The cover of a magazine called Home Farmer, which I spotted while out and about at the weekend. I spend quite a lot of time looking at other magazine’s covers, and this one was quite something – brilliant use of a question even regular readers might not be thinking of asking themselves.
Author Archives: Alex
Pet Sounds, a capella
It’s a beautiful sunny morning in London, so this seems like just the right thing to listen to: Pet Sounds, a capella. Despite the fact that it’s a YouTube link, sound quality is terrific. This is probably the first time I’ve really understood just how spine-tingling what music writers refer to as a singer’s ‘phrasing’ canContinue reading “Pet Sounds, a capella”
Year of the Ox’s most popular internet slang
FAIL is over – especially if you’re in China. Apparently, these are the Year of the Ox’s most popular linguistic terms on the internet (although we’re only halfway through the year). Wonder how long it will take for ‘yùzháizú’ – the Chinese word for otaku – to appear in Wired or the new William GibsonContinue reading “Year of the Ox’s most popular internet slang”
Arthur Ransome and Communism
Another English writer who was in bed with the Bolsheviks? Literally, in the case of Arthur Ransome. He was a journalist in Moscow in the early 20th century, and his lover was Trotsky’s press secretary. A new biography of Ransome (best known for his children’s books such as Swallows and Amazons) focusses on the timeContinue reading “Arthur Ransome and Communism”
International Times
The Guardian has a blog post up today reflecting on the radical/hippy/underground 60s newspaper The International Times, as an archive devoted to IT has just launched (although said archive appears to be down at the moment). Anyway, the Guardian blog quotes some notes I took at a talk by the founders of IT, which youContinue reading “International Times”
The cover of 1984 (updated)
“The typescript of George Orwell’s latest novel reached London in mid December, as promised. Warburg recognised its qualities at once (“amongst the most terrifying books I have ever read”) and so did his colleagues. An in-house memo noted “if we can’t sell 15 to 20 thousand copies we ought to be shot”. – From theContinue reading “The cover of 1984 (updated)”
New Flash Hack
This post from a while back on a flash hack for the Nikon D40 has been one of my most popular pieces here, but sadly the original images it linked to are long since gone. Today I found this article over at Instructables which is just as good – in fact, because it uses theContinue reading “New Flash Hack”
A trip to Taipei, Taiwan
Not a place many people visit, but I’d agree with Rough Guide when they call Taipei Asia’s most under-rated city. It’s where the IT press go every year for Computex; I’ve been there three years (2006, 2007, and this year). Here’s some photos not of motherboards or netbooks, but of the place where they’re born.Continue reading “A trip to Taipei, Taiwan”
Computex 2009
I was in the Far East all last week, first to Taiwan to report on the Computex trade show. We filed tons of stories on bit-tech (full list) and I also contributed a quick, more mainstream write-up for the BBC website. On the way back, I went via Hong Kong to visit an old friend,Continue reading “Computex 2009”
Flickr Superstars
A post on the Flickr blog got me thinking about my 12 ‘Flickr Superstars’. As I made my notes, several themes emerged: i. The Far East, specifically Japan. Having visited the Far East specifically, and having a Japanese fiancee, it’s no surprise that I’m fascinated by Japan, and I think there’s also a sense ofContinue reading “Flickr Superstars”
The Wired Jester 