A toast to Internet Magazine RIP



Tonight, I ventured north to the Betsy Trotwood pub in Farringdon to bid farewell to Internet Magazine.

The magazine's been going since 1994 (it was just three months off its 10th anniversary) and was always a great source of inspiration and enjoyment for me.

I was lucky enough to be invited to write for them in 1998, and since then have been writing reviews, features and 'expert helps' for the mag - and enjoyed every minute of it.

What made the magazine stand out was its sense of 'family': it may have been owned by a hard-nosed, uber-corporate, but the vibe amongst its writers, producers and freelancers was warm, friendly and honest.

So tonight, the current staff, ex-writers, friends and freelancers gathered for one last drink as the last Internet Magazine ever was put to bed.

Although the beers were free and the company first-rate, I can't shake off a lingering melancholy and a sense of frustration and anger that such a good mag should bite the dust - even when it wasn't losing money. That's the big bad world of corporate finance for you. :(

Goodbye Internet Magazine: you'll be missed. And best wishes for the future for my mates who now find themselves out of a job. You did a fucking good job!

The urban75 walk
I've just posted up part one of my report from the urban75 walk to Chislehurst Caves on Saturday.

April showers...
Actually, it was more like an April monsoon as a mighty thunderstorm hit London tonight, blasting our poor balcony plants with a bloom-beheading salvo of hail and heavy rain.


Outside, pelted pedestrians ran to cover and did their best to avoid the mini-tsunamis created by traffic speeding through the flooded streets.

Inside, yours truly continued to battle with the thorny problem of finding a new host for the rapidly expanding urban75 website. In the last week or so, I've learnt all about, err, exciting things like FreeBSD operating systems, rackspace premiums and - joy of joy - the '95th percentile method of calculation'. Zzzzz...

Happily, after seven long days of indescribably dull tech talk, I think we've managed to secure two excellent candidates who aren't asking a virtual arm and a leg for their services. Fingers crossed!

On a real bum note, it is with a heavy heart (and a soon-to-be lighter bank balance) that I have to announce the tragic demise of Internet Magazine.

Despite being the finest UK Internet Magazine, corporate monoliths EMAP have decided that it no longer fits in with their marketing 'portfolio'. And that's a real shame.

Going underground
After the uber-stress of trying to sort out a new server for urban75, a bonkers, up-for-it weekend was definitely called for - and I wasn't disappointed.

On Saturday, I finally made my first Urban75 Walk Club meeting, getting up early in the glorious Spring sunshine to meet at the Market Porter pub (by Borough Market).

A double strength extra-fresh cappuccino from the Monmouth Coffee Company soon dusted off the cobwebs, and the assembled urban75-ers headed off to London Bridge to catch the train to Chislehurst.

We hooked up with the others in the pleasant beer garden of the rather tatty Ye Olde Station Master pub, before making the short walk to Chislehurst Caves.

Sporting a visitor centre straight out of the mid-70s, the caves cover over 20 miles of passageways hewn by hand from the chalk, deep beneath Chislehurst.



The caves were dug over a period of 8000 years by Saxons, Druids and Romans excavating chalk and flint, but they were to play a more important role in history when they formed the backdrop to a Dr Who episode!

In the 1960s, the caves were the 'it' place to 'take a trip' with bands like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix getting the subterranean heads nodding.

There were no such thrills for us, but it's well worth the £4 to stumble around in the darkness, with only a kerosene lamp to light the way.

Naturally, many beers were needed after the underground trip, so we stomped through some woods before finding a lovely pub with a large sloping lawn for us to slob all over.

In the evening, we continued the quaffing with a trip to the People's Republic of Disco at the Windmill, Brixton Hill.



By this time my friends were turning a little odd, donning blond wigs and pulling strange faces, but after a few beers, no one noticed...

Album of the week!
Check out the Tom Waits approved debut album from enigmatic American country/folk songstress, Jolie Holland.

Described as a 'thrift-store poet' singing like a cross between Billie Holiday and "Jeff Buckley covering Nina Simone", the sparse demos have a sad, haunting beauty conjuring up wild, bleak landscapes, late night empty bars and hot dusty days on the trail. Perfect!

Holland was originally in the fabulous Be Good Tanyas and wrote 'The Littlest Birds' - one of my favourite songs of 2001.

Let the fund raising begin!
With money desperately needed to keep the site afloat, I've just announced the latest (micro) money-spinner: urban75 badges!

