:: GussetBLOG ::

:: Sunday, November 22, 2009 ::

Link Dump

The Atheist Billboard Campaign


E&T chronicles some truly ingenious escapes over, through, across and underneath the world’s most sinister engineering structure - the Berlin Wall.

E&T visits Estonia, a former province of the Soviet Empire, to find one of the most technologically advanced and IT-savviest nations in the world.

There's Only One Sun | Wong Kar-Wai

There's Only One Sun | Wong Kar-Wai
by YforYerom

[thanks Natali]

Solar panels shaped like clay roof tiles


The Bigshot, a DIY digital camera designed for kids to build and use


Muji + Lego x-mas collaboration


In praise of the sci-fi corridor [via grom]

Z-DAY from Peter Thomas on Vimeo.
"In late October 2009 a meteor crashed into St Werberghs, Bristol U.K. While the initial damage was contained efficiently and promptly by the authorities, Solanum-based particles from the meteor quickly spread on the wind, infecting many of the local population and causing a class-2 zombie infestation/outbreak. Within hours, the walking dead had descended on Broadmead Shopping Centre in search of meat and brains... Few survived and many souls were lost that day, however a blood-stained video tape from a local underground film-maker was recovered from the wreckage... Following a press black-out, this film documents the fateful event (dubbed "Z-Day" by locals), and provides a rare and privileged insight into a full-scale zombie attack on a densly populated urban area."

Flavorwire » Blog Archive » DJ /rupture’s Favorite Cities and Songs
"Bristol is amazing, and it’s especially amazing for all sorts of different types of bass music. For a track, it’s hard to say, because there’s so much dub, dubstep, UK garage, reggae, as well… all this stuff coming out of Bristol. But my favorite spot in Bristol, I think it’s a Sunday night party, is at this place called Cosies."

Labels: architecture, Art, Atheism, Bristol, Environment, Film, Humanism, Lego, Photography, Sci-Fi, Technology

:: Dan 22.11.09 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Some readers may remember I did a stand-up routine a few years ago about Brian Eno being "The One" (like Neo in The Matrix).

Seems someone else thinks he may actually be VALIS (from the Philip K Dick book of the same name, although Radio Free Ablemuth is a much better book on the same subject).

Before scanning that from the Sunday Time Style magazine I searched for an online version. I didn't find one but did find this from last April:

What pop music tells us about JG Ballard
"Author JG Ballard, who has died aged 78, cast a huge influence over the literary world. But for those who have never picked up one of his novels there's another forum for learning about his work - pop music."

Labels: Art, Humour, Literature, Music, Sci-Fi

:: Dan 4.10.09 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Heya! It's been some time. I know I may have thrown you the odd scrap of music now and again but that old spark, it just hasn't been there lately has it. I know you have other places to hang out. I hope you understand what a death in the family has done here. But it's great to meet up again, have a drink, chew that fat, catch up on what we would have been chatting shit about if other events hadn't conspired against us.

Did I tell you I attended the BLDGBLOG book launch last week?

[v.o.g.: You mentioned you were going]

Ah, well, I did. And not only did I get a great book out of it, not only did I meet with and chat with Geoff Manaugh, whose a really inspiring guy, not only is there a photo floating around flickr of me sat at the same table as Warren Ellis (I didn't realise that at the time, I was distracted by the woman with him), but I've also come away with some blog based inspiration.

In the introduction to the book Geoff explains that when he started BLDGBLOG he decided that he wasn't going to pour concerns and negativity into it, it would just be for stuff that interested him. Things that made him think, gave him ideas, starting points for flights of fancy. I like that philosophy. I may try to take it on to some degree.


[source here via here]

So what else has caught my fancy?


Shots taken on Czechoslovakia - East border of the eastern German state security (Stasi)
[via www.ustrcr.cz]
Found in the Vice Magazine photography special, which is out now.

Its good to know that The American President is an Ass Man, Apparently

"But seriously, is this not one of the best presidential photographs of all-time? Even Sarkozy looks like he's sneaking a peek, though he's French, so we expect him to do it. However, in Obama's defense, that is a great ass!"

