Why did Britain’s only authentic geek brand never translate into a tech publishing empire or a social media powerhouse? Why didn’t NTK become Britain’s Digg or Slashdot (or LinkedIn or flickr or Meetup for that matter)? What stopped Danny and Dave – substantial brands in their own right – becoming Britain’s Sergey and Larry, ploughing… Continue reading Britain’s only authentic geek brand
Month: September 2006
At Olympia
Most of the Snipperoo gang spent the last two days in the smelly, decrepit Olympia 2 exhibition hall at a show called ad:tech. London doesn’t have any decent exhibition venues and Olympia must be the least pleasant on planet earth. The atmosphere was… er… enhanced by the presence at the show of dozens of gaming… Continue reading At Olympia
Podcasting saves radio?
If podcasting is going to yield a real business model for the media owners and broadcasters it probably won’t involve stations centrally creating podcasts and giving them away or selling them. It’ll more likely involve building (or badging) a big rights-cleared library of music and other content and then making it available with some funky… Continue reading Podcasting saves radio?
Electrifying
I’m not a reporter. No one relies on me for my opinion. I’m not sought after for my angle. Still, I’m pretty sure you’re going to want to fire up RealPlayer and listen to the quite amazing Peter Mandelson on this morning’s Today Programme. The smell of political cordite is strong here. The man’s been… Continue reading Electrifying
People getting married
Flickr is filling up with pics taken at gay weddings since they were legalised in Britain. They’re not as prominent as they might be – people, annoyingly, don’t seem to use sexual orientation tags when they’re uploading wedding pics. Anyway, the thing about these pics is that they’re pretty much like heterosexual wedding pics: good,… Continue reading People getting married
Remembering (trying not to forget) 9/11
At Slate.com they have a 9/11 Flash slideshow with photographs and audio commentary by the Magnum Photographers who were there on the day. It’s a breathtaking thing. You should watch it. I hadn’t seen it before (and I’m a junkie for these morbid artefacts) so I guess if it must have gone up for the… Continue reading Remembering (trying not to forget) 9/11
The beards and the purple robes
Mediaeval Clerics need Mediaeval Clerics. Mullahs of the old school need pre-enlightenment Popes. Benedict’s perfect foot-in-mouth intervention into Christian-Muslim harmony is really just getting into character. Not Rome nor Avignon but Constantinople. The symmetry is perfect: a Crusader Pope takes on the modern-day Saladins. They deserve each other. Vatican Radio has that lecture in full… Continue reading The beards and the purple robes
Helping Darfur
While the UN’s member states dither and – almost inevitably, it seems – drastically fail the suffering people of Darfur, it’ll most likely be the UN’s refugee agency that picks up the pieces. They’ve got 6 offices in the region and about 100 staff and they need a lot more money. Click here to make… Continue reading Helping Darfur
Has the music business escaped the denial phase?
Fascinating evidence – in a paid-for supplement to this week’s New Statesman – that the record business has reached the acceptance stage of the grieving process. The Smith Institute, which is the Think Tank set up in John Smith’s memory, set up a round table for the industry to discuss ‘Copyright reform: bridging a gap… Continue reading Has the music business escaped the denial phase?
What do I object to most about DRM?
People object to DRM schemes on the basis of ownership – “it’s my music and I’ll play it where and when I want!” I usually stay out of this argument (it’s boring to be saying the same as everyone else isn’t it?). I’ve been thinking, though. I think my principle objection has more to do… Continue reading What do I object to most about DRM?