- » Saga of the Swamp Thing #20
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.
- The V: A summary
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.
- Angels in the Abattoir
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.
Tag: socialsoftware
Bookmarks for April 29, 2009
- Kickstarter » Projects
A commercial scale ransomware/fundraising site that'll work for any creative endeavour. Now to think of something people will want to give me money for…
- Daily Scans – Alan Moore's Glory proposal
Hadn't seen this before, and I can see approaches in this that clearly got recycled into Promethea, and Tom Strong and the other ABC stuff, which makes it all rather more interesting than just a document about an old Supreme character.
- Noisy Decent Graphics: "Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end."
God, I hate it when I discover that Margaret Thatcher said something I agree with.
- Noisy Decent Graphics: 7 ways to be a Graphic Design student online
Never mind "Graphic Design Student" – 7 ways to be a thinking human being. If you're not using a decent number of these services, well, OK, it hardly makes you a bad person, but still: most of these are basic tools for information management and digital note taking, and if you like to think of yourself as engaged with the world, and aren't using them, then you're probably doing something wrong. (Saying that: I keep trying to get some cognitive traction with tumblr, and have never really managed it. Might take another go soon. And it did take me rather longer than many of my friends to get twitter.)
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 March 3, 2009
- apophenia: when research is de-contextualized
Some interesting comments about recent portrayals of social media in the press and parliament. Particularly interested in the commentary re: Dunbar's number, the Economist article I linked to the other day.
- Skittles.com: Package the rainbow. Taste the Rainbow.
i *know* I saw an agency take *exactly* this approach to their site about 18 months ago – just having a nav overlay that simply linked through to relevant social-media contact. I just can't remember who. Bet you it's not the people who built the skittles site, though. Sincerest form of flattery, I guess.
Bookmarks for February 18, 2009
- Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity | Video on TED.com
Interesting talk on models for a relationship with creativity. It's a bit hippy dippy in places, but then, her big book is called "Eat, Pray, Love" so what d'you expect? Still, it's worth thinking about for a few interesting lines of argument.
- Exporting the past into the future, or, “The Possibility Jelly lives on the hypersurface of the present” « Magical Nihilism
Matt Jones takes a look at some of the issues surrounding running geolocation based services, and the opportunities they offer us for the future. Particularly pertinent: "location is a matter of routine. We're in work, college, at home, at our corner shop, at our favourite pub. These patterns are worn into our personal maps of the city, and usually it's the exceptions to it that we record, or share – a special excursion, or perhaps a unexpected diversion – pleasant or otherwise that we want to broadcast for companionship, or assistance."
Bookmarks for January 23, 2009
- heyblog: LazyWeb URL Print Spooler Automator workflow and app (via Matt Jones)
I shall pick this thing apart at some point over the weekend, see if there's anything I can splice into/shortcut as part of my own efforts.
- The Inauguration of President Barack Obama – The Big Picture – Boston.com
Yes, I know everyone and their badger has been linking to this. Tough. These are just superb. I think #44, the picture of all the cellphones and cameras is particular telling.
- Rules of Database App Aging – Push cx
This will be incomprehensible to non developers in the audience, but oh god, this is so painfully, painfully true.
- Pulse Laser: My printer, my social letterbox
This idea set off fireworks in my head, and I think I've got a spare-time tech project for the foreseeable (I got a proof of concept lashed together in about an hour, but it needs a *lot* more work before it's useable.) I love the idea of being able to get up in the morning and have the overnight reading ready for me to hop on the bus with. Hell, even if I don't ever make the mailbox public, all I have to do is lash it to some RSS-to-email functionality, and presto – a custom POD newspaper every morning.