"Solicitors for the National Portrait Gallery are apparently threatening legal action against a US Wikipedia user for downloading 3,300 digital photographs of paintings in the UK museum's collection, and then uploading them to Wikipedia."
[via clayton cubitt]

Cauty - Julie Andrews tip in the Nude magazine sale


Codex Sinaiticus - Home The ‘Draft for Comment’ version of the Bible

Rumours of a Dr Who film

There, I Fixed It

6 Intriguingly Shaped Communities As Seen On Google Maps

My Pinhole camera experiments


"Patti Smith is one of the most anticipated gigs of the week, and the audience the most vocal. … joined by SMZ leader Efrim Menuck on drums and Portishead’s Adrian Utley, who attacks a guitar with a paintbrush to spooky effect."
Festival review: Ornette Coleman’s Meltdown, Southbank Centre, London SE1 | Music | The Observer
I mentioned this to Leafcutter John, wondering if he was aware Ade was at the Polar Bear gig where John had used the same paintbrush trick a few months back. His response was a spirited "Ah, but did he do it better?"

Stylophone Beatbox

Pre-order here

Open Source TIC - ePetition response | Number10.gov.uk
"The Government supports the principle that, where new software is being developed by the Timely Information to Citizens pilots, this should wherever possible be released under open source licence and available for use by other local authorities. ... Where the pilots will result in new software tools, ownership and intellectual property rights will usually remain with the individual local authorities"
Is this not a contradiction?

‘Ghost village’ to be demolished

"A village built in Argyll to meet the demands of the UK oil boom of the 1970s but abandoned without ever being occupied is set for a new role." [video link]

Stuff you've missed on the tumblr
* a whole bunch of new photographers discoveries
* shoes by architects
* a bunch of LEGO stuff inc jewellery, USB sticks and giant Star Wars models
* London Underground Map print dress
* Geek guide to shoe lacing
* The Battleships drinking game

I've also just discovered that Blogger is limited to 20 tags per post.

So what have you been up to? How are things?

Labels: Art, blogs, Copyright, Electronic Music, Flickr, FOSS, History, Instruments, IP, Law, Literature, Maps, Music, Petitions, Photography, Politics, Privacy, Religion, Sci-Fi, Wiki

:: Dan 14.7.09 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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You may have seen the World of Harajuku Lovers Fragrance ads around on bus stops and such recently. Whenever I see these the imagery and the colour palette make me think of Burtie Basset and Dr Who's lazy unimaginative Happiness Patrol villain. Like so...










See.

Labels: Advertising, Fashion, Humour, Sci-Fi, Vison

:: Dan 16.5.09 [Arc] [1 comments] [links to this post] ::
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We're doomed! Alien-like Squid With "Elbows" Filmed at Drilling Site.



It seems the Kraken has finally awoken.


[About the lego Kraken]

Speaking of which, the Triffids are back too! I'm slightly concerned that 'it is billed as a "fast-paced, futuristic and electrifying take" on Wyndham's work' but I still can't wait to see it. Slow, impending dread is always better. As Simon Pegg explains.

Labels: Ecology, Environment, Lego, Literature, Sci-Fi, Zombie

:: Dan 28.11.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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null device on fresh rumours about a remake of The Prisoner

Labels: Sci-Fi

:: Dan 3.7.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Bluff 4-08 Do Pokerbots Dream of Electric Sheep.pdf [190KB PDF] [HTML]

Not a fantastic article but an interesting find. I wasn't expecting to find a PKD article in a poker magazine (Bluff Europe) I picked up when waiting in a Chinese take-away.

Searching around I also found this story from 2005:
Science non-fiction
"Grace was one of 19 robots participating in the conference's 14th annual Mobile Robot Competition and Exhibition. Her job was to entertain the crowd and allow her Carnegie Mellon University team of creators to test how she uses social interactions, rather than sight and sound, to achieve a task -- in this case, finding a team member in a pink hat. ... Across from Grace, an android version of the late science-fiction writer Philip K. Dick sat in a chair candidly chatting about his novels and personal habits. A true conversationalist, he made eye contact and punctuated his remarks with smiles and scowls on his realistic, three-dimensional face -- sculpted by David Hanson, founder of Texas-based Hanson Robotics Inc. ... Nearby, several robots rolled through a section of a hallway, seeking bright balls and stuffed animals as part of a scavenger hunt. The robots had to make their own decisions about how to locate and retrieve the objects using artificial intelligence: No remote controls could be involved, said Paul Rybski, a CMU post-doctoral fellow and co-chairman of the competition."

Labels: AI, Gaming, Literature, Sci-Fi

:: Dan 23.6.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Charles says, "had a bit of time on my hands with nothing to do so i made godzilla a city to destroy."

Labels: Animation, Film, Sci-Fi

:: Dan 12.5.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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A CAPTCHA (IPA: /?kæpt??/) is a type of challenge-response test used in computing to determine that the response is not generated by a computer. The process involves one computer (a server) asking a user to complete a simple test which the computer is able to generate and grade. Because other computers are unable to solve the CAPTCHA, any user entering a correct solution is presumed to be human. A common type of CAPTCHA requires that the user type the letters of a distorted image, sometimes with the addition of an obscured sequence of letters or digits that appears on the screen.

