Spotify Playlist for Dot to Dot 2012

Posted on May 8, 2012 by greggannicott

I’m going to the Dot to Dot festival in Bristol on June 2nd. The few bands I am familiar with in the line-up suggest that the rest of the line-up is impressive, and at £22 a ticket for a day’s worth of live music I couldn’t resist.

As I hinted at though, I’m unfamiliar with almost all the bands and artists. With that in mind, I’ve created a Spotify playlist with all the bands currently announced to play at the festival. Roughly speaking, the rules were either the latest album from each artist/band or if they’ve only released singles or a couple EPs, all of those.

Please feel free to subscribe. If there are any bands performing that you can recommend, you’re welcome to comment below or friend me on Spotify and post some to my inbox.

Falklands War: SAS role in the conflict

Posted on May 4, 2012 by greggannicott

“We were written off to save our capital ships. I remember it well – my wife was eight months pregnant,” he said. “We didnt at any time question the mission, we questioned how to do it successfully, which was our right.”

via BBC NEWS – Falklands War: SAS role in the conflict.

I always kind of assume these types of missions just happen in the movies. Not so it seems.

LA Riots

Posted on April 29, 2012 by greggannicott

Some LAPD officers reporting on disturbances in the black communities of South Los Angeles in 1992 used code to describe disturbances in their areas: NHI – “No Humans Involved”.

Members of the predominantly white, male police force said it was “gallows humour” and regularly described the African-Americans they were meant to protect and serve as “monkeys” and “gorillas”.

Via LA riots: How 1992 changed the police

Wow. I’m probably being naive but I’m shocked that this was happening only 20 years ago. I wonder how much of it goes on now-a-days?

5 by 5 Studios

Posted on April 13, 2012 by greggannicott

I have some big news: starting today, I’m podcasting for a living.

via Introducing 5 by 5 Studios.

I just found this post from when 5 by 5 started (January 10th, 2010). I can’t believe it’s such a young network! I thought I was listening to a fairly mature one when I started subscribing to The Talk Show, but it turns out it was still early days.

I’ve been meaning to write more about 5 by 5 and TWiT etc, but I’ll save that for another time.

Mike Tyson Quote

Posted on April 12, 2012 by greggannicott

“Everyone has a plan ’till they get punched in the mouth.”

Mike Tyson

Would you pay more for an eBook?

Posted on April 11, 2012 by greggannicott

eBooks should be inexpensive. Because I can’t loan them (with rare exceptions), because I can’t resell them, because I can’t buy a cheaper used copy, because I’m only licensed to read them at all on “supported” readers under whatever terms the publishers will allow me to, an eBook simply has less utility and value to me. Right now, eBooks are far less flexible than physical books and therefore a worse value. Yet they are far cheaper to produce and sell for everyone involved. The pricing absolutely has to reflect this. If I can get a used copy of a book for less than the eBook, no sale. If I can get a new copy of a book for less than the eBook, no sale and screw you.

Via Bits vs Atoms

Jeff Atwood thinks you should pay less for an eBook, and explains why. He has a lot of valid points. However, the reason I’d actually happily pay more for an eBook is for the convenience of having the book with me at all times (thanks to my phone) without having to carry it with me, and get it out of my bag each time I want to read it.

The fact is I’m more likely to finish an eBook than a traditional book, and I’m willing to pay extra for that.