The Interplanetary File-system must be one of the most interesting technical concepts I've come across lately.

[warning: the below is pretty technical. Likely both confused and confusing, written to help me et my head round IPFS]

Globally distributed file-storage is something that's been just around the corner for a long time now. Bittorrent and ( Read more... )

I spent last week in a kind of blissful collective hallucination. I was in Italy for a meeting of a loose pan-European network of activists, hackers, artists, policy wonks, and others I can't even pretend to classify.

I say Italy. But this was Sassi/Matera, which must be the most extraordinary place I've ever visited. Supposedly one of the longest ( Read more... )

There's a $1.5bn plan to bring wind energy from Wyoming to California, via pumping air into a specially-built salt cave, and letting it out as needed.

It's a wonderful, baroquely over-the-top scheme. And, as BDLGblog says, it all feels like something out of a steampunk Aeneid:


( Read more... )

Bonkers Victorian inventions, including:

• A steel collar, to protect against garrotting
• A mechanical leech, in case there's a shortage of real leeches
• A corset with built-in inflatable boobs

I love it when political manouvering becomes full-on Machiavellian. This (if true) is a beautifully contorted dodge from Kremlin strategist Vladislav Surkov, protecting his own position:
At one point he began to fear that success would be his undoing: there was speculation that he had presidential ambitions, a dangerous rumour, especially in ( Read more... )

Oh, the ways I find to faff in my lunch-break. Today, translations of Mullet; apparently every country wants to blame them on foreigners and/or sportsmen. So Sweden (similar to Norway and Canada) has the lovely-sounding Hockeyfrilla ("Hockey hair"). The Danes ("SvenskerhÃ¥r) blame it on the Swedes. Poland goes all the way with Czeski piÅ‚karz (" ( Read more... )

The internet is poisoned. In my lunch break I started reading a blog on (er, mostly) Chinese politics, and within 5 minutes was confronted with slash involving David Miliband and a stegosaurus.

[no link, because it wasn't very good porn. I hope in the fullness of time somebody will do better, and occupy that particular niche in triumph]

It's not so surprising that lobbyists are offering to demonize Occupy Wall Street for money. That's their job, after all: latch on to whatever is happening, and demand cash to support or hinder or manipulate it ( Read more... )

People, I lack music.

My office in Berlin was in a bar, above rehearsal rooms, with an electro-heavy playlist constantly on the stereo. There was enough music around that I didn't need to find my own. So, aside from the odd medicinal piece for a particular mood, I just soaked up whatever was in the air already.
My current office is more mundane: ( Read more... )

Reminder that today is my belated housewarming, and my housemate's birthday party. Location is 8A cheshire road, london n22 8JJ. Turn up any time from early evening -- with friends/partners/etc as you see fit.

Should you need it, my phone number is 07935 589442