Those things piss me off. I fail them far too often. If I were a character in a Philip K. Dick story it would be the first sign I'm not actually human, as I believe I am, but either an automaton, simulacrum, or a figment of my own or someone else's imagination. I'm pretty sure I'm not a character in a book but can't rule out the other four.

Labels: IT, Literature, Sci-Fi

:: Dan 12.5.08 [Arc] [1 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Bash Out is back!

main room: multi core
bong ra & mc mike redman [special ‘10 years of bong ra’ set - live]
fff [mindbender/planet mu - live] - bristol debut!
autopsy [audio damage/deathchant - live] - bristol debut!
putsch [no fixed abode - full av live show] - bristol debut!
randomoidz [adverse camber - live]
bashout allstars [resident badmen]
---
upstairs: bass abuse
warlock [rag'n'bone]
3d!t [coin operated - live] - bristol debut!
arsequake [the blast]
stylatron [fire]
davey t [dissident]
p.r.a.n.k. dancehall clearout
---
back room: the bashout lectures
audio and visual edutainment, special dj sets, powerpoint displays & more...
Lineup TBC (Gusset, Various Bashouteers & More...)

The Gusset Bashout Lecture:

The Matrix: The Pantomime

Abstract: From folk stories and fairy tales to science-fiction and fantasy, western literature has always used metaphor and simile as devices to put across an idea or philosophic argument removed from the prejudices that may otherwise surround it. This lecture will analyse “The Matrix” series of films from the perspective of a traditional British pantomime to draw parallels between the mediums and demonstrate how this abomination of poor story telling, worse acting, and designed-to-date special effects could be better enjoyed with cross-dressing, smut and audience interaction.
'Where’s Agent Smith?'
'He’s behind you!'

---

10pm til 5am
£5 b4 11, £7 after

Labels: BashOut, Breakcore, Flyers, Gigs, Gusset, Sci-Fi

:: Dan 6.5.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Arthur Clarke's 2001 Diary
"Excerpted from Lost Worlds of 2001 by Arthur C. Clarke,
New American Library (New York), 1972."
[via lmg]

Labels: Literature, Sci-Fi

:: Dan 2.5.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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I guess this is a meme in the original sense of the word. It shows how an idea has started in one place and been built on, developed and evolved by others. Traditionalists would call it a conversation.

From Octopus99

Dominic Zero says:
"I actually lost interest in Alias after Season 1 largely because for a hard-nosed uber-agent working undercover she seemed to spend an awful lot of the time crying and getting upset. Either that or she was in jeans and a tee shirt the whole time once her contract had been renewed and I no was longer fished in. Everyone knows female undercover agents have to dress up as either prostitutes or pole dancers or goths at least half the time. Just ask Heather Locklear."

El Duderino says:
"Actually if I ran an undercover espionage agency I would only hire hot chicks and dress them in rubber and lingerie. I mean it makes fucking sense, innit? Then I'd pray to god all the targets hung out at fetish parties. They'd really stand out in Safeway."

I say:
"Everyone knows they do. It comes with the territory. To end up in that line of work you have to take pleasure in role-play, dressing up in uniforms (sometimes cross-dressing), and knowing there is a serious threat of torture around every corner. How could you end up in that career if you weren't a fetishist? It just make sense."

Labels: blogs, Fetish, Literature, meme, Sci-Fi

:: Dan 14.4.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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the GateWay
Originally uploaded by gusset.

Top: Sign for "the GateWay" – Alpha Course Centre, Yeovil. Font: Baker Signet
Bottom: Sign for "the GateWay" using an Albertus derivative font, as used in "The Village" in "The Prisoner"

Labels: Flickr, Fonts, Religion, Sci-Fi, Typography

:: Dan 11.4.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Couple of interesting posts over on Null Device.

Can India's most powerful black magician follow through with his assertion that he can kill a person within three-minutes using powerful black magic? An atheist volunteer proved otherwise.

Sounds like something that the US Military psy-corp should be considering.

Meanwhile the 'US Department of Homeland Security convenes a group of science fiction writers, dubbed "SIGMA", to brainstorm ideas for defending the nation; writers, instead, go off on bizarre tangents.'

