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4 January 2006
[books] Spotted on Amazon.co.uk: The Further Adventures of Belle De Jour‘What Belle de Jour did next… From becoming an agony aunt, to hanging up her stilettos and finding love with a man who knows all about her past…’ [Delicious: Posts with belledejour Tag]
13 December 2005
[comics] Dr. Fredric Wertham’s Weblog — the infamous anti-comics crusader has a posthumous blog (he died in 1981) … ‘Flooding the market with love-confession comics is so successful in diverting attention from crime comic books that it has been entirely overlooked that many of them are crime comic books, with a seasoning of love added. Unless the love comics are sprinkled with some crime they do not sell. Apparently love does not pay.’
7 December 2005
[blogs] Nick Robinson’s Newslog — apparently the first official Blog on BBC News.
6 December 2005
[bdj] Sex: An interview with Belle de Jour – Part 1 | Part 2‘Q: How close is your own life to that of Belle de Jour as we know her as a percentage? A: The aspect of my life that was reported in the book is probably within 95% correct – obviously some dates and locations had to be changed to protect my and others’ anonymity. However, there is a very large part of my life that was not involved with the book at all.’
28 November 2005
[microsoft] Use Excel? A couple of good blogs from Experts: Daily Dose of Excel and Andrew’s Excel Tips.
26 November 2005
[ebay] Bayraider — a blog about eBay from Shiny Media‘You Flog It. We Blog It.’
21 November 2005
[travel] Blogjam in North Korea — Fraser visited the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea and produced some great reports… From Day Four: ‘…[We are] taken to the Arch of Triumph, built in 1982 and (as we’re repeatedly told) three meters taller than its more famous Parisienne counterpart. The construction is dedicated to “the home return of the Great Leader Kim Il-sung who liberated Korea from Japanese colonialism”. To be honest, there’s not much that this fella didn’t do.’
17 November 2005
[blogs] The New Commentariat — the Guardian on the UK’s Political Blogs … ‘Britain’s bloggers are divided not just by ideology, it turns out, but by their perception of their own importance: while Samizdata proclaims that blogs are the future, for example, Oliver Kamm insists they are an essentially parasitic medium, that can only exist insofar as it feasts on the output of traditional media.’
14 November 2005
[blogs] Diary of a London Cokehead — another UK Blog‘Soooo, Benny scale of Fuckedness = 900… Well done that man!!’
[blogs] Rachel from North London‘This blog was started to provide a place to continue my online diary that I started after surviving the 7/7/2005 London bombings, when I was travelling in the first carriage of the Picadilly line tube from Kings Cross to Russell Square. The bomb went off in my carriage, 7 feet behind me in carriage 1. 26 people died in that blast and dozens were maimed and wounded.’
5 November 2005
[comics] The Dilbert Blog — Scott Adams has a Blog … ‘Now this bird flu business has me worried. I already circle the parking lot twelve times to find a space that isn’t under a tree and directly in the crapping zone. If birds start getting the flu, they’ll be firing from both ends. There aren’t enough squeegees in the world.’
3 October 2005
[blogs] Eggbaconchipsandbeans Book Deal … great news from one of my favourite blogs‘This strange little site has morphed into a strange little book. Due out the middle of October and already being discounted by Amazon. Which may not bode well.’ [via Pete’s Linklog | EBCB on Amazon UK]
28 September 2005
[blogs] Blogging vs. Dogging‘More people know what dogging is than blogging, according to a survey which suggests that Brits are not as tech-savvy as might be expected. Most metrosexuals will know that blogging about their podcasting is perhaps a bit passé, while flashmobbing is decidedly retro.’
27 September 2005
[tech] Mini-Microsoft — anonymous Microsoft insiders blog … ‘Let’s slim down Microsoft into a lean, mean, efficient customer pleasing profit making machine!’
12 September 2005
[tv] The Church of Klugman — this blog wholeheartedly endorses worship of the star of Quincy, M.E.‘This is a brand new religion – a religion worshiping a man who is a legend, a myth, who brings a new social conscience to our troubled times.’ [via Progressive Ruin]
2 September 2005
[blogs] Paul Daniels’ Weblog‘So, what have I been up to? Ah, the wonderment of life in Show Business – I have been fixing toilet seats.’ [via Feeling Listless | Related: Mefi – Now that’s magic…]
29 August 2005
[birdflu] H5N1‘News and Resources about Avian Flu’
26 August 2005
[blogs] What’s That Bug? — a blog which identifies insects from pictures readers send in. Undoubtedly Gil Grissom’s favourite blog… [via Peter Cooper]
5 August 2005
[blogs] The Blogs of War — Wired News covers Bloggers in the American Military … Danjel Bout, aka Thunder 6: ‘Americans are raised on a steady diet of action films and sound bites that slip from one supercharged scene to another, leaving out all the confusing decisions and subtle details where most people actually spend their lives. While that makes for a great story, it doesn’t reveal anything of lasting value. For people to really understand our day-to-day experience here, they need more than the highlights reel. They need to see the world through our eyes for a few minutes.’
