May 2012
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Best of luck to Baratunde
“I’d been at The Onion for four and a half years, and had just written a book which covered contentious issues with a lighter hand,” Mr. Thurston told us. “Timing wise, it made sense–everything just coincided. I was out of the office a lot, and the company was moving to Chicago, which isn’t really an option for me. Chicago is a great city–especially in the summer, maybe only in the...
6 tags
"Eurovision: Beyond the Sequins" almost tops the...
ESC Insight’s Ewan Spence is sitting nicely behind “Queen: The Illustrated Lyrics” in the Amazon Kindle charts with his book “Eurovision: Beyond the Sequins”. Pick up your copy before the show starts at Saturday 9pm CET!
Running from the end of Dusseldorf 2011 with the victory of ‘Running Scared’ to the start of Baku 2012, ‘Eurovision: Beyond the...
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"Eurovision, Beyond The Sequins" now in iBooks
A quick heads up that my Guardian Short book, “Eurovision, Beyond the Sequins” is now available in iBooks for your iPads, iPhones, and iPod Touches.
First review is up on Amazon as well:
If you want to jumpstart your ESC week with something more than just the usual Abba revival shows, buy this.
The Eurovision Song Contest is one of the very few true European experiences and tools...
4 tags
How Flickr Died
Today, it all seems too late. The iPhone is the most popular camera on Flickr, but the feeling isn’t mutual. Flickr isn’t even among the top 50 free photography apps in iTunes. It’s just below an Instagram clone in 64th place. By way of comparison, an app that adds cats with laser eyes to your photos is 23rd. If you can’t beat laser cat, you probably deserve to die.
And...
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'Eurovision: Beyond the Sequins', my new eBook...
As you know the majority of my Eurovision work is no longer on this blog, but based at ESC Insight (www.escinsight.com) and SBS Eurovision Radio in Australia, but this is one that I’m really proud of.
The Guardian have published my latest book through their Guardian Shorts brand. If you head over to Amazon, you’ll be able to pick up your Kindle copy (Amazon US also carries the book,...
4 tags
What to do when you need pageviews? Cut-price...
MacBook for $800 new in Q3? Looks like Digitimes needed to boost their page views!
6 tags
Risking Windows Phone on a Horse was a smart idea,...
Go Hansen! Go you silver-legged son of a bitch! There he was! Getting ready to pull it out and show the odds-on favorites what he was made of! Except he didn’t. Hell, he didn’t even show. It turned out he was made out of lose. Metaphors. They are cruel.
Giz.
4 tags
An apology over the Samsung Galaxy S III
Last night, after several months of rumors and speculation, Samsung finally announced their 2012 flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S III. It’s a device that I’ve been telling everyone to wait for, telling everyone that it’s going to be the best Android handset to come out this year, telling everyone that buying any other smartphone would be a huge mistake. Now that the Galaxy S III is official, I...
3 tags
Woah, there's a Fighting Fantasy documentary?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEvH12X95hE
If you’d like to see this film as much as I do, turn to 68.
If you’d rather die, turn to 14.
5 tags
Remembering Roland
Many years ago, Jim Hughes and I had a Formula 1 blog called Fun-1. The goal then was to try and be sarcastic, bitchy, and portray a sport that was almost, not quite unlike, Formula 1. We had a lot of fun with it, but as F1 became more soap opera, it started to read a little bit too much like real news.
But one of Jim’s posts always stuck with me, and with all the tweets popping up today...
April 2012
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Billionaire says something that isn't seaworthy...
Of course it wouldn’t be news if you said you were going to build a fourth ‘Olympic’ class vessel, if you were going to mention it’s a rebuild of the Brittanic (sunk by a mine in 1916), or the Olympic (retired in 1935 after 24 years of service). Far better to say it’s a rebuild of the Titanic, call it Titanic 2, and then invite 1000 of the word’s most famous...
4 tags
Pedantry and Gay Marriage
I believe I have found a knock-down argument for marriage equality: there is no decent verb for “civil partnership”. #Pedants4EqualMarriage
Tom Morris
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Nokia and Symbian's biggest issue in one simple...
Lee Williams via CNet.
