Achtung, baby

My first column for .net is now online. Naturally, it’s a rant about DRM.

Barlow’s bang on

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Jason Barlow, editor of Car magazine (one of my favourite magazines) nails the whole future-of-magazines thing in this month’s Editor’s Letter:

…in the process of migrating the elements which best suit the functionality of the Internet, we’ve decided to really concentrate on the things that only a magazine can deliver on. More than ever, Car is packed with long, beautifully written features, a news bulletin section that offers an insightful and analytical overview rather than just paying lip service to the month’s big issues, expertly crafted drive stories and definitive comparison tests, as well as provocative columns and heartfelt opinion. It also looks pretty good, and most of the photographs are in focus…

…in an era when everyone from Rupert Murdoch to my own mother is wondering if the magazine format might be on the way out, we’re saying no, it isn’t. Only people in crass Hollywood movies use laptops in bed, and most of us spend far too much time in front of PCs as it is.

The new .net and fifty brilliant britblogs

Issue 154 of .net arrived in the post this morning, which means it’ll be on sale in the next couple of days. I’m in it with a very bad joke about solid gold ponies, but I’ve also put together a list of 50 British blogs that I reckon everyone should check out. It’s not an attempt to create the definitive “these are the best blogs ever” list, but rather an attempt to showcase a pretty wide range of blogs worth reading.

I’m hoping that it’ll do two things: firstly, give some exposure to some superb sites as well as the usual suspects; and secondly, spark some feedback so we can run a later feature covering more great blogs that we’d never heard of. Once again I’d like to thank everyone who made suggestions, because they helped me discover some excellent blogs I’d have missed otherwise.

The article won’t be published online for a while – there’s a two-month gap between printing and posting, to encourage people to actually buy the mag – but the links will appear on del.icio.us/netmag in a few days.

Update, 1 Sep: The delicious links are up, and you’ll find them here. 

Windows Vista magazine is hiring

So if you’re a production editor, new media editor or fancy a job as staff writer then click here for info.

Look ma, I’m on the internet

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A few of my scribbles are on the spanking new .net website: a piece about online quackery, and a piece on invite-only networks. I love the illustrations in both…

By Invitation Only

The internet has cracked international communication wide open. This global conversation means that cats can talk to kings but what if the king is reluctant to talk to the cat? In the real world, most people choose their friends carefully: when you’re having a group of friends round for dinner, you don’t invite the odd passing tramp as well…

Pills, Thrills and Bellyaches

Drugs are dangerous enough when they’re real, but counterfeits are even scarier. Last year, a factory making fake drugs in Colombia was raided and 800,000 counterfeit tablets were seized. The factory was filthy and the drugs’ ingredients included brick dust, pesticide, floor wax and paint…

That’s me in the corner

I’m not a particularly ambitious person, but for years and years I’ve wanted to have a column where I can bang on about sod all – and from this month, I’ve got one in .net [which, post-redesign, is gorgeous. The mag, I mean. Not my bit] And you know what? I finally saw it this morning and my immediate reaction is… I’m absolutely shitting myself.

I don’t really know why, because obviously my name’s been attached to everything I’ve ever written (and while it’s scary to see your own face on a printed page, quite a few mags run writer pics and terrify their readers with my increasingly shiny head). It’s completely illogical to be scared, then, but that doesn’t stop me from bricking it.

I suspect it’s because I buy most magazines for their columns, so for example while I reckon Edge is a great gaming title I’d probably stop buying it if the columns disappeared. So now I’m not just comparing myself with other freelance writers, but with the writers who are responsible for me spending an awful lot of cash on dead trees. And of course, I reckon they’re all much better writers than I am – so if I want to keep doing this, I’ll need to raise my game accordingly. I’ve written two so far and believe me, I’ve written entire books in less time than those two 500-word bits of blah.

Still, it’ll impress my mum…

Adbusters is looking for writers

…and it’s paying. Here’s the info:

Dear Jammers and Creatives,

We’re already hard at work on the next issue – #68, dedicated to
creative non-fiction – and we’re hoping that some of you will let us
pick your brains. We’re looking for 100 to 200 word, punchy, sad, crazy,
or rude pieces inspired by a major event or epiphany in your life. It
could be about anything really . . . a haiku, a poem, a travel
remembrance, an anecdote about living in the post s11 era, a piece about
discovering one of your family’s dark secrets. We’re looking for stories
that provoke and that go straight to the heart, with a “slice of life”
feeling to them.

We’d like to pepper these short pieces throughout our upcoming issue.
One warning: the deadline is tight, so we need all submissions sent to
by July 26th. If we decide to go with your
submission, you’ll get to see your name in print, and we’ll also pay you
50 cents/word.

Remember: keep it short, keep it true, and fire it off to us as quickly
as you can.

Cheers,
The Adbusters Team.

MacFormat has a blog

MacFormat magazine has a new blog.

Er, that’s it.

Sorry for the lack of updates recently – I’m busy proofing books and trying to stop Megan from eating my arms.

.net’s got a brand new look

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The new issue of .net is dubbed the “redesign issue”, partly because the issue’s main focus this month is on redesigning sites, and partly because the magazine itself’s had a revamp. I finally got to see the finished product yesterday and I really like it: the design’s grown up without being dull, and the magazine itself feels more focused – the redesign involves more than just a new look; it also means new sections, new writers and a team of editorial advisors who work at the sharp end of web design and development. But most importantly of all, the cover’s printed on really nice paper.

Recommendations wanted

Never mind blogging about blogging: I’m so hardcore that I’m blogging about writing about blogging. And if it works, I might write about it and then blog about the writing about the blogging about the writing about the blogging.
Er… anyway. I’m doing a feature about great British blogs, and I thought I’d ask your good selves whether you’ve become addicted to any good ‘uns. I’ve already got politics, personal and sci/tech/web stuff covered (although if you know of something that’s utterly, blindingly brilliant then by all means let me know) but I’d be interested in any lifestyle/entertainment blogs you like.

As you’d expect, I can’t plug friends’ sites, or my own. Bah.