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Every man and his dog is playing Skyrim, to the sound of wailing and gnashing of teeth of spouses/girlfriends, howling in impotent rage as their man is sucked into a strange world. A world where the less armour a lady wears, the better her armour rating. A world where people don’t freeze to death standing in the middle of a stone courtyard being blasted by horizontal snow dressed in a vest and sackcloth trousers. ...

There is a terrifying new Bill in the works over in the jolly old US of A. It’s called the *Protect IP* bill. It’s been backed by some pretty powerful conglomerates and it’s primarily driven by the entertainment industry. While I wholly oppose piracy and believe in supporting artists for the hard work they do, I also utterly disagree with what is happening right now, *this*very moment, to the Internet. The Protect IP bill will bring to accountability any provider of a platform or medium or means to share content – ISPs, Facebook, YouTube, Blogger, Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, uncountable forums, any blogs and many other outlets for free speech. ...

My friend Chris Baker was rocking some kickass tunes at the circus jam last night and one of them was this awesome little piece which has been stuck in my head for a good hour now. The bastard played it at the end of his set. Chromeo’s Night By Night has been remixed into something far less cheesy and more awesome. Electronic music cures what ails you! He’s also DJing at the Imaginarium party in a few weeks – I’ll fish out the URL once I find the flyer. ...

I saw this a while back and it’s the simplest intro to any event I’ve ever seen but it’s the more powerful for it. It’s since been remixed and made awesomer. It’s really really worth watching. To Write Love On Her Arms is a charity dedicated to helping people get through depression and the work they do is pretty amazing and you should go check them out and support them! ...

I’ve been meaning to shoot some HDR images for a while now, ever since I got some funky custom firmware for my camera that allows for such shenanigans and makes it easier. So finally I got out and shot some!

My friend Mark Steyn, an awesome contact juggler just posted this quick short of him doing a routine in London. Well worth a look!

I saw this project on thisiscolossal.com and I’m determined to make this into a piece to go on my wall. This is so simple and elegant and, frankly, amazing. All credit goes to thisiscolossal and crafterall for finding and making this!

I’ve been following the escapades (you’ll see the pun momentarily) of ExtraCreditz for some time now. They’ve been posting hugely informative videos about all kinds of aspects of gaming that aren’t often coveredby mainstream gaming media. Unfortunately, The Escapist decided they’d screw them over after Alison, their animator injured her shoulder. $103,814. People REALLY like ExtraCreditzThere was a fundraiser to help cover her surgery as the insurance company – something that terrifies me about the USA – said they wouldn’t pay because it was a ‘pre-existing condition’. ...

My friend Tina pointed me at this rather incredible DJ who periodically makes very chilled dubstep-y mixes. The mixes are over an hour and a half long and they flow from incredibly chilled to energetic without being in-your-face like a lot of dubstep is. To me, the difference between full-on *‘wob-wob-wob-wob’* dubstep and the more relaxed flavours is that while the former assaults your senses with sound, the latter has some spaces in the music for your thoughts and lets you experience the music better as you aren’t trying to fight off waves of sensory overload. ...

I have a whole bunch of things to share this time around. I’ve been largely ignoring this blog, except as a glorified link dump. Which has worked surprisingly well, actually! So today, I have not only music, but awesome miscellanea to share with the Internets. The first thing is Welder’s new track: https://youtu.be/pbRm5gis2nY It’s pretty relaxed and takes a while to wind up to full speed, but it’s wonderful to listen to. ...

relationships are weird sometimesA friend of mine linked this article on Facebook. I read it and lo, I beheld that it was wise and good. More than that, it mirrored the changes that took place in my own head over the last 3-4 years. I’m equal parts happy that this advice is out there and sad that nobody ever told me this shit. It took a good few months of depression and some serious conversations with my friend who became my ‘girlfriend’* to get me over the depression and show me all the stuff that this piece talks about. ...

Someone at work plugged this bad boy into the sound system and it’s sublime! Röyksopp never fails to make more awesome. The buildup in this tune is spectacular but doesn’t leave you waiting as much as some tunes do, for which I have massive respect. Also, it strikes me as a badass tribal bellydance tune! Listen, enjoy, comment, share!

I’ve had this conversation with a few people now and the overwhelming consensus is towards agreement. In the UK, the police operate on the basis of *policing by consent.* That doesn’t mean that the police can only arrest you if you *agree* to your arrest – that would be ludicrous. It means that the police force’s effectiveness and even its existence is dictated by the people’s agreement that they represent the rule of law. ...

I’ve been loosely keeping my finger on the pulse of what’s been going on over the last few days. So far I’ve seen some interesting facets of society emerge during the London riots: The mindless fuckwits who are intent on burning/smashing/looting everything under the sun because they’vebeen granted crowd anonymity. The awesome humanitarian/community projects that have arisen as a result like the glorious #riotcleanup and Operation Cup of Tea movement. ...

So North London exploded in rioting and fires and all sorts and this has been going on for the best part of 3 days now. While there are folks out there better qualified than I to report on the whys and wherefores of the situation, the one thing that’s struck me when watching the news coverage of what’s going on is the wording and general feel of the reporting. To me, it feels like the media is trying as hard as it can to distance those carrying out the looting, rioting, etc from the populace. ...

My friend Katelyn played me In My Mind by Amanda Palmer on her guitar and it stuck. So now I’ve managed to track down the tabs and lyrics and am going to start learning it! The lyrics are a great reminder to live in the present instead of constantly planning and thinking about how things are going to pan out in the future. Hippy-esque rant over! Enjoy the tune! That and Amanda Palmer’s CD cover looks quite amusing! ...

It’s been an age since I got a clip of myself just jamming with my poi, but we managed to get one when I went north to Arbroath to visit a friend. It was an amazing day and there was nobody around for miles so we had ourselves a play session! While it’s not hugely varied, it serves as a nice reminder for me to mix things up some and to remember long-forgotten or little-used moves and patterns as at the moment, I need reminding that variety is the spice of life! ...

Came across this on Beatport – it’s a track on Simplify Records and it’s a lovely dark, moody, yet chilled dubstep-ish sort of noise. Well worth a listen to. It’s a great mix between the almost grimy side of dubstep and delicious acoustic sounds without assaulting your senses! Grab it on Beatport if you want to support the artist! Honestly, do it. It’ll make you a better human being, somehow! ...