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Linkfest: May 30th – June 5th

Shaun CG — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 16:03:13 +0000

Del.icio.us links for May 30th through June 5th:

Bissell, Braid, and the Use of Words | Emily Short’s Interactive Storytelling – This is a key passage in a much lengthier discussion that left me with increased respect for Braid and for the other things its creator was trying to say. Blow’s ideas, elicited and then elaborated by Bissell, made more sense to me than Blow in his own words.
And all at once there crystallized for me what I find problematic about Braid.
Tags: games writing indiegames art
Alice Launch Trailer Is Messed Up, Amazing | Rock, Paper, Shotgun – They are not wrong.
Tags: games trailer video
New Statesman – Human cost of welfare reform – There used to be a liberal consensus that it was the government’s responsibility to provide employment and ensure that those unable to work were entitled to a minimum standard of living. As the Welfare Reform Bill oozes unchallenged through the Commons, the real scandal is not that the government is lying through its teeth in order to justify its evisceration of the welfare state. The scandal is that no one in Westminster is prepared to make a moral case for welfare provision as the honest heart of social democracy.
Tags: employment work britain cuts coalition
LENIN’S TOMB: Class and common sense – The ‘Chavs’ phenomenon condenses many of the themes of this savage creed. It charges poor people with getting ideas above their station, with being feckless and irresponsible with money, tasteless, stupid, drunk, thuggish, and barbaric. In the guise of lewd satire, celeb-bashing and tart social commentary, it gives us a hit of class hatred. It references, and caricatures, the outward signs of social problems such as poverty, alcoholism, bad education and so on, but does so in the manner of a taxonomising anthropologist or zoologist, naturalising these very signs as qualities of a particular social sub-species: here a ‘pramface’, there a ‘Croydon facelift’, and mark the Burberry and inauthentic branded wear. The ‘chav’ is a folk devil, the quasi-satirical subject of the last decade’s repeated moral panics about the ‘underclass’: nightmare neighbours, feral youths, ASBO kids, and so on.
Tags: chavs classconsciousness workingclass underclass bigotry neoliberalism britain
Punknews.org | David Combs (Spoonboy, Max Levine Ensemble) talks sexism in the punk scene – “In a punk context, I can say with certainty that the scenes I’ve visited that were the most gender inclusive have always been the most exciting and thriving music communities. There’s nothing to be gained for men in maintaining the boy’s club.” Excellent essay on sexism in punk. The comments even show some signs of brane which is pretty unusual for PunkNews.
Tags: sexism punk music scenes
The Keepers Of All Games Article – - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net – The National Archives, Kew: home to records, documents and other ephemera of cultural importance. It may be a short distance from the grime and bustle of Westminster, where Britain’s future is cut and shaped daily, but to enter its leafy grounds is to press pause on that work. Instead, it offers a chance to reflect upon and study the notable detritus of our past, a national Wikipedia made of bricks and mortar, where history is held and filed in neat, curated rows.
It’s here that Iain Simons and James Newman, co-founders of the National Videogame Archive project, have called a meeting to discuss their efforts to preserve the digital heritage of the interactive entertainment industry. It’s a poignant choice of venue. For all the great many things preserved at The National Archives, not one is a video game.
Tags: gaming history documentingthepast
Egypt: Gene Sharp Taught Us How To Revolt! · Global Voices – “Last February, Sheryl Stolberg of The New York Times wrote an article about the political science professor, Gene Sharp, whose ideas were credited by her as being an inspiration for the Egyptian revolution, as well as many other uprisings in the region.” Western media claiming credit for the Egyptian revolution? Never!
Tags: media revolution revolutionarytheory funny mockery
