- Mike Heffernan – Ghosts of the London Underground – Unexplained Mysteries
Mostly bookmarking this for myself, although I imagine a few people here might be mildly diverted by it.
Tag: research
Bookmarks for May 10, 2010
- The Non Autumn/Winter 2010 ‘The Golden Dawn’
Some of the most interesting bits of clothing design I've seen in ages. Absolutely brilliant costume inspiration. (I'd like to link the the label's own website, but it's the most user-unfriendly bit of flash crap I've seen in ages, so look at this article instead.)
- National Journal Magazine – Do 'Family Values' Weaken Families?
I want to come back to this one, because it's germane to something I've been thinking a lot about recently.
- BBC iPlayer – The Genius of Design: Ghosts in the Machine
Mostly just bookmarking this as one to watch at some point this week, but I imagine there are a few other people reading this who might enjoy it.
Bookmarks for March 30, 2010
- Downton, Wiltshire – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Reasonable community model for an idea I've had.
- Michael Buble Being Stalked By A Velociraptor
I'm not entirely sure who this Michael Buble character is – I think he's some kind of pop star of the sort I probably won't enjoy very much – but he has sailed so completely under my radar that I suspect I am even more out of touch then previously thought. However, here he is being staked a velociraptor. Velociraptors make everything better.
Bookmarks for January 12, 2010
- Conversations About The Internet #5: Anonymous Facebook Employee – The Rumpus.net
Yeah. And *this* is exactly why I stopped giving them any more data. Creepy as fuck.
- Derailing for Dummies
Ever done any of these things in an internet argument? Yeah, well, me too. Let's just put it behind us, and try and be better people from now on, eh?
- Sex objects: Pictures shift men's view of women | Science | guardian.co.uk
Apparently looking at lots of porn really *isn't* healthy for human relationships. Who knew?
Bookmarks for October 13, 2009
- Stefan Sagmeister: The power of time off | Video on TED.com
Once every seven yeats, Sagmeister closes his studio completely for one year. Here, he gives a talk at TED on what he gets from that year, and it's a fascinating and compelling idea. I wonder if I could arrange to take a sabbatical somehow – I've been at this for ten years, and I know my general level of enthusiasm for hacking about with the next is not what it was…
- Charlie's Diary: Why I hate Star Trek
"I can just about forgive the tendency of these programs to hit the reset switch at the end of every episode, returning the universe to pristine un-played-with shape in time for the next dramatic interlude; even though it's the opposite of real SF (a disruptive literature that focusses intently on revolutionary change), I recognize the limits of the TV series as a medium."
Mr Stross hits the nail on the head of why I don't get on with televised SF – I'm less willing to forgive the reset switch for exactly that reason. - The ghost in the field – Blog – BERG
Ever wondered what your oystercard really looks like? The Ghost In The Field shows us the hidden signals underneath fabric of our cities – the invisible maps of data and super-frequency chattering that increasingly underpin our daily lives. What is your data ghost like?
- Derek Powazek – Spammers, Evildoers, and Opportunists
"Make something great. Tell people about it. Do it again." This is not just a rule for getting web traffic, it is the single simplest rule for a happy life.
Bookmarks for September 28, 2009
- Mitch Horowitz: What is the occult? – Boing Boing
Interesting definition supplied. I like the term "occult" because it's admirably woobly-woo resistant, when correctly understood (something far too many "practicioners" fail to do). As I'm sure most of you know, it means "hidden". And what is hidden may be revealed with science when we work it out. It's a lot better than "supernatural", which is a term I don't like – there is no supernatural, merely the natural that science has not fully explained yet.
- Chord by Conrad Shawcross
Must remember to book tickets to see this.
- re:vision recycled camera lens bracelets – Oye Modern. Unique, funky, limited edition jewellery.
Beautiful, and I kinda want one, but much, much too pricey to be worth it.
