OK, so I’m not holding a seance or anything, but this seems like a good follow-on from my previous post. I find it much easier to write when I’m on holiday, and so in sunnier climes last week I began writing at pace. Like most people, I also read a lot on my hols, and […]
As someone who is interested in Free culture as well as writing, I was struck when I came across this from a long list of tips for authors: “5 When information becomes free and universally accessible, voluminous research for a novel is devalued along with it”. When I think of my favourite novels (2001: A […]
I’ve just come across this article on ‘7 of the Best Free Linux Medical Imaging Software‘. It’s on Linux.com. Now, my problem with this is: why on earth do I want to know about this? And more to the point: why would anyone who does want to know about this want to know about it […]
Found out today that an old uni friend of mine also writes, and has read stuff out loud at an open mic night. Out loud. Cripes, I can barely read my own work to myself silently. Cojones, that man. Respect. Really wish I had more time to write. It’s great to know of someone who’s […]
There’s been a lot written and said these past few months on the subject of Free, Freemium, Freetards etc. And a hell of a lot of it has been crap. First there’s Free, by Chris Anderson, perhaps the Freemium bible. Then there’s Lilly Allen and those who fell upon Allen like several tonnes of bricks. […]
Very happy with myself today. I’ve done little writing (but this counts, right? ;)) but I’ve been catching up on a couple of writing blogs, and found that I’ve already been putting two of their ideas into practice. Writing this very blog entry is carrying out a third. Larry Brooks is the ‘Story Fixer‘. I […]
I’ve set up this new blog as a kind of diary. That’s almost a cliche isn’t it? But I mean it! I’m a writer, of fiction and non-fiction, but my only outlet at present is the Internet. The Internet is a wonderful place, though: a place to learn how to write, get your stuff seen […]
You need training to use a computer. If you’re not trained, you’re wrecking it for the rest of us. So maybe we’re not trained. Or rather, we’re self-trained. We take a natural interest in computers: how to make them faster, more useful, more powerful, more fun to use. Most people don’t, and that in itself […]
What is a semi-geeky blog without considering this question of a January? I was listening to the excellent-please-send-me-a-free-gift-cheers Tux Radar podcast on the way to work this morning, and they were discussing just that topic. Thankfully they said straight away that the question was becoming ever more clearly a stupid one, and possibly irrelevant. A […]
I feel like the web, Web 2.0, Freemium, Twitter, AJAX and all that other crazy stuff we find ourselves mired in is about to implode. The backlash has begun. It’s likely because ‘normal’ people (also known as ‘the rest of us’) are now involved (as it should be). I also think that we’re on course […]