Twitter won’t bring down Ahmadinejad – Mike Madden – Salon.com – The crackdown by Iranian authorities on traditional journalism means Twitter and Facebook updates — at least the ones by people who are actually there — are providing a real service; the more widely the message is spread, the more the world can be outraged by the government’s oppressive reaction to the protests. Still, the Internet isn’t causing a revolution — it’s documenting it. That’s plenty to be proud of, without needing to exaggerate things in the name of solidarity. So keep the Tweets coming. Just don’t forget that the real action — and the real risk — isn’t happening anywhere near a computer.
Tags: socialmedia socialnetworks revolution activism iran democracy protest
5 Reasons Twitter Isn’t Actually Overthrowing Governments | Cracked.com – “During the recent spate of revolutions in the Middle East you couldn’t turn on the news without hearing a comment about how important Twitter or Facebook was to the protesters. By the time a former national security advisor suggested nominating Twitter for the Nobel Peace Prize, you probably got the impression that social networking was saving the world. Sadly, the reality is that Twitter was about as important to the revolution as Bill Paxton was to the marines in Aliens. Why?” This whole ‘social media as a revolutionary tool’ thing has always rung false to me, so good to see more writers taking the myth apart…
Tags: socialnetworks revolution protest activism socialmedia twitter facebook
LENIN’S TOMB: Not saving the Liberals – Dan Hind makes some astute observations here, on the need to break the coalition before the next election. He argues for a strategy designed to split the Liberals, and in so doing save them from historical oblivion. A few observations, then.
Tags: liberaldemocrats neoliberalism economics britain politics strategy radicalism
Poll: everything more popular than Daily Mail | Liberal Conspiracy – When asked whether they regarded various things as “positive or negative aspects of Britain today”, the Daily Mail came out bottom, viewed less positively than “membership of the European Union”, “the TUC”, “ethnic and religious diversity”, “civil partnerships for gay couples” and “the BBC”. The NHS was viewed most positively, then the BBC, then the Royal Family.
Tags: polls statistics britain
I live sweat… – “…I needed an alternative to mainstream society – the space to be who i want to be.” Lou Hanman of Caves on strict gender norms and their impact on punk and hardcore. – It was really great to be asked by Andy to contribute to his series on sexism in punk. When he said he’d been trying to think of someone from a band in the UK punk scene, to write something from a UK point of view, it sounded like he couldn’t think of many people.
This makes me feel sad and reminded me of a question I recently answered for a zine – “What it’s like for a woman in punk – do I feel outnumbered?”
Tags: caves bristol punk sexism feminism
‘Call of Duty’ Targets a Monthly Fee – WSJ.com – “Consumers are used to paying $60 each for videogames that run on consoles like the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Now the publisher behind the industry’s biggest videogame franchise— “Call of Duty”—is about to find out whether it can get them to pay a monthly bill, too.” So, Activision are actually going for this. I am kind of hoping for egg on their faces.
Tags: videogames callofduty activision exploitation puregreed
ATLAS HOODS: BOTSWANA’S COWBOY METALHEADS – Viceland Today – Love it or hate it, when most people think of metal, they think of white dudes. Even if metal was born from the blues and there are growing scenes in places like Indonesia and Peru, metal’s founding fathers–Priest, Sabbath, Maiden–and most of those who’ve come after have been unmistakably Caucasian. Which is why I was pleasantly surprised to find out about a small but passionate collection of guys who dressed like doomsday cowboys and listened to Motorhead in the predominantly black, central African country of Botswana.
Tags: metal africa scenes botswana
Kill Screen – 5-10-15-20: Bryan Lee O’Malley – As you may know, we’ve partnered up with Pitchfork to do a variety of things, big and small. One of those is borrow! The 5-10-15-20 format is something they dreamed up more than two years ago to ask musicians about music that moved them at five-year intervals. We’re doing the same for videogame people. First up—Scott Pilgrim creator Bryan Lee O’Malley, who’s been blessed with the trifecta of comic, film, and game for his cast of pugilistic outcasts.
Tags: bryanleeomalley scottpilgrim videogames biography

