Russell Davies thinks we’re missing out when our browsers hide URLs from us: [For a while…] domain names and URLs became part of the fun of the web. While the more commercial parts of town got excited about the money changing hands for cars.com, the bohemian quarters were creating baroque constructions like del.icio.us or mucking… Continue reading Beneath the Shorteners!
Yearning for Shoggoths
In the wake of Guillermo del Toro’s big night at the Oscars, here’s hoping someone will finally give him the money to show us his take on an Old One: [From a New Yorker profile written when he was between films, having left the ill-fated effort to film The Hobbit and not yet turned his… Continue reading Yearning for Shoggoths
In search of warriors
Kim Frank went In Search of Warriors: A story told by my grandfather sparked a fascination. Far to the east lies a land, wild and vast, inhabited by the legendary warriors who rescued my grandfather. Mongolia. For fifteen years, I’ve returned to this country, seeking to understand the raw beauty and tenacity that shapes those… Continue reading In search of warriors
Climbing Mount Tsundoku
Over at Tor’s web site, James Nicoll found a sympathetic audience for his thoughts On Acquiring More Books Than It’s Possible to Read: Every new book on the wall, each epub tucked away in my Kobo gives me a delicious tingle of anticipation. Sure, the math says I probably won’t get around to reading any… Continue reading Climbing Mount Tsundoku
Smart City, Surveilled City
Geoff Manaugh ponders the extent to which a Smart City is a Surveillance City: The smart city is more than just a city that watches and listens. City dwellers are constantly generating data about themselves, down to the vibrations of their footsteps. Consider a project called Big Glass Microphone by the California-based design consultancy Stamen.… Continue reading Smart City, Surveilled City
Not theirs, ours
Jeremy Keith is getting nervous about just how and why Google and Firefox are planning to nudge web users into improving the web their way: One of my greatest fears for the web is that building it becomes the domain of a professional priesthood. Anything that raises the bar to writing some HTML or CSS… Continue reading Not theirs, ours
Parallel lives
Veteran tech journalist Charles Arthur has found himself forced to try surviving with just an iPad to get through his daily workload: A couple of weeks ago, I opened my Macbook Pro as usual. The keyboard lit up, as usual. I waited – there’s that pause while the display gathers itself (it’s a 2012 model)… Continue reading Parallel lives
Listen carefully
Skating on black ice sounds amazing – seriously, be sure to listen to that video with headphones turned up to the maximum. I’m sure eventually you get used to the constant audible reminders that the very act of skating across such thin ice is increasing the prospects that the person who follows you will hear… Continue reading Listen carefully
While I was away…
A quick round-up of things I’d have posted about while I was unable to post anything here: Pioneering blogger and techie and general all-round good guy Dean Allen passed away. I didn’t know him personally, but to some degree I, like many others reading his posts at Textism over the years over the years, got… Continue reading While I was away…
I’m back (again! )
So, here we are again. Another change in Content Management System, another switch in the address of my site and RSS feed. Anyone would think I didn’t want anyone to have people keep track of my content. This time I’ve been offline since my venerable Mac Mini started exhibiting signs of an impending hard disk… Continue reading I’m back (again! )