The Null Device
2002/9/20
Is anybody else having trouble getting through to GJW's blog? the-fix.org now seems to resolve to some corporate portal with "free credit repair" and "private investigators" and other things with a clammy, spamlike feeling about them.
And while we're on the subject of bootywhang, here's a comprehensive Venn diagram of sexual fetishes, from the commonplace to the bizarre. (via Charlie's Diary)
Greenpeace have released a guide to environmentally safe sex, for highly principled people, with advice such as "if you like to use produce to get the blood boiling, make sure it is GE-free", and making sure that paddles are made from sustainably-harvested timber; not to mention suggestions for role-playing S&M games such as "George Bush and Corporate America at the Earth Summit":
6. Have you got something more than a good time up your sleeve. Could it be polyvinyl chloride? Ditch the PVC and vinyl accessories for your playtime. The production of PVC creates and releases one of the most toxic chemicals - dioxin. You also don't want to be sucking on that stuff. The use of PVC in young children's toys has already been banned in many countries. Instead, opt for accessories made from natural substances like rubber or leather.
Not sure what animal-liberation groups will think of Greenpeace telling people to use leather instead of PVC. How about sex toys made from hemp and recycled tyres?
An Israeli hacker has written a program for extracting audio from scans of vinyl records. The sound quality isn't brilliant, though the original material is identifiable. Many suspected it was a hoax; though the author has now released source code. I wonder whether high-fidelity audio extraction could be achieved with commodity image scanners and audio-enhancement software.
Some good news: of the 2,400 nuclear warheads that were in the Ukraine, over 90% have been accounted for. That's a load off everybody's mind.
A short (30 second) video fragment I took at last night's Ninetynine performance. The bad camerawork is mine. (5.5Mb; AVI format, with somewhat dodgy sound).
For some reason, the How indie are you? test thinks that I am a scenester. (via Reenhead)
You are so indie it hurts. You hang out with the coolest people in your city. It doesn't even bother you that none of them know your name. You know lots of bands personally, you know a couple of guys from We Hate The Mainstream Records, and you blag your way into getting almost everything for free. That fanzine you write gives you extra kudos. You probably don't even care that non-scenesters think you're a pretentious fuck.
Which is rather amusing, if totally, er, mostly incorrect. (Shut up, Graham.)
Anyway, writing a blog is apparently nowhere near as cool or indie as writing a photocopied zine, because blogs don't have the cachet of the scarcity/obscurity factor. (cf: mp3.com sites vs. 7" split singles. Any suburban bogan can put something on the web, but only the hippest of hipsters actually have stylishly crappy-looking bits of photocopied paper with twee-looking drawings on the front in all the right shops.)