Linkfest: July 5th – July 12th

Shaun CG — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 11:00:43 +0000

Del.icio.us links for July 5th through July 15th:

How to Prepare for Studio Recording with a Click-Track – Expect the click-track to annoy you. Expect to have difficulties executing certain fills, song sections, or transitions that you previously assumed were “in time.” Allow yourself time to adjust to the sound and feel of playing with a metronome, and if necessary to rewrite the parts you are playing. Whether your studio date is coming up in one week or in several months, you will benefit from designating a practice schedule and sticking to it. No matter what schedule you agree to, however, you need to allow time to set tempos, practice at the documented tempos, and slowly adjust the tempos upward until you reach the final “pocket.”
Tags: music recording practice precision technique songwriting
“Not Rape Epidemic”: The Modeling Industry Is Anything But Immune – “I was struck, reading the piece — which is both moving and important — by a strange feeling of recognition. Peterson defines a new term, “not rape” — the kind of sex and sexual attention young women get from men which is, if not outright unconsenting, some measure of coerced. Not rape is every kind of uncomfortable experience you’re made to feel complicit in: for choosing to go to the party, for wanting the kisses but not knowing how to say ‘No’ to what came next, for ending up alone with someone you thought you could trust — or, in Peterson’s case, for opening the screen door a few inches to a friend-of-a-friend one summer afternoon while her parents were out. The essay made me think of all the times I’ve not been raped. And all the other women in my industry who’ve not been raped.”
Tags: rape sexualassault gender modelling fashionindustry
Laurie Penny, “Youth Politics and Revolution” – Not every generation gets the politics it deserves. When baby boomer journalists and politicians talk about engaging with youth politics, what they generally mean is engaging with a caucus of energetic, compliant under-25s who are willing to give their time for free to causes led by grown ups.
Tags: youth rebellion activism politics uk britain unemployment generationaldisparity
Rebel Frequencies: There is Power In a Boycott – “It’s not infrequent in our highly depoliticized society for an outspoken artist to be attacked for daring to take a stand. As long as profit comes before integrity, then “shut up and sing” will be the rule of the day in the music industry; musicians will be in the position of defending their views and actions. There’s a difference, however, when the denunciation comes from an ally.” Alexander Billet on criticisms of the Arizona Sound Strike boycott.
Tags: boycott politics activism usa arizona music
Trailer for Beijing Punk released – The first official trailer has been posted for Beijing Punk, a new documentary by filmmaker Shaun Jefford. Jefford toured China and met a number of fiercely (and legally) underground Chinese punk and hardcore acts including Misandao, Demerit, Hedgehog, The Gar, PK14, Candy Monster and Joyside.. As the trailer notes, the entire movement is forbidden by the communist government which has banned rock from television and most live performances since the 1990s.
Tags: trailer video documentary punk china
few points about, translations & interpretations of, & arguments with a standard exemplar of the stenchful & emetic. – Mieville poking holes in some common rhetoric employed to undercut radical writers and activists; here, a Guardian review of Chomsky.
Tags: writing criticism reviews radicalism noamchomsky chinamieville
Study: U.S. Pets’ Healthcare Better Than Rwandan Humans’ | The Onion – America’s Finest News Source – PHILADELPHIA–A University of Pennsylvania study released Monday found that U.S. pets enjoy superior healthcare to that of Rwandan humans.
Tags: satire healthcare wealth medicine usa rwanda
The 6 Most Gigantic Everything in the History of War – In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “War makes people act like dicks.” We don’t want to glorify war or otherwise portray it as something other than terrible. Yet, war makes people think big, and sometimes you have to sit back and be amazed by what humans can accomplish when they really, really want to kill each other.
Tags: war history interesting
Twilight Makes for the Best Fanwank Ever – Apparently even “R-Patz” can’t stand the awful phenomenon that is Twilight.
Tags: funny fanwank criticism
Twilight | Cracked.com – Some poor bastards read the series so we don’t have to.
Tags: funny fanwank
LRB · Jenny Turner · Who Are They? – “I’ve been watching these people off and on for years now, since I was a student in the 1980s and they called themselves the Revolutionary Communist Party. I find them fascinating, peculiar, entertaining, a real-life soap: who are these people, what on earth do they think they’re up to?” Lengthy article about the Revolutionary Communist Party, Spiked online, the “Living Marxist network”, and the annual Battle of Ideas conference.
Tags: politics activism lobbyists britain history marxism libertarianism socialism critique
Picnik – Another free online image editor.
Tags: online free software web2.0 photoshop editing design graphics
Photo editor online pixlr free edit image direct in your browser – Free online Photoshop-style image editor.
Tags: online free software web2.0 photoshop editing design graphics
