Archives for October 2002

On the usurpation of a screening of Donnie Darko... (October 30, 2002) I can't even count the amount of times recently that I've written about the movie Donnie Darko. I'm obsessed by it, it's clear. But now you have the chance to get obsessed with it too, and I'm going to help...

Oh for god's sake... (October 28, 2002) With regard to the people who are slamming my comments on 'the power of the incoming link' [1 & 2] - could I just clarify that I was not talking about Stephen Den Beste... The theory - that the non-specific...

London poster inspires a total lack of confidence in the world... (October 28, 2002) I've had issues with the levels of surveillance that are appearing in the UK for quite a while now. When I lived in Hampstead I remember remarking that there was no point between my front door and my desk at...

Regarding the responsibility of linkage... (October 28, 2002) An excerpt from an e-mail I sent yesterday - partially adapted for publishing on plasticbag.org- explaining why I think we need a campaigning or protest tool in excess of the simple publishing of opinions - perhaps along the lines of...

How to fill a 5Gb iPod... (October 27, 2002) So here's what the thing would be if I were really bored and absurdly anal on a Sunday early-evening... As an iPod early-adopter, I may be the last person left in the Western hemisphere with a mere 5Gb to fill....

On the responsibility of linkage... (October 27, 2002) Ok. Right. This is where things start to get interesting. Firstly, a metaphor. Imagine if you will a solar system - let's make it a binary system with planets that fly around it. Watch the suns move around one another....

On the insecurity of Blogger... (October 25, 2002) First things first - here's a quick (rough) timeline of what happened from my perspective: 3.30pm Phil Gyford notices that something has gone wrong with the listing of plasticbag.org posts on Haddock blogs. My assumption? Something has gone wrong with...

A summary of Doonesbury Day Five: Weblog Gibberish (and links to the episodes you might have missed)... (October 25, 2002) October 26 I've had it with Linux! Regime Change has failed! Let's think inside the box, people! It's time to put the pedal to the paradigm! Join a sleeper cell, then quit and turn everyone in! Got war? Is our...

Looking for people to try out new community project... (October 25, 2002) I'm looking for people to try out a new community project that I've been developing at work. It's a completely new way of organising message-boards and I think potentially it's quite exciting. If you wish to participate or are interested,...

On the horror of warblogging... (October 24, 2002) This is a difficult post to write. It's difficult because I've avoided writing it for far too long. It's difficult because it forces me to face some things that I've tried to pretend weren't happening. And it's difficult because it...

Remember.... You're a FAG... (October 24, 2002) I probably shouldn't be posting this, but Davo sent it to me when I was at work, and I nearly spat my drink across three quarters of the office. God only knows the intention of the person who created it....

On participation in online communities... (October 24, 2002) So I was reading a post at Meg's site called You - yes you - at the back: you may not talk in class. Best post title ever. Anyway... That's not the point. I had a comment to make about...

A screen-cap from earlier today... (October 23, 2002) Taken by young Jamie Cronin, this screen-cap from earlier today will forever preserve the day when the train from London-South Wales was delayed by a large inflatable hamburger on the line......

Who's afraid of community participation? (October 23, 2002) The most interesting aspect about discussing "UK weblogging culture" is how uncomfortable people seem to be with the concept of being part of a "community" at all. Perhaps more fascinating still are the assumptions of what participating in a community involves...

A piece of writing from a book about Baudrillard pertaining specifically to Nietszche and history... (October 23, 2002) I've been re-reading a little book on Baudrillard because it's the only thing that fits in the pocket of my brand new coat (excessive money spent - we'll say no more about this). In it I've stumbled upon a section...

Doonesbury Day Two... (October 22, 2002) This is going to get old quite quickly I think. Not the cartoons themselves, but the fact that I'm planning to link to the new one each day for as long as they're about weblogs and weblogging: Doonesbury Oct 22...

Doonesbury! Weblogs in Doonesbury! Dude, we're establishment already... (October 21, 2002) So what does it mean when weblogs get into Doonesbury? Are we still radical (if we ever were)? Are we established now? Must the world bow down and worship those (me) who have been weblogging for a very very long...

In praise of skies... (October 20, 2002) You don't get to see a lot of sky when you live in a city like London. For the vast proportion of the time the sky is an adjunct to your life. It's outside your frame of reference. It's barely...