- MediaPost Publications Judge Orders Google To Deactivate User's Gmail Account
This sort of combination of abuse of power and utter moronic stupidity by the courts and major institutions makes me incandescent. There are far worse things that happen in the world every day, and I know it, but this sort of thing is a particular hot-button for me, because it's so self-evidently unjust and unreasonable that I cannot fathom how any sane person could conceive of it as a decent or sensible thing to do.
- Dyatlov Pass incident – Wikipedia
Well, this is crying out to be recycled into some nasty bit of horror/mystery fiction or something.
Bookmarks for May 27, 2009
- Slavic mythology – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I know only a little about Slavic myth, chiefly just the bits where it brushes up against other mythologies I know better, or what I've got from various bits of fiction, and I think it may be useful to rectify that.
- BLDGBLOG: Thrilling Wonder Stories
Were I not required to be in the office on Friday, I would be here. If you are in London, and do no have anything pressing to do between 11am and 5pm on Friday, I strongly suggest you go. And take notes. Lots of notes. And then give them to me.
Bookmarks for April 22, 2009
- iptps-fethr-talk.pdf (application/pdf Object)
Proposal for an open, distributed set of protocols to run a (better) version of Twitter, and a compelling argument for why they should be adopted.
- Andart: A *really* green and sustainable humanity
Some thoughts on the energy economics of postbiological humanity.
Bookmarks for April 9, 2009
- David MacKay: Sustainable Energy – without the hot air: Download
I want to sit down and read this properly when I get time – an actual accessible book on the maths of energy consumption vs. possible energy production, as opposed the usual waffle.
- Coilhouse » Blog Archive » Latex/Guns/Gnosis: The Matrix Turns 10
A short retrospective of the first Matrix film, as it turns 10. a) it is horrifying to me that that movie is ten, because it means I am very old, and b) I particularly love the title of this article. It occurs to me that I have never satisfyingly run a game with all three of those elements, and I really must get around to having a go at that.
- Cory Doctorow: Getting tough on copyright enforcers | Culture | guardian.co.uk
I think this is a fair trade. I will accept a three strikes copyright warning system only if all copyright enforcers are held to the same standard: three wrong accusations, and they're out, too. Want to bet me that they'd all be gone before the rest of us would?
- Focal point (game theory) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Must remember this on in future – the basis by which two parties that are unable to communicate will still be able to select the same focal point in a game/challenge.
- re: diverselessness (tecznotes)
A companion to the other piece on monoculturalism, this dealing with internet communities and the origins of elites, and the social effects of these technologies, and some opinions on where these phenomena are likely to lead to.
- Whimsley: Online Monoculture and the End of the Niche
Why recommendation engines are creating even more of a mononculture than we had beore, even though everyone feels like they're finding more niche stuff.
- BLDGBLOG: Postopolis!
I have significantly less than fuck all architectural training, but it hasn't escaped my notice over the last few years that many of the most interesting creative types I know do have some history with the discipline, and I've increasingly found my own interests tending that way – not literally in the designing buildings sense, but in the sense of being aware of people's relationship with the space around them, and how to optimise that space to get the best out of life.
Postopolis therefore sounds like it would have been a fascinating event to be at, even if 90% would have gone sailing over my head. Any chance of holding the next one in London? It's at least as interesting as LA… - cityofsound: Postopolis LA
Dan Hill was at Postopolis and has written an excellent series of posts on it, and on LA in general. Thoroughly recommended reading.
Bookmarks for April 3, 2009
- John Thackara – Designing for Business as Unusual – Core77
He starts out spelling how we're fucked on an economic and environmental level. And then he gets in to what we're doing about it. Some of this shit is fascinating – a set of tools for a completely new system of economics.
- 19.20.21.
By the end of the 21st century, there are predicted to be 19 cities with a population of over 20 million. London is one of them, currently has a population of around 7-8 million, and large parts of it's infrastructure are creaking at the seams. We urgently need more thinking on how we will cope with the supercities of the near future, and I'll watch this project with interest.