When I was at Nokia and we shipped a Symbian product and it was bad, in its worst incarnation we knew that if we just flipped the switch, we could move 2.5 to three million units — overnight, no matter how bad the product. That was Nokia. That was Nokia’s brand, we knew we could count on that.
The problem is you can only pull that trick once before the networks...
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Deja Vu for Friendfeed fans as Facebook buys...
Bret Taylor on Friendfeed’s blog.
We are happy to announce that Facebook has acquired FriendFeed. As my mom explained to me, when two companies love each other very much, they form a structured investment vehicle…
The FriendFeed team is extremely excited to become a part of the talented Facebook team. We’ve always been great admirers of Facebook, and our companies share a...
8 tags
A little bit of Easter Rock and Roll
The latest Rock Show podcast is up, available to listen here, or over at The Podcast Corner.
[audio:http://archive.org/download/TPCRock_Friday223-1/tpn_rock_friday_20120406_223.mp3] MP3 File - Show Notes - RSS Feed
With Blondfire, Emma Louise, Cosmo Jarvis, Boy, and Gemma Ray.
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Judging this year's Eurovision Songs on the Juke...
As in previous years, the majority of my thoughts about The Eurovision Song Contest will be found on ESC Insight (www.escinsight.com). Rather than daily news about the Contest, an area well served by many sights, ESC Insight looks at some of the issues in more depth - think of it like a Sunday newspaper compared to the daily news of sites such as ESCxtra.
Alongside the articles from myself, a...
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#BlameVikkisCancer Update
Well, after being seen 75 minutes late for my appointment, the news is mixed. I don’t yet have a treatment plan as I need a further test (PET scan, some kind of radioactive thing, but I won’t get superpowers). There’s no further visible tumour at the initial site, and my lungs are clear, but my lymph nodes are enlarged which indicates a “not likely but possible”...
6 tags
Charlie Brooker gets it...
The Guardian
So it turns out the birth of your first child is perhaps the most emotionally charged experience you’ll ever have. I even put down the new Angry Birds game for 10 minutes so I could concentrate fully, and that’s set in space.
March 2012
1 tag
The first 'Post-SXSW' Rock Show
One of the great things about going to SXSW Music, is coming back with a huge stack of new music to listen to, appreciate, and get out to listeners of The Rock Show. Missed the cross-posting of this on Friday, but here’s the first show after Austin.
[audio:http://archive.org/download/TPCRock_Friday222/tpn_rock_friday_20120323_220.mp3] MP3 File - Show Notes - RSS Feed
2 tags
Marlene Dietrich on "a nice cup of tea"
The British have an umbilical cord which has never been cut and through which tea flows constantly. It is curious to watch them in times of sudden horror, tragedy or disaster. The pulse stops apparently and nothing can be done, and no move made, until “a nice cup of tea” is quickly made. There is no question that it brings solace and does steady the mind. What a pity all countries are...
7 tags
Jimmy Kimmel another signpost to the future of...
Another live appearance by The Muppets, on an ABC chat show, with a special guest star joining them…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5H3XGfGKJas
Is someone trying to tell us something?
5 tags
Because a puppet really is a somebody else...
From the moment Kermit came out, there were really two people onstage. Steve played around with this a bit. Since he was speaking before an audience of mostly puppeteers, Steve started off by saying that he wasn’t going to split himself and pretend that Kermit was actually here. Kermit lowered his head in sadness at this news, which got a big laugh. Steve then referred to Kermit as being a puppet...
4 tags
So what does Seesmic really mean?
If you ever wondered what the name Seesmic meant, I’m pretty sure it’s the French for ‘pivot’.
Seesmic Lays Off Half Its Staff as It Pivots Back to Social Cross-Posting, All Things D.
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Windows Phone China, Nokia Drive/Transport/Maps,...
[audio:http://mediafiles.allaboutwindowsphone.com/aawp_20120322_018.mp3]
In episode eighteen of the All About Windows Phone Insight Podcast, we start with the details of Microsoft’s launch event for Windows Phone in China. The team then cover the latest updates to Nokia Drive (version 2.0) and Nokia Maps (version 1.3), plus the release of Nokia Transport and Creative Studio, before Ewan...