Labels: Goats, Literature, Magic, Sci-Fi

:: Dan 27.3.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Conversations with a science visionary
Clarke's three laws:

1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
   
2. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
   
3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Labels: Literature, RIP, Sci-Fi

:: Dan 20.3.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Goatlab Radio with Dan Gusset, Ana Kissed and special guest James Binray - Jan 2008 [60MB MP3]
Tracklist:

• Robot Ninja Dinosaur Bastards - Come and Get Demented with the Dino Bastards (Wrong Music)
  
• Bernard Cribbins - Gossip Calypso
  
• Datach'i - I'm Not Afraid To Watch You Die (Planet Mu)
  
• Frog Pocket - Heavy Grunts (Planet Mu)
  
• Jimmy Soul - If You Want To Be Happy For The Rest of Your Life
  
• Bogdan Raczynski - Lowlands (Rephlex)
  
• Portishead - Machine Gun (ATP bootleg)
  
• The Tuss - Shiz Ko E (Rephlex)
  
• Lily Allen - Smile (acoustic)
  
• Hot Roddy - Crust Mantle Hell (Wrong Music)
  
• Phthalocyanine - Breakfast Beer (Planet Mu)
  
• DJ Lumpy's Penis Song (title not known)

I was feeling ill for this one so it's a bit more downbeat this month. Sorry to Chris Cook (Hot Roddy) who I couldn't remember what other artist name he went by, as his Same Actor work eluded me temporarily.)

WoBcast Unplugged - The return of the West of Bastard podcasts with DJ Lumpy, Andrewherring and Juxtaposeur. Worth the download for The Bony King of Nowhere from Bagpuss, Maypole (the oldest song in the English language, as heard in the Wicker Man soundtrack) and Destroying Something Beautiful's beautifully fragile acoustic version of Word Up.

Grimonmbiet: The best of 2007 mix [direct download and torrent]

CERN Poscast
Thanks to Bristle for pointing this out in the comments to the previous post. A chat-show style podcast of people visiting the CERN Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland, including the likes of Dean of Guildford Cathedral the Very Reverend Victor Stock, comedians Kevin Eldon and Simon Munnery, and Torchwood / Shark Attack 3: Megalodon star John Barrowman. I think this is about as internet as it gets. Even the greatest of the surrealists never dreamt of shit like this.

If you're interested in what's going on with Addict Records (as I mentioned in the Goatlab radio show) have a listen to Meatsock's interviews with Dan Doormouse [70MB MP3] and Billy Stunt Rock [51MB MP] he recorded for the whus.org show.

New net-lab releases "available to download today for zero pennies..."

NL35 - X&Trick - Planes, Trains and Highways
X&Trick on top form presenting his unique blend of Drum ‘n’ Bass, Industrial, Hardcore and Breakcore with plenty of fantastically obscure noises, thick bass and dischordant synths. Introduced by a collaborative track with Chevron, “Brighton”, each track on the release is recorded in a different location around the world and named accordingly. Dark, hard hitting and at times definitely summarising the euro/belgium scene, the release is also quite diverse, with the more melodic starting track through to “Dubai”, which is reminiscent of an Evol Intent / Current Value style dark drum and bass, and then completed by the pounding techno of “Gent”

NL36 - Mully - Dalston 2066
A collection of delicate pieces constrasting Mully’s previously heard style of work, each track an amalgamation of flowing melody, micro-beats, and ambience. Many of the tracks have a warm, contemplative feel, though also with a melancholy vibe throughout. “Icelandia” and “Beach” are definite first listen favorites, with tracks like “She Will Lose” that take a few more listens to really appreciate.

Labels: GoatLab, MP3, Physics, Sci-Fi, science

:: Dan 18.1.08 [Arc] [2 comments] [links to this post] ::
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As usual, here's my end-of-year reading list, of all the books I read this year, in order:

The Blind Watchmaker - Richard Dawkins
Secret Underground Bristol - Sally Watkins
The Crack in Space - Philip K Dick
Something Like Fire - Lyn Cook et al
Mother Tongue - Bill Bryson
Chocky - John Wyndham
Prelude to Space - Arthur C Clark
An Individual Note of Music Sound and Electronics - Daphne Oram
Homage to Catalonia - George Orwell
Them: Adventures With Extremists - Jon Ronson
Clans of the Alphane Moon - Philip K Dick
Freakonomics - Levitt & Dubner
Cybernetics or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine - Norbert Wiener
Now Wait For Last Year - Philip K Dick
A Computer Called Leo: Lyons Teashops and the World's First Office Computer – Georgina Ferry
The Sleeper Awakes – H.G. Wells
Microserfs – Douglas Coupland
Archispeak: An Illustrated Guide to Architectural Terms – Tom Porter
Confessions of a Crap Artist – Philip K. Dick
No Logo – Naomi Klein
Extreme Ironing – Phil Shaw
Slaughter House Five – Kurt Vonnegut
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch – Philip K Dick
Solar Lottery - Philip K Dick
Timequake - Kurt Vonnegut
Keep the Aspidistra Flying – George Orwell
The Road to Wigan Pier – George Orwell
Martian Time Slip – Philip K Dick (in progress)
The God Delusion – Richard Dawkins (in progress)

