? Here are 11 reasons
Two weeks ago, in the middle of the great CityMetric “Modelgate” scandal, I was contacted by a reader about another one of my articles. He was very impressed with what I’d written, and asked about my experience in West Yorkshire transport and whether I was an authority on the subject. I tried to let him down gently, replying that I was just a bloke who travels by train and thinks too much.
Here are seven new uses for Britain’s defunct pacer trains
Editor’s note: This article originally failed to note that all the pictures were of model trains, because the editor is an idiot. Anyway, we’ve now corrected it. Enjoy. Everybody hates a Pacer, the tiny 30-year old trains that swarm around the railways of the North and Wales – and these hated carriages are not long for this world.
Can you identify the UK transport network from a blank logo?
Gonna level with you here, I have mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand, I’m a huge fan of schadenfreude, so learning that it the government has messed up in a previously unsuspected way gives me this sort of warm glow inside. On the other hand, the way it’s been screwing up is probably making the country poorer, and exacerbating the north south divide. So, mixed reviews really. Here’s the story.
“So you’ve decided to collect maps”: A beginners guide to cartophilia
The fact that you are reading a City Metric article about map collecting suggests that there’s a high probability that you already are a collector of maps. Right now you may be thinking to yourself, “Not me”, but I have news for you: many a map collector finds it hard to admit, even to themselves, that they’re a cartophile*.
Leeds | CityMetric
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Here’s why Bradford is the key to fixing the West Yorkshire transport network
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the problem with the Leeds’ railway network: how it has only one station, a through station where 70 per cent of its trains terminate. By contrast, Leeds’ neighbour Bradford has two stations, both termini – yet one of them is served almost exclusively by through trains. Returning that station to its status as a terminus could enable a radical transformation of public transport in West Yorkshire.
In the North of England we don’t have to remember British Rail: we’re still stuck with all its old trains
The Prime Minster was asked about rail nationalisation by Andrew Marr. She rolled out the pathetic line, “I remember British Rail”, in a tone of voice that is the preserve of the smart aleck. Why is this argument pathetic? Because it implies that a 2017 nationalised railway would be exactly the same as BR 1992 – that there would have been no evolution, growth or change in those times. My response to Theresa May is that I don’t have to remember BR.
To make devolution work, what Yorkshire needs is a common enemy
About 30 years ago the comedian Nick Reville had a comedy routine about Yorkshire people. It went something like this. The locals were enjoying a pint down their pub in Castleford last Friday night. Everything is fine until a group of lads from the pub across the road walked in. The regulars didn’t like this, and after a few words a fight started. It was getting serious until the door opened. Everyone froze: another group had arrived. These blokes were from a pub on the next street.
Here’s how to fix the Leeds railway network
Leeds has a problem with public transport. The obvious issue is absence of a tramway: years of lobbying for trams has failed and Westminster has recently blocked a trolley bus scheme. But there is another pressing transport issue in Leeds: its railway station. Unlike most other large cities, Leeds only has the one station into which all its trains and passengers funnel every day. It’s desperate for more capacity to run more trains.
East of Leeds?
Newcastle trains once arrived from the west, now they come from the east. Is it?
Quiz: Can you match the English city to its historic county?
When my second child arrived, I didn’t have time to do much writing. What I did have time to do, though, is watch an awful lot of Thomas the Tank Engine with my eldest. Often early (very early) in the morning. It may just be sleep deprivation, or maybe something deeper, but the more I watch Thomas, the more questions are raised in my mind. There’s been plenty written on the politics of these stories.
Quiz: Can you identify the transport network from its destinations?
No matter what city in you’re in, in pretty much any part of the world, there will be a similar structure of how buildings are laid out; skyscrapers close together, residential homes in certain areas, factories outside the centre, and so on. These very basic, very obvious rules are followed in most major cities because they help a) create a coherent flow that is logically easy to follow and b) keep cities from looking like pieces of shit.
Rail Map Online is building a map of all Britain’s lost trams and it is wonderful
On 4 June, Rail Map Online tweeted about an update that I had been waiting for: Having already mapped every railway and wagon way in the UK they have now set about the task of adding all of the UKs tramway lines. This may not sound like the most exciting development, but that is probably because you are unaware of one key detail. Everywhere had trams once. And by everywhere, I don’t just mean cites like Manchester, Bradford and Hull, or towns such as Blackburn, Chesterfield and Worcester.
Rail Map Online is building a map of all Britain’s trams and it is wonderful
On 4 June, Rail Map Online tweeted about an update that I had been waiting for: Having already mapped every railway and wagon way in the UK they have now set about the task of adding all of the UKs tramway lines. This may not sound like the most exciting development, but that is probably because you are unaware of one key detail. Everywhere had trams once. And by everywhere, I don’t just mean cites like Manchester, Bradford and Hull, or towns such as Blackburn, Chesterfield and Worcester.
Quiz: Can you name the tube lines which serve each station?
I am a guilt-stricken carnivore. Even though I love eating meat, I have become increasingly uncomfortable with the ethics of killing animals for consumption and with the environmental impact of the meat industry. I also have mixed feelings about gentrification. I clearly see the benefits it can bring, but I am also aware it can adversely affect local communities and businesses. One thing I have not done until now is think of these two issues in conjunction.
Making Every Contact Count - Y&H Conference (with images, tweets) ¡ cmsharpy
Are you sure you want to change your username? Changing your username will break existing story embeds, meaning older stories embedded on other Web sites will no longer appearOf course not!Yes, change it!
