Simon Drake – Writer

Yesterday, June 29th 2011 to be exact, I made a new discovery that has completely changed my life, yes, changed my life. In one day I finished reading two books. Yes, finished reading two books in one day.
Some of you will be arching your eyebrows, or if you have only one eyebrow, just humping it, and musing, “My god, how did Simon Drake finish reading two books in one day.”
What’s more, in just wasn’t one day, it was a period of 4 hours. Yes, 4 hours.
So, here’s how it works:
I’d bought a copy of Remix by Lawrence Lessig a few years ago. Don’t ask when, I can’t remember. And I’d been reading bits here and there, forgetting about it, moving countries (UK to Germany), and finally, forgotten about it.
Fast forward to two weeks ago, I picked up my wife’s edition of Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, and started reading that. I finished both books in the space of 4 hours.
Now I know you’re waiting for the secret, and some of you will be thinking, “Oh my God! He’s found a new exciting way of speed reading that also helps you lose weight, drink beer without getting fat, and reverse the ageing process!” but no, it’s quite simple.
I am currently in the process of moving from Germany to Australia. Many of my little family’s belongings have been packed up and shipped away, including the television. Now many of you can’t imagine a world without television, well suckers it is very possible. For most of the world, up until the 1950s and 60s, it was reality. And as of lately, without any television, I’ve noticed that I can read a lot, without even making a conscience effort of it. Oh my god, I hear you say. Yes, Oh my god.
But what happens when I am re-united with my television on the other side of the world. Yes, what really happens when the large flat screen is bolted into the wall and I’m sprawled on a sofa. Who will win that battle for my attention? Crap TV or classic books? Interesting documentary or crappy but addictive airport novel? And you know what, I think you know the answer. Yes, you know the answer.
However, what if my TV never ever arrives? What if the container ship it is on is hijacked by Somali pirate and my TV (and 28 other cartons of my life’s assorted junk (including many great books)) ends up in the mud hut of some needy family living on the exploits of Somalia pirates. Well, if they can get electricity, and they can tune into something, then let their brains be dumbed down. Not my problem. Yes, not my problem — but it is your problem.
Stay tuned!

Let’s hark back to the old web, Web version 0.253 to be correct, when the very few HTML literate people with a desire to communicate their findings on the new newfangled World Wide Web would post a Hot Sites page on their website, complete with a critique, before the days when critiques were an identifier of how super cool you were and in touch with all things digital when not fondling your over-branded and over-priced iPhones.

FaceChook just makes things too easy, and Twatter is like a 1000 imaginary voices injected in a microchip into your head.
In ye olden online days those Hot Sites pages gave inspiration and a sense of discovery, and as this was the mid-1990s, when TV reigned supreme and was unaware of it’s obesity, a link to a cool website opening a door to another realm of published reality really was an eye and brain opener.

These days, any grandma can mix and mash Web content and not have the slightest idea of the technology squirrelling away behind her flat screen. She can become a social media queen thanks to  stupid cooking tips posted on YouFools. Today the tools are just a click away, no need to get your frontal lobe bunched up in a knot trying to understand code, but in the days when things were difficult, a hyper link meant a lot more than a search engine optimisation trick.

Call me old fashioned, but I thought it’s time to re-release a list of Hot Sites….

Note: While compiling this list, I noticed a few sites are dead or dormant. I guess that just shows may age / obsoleteness…

Failblog.org – If you make it to this site, congratulations!

DisInfo.com – Formerly disinformation.com. ‘everything you know is wrong’ – Oh no, how long has this been going on!

Spacevidcast.com – It’s like Wayne’s World for Space 2.0

Adbusters – Carrying the torch of racy culture jamming.

WikiLeaks – Information wants to be free, but children, please weigh up the facts before putting on horrified faces at truth revealed .

TheRegister.co.uk – The Register, techy meets upbeat and *ha-ha funny*, whereas TechCrunch – Group-edited blog about technology start-ups, particularly the Web 2.0 sector’ I find a touch drier.

1913intel.com – Gosh, the world is slipping into an apocalyptic abyss! Get all the reasons why in a digestible website.

Exitmundi.nl - EXIT MUNDI, a collection of end of world scenarios

Chavtowns.co.uk – Chav towns are Britain’s worst places to live! Vital reading for Town Planners, Politicians, and people moving to Great Britain.

Suck.com – Pioneering satire, but now disregarded and DEAD.I guess Suck just stopped, well, sucking.

FuckedCompany.com – Yes, out of business! But at the height of the Dot Com Boom this site kept check on the reality – most of it was Doomed.