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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….
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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.
Links For Wednesday 24th June 2009
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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.
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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.
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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…
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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.
Links For Tuesday 23rd June 2009
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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.
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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.
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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.
Links For Monday 22nd June 2009
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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.
Links For Sunday 21st June 2009
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I'm just, y'know, saying.
Brigstocke On Religion
I was astonished to discover that there are people in the world who haven’t heard this, and very specifically that one of them is tyrell, who, I suspect will be cheering along with this. So I am posting it, just in case anyone else hasn’t heard it, because as far as I’m concerned, this should be played in every school in the country as part of a balanced RE syllabus.
Decadence
To say I have mixed feelings about this shot is understating it. It’s one of a *very* few shots I like from Last Days of Decadence the other week – I’ll be putting the others up on flickr at some point in the next week, and might put one or two more up on here, but honestly, I really don’t like much from that shoot.
The other reason I have mixed feelings is the technique I’ve used here. I have been known to get a bit strident about this “only one detail in colour” approach. I think it’s generally a crutch use to balance inadequacy in other parts of the photo. And yes, that’s exactly what it is here. This shot more or less works without the effect – the eye is drawn to the same place, it’s just that having stark greeny-blue light throughout leaves the shot a bit garish. (Which is my problem with the whole shoot, and why I like so few of the shots I’ve got.)
Anyway, I’m rambling. Look at the man and his pretty green drink, won’t you?
links for 2009-06-12
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I saw this linked, and assumed it was an Onion headline, but it's not. This is a real thing. Fucking hell. I don't know whether to be impressed or saddened.
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People occasionally ask me why I'm quite militant about only every using my real name on-line, owning several domain names of my name, and generally doing my best to get my name, or a basic variant on it as a username whenever possible, and it's this: I do not want Facebook, or any similar service to be the primary marker of my identity when people look me up on line. I wish to have control over my on-line identity and how people encounter it, not give it up to a third party, and the best way to do that is to be open and clear about who I am everywhere. So I have slightly mixed feelings about this facebook URLs business – on the one hand, I'm going to have to try and get my name on there, but on the other, I'd really rather not improve the chances of my profile there beating out something that I actually control as the marker of my digital identity.
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One of London's very finest unsigned bands have just released this first mini album full of absolutely superb tribal pop that is a perfect soundtrack to summer. It'll cost you all of a fiver, and at that price, you cannot afford not to own it.
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Exactly was it says on the tin. Except better than you're thinking it is. Seriously, it's ace, go look.
Links For Thursday 11th June 2009
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I had the same text as part of my course back in 1995 (I think everyone did), and am quite taken with some Matt's ideas here, in particular, the term "Thingfrastructure".
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I'm not sold on the cutsey look, or the metaphors they've chosen, but still: this is the future of business cards right here. I look forward to being able to get a grown-up variant on this.
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This is the best insight into the nature of gaming I have seen in ages. Whether you're a PC gamer, tabletop gamer or LARPer, I cannot recommend reading this highly enough. If you run RPGs, and are not devoting a significant chunk of your time to ensuring that a variation on this is the experience your players get, then you are doing it wrong.
No Need To Thank Me
And many more works of the Special Unicorn Tattoo Magic (including an old favourite) available here.