24 June 2005
[blogger] Does anybody know what changed with the Blogger templating code? I’m getting some extra CSS appended to my posts… [Later] A possible answer: Blogger “Clear:Both” Glitch workaround
21 June 2005
[comics] Flog Blog — Fantagraphics gets it’s own blog. Gary Groth, Kim Thompson and Eric Reynolds are posting and they’ve got photos from the set of Art School Confidential including snaps of John Malkovich, Dan Clowes and Terry Zwigoff. Groth: ‘This is exciting. My first blog. I’m not a fan of convention diaries, which seem like some lazy fanboy genre written by useless old hacks like Peter David to fill space, serve up one’s ego and act like reg’lar folk all at the same time – but it doesn’t have to be!’
13 June 2005
[comics] Dave’s Long Box — well done comic review blog … ‘I’m going to review my comic book collection and you’re going to like it!’
8 June 2005
[blogs] Big Blogger 2005 — blog version of Big Brother. Has some notable UK Bloggers including Troubled Diva, Girl With A One Track Mind, JonnyB’s private secret diary, My Boyfriend is a Twat, Naked Blog and Gordon McLean‘Welcome to the home of Big Blogger 2005. For the next seven weeks we will be watching the housemates as they fulfil their tasks, eake out a meagre existence, and do everything in their power to convince you, the blogging public, that they should be the ones to win the title of Big Blogger 2005. Who will win? You decide…’
6 June 2005
[blogs] The Bloggers have all the Best News — the Guardian looks at the state of political blogging in the UK and US… ‘In the UK, there was a feeling that the general election would provide domestic blogs with a similar spark to Rathergate. There was no shortage of primary material, such as the attorney-general’s advice on the war in Iraq, but there was little sense that the internet impinged on the mainstream media. While Belle de Jour got the mainstream media speculating on her (or his) identity, and the likes of Scary Duck greatly amuse, there is a sense that the Americans take their blogging more seriously than we do. With the odd exception (Guido Fawkes’ Order-Order.com and Mick Fealty’s Slugger O’Toole blog on Northern Ireland for example), there is little heavyweight comment and it is rare to see a blog break a story or substantially move it on.’
2 June 2005
[comics] Around the (Comics) Blogosphere — linklist and roundup of comic blogs.
18 May 2005
[blog] What are the Top Blogs when you Google on via?


16 May 2005
[blog] Google ponders Blogger, Gmail integration — update on the future directions of Blogger … ‘Google is also evaluating an enhancement that lets users natively upload images to their blogs from within the Blogger interface, Stone said. Currently, images can be posted to Blogger via e-mail or using other indirect methods, such as Google’s Hello image-transmission service. “There is a button there now [in the Blogger interface for image uploading] so we’re working on making that a useful button,” Stone said.’
10 May 2005
[ukblog] Walking the Streets — a weblog by a Traffic Warden … ‘There’s no rotation scheme, and how the streets are managed is very much down to the feet on the street. A place might not get any visits for two weeks for one reason or another, but as soon as the problems start to build up, we’re there. It is random, it is erratic; and the methodology varies from Enforcement Officer to Enforcement Officer, which serves to keep the wrongdoers on their toes.’
6 May 2005
[books] Dracula Blogged — Bram Stoker’s Dracula published as a blog using the calendar in the book … Jonathan Harker: ‘I am all in a sea of wonders. I doubt. I fear. I think strange things, which I dare not confess to my own soul. God keep me, if only for the sake of those dear to me!’
7 April 2005
[blogs] Bloggers Pitch Fits Over Glitches — Wired News on Bloggers recent Technical Problems … ‘Last month there was even a glitch with the Blogger status page, which prevented tech staff from posting service updates. Sometimes software glitches cause these outages. Other times it is a hardware hiccup. And when the service is just achingly slow? That’s due to a lack of power — “actual electricity, if you can believe it,” according to Biz Stone, an HTML freak who works at Google on Blogger. (He says Google is working on it.)’ [Related: Blogger Status]
6 April 2005
[ukelection05] Alastair Campbell’s Weblog — almost certainly fake … ‘Out getting eggs for R, C and G. Couldn’t help notice Britney Spears has a perfume out. Was tempted but don’t think Fiona would be too happy. Or Tony!! He prefers Christina Aguilera.’
5 April 2005
[election05] Election 2005 — The Guardian launches another blog to cover the Election on May 5th. [Feed: Election 2005]
29 March 2005
[ukblogs] Tories plan to beat “bias” by bringing in Bloggers‘The faction behind it denies that it is “rocking the boat” in the pre-election period and says that in the early weeks the website will be used to campaign for a Conservative victory. It wants people to use the increasingly popular practice of “blogging” — writing on-line diaries — to break the power of the broadcast media.’ [Related: conservativehome.com]
20 March 2005
[ukblogs] Call Centre Confidential: ‘Dear Bernard, Please accept this letter as my resignation. Thanks for all your support and encouragement. Yours sincerely.’
