Author: imran
eComm 2009: Emerging Communications Conference
Next week sees the opening of the second edition of eComm, taking place in Burlingame, just outside San Francisco. Like the 2008 edition – and its two predecessor conferences of the O'Reilly ETel franchise – I've been part of the advisory board, roping in interesting speakers and contributors working at the intersection of telecoms and…
Röyksopp: Happy Up Here
I've been (guilty) hooked on Röyksopp's Happy Up Here for a few weeks and, last night, stumbled across the awesome video at the band's Vimeo account… It's a very clever mixed reality interpretation of Space Invaders – I wonder if director Reuben Sutherland was inspired by Futurama's Anthology of Interest II episode? But seriously, Röyksopp…
Y, El Último Hombre
This week's episode of Lost – '316' – features a gratuitously self-referential shot of Hurley reading Y, El Último Hombre, the Spanish language edition of Y: The Last Man, written in 2004 by one of Lost's current principal writers, Brian K. Vaughn… Nothing's ever a coincidence in the Lostiverse. Hurley is reading the fourth volume,…
Leeds’ Perfect Digital Day
Yesterday was a perfect day for Leeds' emerging digital industries… nti's Linda Broughton was interviewed about the forthcoming Leeds' Twestival, by BBC Radio Leeds. The free iTunes Single of the Week was Beeline, from Leeds-based band, Sky Larkin. Carsonified announced that the Future of Web Apps – Tour 2009 would be coming to Leeds on…
Islanded In A Stream of Stars
From Night on the Great Beach, in Henry Beston's The Outermost House… "For a moment of night we have a glimpse of ourselves and of our world islanded in its stream of stars— pilgrims of mortality, voyaging between horizons across eternal seas of space and time."
O’Reilly Ignite North
I've had a great, warm relationship with O'Reilly Media over the last half decade or so, hanging out at various ETech and Foo Camp events, striking up friendships with their people, helping plan both ETel conferences and contributing to Web2Expo Europe. Tim O'Reilly and I recently spoke about his background and it turns out his…
Sheffield: Made from Steel
The festivities of last month’s sophomore BarCamp in Sheffield, prompted sponsor Yorkshire Forward to offer a £500 prize to attendees who could best promote the city. We’ve already seen entries ranging from terror karaoke to hypnotic brain loops. So here’s my entry, paying homage to the city’s steelworking heritage, it’s celebrated celluloid child – The…
Our City, Our Music
Something interesting’s afoot in Leeds, as a group of the city’s digital artists prepare to record its first geo-located album, Our City, Our Music. We’re all accustomed to certain ‘geo-retarded’ music only being available digitally in the US, but what Ben Dalton, Megan Smith and Ben Halsall are proposing is to shoot a couple dozen…
MIND08 Drew Endy: Synthetic Biology
What does turning bacteria into banana milkshakes have to do with the promise of designing life? The bioengineer explains how synthetic biology's impact on future technologies could rival the transformative effects of the computer age, and why you might be involved. More at http://seedmagazine.com/mind08/mind08_drew-endy.html