Nick over at In the Gnar wrote a nice review of my zine from last summer called “labcabinalabama.”
Thanks to Nick for the kind words. Check out his review, and check out the rest of In the Gnar.
A New Level
The old Level Magazine was one of those titles that put the Life in “lifestyle” magazine — and it’s back online starting today! Editor/publisher/leader Chris Noble invited me to contribute, so I’ll be posting bits over there on a regular.
Here’s the history of the magazine direct from Chris:
In 1999, the magazine Level was born. Brothers Mark and Chris Noble, publishers of a BMX magazine and a core MTB magazine, got bored of going into their local newsagent and seeing nothing on the lifestyle shelves for them or their like. The US had produced Grand Royal, a happy-go-lucky hobby, more or less, of The Beastie Boys, and Mark and Chris felt that there was a gap in the UK market for something along those lines.
How hard could it be?
After several months of masterminding, almost-disastrous back-and-forth wrangling with the bureaucracy of WH Smith (the main wholesaler/retailers in the UK), designing and redesigning and getting editor Chris Quigley on board, Level quietly appeared on magazine shelves across the UK and beyond.
With the contributions of various luminaries—some of whom grace these web pages—and a remit of “All Things Good”, Level went down well. Unhindered by strict genres or target niches, it really did fill a gap. The talk was underground but very complimentary. Issue 01 picked up the UK’s inaugural Magazine Design Awards’ “Best Designed Consumer Magazine” prize.
From then on, the only way was, well, neither up nor down. The high-budget, low-moral advertising vultures of the London-based competition had a stranglehold on the ad spends of the rich and famous brands. Despite an increase in promotional spend and advertising sales strategy, Level, without a desire to sell its soul, found its pages to be a hard sell. Only the most discerning of brands supported the magazine, and it just wasn’t enough. The brakes came on in November 2000, after only eleven issues.
But it’s always been there. Gnawing away in the back of our minds, especially that of publisher/designer Chris Noble. The brothers parted ways with the publishing company at the end of 2006, but Chris saw to it that he took Level with him.
Since then, Chris has had more time to think about bringing the magazine back in one way or another, and during the first half of 2009, he dove head-first into the world of web code which he had so far largely managed to avoid.
And the rest is browser history.
Many thanks to Chris Noble. I am damn proud to be a part of the new era of Level.
New Follow for Now Website
I’ve been redesigning the Follow for Now site because I don’t have enough to do and because the old one wasn’t yellow enough.
Check it out and let me know if you see any glitches or have any suggestions. I’m just trying to make it work for both people who have the book and people who’ve never heard of it.
Also, I’d like to unload the rest of the inventory before the world goes “all-digital.”
Follow for Now on the Kindle
As if you’re not sick of hearing about it yet, Follow for Now is now available on the Kindle. Now you can get all forty three interviews, all the pictures, all the goodness, in Amazon’s digital format. So, if you’ve made the jump from atoms to bits with your books, you can now add Follow for Now to your collection.
For those who don’t know, Follow for Now: Interviews with Friends and Heroes is an anthology of forty-three interviews with minds of all kinds.
Spanning over seven years, Follow for Now includes interviews with such luminaries as Bruce Sterling, Douglas Rushkoff, DJ Spooky, Philip K. Dick, Aesop Rock, Erik Davis, Howard Bloom, David X. Cohen, Richard Saul Wurman, N. Katherine Hayles, Manuel De Landa, Rudy Rucker, Milemarker, Steve Aylett, Doug Stanhope, Paul Roberts, Shepard Fairey, Tod Swank, dälek, Eric Zimmerman, Steven Johnson, Mark Dery, Geert Lovink, Brenda Laurel, and many, many more (click here for the full Table of Contents).
Follow for Now is an eclectic, independently-minded snapshot of the intellectual landscape at the beginning of the twenty-first century. It also includes an extensive bibliography, a full index, and weighs in at nearly 400 pages.
