Category: Uncategorised

A wonderful wee story in the Diary section of today’s [Glasgow] Herald: TOILING on an exercise bike in a Glasgow city-centre gym on Friday morning, Bob Pilley was idly watching the sub-titled version of ITV news on various telly monitors. Bob has often wondered whether these sub-titles are transcribed live by frenetic, adrenalin-fuelled squads of…

Nanotechnology researchers are working on a technology that could dramatically increase the speed of the internet. By manipulating carbon atoms it may be possible to replace electronic switches with optical ones, leading to an ultra-fast internet powered not by electricity, but light. National Geographic explains.

The news that the RIAA has failed in its legal action against Morpheus and Grokster is a pleasant surprise, because it’s a rare example of a judge being sensible. Of course, the RIAA will appeal, and there’s the spectre of the rather scary US INDUCE act which, if implemented, means that manufacturers of iPods, CD…

The ever-reliable recommendation system on Amazon.co.uk suggests a hammer drill as the perfect partner for Doom 3. [edited because the original link died]

Warners have posted a track from the forthcoming REM album on their Web site, and it’s rather lovely [Quicktime required].

I had originally planned to do a liveblog on Doom III, typing my thoughts on the laptop as I played the game on my PC. Sadly I had to abandon that idea, because it would have looked like this: 2.00pm Woo-hoo! My PC’s powerful enough! 2.15pm “Insert CD2”. Oh, come on. I want to play!…

According to the Periodical Publishers’ Association, the UK has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to magazines. Media Guardian reports: According to the PPA, there are 8,337 magazine titles currently in circulation. A little over 5,000 of those are business-to-business publications, while 3,229 are consumer titles. I think I subscribe to at least half…

I’ve found that most computer keyboards require far too much force to press the keys – which in my case, means sore hands after even short bursts of typing. Laptop keyboards are much more pleasant, because they use different technology known as “scissor keys”, and I’ve been trying to find a desktop keyboard that uses…

The ever-readable No Rock’N’Roll Fun tells the sorry tale of Warner Bros’ attempt to embrace the power of MP3 blogs. Firstly, here’s proof that Warners gets the power of MP3 blogs: Warners in the US has been approaching people who run MP3 blogs offering them a Secret Machines track… It’s good that a major label…

One of the great things about laptops is that you can use them to catch up on your reading when you travel; in my case, it meant that I finally got round to reading Lawrence Lessig’s Free Culture [free PDF available]. I’ve no idea why it took me so long: it’s great stuff and I’d…