Cut-up musical culture... (October 18, 2002) Every medium for transmitting music brings with it new practices for listening to it - and these in turn filter back into the way we interact with it, categorise it, manipulate it. The earliest ways of transmitting music were memory...

Buffy Online Gaming: Some Assembly Required? (October 18, 2002) Yesterday I was talking about a Buffy-universe immersive online game - whether it could hope to make any money and whether or not it could hope to be successful or interesting. Since then, the debate's really taken hold - particularly...

Websites on Buffy... (October 17, 2002) A couple of days ago I posted about Willow mentioning Google on Buffy, and how cool that was. Exact exchange was, I believe, "Have you tried googling her?", followed by Xander's shocked, "Willow, she's only seventeen!" Ahem. Maybe you had...

High Court Hang-Ups (October 17, 2002) High court hang-ups: Counsel: Now, Mr Chrysler – for let us assume that that is your name – you are accused of purloining in excess of 40,000 hotel coat hangers. Chrysler: I am. Counsel: Can you explain how this came...

Badman productions (don't say I don't do anything for you, Seany...) (October 16, 2002) One of my esteemed occasional-hosts in Los Angeles, Sean Nadeau, has finally assembled a site for all the astonishing flash animations he's done for all kinds of weird people, including The Flaming Lips. Best thing he's ever done? Tom does...

In which Willow mentions "Google"... (October 16, 2002) So it's official. In the episode of Buffy broadcast in the States this evening, Willow will mention the practice of "Googling" for a name. And it will be funny. And lo, Google will be iconic....

On the Wired.com redesign... (October 15, 2002) Today, under the direction of Phil Gyford, I stumbled upon a fascinating interview with the man behind the redesign of Wired.com - a design that I am gradually warming to. There are parts of the design that annoy me profoundly...

Anyone need to practice their Italian? (October 14, 2002) There's an interesting weblogs-related article up at 24ore.com. Except it's in Italian: È un contagio da Blogs. Oh and except I only think it's interesting because when I ran it through babelfish it came up with loads of incomprehensible stuff...

Chicken with its head cut off... (October 14, 2002) So why the paucity of updates? Why the off-the-cuff, commentary-free nuggets that I've been feeding you lately? There's a couple of reasons, none of them serious. Firstly, the community project I've been working on at work went into its first...

Riding along with the Internet Bookmobile... (October 14, 2002) Riding along with the Internet Bookmobile: Michael Hart is one of those people who straddle the line between visionary genius and obsessive nutcase. "You know that episode of "Star Trek," when they look in the computer to find some 20th...

You tell me you've got everything you want, and Marianne Faithful can sing? (October 12, 2002) According to a TV show I've just been watching, the Beatles' song "And Your Bird Can Sing" was a dig at Mick Jagger's relationship with Marianne Faithful. If it's true, it's too wonderful for words - and has completely reinvigorated...

I've said it before, and I'll say it again... (October 12, 2002) I've said it before, and I'll say it again... If you're cold and you are shamed, lying naked on the floor, then bloody get up and put some clothes on. I have a sneaking feeling that might help things a...

Kitten Rock-Star Transpectacular... (October 12, 2002) Pub-rock kittens sing Independent Woman - another meisterwerk by Joel Veitch. The kittens have previously performed such epics as Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song, Fell in Love With a Girl by the White Stripes and John B's We Like the Music....

Wired.com redesigns... (October 11, 2002) For the last two or three years, I've had Wired.com as my default homepage. I find that I glance through the main articles every time I open a browser window, and that this keeps me essentially up to date with...

In praise of the sub-optimal solution... (October 8, 2002) Here's an interesting trend - an increased incidence of people praising the ill-designed. Firstly let's start with a post at new favourite weblog diveintomark.org. In a long post about RSS called In praise of evolvable formats, he states: "RSS 0.9x...

Homicide and Suicide statistics across the world... (October 8, 2002) A few days ago I was startled by this chart of homocide and suicide statistics across the world. It's a surprisingly difficult chart to interpret - the disparities between regions are extraordinarily large and only really lend themselves to suggestions...