18 March 2005
[politics] Bloggers4Labour‘Uniting all Labour-supporting bloggers (and web sites) under one roof.’ [via Mad Musings of Me]
14 March 2005
[blogs] The Inner World of Joe Blogs — a balefully negative review of Scottish Blogs from the Sunday Times … ‘Unconstrained by the need to be interesting in any way whatsoever, blogs are the background radiation of the intellectual realm, the white noise of the collective unconscious, scrolling out their narratives whether anybody wishes to read them or not. In one sense a Warholian tribute to the fascination of banality, blogs confirm Martin Amis’s claim that where once it was thought that everyone had a book in them, that book has now become an autobiography.’ [via The Book Club Blog]
3 March 2005
[ukblogs] Random Acts of Reality on Mobile Phones: ‘I’ve been trying to resuscitate dead patients when their mobile phone has rung – I look at the screen and see that the person trying to call them is “MUM”.’
24 February 2005
[blogs] British Blogs Top Ten — what are the top British Blogs rated by their public stats. (It’s missing Samizdata.net and other notables such as Arseblog).
22 February 2005
[blogs] Metafilter: Kottke goes Full Time‘Are we looking at the modern day equivalent of “I’m going to quit my job and start a farm?” If so, I’ll gladly take some oranges.’
21 February 2005
[blogs] Robot Wisdom Weblog — Jorn Barger, the original linkblogger returns … ‘blink and you miss me’
19 February 2005
[politics] Bloggers will rescue the Right — Iain Duncan Smith wonders if weblogging will be the saviour of the Conservative Party … ‘[Blogs] should put the fear of God into the metropolitan elites. For years there have been widening gaps between the governing class and the governed and between the publicly funded broadcasters and the broadcasted to. Until now voters, viewers and service users have not had easy mechanisms by which to expose officialdom’s errors and inefficiencies. But, because of the internet, the masses beyond the metropolitan fringe will soon be on the move.’
16 February 2005
[blog] French Picture Blog: 09h09‘Every day a self-portrait at 9:9am’
1 February 2005
[blog] New UKBlog: Rising Slowly — The UK Weather Blog.
[spam] Interview with a link spammer — The Register meets a Blog Comments Spammer. ‘…he’s confident he’ll stay in what is primly called the “search engine optimisation” business for a while yet. Why? Because the demand exists. “The reality is that people purchase Viagra, they require porn, they gamble online. When people do that, there’s money being made.” And if this sounds suspiciously like an “ends justify means” argument to you – it does to us too.’
26 January 2005
[blogs] The Law West of Ealing Broadway — anonymous blog from a UK Magistrate. ‘…a colleague, faced with sentencing a Living on Immoral Earnings charge, whispered to the Clerk “How much do you give a ponce?”. “Never more than a tenner, sir” came the deadpan reply.’ [via The Policeman’s Blog]
12 January 2005
[blogs] Blogger sacked for sounding off — UK Blogger sacked by Waterstones for entries on his blog … ‘On one occasion, he ranted about his “sandal-wearing” manager he nicknamed “Evil Boss”, which he said was a caricature like the “Pointy Haired Boss” in the Dilbert cartoons. In another posting, Mr Gordon joked about “Bastardstone’s”. After he was suspended pending an investigation into his blog, he was called before a formal disciplinary meeting and sacked last week. “The book trade can only exist with freedom of speech and information,” he said last night.’
5 January 2005
[blogs] Six Apart to buy Live Journal‘Six Apart, the parent company behind hosted blogging service TypePad, and Moveable Type is about to acquire Live Journal, for an undisclosed amount. The deal is a mix of stock and cash, and could be announced sometime later this month, according to those close to the two companies. If the deal goes through, then Six Apart will become one of the largest weblog companies in the world, with nearly 6.5 million users.’ [via Kottke’s Links]
3 January 2005
[bdj] Peep Show — Belle de Jour interviewed over IRC by the Guardian. Belle proves she’s a real blogger:

Belle: so, which browser do you use on your mac?
Guardian: internet explorer.
Belle: Have you tried Safari?
[..]
Belle: As an aside, you do know you'll have to cut-and-paste this conversation into something else in order to save it?
Guardian: ta, will do.

2 January 2005
[blogs] Belle de Jour Updates‘When I stopped blogging, someone wrote to say that if I was a real blogger I would be back. And here I am.’
31 December 2004
[blogs] Have you read the one about me? — the Independent on blogs … ‘It is not that blogs have encouraged those with dull lives to write. They always have written – the blog lets them to do it in public. Some write monstrously self-regarding round robins each year; the blog lets them to do it cumulatively. The great blogs will survive, even those that make a zen-like, minimalist art-from out of their own dullness (see, for example, The dullest blog in the world) or those that, even in their dullness, manage to fascinate (Utterly Boring), if only because they give some insight, however accidental (or self-consciously contrived) into other people’s lives. In the welter of tacky corporatism that is invading the web, the blog remains its human face. Silly, boring, puffed-up, sad, tedious, over-excited, egocentric: just like all of us.’