Links (and an Apology)
by Pete Hindle
I’ve really slowed down on writing things recently, as a lot of energy has been directed towards getting the state to pay me benefits. Unlike my friends, it seems that governance is totally unimpressed at my near-death experience, and I’ve been forced to spend a lot of time filling out forms, making complaints, and talking to call centre staff in Luton.
Which wasn’t quite how I planned to spend my recuperation.
So my apologies for not cranking out grist for this particular mill on a more regular basis. I’ve been busy. I’m probably going to keep on being busy. Here are some links to keep you busy:
Five Creepy Ways Video Games are Trying to Get You Addicted – excellent article about the tricks used to get you playing computer games from cracked.com, which I thought was just a dumping ground for brash American humour. If you read this, you’ll know why you’ve been distracting yourself from work so much.
Idle Words tackles Scurvy – a long and thoughtful article about scurvy, in particular scurvy and the Scott expedition. From Idle Words, which has a great and very long archive of interesting stuff that could keep you distracted for a while.
The Battle for Britain’s Libraries – the Guardian tackles the new library culture spring up, namely a question of if we should have super-libraries (like Newcastle’s new city-centre library) or regional branches (which don’t have gee-whiz stuff like the internet). Contains this amazing factoid – “Since 1997 there has been a 1,150% rise in lap-dancing clubs in Britain, and a 6% decline in the number of libraries”.
The Terminator’s Gun – it must be scifi gun season, as Ars Technica gives us the behind-the-scenes tail of Arnie’s laser-sighted pistol, while Boingboing gives us the making of a replica Blade Runner gun. Frankly, I stopped giving a shit about Blade Runner after the third directors cut, and would have preferred a spin-off, sequel 
the article about ‘super-libraries’ was interesting… But I wonder, realistically, how many of the new visitors to those ‘hyperlibraries’ of the skinnymacciato drinking generation will really engage with the antediluvian tradition of reading books (i.e. not simply popping in for a coffee and to check their facebook updates)
“Like public parks, libraries are particularly valuable in capitalist cityscapes, where you are incessantly encouraged to keep moving, keep spending – and don’t even think about doing anything economically unproductive”