I for one welcome… etc.

The latest public project from Schulze and Webb, beloved of this parish for basically being much cleverer than me, is site that tracks the word-of-mouth buzz around BBC TV and Radio programs. Yes, it skews populist, for obvious reasons, but I can think of ways round that, and in an iteration or two, might be a really good way of tracking good telly that one would otherwise miss.

Bit of a note to self – with the loss of my laptop, I am kind of aware that had I gotten around to putting proper encryption on the thing, I would not have had to bother with the hassle of changing every single bloody password I use. If you use a laptop, or notebook PC, and don't encrypt the entire HD, then you're running the same risk as I did. (Hell, it's true of desktops, too, but they're not begging to be lost of stolen on a daily basis.) You can find software that will do this for you linked from the link above, whatever OS you use.

"The rise of psychogeography was in some ways an impulse to rediscover those old natural paths that I and others like me had trodden through the ruins, to find ways of rediscovering serious memory, something which Peter Ackroyd (with Chatterton), Alan Moore (From Hell) and Will Self (The Book of Dave) were searching out among the virtual ruins of a London that was becoming a shadow played out on the newly tarted-up walls of Notting Hill and Shadwell.

As well as the friends and relatives who have also become memories, we are equally dependent on the geography of our cities for the myths and rituals by which we live. Without conscious ritual, all we have left are buried tram tracks, some vague ideas of what still lies under the steel-and-concrete cladding and a few bits of film footage."

"I can tell you which Suede record accompanied my GCSEs and A-Levels; today's teenagers would tell you which band."

Never mind kicking myself – I am scourging myself with rusty barbed wire, and rubbing salt in the wounds for missing this. Couple of key quotes from this write up: "Is the current be-scaffolded state of London perpetual remythologising?" Iain Sinclair says “Before we can move forward, we have to absorb everything that has come before, and rip it off.”

Dammit, why was I not told about this? Next year, gadget, next year!

It *almost* makes me want to got there next year, and take a camera. Obviously, I'm not mad, and won't be going, but there are some absolutely gorgeous shots in here.

Shit, I may have to go and see this movie, if only to determine if this review is the touch of genius I suspect it is.

Not a topic I have a hugely vested interest in, being unlikely to marry or spawn, but it's a handy reminder of how Tory social policy is 100% arse backwards. "We must fix our ailing society, by doing things that any idiot can see will only make it worse". Genuine question: in what situation is be conservative (the ideology, not the party) social policy a good idea? Society moves forward – why is attempting to hold it back good or useful?

On the one hand, my heart goes out to her and her family. On the other hand her condition could radically transform our understanding of the ageing process, which could be a game-changer….

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you a horrifyingly accurate psychological portrait of Kieron Gillen, acclaimed author of Phonogram and Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter. Warning: not suitable for children, those of a nervous disposition, or really, anyone.

Not intrinsically riveting, but it's one of those product design ideas that you see and think "how has no-one come up with that before", that reminds us that even they every day things we take for granted were designed by someone, and I like that sort of thing. I hope the inventor becomes very rich.

It's an idea I have a certain in built resistance to – I'm against anything that might make internet access more expensive (not for selfish reasons, but because I genuinely think that it's the great enabling technology of our time, and everyone should have access to it, and basically that avoiding a digital divide is going to be vital to a fair future), but I can't deny that I also think we need to ensure that our creative/broadcast industries are well supported.

Something of a companion to that Thea Gilmore link from the other day – another approach to stepping around labels and the traditional economics of the music industry. Does require a slightly rabid fanbase and a willingness to be very public and interactive, so it's not exactly going to help bands that are just starting out, but still…

It's an exaggeration to say that this single comic is responsible for DC Vertigo, and the entire notion of doing comics for grown ups. But it definitely helped a very great deal. It's a masterclass both in horror storytelling, and in taking an old concept and rebooting it in a completely new light, and is basically bloody superb. If for some reason you haven't read it before you can now do so for free online. Go. Read.

Steve Bissette offers a behind the scenes look at the creation of the first issue of Alan Moore's industry-changing run on Swamp Thing, only recently reprinted for the first time.

I am very very occasionally asked why I'm not on The V (an old internet hangout) these days. I can't imagine my presence is terribly missed, but Dave has thrown up a summary of the board that he found somewhere (either on the board itself, or on some kind of nerd forum review site, I guess) that has rather set me to thinking about on-line communities, why I basically don't participate in them any more despite having spent a significant chunk of my 20s in one forum or another, and what I think they lack, and it's a topic I wouldn't mind writing something longer about in the near future, so I'm just bookmarking the summary as a useful starting point.

Thea Gilmore's new idea for a music business model. I'll be interested to see if it takes off. And if I have the spare cash, I might well sign up.

In short: the hippies and perverts are taking over. (Well done, the hippies and perverts.) Although I am rather laughing at the woman who "works with the Morrigan" and doesn't "target people in [her] spells". Is she talking about the same Morrigan that I'm thinking of – goddess of War or at least of generally being In Fucking Charge? Surely they'd be kind of all about targeting people. I'd hate to be the one trying to hold *that* back. Still, I suppose it's further proof that whatever their denomination, British people prefer their religion to be about tea and scones and jam than whatever their actual gods might have had to say on the matter.

I'm just, y'know, saying.