machine-envy

So in the end I pulled the Index piece. Rohan did a lot more work on it, but still made open source the main argument. I’ve come out of the experience pretty down, but I’m moving on.

After all, 249 people visited this site in the last four days, and I’ve got to give them more to read than me pissing and moaning. I’m going to ignore what a friend at PC Advisor magazine told me on Tuesday, that it’s just Googlebots trawling the site. It can’t be long until the bots gain consciousness and take over the world - maybe they’ll spare me if they’re already fans.

I’m off work today with laryngitis - coughing up all sorts of gremlins that wouldn’t be welcome in the office. I resolved at three am this morning to stop smoking. But if I only tell the Googlebots then who’s to object when I start again next week?

Spent the whole day blog-surfing in bed. Intrigued by Jason Kottke’s delusion that he can give up working forever and become a full time blogger. I’m going to get a bit more bloggy here, but I won’t install Typepad until I get a few emails letting me know somebody’s listening. Otherwise it would just be me, the bots and the comment spammers.

It makes sense as now I’m working I’ll be writing less. And I’ve had enough of reporting events on the copyfight circuit for a while. Last Thursday, fresh from pulling my piece on Index because it damaged the anti-patent lobby in its hyperedited form, I was accused of “working for the Guardian” at an OKFN meet. So if you want to know about Crown copyright, parliamentary copyright and the Access to Knowledge treaty you’ll have to go elsewhere today. (Cue the sound of 249 people hitting the back button). I’m sulking.

Instead this week I’m working on a long feature piece about the “nu” music industry, as in the guys who are going to pick up the evolutionary baton when the old dinosaur disappears in a puff of litigation and bloatware. So far I’ve interviewed Audioscrobbler/last.fm, Loca Records, Remix Reading and Will Rokier (he of Chems mashup fame). Any further suggestions welcome.

Finally, I should be in Music Week this week, shouting down David Ferguson after he published some FUD on Creative Commons. Can anyone confirm? The bastards haven’t sent me a copy and I couldn’t find it anywhere in East London even if I could get out of bed. It’s my first ever photo byline - perhaps the ultimate ambition of my writing career - so I’m filled with girlish glee.