Quiz: Can you identify the British motorway from the description?
The new metropolitan mayors who are being elected in the UK this week will wield significant power. But can they do any better than their colleagues in Westminster when it comes to tackling poverty? Housing is perhaps one area where the new mayors will be able to make their mark. Two years ago, researchers found that there was “little consideration of social or environmental policy” in the 38 city regional economic plans they reviewed.
Quiz: Can you name the UK city from a map of its public transport?
The Wombles may famously be ‘of’ Wimbledon Common, but each Womble is also connected to somewhere else in the world, by their names. Creator Elizabeth Beresford named almost all of the Wombles after places: hence Great Uncle Bulgaria, Orinoco (as in the river), Tobermory (as in the town in the Hebrides) and so forth.
Quiz: Can you name the tube station when the name has been removed?
For much of the last two and a bit years, I’ve been trawling the Centre for Cities database, looking for stories to tell about Britain’s cities. In that time I’ve learnt that the north-south divide is way worse than I thought. I’ve learnt that the rich south east is actually the rich south middle. And I’ve learned that, whatever way you cut it, Sheffield is stuffed. Throughout this experience, though, the name of one city kept popping up in strange places.
Quiz: Can you name the tube station when the name has been removed?
The Daily Mail calls it a “slime wave”. The Sun calls them “an army”. Either way, both papers have reported 500bn slugs are set to invade British gardens, after a mild winter created perfect breeding conditions. So is the UK really about to be overwhelmed by slimy slugs? The simple answer is no, but there could be something far worse in store. Headline numbers alone aren’t necessarily something to get in a lather over.
Seanan McGuire’s InCryptid Series Sweepstakes!
The sixth book in Seanan McGuire’s InCryptid series, Magic for Nothing, is available now from DAW—and to celebrate, we want to send you a signed set of all six books in the series! As the youngest of the three Price children, Antimony is used to people not expecting much from her. She’s been happy playing roller derby and hanging out with her cousins, leaving the globe-trotting to her older siblings while she stays at home and tries to decide what she wants to do with her life.
Supergirl Meets Alien Immigration Issues with Human Decency
Supergirl does not pretend that having a female president solves all of the world’s problems. In this week’s episode, “Exodus,” regardless of their morality, female superheroes and villains are still branded with the moniker of “nasty woman” by their detractors, and a member of the 1% decides to round up and forcibly deport National City’s alien immigrant population in order to make a “better world” for her children and other people who look like them.
Asgardpunk: New Life to the Mythopoetic Struggle of “Monsters”
Mythology, like history, is created by the conquerors. Old oral traditions are translated by outsiders, distilled through the lens of usurpers and tourists, whose own beliefs often supplant or consume those of the original telling. The creation stories of predominantly Western European traditions—Greek, Norse, Irish, Basque, Bulgarian—but also Hindi, Native American, and elsewhere, all tell that the gods warred against the giants before the coming of humanity.
Chalk | Tor.com
Andrew Waggoner has always hung around with his fellow losers at school, desperately hoping each day that the school bullies—led by Drake—will pass him by in search of other prey. But one day they force him into the woods, and the bullying escalates into something more; something unforgivable; something unthinkable. Broken, both physically and emotionally, something dies in Waggoner, and something else is born in its place.
Mad Max: Fury Road Would Have Been a Silent Masterpiece
Mash-up wizard Peter Stults has done it again! Bask in the rad-ness of this silent film-era poster for Mad Max: Fury Road. We love Buster Keaton as Max (doing all of his own stunts, obviously), Passion of Joan of Arc‘s Falconetti as Furiosa, and Doctor Mabuse himself, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, as Immortan Joe. Plus we assume that Lon Chaney is using one of his Thousand Faces to become Nux? The only thing missing will be the Doof Warrior, since, well, silent film.
Holy Rewatch Batman! “Louie’s Lethal Lilac Time”
The Bat-signal: Dick is holding a party for his friends at Bruce’s beach house in Ambergris Bay. Bruce has asked Barbara to chaperone with him. Dick and his friends find a huge chunk of ambergris, but before they can go try to find more, Louie the Lilac and two of his thugs show up to take the ambergris—and also to kidnap Bruce and Dick.
Wonder Woman Soars In Her Invisible Jet
Balloon artists work in a fragile medium, and yet, in this case, create such strength. Behold the world of Chicago-based balloon artist Smarty Pants, who has created an Invisible Jet worthy of this mighty Wonder Woman. [via Laughing Squid!]
V.E. Schwab’s A Darker Shade of Magic Is Changing Direction, Now Headed to the Big Screen!
Last February we reported that V.E. Schwab’s alternate-universe fantasy novel A Darker Shade of Magic was coming to television courtesy of Gerard Butler’s production company G-BASE. Well today we’re excited to update that information: A Darker Shade of Magic will now be a film! According to The Hollywood Reporter, Butler will produce along with Alan Siegel, Danielle Robinson, and Neal Moritz. While Schwab is no longer writing the script, she will be producing as well.
Cold Counsel | Tor.com
Slud of the Blood Claw Clan, Bringer of Troubles, was born at the heart of the worst storm the mountain had ever seen. Slud’s father, chief of the clan, was changed by his son’s presence. For the first time since the age of the giants, he rallied the remaining trolls under one banner and marched to war taking back the mountain from the goblin clans. However, the long-lived elves remembered the brutal wars of the last age, and did not welcome the return of these lesser-giants to martial power.
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