And now you can get it on the Kindle.
Cool Book of the Day: Follow for Now
Follow for Now is Dan Janal’s Cool Book of the Day today. Dan Janal runs the public relations firm PR Leads, among other things, and I am stoked to have Follow for Now on his book review site.
Many thanks to Dan and his staff over there.
Teach Copyright Right!
From the Electronic Frontier Foundation:
Last week, the Copyright Alliance Education Foundation — a nonprofit mouthpiece for the entertainment and software industries — unveiled plans to spread its protectionist ideas to the nation’s schools and libraries through the distribution of a curriculum titled “Think First, Copy Later.” “Think First, Copy Later” and other intimidating educational materials were produced by the MPAA, RIAA, Business Software Alliance, and other content holders to scare students into believing that making copies is wrong.
EFF knows that the creators and innovators of tomorrow don’t need more intimidation. What they need is solid, accurate information that will help them make smart choices about how to use new technologies. That’s why EFF is launching the free, Creative Commons-licensed “Teaching Copyright” curriculum and website to help educators explore copyright issues in their classrooms. These materials encourage students to discover their legal rights and responsibilities — including how to make full and fair use of technology that is revolutionizing learning and the exchange of information.
The debates over copyright and technology — whether they take place in classrooms, pressrooms or courtrooms — should be based on facts, not fear. Help EFF in our ongoing efforts to educate the public — including smart, creative and inquisitive young people — about the purpose and limits of copyright law.
Sincerely,
Electronic Frontier Foundation
In addition, the release says,
The Teaching Copyright curriculum is a detailed, customizable plan that connects students to contemporary issues related to the Internet and technology. Teaching Copyright invites discussion about how creativity is enabled by new technologies, what digital rights and responsibilities exist or should exist, and what roles students play as users of technology. The website at www.teachingcopyright.org includes guides to copyright law, including fair use and the public domain.
“Kids are bombarded with messages that using new technology is illegal,” said EFF Activist Richard Esguerra. “Instead of approaching the issues from a position of fear, Teaching Copyright encourages inquiry and greater understanding. This is a balanced curriculum, asking students to think about their role in the online world and to make informed choices about their behavior.”
The Teaching Copyright curriculum was developed with the input of educators from across the U.S. and has been designed to satisfy components of standards from the International Society for Technology in Education and the California State Board of Education.
A worthy cause all around.
Follow for Now now available at MonkeyWrench
For my local friends who don’t already have it, my interview anthology, Follow for Now: Interviews with Friends and Heroes (Well-Red Bear, 2007), is now available at Austin’s own MonkeyWrench Books. Continue reading “Follow for Now now available at MonkeyWrench”
Look Inside Follow for Now on Amazon
Finally… You can take a peek inside my interview anthology Follow for Now: Interviews with Friends and Heroes on Amazon. For those that don’t know, Follow for Now is an anthology of forty-three interviews with minds of all kinds. bOING bOING founder Mark Frauenfelder called it “an exotic plant with roots sucking nutrients from the skulls of the most interesting people on the planet,” Disinformation named it “among the most important books published in 2007,” and Erik Davis called it “a crisp and substantial remix of the major memes of the last decade or so.” Continue reading “Look Inside Follow for Now on Amazon”
Has the Future Been Canceled? h+ Magazine #2
The following comes to me and to you from foward-thinking friends Coco Conn and R. U. Sirius. Coco passed on the announcement and Ken did the magazine. It’s the second issue of h+ Magazine, and, well, I’ll let him tell you about it: Continue reading “Has the Future Been Canceled? h+ Magazine #2”
Jeff Lint’s The Caterer Comic Now Available
Friend and SF author Steve Aylett and Floating World Comics present: Jeff Lint’s The Caterer! Thirty years after the spectacular collapse of Pearl Comics, a celebration of the cause of that collapse — Jeff Lint’s The Caterer comic is now available. Continue reading “Jeff Lint’s The Caterer Comic Now Available”