Abused, humiliated and abandoned. What really happens when the UK deports failed asylum-seekers – “[F]lights are being used by the UK Border Agency (UKBA) with increasing frequency to return failed asylum-seekers. They are shrouded in secrecy, but an investigation by The Independent has put together details of the process, including the companies and airlines involved, the conditions on board, the techniques permitted, and the contracts of those paid to escort deportees. Though the records of activists, charities, befrienders, and the testimony of deportees themselves, it is possible to build up a picture of chartered and scheduled removal from Britain.”
Tags: immigration asylumseekers britain deportation humanrights abuse
Bastards Of Young – A stream of their debut album… at last!
Tags: band music
Le pré où je suis mort (download EP for free!) on MySpace Music – Wicked French emo/screamo band. Recently toured the UK with La Dispute.
Tags: band music hotdamn!
‘Hollywood Accounting’ Losing In The Courts – If you follow the entertainment business at all, you’re probably well aware of “Hollywood accounting,” whereby very, very, very few entertainment products are technically “profitable,” even as they earn studios millions of dollars. A couple months ago, the Planet Money folks did a great episode explaining how this works in very simple terms. The really, really, really simplified version is that Hollywood sets up a separate corporation for each movie with the intent that this corporation will take on losses. The studio then charges the “film corporation” a huge fee (which creates a large part of the “expense” that leads to the loss). The end result is that the studio still rakes in the cash, but for accounting purposes the film is a money “loser” — which matters quite a bit for anyone who is supposed to get a cut of any profits.
Tags: accounting economics profit hollywood filmmaking
RIAA Accounting: Why Even Major Label Musicians Rarely Make Money From Album Sales – “We recently had a fun post about Hollywood accounting, about how the movie industry makes sure even big hit movies “lose money” on paper. So how about the recording industry? Well, they’re pretty famous for doing something quite similar. Reader Jay pointed out in the comments an article from The Root that goes through who gets paid what for music sales, and the basic answer is not the musician. That report suggests that for every $1,000 sold, the average musician gets $23.40.” Good article, rounds up and quotes some other famous ones too.
Tags: musicindustry riaa economics marketing music accounting
18th-Century Ship Found at Trade Center Site – On Tuesday morning, workers excavating the site of the underground vehicle security center for the future World Trade Center hit a row of sturdy, upright wood timbers, regularly spaced, sticking out of a briny gray muck flecked with oyster shells.
Obviously, these were more than just remnants of the wooden cribbing used in the late 18th and early 19th centuries to extend the shoreline of Manhattan Island ever farther into the Hudson River. (Lower Manhattan real estate was a precious commodity even then.)
Tags: archaeology history usa new york
Tory shock therapy for the NHS is an attack on democracy – “Coming alongside cuts, these [neoliberal] reforms mean that the NHS as a service free at the point of delivery, providing quality all-round care for all, is under serious attack. This is being promulgated alongside Michael Gove’s attempt to roll back a public, comprehensive, democratically accountable education system. This isn’t happening because of the deficit, it isn’t happening because people want it, least of all is it happening because of the result of the 2010 general election – please let us be spared that insult. It’s an attack on the welfare state, it’s an attack on the working class, and it’s an attack on democracy.”
Tags: NHS healthcare britain coalition tories classwar neoliberalism
Bill Hicks – a romantic out of time – “Kurt Cobain once called grunge the last wave of rock. Around the same time Bill Hicks became the first rock and roll comedian.”
Tags: comedy standup iconoclasts culture politics
All Tarkovsky Films Now Free Online – Thanks to the Film Annex, you can now watch the complete collection of Tarkovsky films online – for free. Each film is listed in our Free Movie collection, but here you can access each major film in the order in which they were made.
Tags: film andreitarkovsky free video stream
Britain Rolls Out Own Unmanned Killer Jet – “Tired of not having their own manless killer plane, Britain just rolled out the $216 million Taranis, a flying deathbot drone named after the Celtic god of thunder. Or misspelled dinosaur (Taranisaurus Rex).” Oh good, we need unmanned drones more than 2.5 million jobs.
Tags: war unmanneddrones weapons britain

Linkfest: March 16th

Shaun CG — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:04:50 +0000

Del.icio.us links for March 16th:

Interview: Alan Moore talks about Watchmen, Hollywood and pornography – Novelist, magician and “guru of the graphic novel” Alan Moore talks to Steve Rose about Watchmen, the dark side of Hollywood and the morality of pornography.
Sexy Videogameland: Tunes For Thought – I continue to believe that games have far more in common with music than with any other media, in terms of how the biz is experienced and discussed — regardless of how useful the film and game connection can sometimes be.
Nostalgia for the Future » Sleep Dealer – Trailer for a Mexican independent film. Looks like a cutting-edge post-cyberpunk SF tale.
Why Is Her Paycheck Smaller? – Interactive Graphic – Nearly every occupation has the gap — the seemingly unbridgeable chasm between the size of the paycheck brought home by a woman and the larger one earned by a man doing the same job.
i wanted to be a junkie but Buffy wouldn’t let me « the m john harrison blog – “Urban fantasy: the domestication of a few images & behavioural tics which were barely unacceptable in the first place.” … “Every generation invents a threat posture which has to be acknowledged & made safe.”