Kester Brewin

Interesting piece on the Black Eyed Peas, who are releasing their forthcoming album with a deliberate view to listeners mashing it up, uploading the results – which could then be released as an ‘upgrade’ in the future.
Another example of how piracy has actually energised bands and the music industry to innovate.

Nic and I have been having some good exchanges recently around issues of our relationship with technology. It’s something that’s prominent in the forthcoming book, but I wanted to introduce a few of the ideas here and hopefully provoke some debate to sharpen my own thoughts.
My view is that while we do create tools, our [...]

This could change publishing – and book selling – for ever.

Very interesting programme on Radio 4 today about the carbon cost of our digital lives. Increased use of digital technology can have green benefits with reduced travel etc., but we what the piece uncovered so well was the huge energy draw that data centres create. Each time we upload a picture to Facebook, or request [...]

The people at ‘Boredom Research Labs’ have designed ‘the world’s first webmail service using real live snails.’
Yes you read that correctly.
Actually, the thinking behind the project, or at least post-event justification, is to slow technology down, as a form of discipline or meditation. You send your email in the normal way, and this is [...]

I enjoy most things about city life, but one of the perennial frustrations is noise. Light pollution, on the micro scale at least, is fairly easy to manage. We can shut our curtains or buy special blinds, and shut our eyes if need be. And, while some objects are foul to look at, we [...]

I finally got round to watching ‘Reverend Death’, Jon Ronson’s documentary about George Exoo, a Unitarian minister who has performed around 100 ‘assisted suicides’, mainly for those who have been turned down by other organisations practising legally in places/states where it is carefully controlled because they do not have terminal illnesses.
Most of the people [...]

Two pieces followed one-another on the radio this morning:

MPs voted last night to remove the clause that required IVF clinics to consider the need for a child to have a father and a mother – essentially opening the way for women to have the treatment without any father-figure being present in the prospective child’s life.

And [...]