Darkorama... (October 7, 2002) I had lunch with Cal, which isn't unusual. I'm always having lunch with Cal. Like almost every day. Today - on the way back to the office - we saw poster after poster for filmic obsession Donnie Darko - flyposters,...

Labor redux... (October 7, 2002) And four days after I e-mailed pretty much everyone at Salon about the appalling lack of journalistic skill evident in the repeated mis-spelling of "Labour" (the political party, not the noun) in their transcript of Bill Clinton's speech in Blackpool,...

Worst (and best) performing MPs... (October 7, 2002) Wouldn't it be interesting to know precisely which Members of Parliament didn't bother to respond to their constituents? Like - say you ran a service that helped people fax their MP, and you added a feature that let people say...

Being a statement of design irritation with train tickets... (October 7, 2002) Over the weekend I went to visit my younger brother, Peter, in Oundle where he goes to a boarding school. My parents came as well - they picked me up from Peterborough train station and we all went out for...

Empire reviews "Donnie Darko" (October 7, 2002) Empire reviews Donnie Darko: "On a shadowy, non-existent street in Weirdsville, USA, first-time writer-director Richard Kelly lives next door to David Lynch and Greg Araki. In order to keep up with the neighbours, he has crafted his own magnificently bizarre...

Fame Academy comes to TV... (October 4, 2002) The TV show's up before the site is, although it seems the site is appearing before my eyes. I've only watched about half an hour of it - I mean, proper television came on and I had to turn over....

Bill Clinton, Salon and the "Labor" party of the United Kingdom... (October 4, 2002) Is it insulting? Probably not. Is it frustrating? Very definitely. Bill Clinton has given a speech to the Labour party conference in Blackpool - and it's a good speech. A bloody good speech. So good, in fact, that it's been...

Not the World's Funniest Joke... (October 4, 2002) Not the World's Funniest Joke: An Alsatian went to a telegram office, took out a blank form and wrote: "Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof." The clerk examined the paper and politely told the dog: "There are...

Functioning Quantum Cryptography "within seven years"... (October 4, 2002) I've been fascinated with cryptography since I first used PGP - and more fascinated still since Cryptonomicon explained to me how cryptography worked. I've never read a book that gave me more information on contemporary cryptographical techniques - which is...

Clay Shirky on being paid for weblogging... (October 3, 2002) Clay Shirky on Weblogs and the Mass Amateurization of Publishing: "This destruction of value is what makes weblogs so important. We want a world where global publishing is effortless. We want a world where you don't have to ask for...

The future is kottkesque... (October 3, 2002) When plasticbag.org went kottkesque (which I somehow insist on pronouncing kot-key-esk rather than the more plausible kot-kesk) I was concerned that I'd be taken apart for being unoriginal, or for even stealing his design. But at the same time I...

MIT OpenCourseWare Launches... (October 3, 2002) I've been exploring MIT's OpenCourseWare site - a collection of full lecture notes, exams and assignments which allow you to be trained in a number of MIT undergraduate courses. At the moment, two courses particularly interest me - Problems of...

The Return of Donnie Darko... (October 2, 2002) Almost a year ago I went to see Donnie Darko at the London Film Festival. I wasn't expecting a lot before I went in, but I adored it. I eagerly waited for its arrival at the cinema, but it never...

It's worse than we thought... (October 2, 2002) Received via e-mail this morning along with the caption, "It's worse than we thought". I've got no ideas about it's origins, but it's pretty entertaining......

Yesterday's paranoid episode went something like this... (October 2, 2002) Without a DVD player, I've been reduced to watching episode after episode of Buffy on video. So I'm in my flat with the lights off and all the windows closed when I hear a noise outside. And yet again, I'm...

Tom's journey to work (through the medium of cams)... (October 2, 2002) Well I'm planning to work from home this morning, and make a stab at getting into town around lunchtime. But if you want to experience the full London going-to-work experience, then why not follow my bus route with me through...

On the tube strike in London... (October 2, 2002) So today is the second tube strike in London in a week. As of 8.30pm last night, the Tubes shut down, and they won't reopen until tomorrow morning. This leaves cars, cabs and buses as the only options for getting...

Wide awake, 4am... (October 1, 2002) You think you're fine with everything until you wake up at 4am convinced there's someone in your flat again. Last night I went to bed at a reasonable hour with all the windows in the house closed and locked. All...