Yearly Archives: 2002

This Is How A Thriller Should Read

The Bourne Identity book coverThere is a cliché that says a book is a real page turner and it certainly applies to this book. I picked it up because I loved the film and I imagined the book would be just as good. The novel, however, leaves the film standing. Don’t expect a movie tie-in because this is certainly not that. Jason Bourne is found floating in the ocean and that’s about where the similarity starts and finishes. Some great scenes in Zurich and Paris are the only other resemblances to the film.

I’d never read a Robert Ludlum book before but this has me searching for the next. It’s written at a pace that keeps you hooked, the story is much more complex than the film and the characterisation and plot is a joy to read. I was hooked to the very last page.

On the downside, if you have seen the film one of the crucial story twists is known to you. If you haven’t seen the movie, read the book first for this is how a thriller should read. [More at Amazon]

On this day…

2005: Tracking The World
2004: Grid Lock
2003: Last Orders at the Liars’ Bar

Things That Make You Go “Huum”

Members of The Fire Brigade’s Union are going on strike as I type this. As a result, some London Underground stations are closing this evening – but not all. London Underground has an interesting piece on safety on the tube:

Under normal circumstances, with full fire service cover, the risk of death to a daily traveller on the Underground from all causes is around 1 in 150,000 per year. The risk from fire is only a small contributor (about 2.5%) to this overall risk. [Source: London Underground]

On this day…

2005: Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
2004: links for 2004-11-13
2003: Thoughts on Helsinki

Fly Accipiter, Fly

Accipiter LogoI am happy today! My ex-colleagues at Engage AdManager have bought the company from Engage to re-form Accipiter – the company Engage acquired in 1998 (or thereabouts).

Engage has slowly been moving out of the online space. When I worked for them they owned a large number of online companies. The selling of AdManger to its management seems to leave them with no pure-play online offerings.

I just want to wish the new AdManager management all the luck in the world they are a fantastic group of people and if you’re in the market for an online advertising solution, you’ll find best of breed at www.accipiter.com.

They are a fantastic group of people and if you’re in the market for an online advertising solution, you’ll find best of breed at www.accipiter.com.

On this day…

2005: Regent Street Lights 2005
2004: Great London Food Market Revisited
2003: Heavenly?
2003: Do I Hear Fi?
2003: Another Month Another Man
2003: Bring A Smile

Give Us Our Daily Blog

In common with any page of links, many of the pages noted below have long since moved, closed or cease to be updated in any regular kind of way. Facebook and Twitter have meant some of those who I used to read have moved on to the next way to communicate their thoughts. I keep this here as a nice reminder of the early days of blogging! I’ve tried to link to archived versions of many of the sites.

As I started redeveloping this site, it became apparent that I wanted to link to my collection of daily blog reads and this became the place to keep them.

The first, almost daily, read is Jase Wells. I guess I have been something of an invisible online stalker to this site for years. I have watched it move, change and develop since sometime in 1994 when I first came across it. It still remains one of the best personal homepages on the web – and I am very pleased to see that he has turned it into a blog.

Next on the list is Tom Coates’ plasticbag.org – which must be one of the best around and, if I am honest, I miss it if he doesn’t post. You will find notsosoft linked from there which, I think, contains some of the best writing on the web.

trabaca, posterboy, eric and contrasts.net provide additional regular reading from the US, while Adam’s photoblog provides stunning pictures on a regular basis. overyourhead is a UK take, while prolific is based in Amsterdam. Haddock blogs is a collection of well-known UK internet names.

Of course, blogsphere is represented well by Metafilter which I try and check out most days.

Other’s of note include Nick Denton and Brendan O’neill for opinions; Scott Andrew, Ben Hammersley and Jason Kottke for web-related stuff and Stuart Towns for his travelogue.

Finally, if you’re not interested in reading the ramblings of people you may never have heard of, then click along to Will Wheaton’s blog which is a fascinating take on the world of celebrity.

On this day…

2004: Reading The TV News Headlines
2003: In Mark Owen’s Time

Donnie Darko

Possibly the strangest and most compelling film I have seen all year and it’s not had a great deal of coverage. Donnie Darko’s website is very wierd and I am not sure you’ll get much from that. Tom, on the other hand, raves about it. You can read more reviews here or at The Guardian. I can’t explain it. Go see it.

On this day…

2004: Forgotten Projects?
2003: Return of the King

The Ultimate Boy Band CD (2) Aka The I Am Shallow Project

The Ultimate Boy Band CD Project is starting to depress me for several reasons:

  1. Because compiling a CD takes time (how do those guys select for Now 195? (Update: They get paid to do it all day, of course)
  2. It’s also much harder than I imagined to come up with a CD full of songs that I would actually say is the best Boy Band CD ever (wonder if the Best … Ever people have done this, maybe I should look)
  3. Nobody else seems to think this is a fun idea
  4. Some people seem to think all I care about (musically) is boy bands
  5. Almost everybody thinks boy bands are crap
  6. Almost everybody seems to think this makes me shallow, which is amusing. I think this shows that I am much shallower than you imagine

I know there is more to life than this! I was having a bit of fun. Lighten up. Please.

And so, on with the project:

  1. N’Sync – Pop
  2. Take That – Relight My Fire
  3. Take That – Could It Be Magic
  4. F5ive – If Ya Gettin’ Down
  5. Backstreet Boys – Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)
  6. A1 – Same Old Brand New You
  7. NEW A1 – Caught In The Middle
  8. NEW Blue – All Rise

I guess I really am shallow!

On this day…

2004: The Whispering Years
2004: links for 2004-11-01

Go Out

OUTThis morning the post man knocked more than once. PY, who always jumps out of bed for parcels and post, decided to answer the door where he discovered a large parcel from Out – my lovely black fleece had arrived (from OutOnTheStreets to be precise). This event, and Tom’s post (which I highlighted the other day and started out as a response to this) set me thinking about notions of community.

Now Out is an online community of (mainly) gay men from around the world – although at the moment it’s predominantly UK based. It’s a great place to be and very unlike many of the other commercial gay sites. It’s all about social interactions and not about sex (like some) nor about profit (like others). It funds itself by way of a non-compulsory licence fee and sells merchandise to add to that. It encourages real-world events and traditional social interaction.

Now, I have never attended one of the events and I don’t log on every day (like some). I don’t count many of my friends (online or otherwise) as being members and I can’t say I have made any lasting friendships on Out – although many have.

However, it is still a community and I am still part of it. I choose to contribute financially and I should do more in real life. There are many issues raised by Out that I shall discuss in more detail at some point soon (paying for online content; the concept of zero exploitation and the concept of online communities) but at this point all I want to say is that I feel similar about blogging. I do it primarily for my own record/entertainment/amusement. As a by-product, I get to tell the world how I feel about things and strike up some interesting discussions and relationships along the way. It’s a place for me to express and, most importantly, it’s another community that I belong to. Again, I’m not the most active member of this community but I certainly feel it is a community and one I am happy to be part of.

On this day…

2004: links for 2004-10-26
2003: Phones and PDAs

Let’s (Not) Go Out

I am about to embark on a Friday night out in Clapham. More specifically, a colleague (we’ve worked together now and have previously worked together) and I are off to meet two ex-work mates (from the last job we worked at) for Friday night drinks. I believe I am turning into some kind of hermit because I want to stay in the whole time so, although I know I will have a great time (and possibly one to many drinks), I would rather be catching the 19:07 home. A bid sad, isn’t it?

On this day…

2003: The Quiet American