4 tags
Lessons from a 40 year old
A few months ago, when I was kicking around ideas for this talk, I was going over ideas with a friend and he noticed a trend in what I’ve been thinking about lately, how all my ideas were about long term projects and taking things easy and spending time with family and how I sounded like an old man in the go-go world of the Internet. He suggested the title “Lessons from a 40 year...
4 tags
It seems right to celebrate his life on the...
Great retrospective article on the BBC on HP Lovecraft and his place in the pantheon of twentieth century horror.
Howard Phillips Lovecraft brought the 20th Century horror story up to date, out of Victorian occultism into the realm of contemporary science without losing its sense of mystery… Lovecraft developed his own invented mythology, at least as influential on fantastic fiction as...
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Ewan at SXSW: Speaking at 20x2 tonight
Yes, I’m safely at SXSW and if you need to get in touch with me, the US mobile is 512 605 7162.
If you’re around tnight, I’ll be speaking at the annual 20x2: ”twenty speakers, one question, two minutes each”.
Along with everyone else, I’ll be answering the question “How did I get here”, although I suspect I might be the only person trying...
4 tags
In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu plays Fluxx
Tucked away in the email from Looney Labs on “[Wizard of] Oz Flux” was sometign that made me smile:
We are also in the midst of developing the long-requested Cthulhu Fluxx, and we really wanted our prime artist Derek Ring to be the illustrator for that project; but he was too busy with other work at that time. So we decided to let Cthulhu slumber while we skipped off down the yellow...
February 2012
7 tags
Old Time Podcasters, The Playstation Show, and the...
Back in 2006 I started another podcast, The Playstation Show, which would be a short weekly podcast on the Sony Playstation Portable. It slowed down a bit in 2011, but never really went away. With the PS Vita on the way, I decided in January that it needed to be brought “up to the boil” for the year (and in the process helping me keep abreast of the portable gaming world - all the more...
5 tags
No PandoDaily, Children will want their parents...
Quite simply, Greg Kumparak is wrong.
Let’s say you have kids and a few decades later, as we tend to eventually do, die. Think of the advances that will have come in that time. Will your kids even want that (now relatively low-fi) copy of “Sorry For Party Rocking”, when they’ll probably be able to get a raw and uncompressed copy beamed straight into their head (or something like that) in the...
4 tags
Stop offering MWC tickets on their own as prize
Lots of mobile sites offering a free ticket to MWC which happens next week (here’s Microsoft’s Window Blog, as one example). A little note for those sites… the ticket to MWC is not the issue. The price of a flight, along with accommodation in Barcelona at short notice, that’s the problem. And it’s a problem that isn’t solved as part of your prize package.
Same...
5 tags
Sifting though music for gold at SXSW Baby
When you have close to 2000 bands playing at SXSW, each doing at least one thirty minute sets, it’s not an easy task to decide who to go and see. I do leave part of it to serendipity, but that’s only going to get you part of the way. And with my SXSW Baby hat, it’s always nice to have some recommendations in hand and a bit of a schedule scratched out on the Filofax.
With the...
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David Lee Roth and that Brown M&Ms story
Via NPR.
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This week's Rock Show podcast
T’was a decades show, with some of my favourite artists from the last ten shows invited back with a different song for another play. With Taletellers, Ezra Furman, Alexx Calise, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, and Urban Snake.
[audio:http://www.archive.org/download/TPCRock_Friday220/tpn_rock_friday_20120210_220.mp3] MP3 File - Show Note - RSS Feed
7 tags
"I'm also thinking about what the hell I might do...
So Ridley Scott wants to do a sequel to Prometheus? I can only think of two responses. 1) You’ve already done it, it’s called Alien. 2) Doesn’t history suggest that the sequel is going to be called Promethei… and directed by James Cameron?
5 tags
Ellen Degeneres, JC Penny, and Apple
Even from this side of the Atlantic I can hear the noise over the Ellen Degeneres witch-hunt (can I call it a witch hunt?). Hmm, sounds like JC Penny has grown a pair. I wonder what brought that on? And then I remembered something about JC Penny. They had launched a new ad campaign with their new President…
Ron Johnson. Who walked away from the SVP of Retail at Apple.