Priced at a mere £1 for 1, £2 for 2 and £2.50 for 3, these are the must-have accessory for the summer! Want one? Drop me a line at mike - at- urban75.com and I'll send you an order form.

Maximum hassle
I've had an utterly miserable time desperately trying to sort out a new home for the bandwidth-guzzling bulletin boards.

Despite the generous donations being thrust my way from a host of urban75 regulars, it looks like we can only afford a self-managed server.

"What's that?" you may ask. I'll explain.

urban75 is currently hosted on a dedicated managed server. This means that some techie spod in The Land Of Mullets makes sure that the machine is running all the latest security updates and patches, and all the content is regularly backed up.

Naturally, the loving attention of a white-coated, cola-drinking, pens-in-the-pocket techie dude adds to the overall server costs, and without sponsorship, we can't afford that.

So that means we'll probably have to host the site on an unmanaged server: that's where you get a box connected to the internet and, well, that's it, actually.

All the incredibly dull software/back-up/configuration stuff would have to be taken care of by urban75 volunteers, which could spell disaster if they're all out partying or on holidays.

Truth is, all this hassle is really driving me up the wall right now... let's hope it can get sorted soon.

Acupunctured!
Now, I'm definitely not one for any of that ear-candle, chakra-chanting psychic healing tosh, but I have to say that acupuncture floats my boat.

I first tried it last year when my doctor suggested it may cure a painful neck/tingling hands combo that I'd developed.

Seeing as the total cost was going to nuppence (God bless the NHS!), I thought I'd give it a go, so the following week I was duly given a neck-full of needles by an impressively no-nonsense doctor.

And would you Adam-and-Eve it? The next day I felt loads better!

The tingling arms stuff hasn't come back since, although the neck still plays up a bit- but a quick blast of the needles definitely sorts it out for a while. Respect!

On a different tack, tonight sees the inaugural meeting of the urban75 Emergency Server Relocation Committee at the trusty Albert pub.

We've got just three weeks to find a new home so keep your fingers crossed!

And on a happier note....
If you've been reading my blog you'll know that I spent an eternity mulling over what camera to buy, eventually plumping for the Minolta A2 - which, I'm happy to report, has proved to be the dog's bollocks!

Unfortunately, I'm too busy trying to sort out the server problems (see below) to post up a proper gallery of the photos I took in St Ives, but here's a taster, taken on Porthmeor Beach at sunset.

No filters or Photoshoppery involved - this is how it looked!

What a dull, fiddly-diddly, tech-tastic day
Apart from a quick shimmy to the Brixton Lounge for an afternoon coffee, I've spent the entire day trying to sort out the tricky problem of finding a new host for the urban75 bulletin boards.

Sadly, the bulletin boards have become a victim of their own success, with traffic levels rising through the roof, stretching the generosity of our current hosts - and our server to breaking point.

(Tech facts:
The 'server load' on most 1&1 machines is around 0.5
A busy server would register 3.
A very busy server load would be 5
urban75.net was registering 92 today!)

Over the past four years, traffic has doubled every six months, with 4,000 new posts being created every day, and over 125,000 pages looked at every day, sending the (expensive) bandwidth requirements into the stratosphere.

A few weeks ago, I thought I could reduce the server load by stopping guests browsing the forums (i.e you had to register to read anything). Unfortunately, that cunning scheme backfired quite spectacularly, with over 1,000 new users registering in two weeks!

So now we've got nearly 8,500 registered users burning an even bigger hole in our bandwidth.

So I've got to find a new server in double quick time. Happily the urban75 massive has responded brilliantly, with lots of people pledging monthly donations to keep the boards afloat.

Tomorrow we're holding the inaugural meeting of the Emergency Server Relocation Tech Team, wisely hosted in a pub so that reassuring beers are only an arms length away if the tech team talk gets too, err, techtastic.

I just want to sort the ruddy thing out because it's hurting my head!

A spectacularly shite day

I've spent the greater part of the day suffering Bulletin Board Tech Hell, enduring so much fucking hideous 1980s 'on hold' music that I may as well grow a matching mullet, strap on some padded shoulders, roll up my suit jacket sleeves and start waving a lighter along to a Bon Jovi 'power ballad'.

And the amount of money I've wasted being kept on hold, I may as well flown out to Germany and rebooted the fucking server myself.

Brixton at its finest!
It may have been a Sunday, but it turned out to be a full on kinda night!

Meet my
well lubricated chums at the Prince Albert!

We'd come down to see local boys, 'The Messengers of God' do their stuff on the Albert's bijou stage.

