Link Dump // The Dark Side of the Moon (The Flaming Lips album) – This almost slipped under my radar. It's very good indeed, both faithful to and playful with the original. Go get a copy. // Facebook Fixer for Greasemonkey – Clears all the crap off and makes it slightly more usable. If you use it. I hardly ever do though I keep meaning to. // A listening guide to Uptime / Downtime – Provided by Wikipedians identifying the samples. // The Kleptones "Uptime/Downtime" Album – From the monkey who brought us Yoshimi vs The Hip Hop Robots and A Night At The Hip Hopera. Another masterpiece of bastard pop free to download. Do it now. // Passive aggressive notes left on WIFi router names – "please no more grindcore at 3am" // Wikileaks are fundraising – This is the site which people can send leaked documents to without fear of lawyers serving them writs. They provide an invaluable service. Go throw them a fiver or something. // LIVE! Pictures from the Labour plot! – Sod the "first YouTube / Facebook / Twitter election" nonsense. This could be the first Lolcats election. Much more relevant to the future of democracy. // Doing journalism in 2010 is an act of community organizing – "Despite what years of local monopoly may have taught many veteran journalists, readers don't automatically show up for whatever you publish." // Growing up Heroes – Photos of American (on the whole) kids dressed up as superheroes. Better than it sounds and it sounds great. // The ‘Israelification’ of airports – Fascinating article on how Tel Aviv's main airport deals with a constant and real terror threat. There are no queues and you're through in minutes. Comparisons are drawn with the "letting the terrorists win" policies of US airports. // How to say stupid things about social media – Cory Doctorow states the bleeding obvious, but sometimes it needs to be stated. // Newspaper Club Prices – You can now order your own newspaper from Newspaper club. 100 copies for £120. Intriguing. // Helga’s New York Adventure – My friend and occasional colleague Helga Henry has finally found her blogging voice. Loving this. // Chip Music – A forum for creators and fans of 8bit and related music. Haven't dived in yet. // Hobbitted – A blog by someone reading Tolkien for the first time. I love the tone of bemusement. // Dear Rock Stars – Steve Lawson, a musician, replies to those in the "music industry" who say people like him are suffering. He's not suffering. // Photos2You – I have it on good authority this is the cheapest place to get black and white films developed. // Victorian Infographics – Very awesome indeed. // Blindhæðir – Laura Kicey crowdsourced the funds for a photo tour of Iceland. In return funders got prints and she wrote up the journey in this fantastic piece of travel blogging. // Compliment Sandwich – The Juneau Projects boys have a blog. // Nobody Has A Million Twitter Followers – Anil Dash is on Twitter's Suggested User List. His findings are interesting. // Twitpanto 2009 — The Sequel – Jon Bounds accounts for his experimental theatre production, a pantomime on Twitter. // Decode: Digital Design Sensations – I have it on good authority that this exhibition at the V&A is worth going to // via delicious/peteashton/toblog

The Nine Eyes of Google Street View – Possibly the best thing I’ve read online this month, if not this year. Lovely photo essay using the automatic, neutral eye of Google’s Street View cameras. The technical and artistic angle is interesting but it really hits home with the social stuff. The people who mostly appear on Street View are the poor since they mostly live on the street. Highly recommended.

Closed Doors at the Council – One of the questions that’s often asked about the decline of local newspapers is how will local government be held to account if no-one is watching? Manchester website MULE decided to have a go, with predictably depressing results. This reminded me of when I first started dabbling in blogging about Birmingham and went to an event at the Birmingham council chamber. Mike Whitby, the leader, spoke for 20 minutes. I had no idea what he said. One might think they don’t want people to understand them.

How SLR Cameras Work – aperture, shutter and iso value – Great interactive demo to teach the basics of photography. Move the controls to see exactly what the difference between f1.8 and f11 is.

Outdated music industry deserves no Govt help – Great overview of the current tactics used by the music recording industry to shore up their failing business models which asks the obvious question:

Where's the government help for travel agents, directory publishers, local newspapers, hard-core pornographers and other industries whose entire business models are disappearing thanks to online competition, legal or otherwise? What's so special about music?

via Dubber, natch

The Rubbish Superheroes of Birmingham – Eye on Moseley has been gathering evidence from the Birmingham Mail of a breed of sub-standard beings with special powers living amongst us. Keep an eye out for Amazing Man, Bone Boy, Death Charge Mum, Crucifixion Man and, most intriguing, Tragic Cop.

Fanzines enter pages of history – BBC article on news that the National Library of Scotland is to start archiving 70 years of fanzine activity. The photo shows copies of Zum! and Caption, which is nice but implies the contents boxes piled up behind my wardrobe may contain a fair amount of duplicates. Still, when the time comes that I'm ready to rid myself of this precious load it's good to know sending them Chris Atton is an option.