I get the feeling JC...
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When and where to use podcasts in your blogging
Some thoughts over on the Blog World blog on using podcasts in your blogging. Should you run just a single show, or consider running it as part of a content strategy:
In many circumstances, people are looking to explore the podcasting space, to find out how it all works, to see how they get on with it, and have a bit of fun. There’s nothing wrong with that – one of my popular podcasts started as...
1 tag
Understanding SXSW with the firehose of SXSW Baby
There’s a tale in Richard Feynman’s second autobiography that I love. He’s been assigned to the Presidential Commission to investigate the Space Shuttle Challenger’s explosion. Rather than wait around for all the Commission investigations to start, he high tails it down to JPL to find out as much as he can before he starts - reasoning that being prepared is always a good...
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Did we all enjoy Kylie's Superbowl show last...
Bitchbuzz puts the stiletto in:
However, self obsession aside, for someone who has been rather vocal about certain other blonde pop stars ripping off her work, one has to wonder what Kylie Minogue would have to say about Madonna’s performance. Shall we examine the situation?
Slaves pulling in singer… tick. Pop goddess in golden shell… tick. “winged, golden headdress and...
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This is why George Lucas isn't getting any more...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T69ftWNg97U
Looks like he’s given up on the current generation and attempting to snare the kids with Jar-Jar.
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Windows Phone Podcast: of Q4 results, new...
[audio:http://mediafiles.allaboutwindowsphone.com/aawp_20120131_012.mp3]
The latest All About Windows Phone Insight podcast, with discussions on Q4 results from Nokia, Samsung, and HTC; Lumia 900 availability; 60,000 apps in the Marketplace; Bing Maps; and the ZTE Tania.
January 2012
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More musical thoughts like this one from Neil...
“Piracy is new radio. That’s how music gets around.”
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Apple get set for Mr "Need an Extended Warranty?"
You know those scenes where a robot gets conflicting inputs, spins on the spot, and has smoke coming out of their ears?
Tim Cook hires head of Dixons to mastermind the Apple Stores.
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maps.google.com/prisoner
It’s the Village! In Google Maps! It still doesn’t explain “All You Need Is Love”…
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London Social Media Week's Ignite presentation...
If you’re looking to come along to the Ignite presentation during London Social Media Week (where I’ll be speaking), the free tickets are live on Eventbrite. The fun starts at 6.30pm, and will be at The Drawing Room, Big Chill House, 257-259 Pentonville Road.
5 tags
The Lego ZX81
With added Sir Clive Sinclair mini-fig. Want!
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Ever wanted to program a bus stop?
Now you can, with Bus-tops in London!
Bus-Tops is a collaborative public art installation across 20 London boroughs. There are 30 red and black LED screens dotted around London, on the roofs of bus shelters. Absolutely anyone in the world can create artwork for them, creating a new exhibition space for the public, and Public Art.
256x80 pixel grids, across London, with a ix of curated arts and...
4 tags
Paul Carr vs The Daily Mail
As the Daily Mail Online passes the New York Times, Carr points out that not all Daily Mails are equal:
If all of this sounds at odds with your own experiences of the Mail, dear American readers, that’s because you’ve only ever read the Daily Mail online. And the Daily Mail Online and the Daily Mail newspaper are as different as chalk and AIDS.
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I'll be speaking at London Social Media Week's...
Social Media Week this year is Feb13-17, and I’ll be involved in one or two of the events in the London wing of the event, specifically speaking at the Ignite event on Feb 15, starting around 7pm:
Ignite started in Seattle about 5 years ago and is the brainchild of Brady Forrest, Technology Evangelist for O’Reilly Media, and Bre Pettis of Makerbot.com. Basically, it’s a presentation style...
4 tags
There's a Top Cat film coming out? Or will it be...
A generation of children in the UK need to know if the continuity announcer will get the name wrong again.
BBC: And now on BBC 1, Boss Cat!
Theme Song: “dah dah, dah dah, dah, Top Cat!”
Children watching: “giggles, they got it wrong… again!”
Hat tip to Digital Spy.