Labels: Literature, Reading, Sci-Fi

:: Dan 29.12.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Charlie Stross on underground security:

The solution to protecting the London Underground from terrorist suicide bombers can be summed up in one word: Daleks. One Dalek per tube platform, behind a door at the end. Fit them with cameras and remote controls and run them from Ken Livingstone's office. Any sign of terrorism on the platform? Whoosh! The doors open and the Dalek comes out, shrieking "exterminate!" in a demented rasp reminiscent of Michael Howard during his tenure as Home Secretary, only less merciful.

The British are trained from birth to know the two tactics for surviving a Dalek attack; run up the stairs (or escalator), or hide behind the sofa. There are no sofas in the underground, but there are plenty of escalators. Switch them to run upwards when the Dalek is out, and you can clear a platform in seconds.

Suicide bombers are by definition Un-British, and will therefore be unable to pass a citizenship test, much less deal with the Menace from Skaro. And as for motivating the Daleks, one need only mention that the current crop of would-be British suicide bombers are doctors ...

[via null device]

Labels: Dr Who, Humour, Sci-Fi, Secuirty

:: Dan 13.12.07 [Arc] [1 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Gearing up for the special edition directors cut Wired have this Q&A:
Ridley Scott Has Finally Created the Blade Runner He Always Imagined
via null device, who also pulls some pullquotes out of it:

J. Craig Venter
Geneticist
"The movie has an underlying assumption that I just don't relate to: that people want a slave class. As I imagine the potential of engineering the human genome, I think, wouldn't it be nice if we could have 10 times the cognitive capabilities we do have? But people ask me whether I could engineer a stupid person to work as a servant. I've gotten letters from guys in prison asking me to engineer women they could keep in their cell. I don't see us, as a society, doing that."

Doesn't this miss the entire point of the story. I don't think Dick ever intended any of his novels to be accurate representation of the future. He only wrote science-fiction because it was the only medium through which he could get his ideas published. The story is actually about the philosophical arguments about what is human.

From wikipedia:
Dick's inspiration for the central plot point involving androids which are indistinguishable from humans came from specific factors in his own life experience. First and foremost, he could not accept that the people who committed atrocities such as the Holocaust during World War II were truly human. He felt that they must be inhuman monsters who merely appeared to be human. While this was initially a figurative philosophical concept, Dick was a user of amphetamine, which he used to fuel his writing. As a result, he developed a high level of paranoia, and his notion about people appearing to be human when they were not became more literal.[citation needed]

Admittedly this is exactly the type of uncited reference that makes wikipedia unreliable, but having read it matches my understanding of it of the point he was trying to make.

Sci-Fi that tries to accurately predict the future is often boring. [cf. most Arthur C. Clark] Sci-Fi that asks 'what if?' is what is really interesting. The what if doesn’t have to be plausible, it's just a platform. It allows analysis of current thinking, be it scientific, philosophical, political, religious etc, from an outsiders point of view. That’s what makes it interesting as a medium.

Labels: Film, Literature, Sci-Fi

:: Dan 28.9.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Labels: Humour, Sci-Fi, Video

:: Dan 27.9.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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L.A.Times: Philip K. Dick's children work to ensure the influential author's cinematic legacy
[via lmg]

Labels: Literature, Sci-Fi

:: Dan 19.9.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Steampunk
Originally uploaded by pashasha.


dev.null quotes the Boston Globe's article on steampunk. Well worth a read if you're into moddified hardware or any of the science-fiction that inspires it (Verne, Wells, Gibson, Sterling, Stevenson etc.). Make sure you check the pictures, otherwise you'll just get the impression that all these people do it make up ridiculous names for things (eg "The Nagy Magical-Movable-Type Pixello-Dynamotronic Computational Engine") [login required on the BG site, some photos on Flickr here].

Terry Gilliam's film Brazil is also noted as an inspiration and it happens to be on BBC 2 tonight. The film is co-written by Tom Stoppard, which reminds me I meant to link to this story about Stoppard's time working on The Bristol Evening World, published from the very building I'm sat in as I type this.

P.S. Pashasha also has a great set of "Music Things" pictures.

Labels: Cyberpunk, Flickr, IT, Literature, Mods, Sci-Fi

:: Dan 29.8.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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