More drinking was required, so we decamped to the Dogstar: so much for my 'I'd better take it easy because I've got a horrible cold' pledge...

Waiting for the train...

The view from the platform of Lelant Station while waiting for the 15:25 branch line train to St Ives.
(Pic taken with my Sony Clie PDA and uploaded via my mobile phone)

Local history-tastic!
The Cornish weather took a turn for the worse, so we checked out the attractions of St Ives.

First stop was the Library to avail ourselves of the free internet access- unfortunately, I spent most of my free time writing to the wankers responsible for filtering urban75 off the library system. The tossers.

Next stop was the fabulous St Ives Museum, a completely bonkers public display of the contents of a thousand attics.

It seems just about anything even remotely connected to St Ives can guarantee a warm welcome at this museum- old pen knives, stuffed animals and bits of knitting...

Next up was a trip up Tregenna Hill for the local Archive Society's showing of 195Os 16mm footage of St Ives.

It was interesting, but they were a bit of an odd bunch - very old England, middle class, cups of tea church hall stuff.

We're now enjoying a coffee in the top floor café at the Tate, looking over the golden sands of Porthmeor Beach.

Which is nice!

Morning walk...
This sure beats a stroll down Coldharbour Lane!

Spring in St Ives
Its narrow streets are thundering to perhaps a few more tourists than I'd like (the curse of Easter continues!), but once you get away from the main drag, St Ives is a beautiful place

Walk a short way away from the harbour and there's some outstanding sandy beaches, with ne'er a track-suitted tourist in sight!

Today, we're off to Falmouth a trip that requires a portfolio of journeys: St Ives -> Penzance. Penzance-> Truro. Truro -> Falmouth Docks. We're almost there!

Offline 4 booked!
The next Offline club night will be at the Brixton Ritzy, Thurs 13th May, 7-11pm (DJs to be announced closer to the date).

Expect details of a late night summer special soon!

Through the Cornish hillside...
There aren't many things nicer than watching the verdant hills of Cornwall rolling by from a train window with "When Mac was Swimming" (Innocence Mission) on the headphones...

We've past fields of newly born lambs and calves taking their first steps into the Spring sunshine... St Ives here we come!

A bad technology day

This cartoon (from Rana and Peter's birthday card to me) seems to perfectly sum up the last hour of my life, although this time the grief wasn't due to the baffling internal mysteries of Windows.

The culprit was my Sony RCD-W3 hi-fi CD recorder which I bought from Richer Sounds at Christmas.

Today was the first time I'd needed to burn off a CD copy with the Sony, so I foolishly imagined that the operation would be breeze (what with me owning a dedicated machine for the job).

Sadly, the useless bag'o'shite was having none of it. After shunning the first three CDs offered for recording, the Sony was only prepared to acknowledge the existence of a Maxwell CDR. And then it changed its mind. And then it recognised it again.

Realising that I'd better move sharpish before the Sony changed its mind again, I hit the record button and then waited. And waited some more. I could go on but I'm sure you're already bored with this story.

Suffice to say, after an hour of faffing about I've given up trying to burn the CD.

Fearing the dreaded mantra of "we'll send it off for repair", I rang up Richer Sounds and to their massive credit seem amenable to simply swapping the machine with no fuss.

Respect. I'll sort it next week. And probably bore you with the details later....

Mo:blogging
One of the articles I wrote for Internet Magazine was a four page special on mobile blogging, explaining how you can use a Palm and a mobile phone to update blogs when you're shuffling around town.

Most of the available software was pretty basic stuff, so I wrote to some of the developers with suggestions about how they could improve their applications - and most were very enthusiastic in their replies - in fact, such was the speed of change that I had to keep re-writing my tutorial as new features were bolted on!

The author of mo:blog was particularly keen to improve his program and he took on so many of my ideas that I've now received my first ever software credit for "the excellent graphic design and numerous UI usability ideas". Which is nice :)

I also ended up designing the program's icons and logo too:


So I'm well chuffed. I got paid to write a review for a product which I was able to help shape into something that perfectly suited my needs.

Result!

Easter blues
I fucking hate Easter.

It's like four dull Sundays all shunted together into a 1950s-style weekend of cruelly curtailed drinking hours.

A great mass of London buggers off leaving the bars and clubs half empty, and what people are left are often busy making up the deficit by drinking for two or three people - and then turning into complete arses.

And Cardiff City lost at home, all but finishing off any wild hopes of a play-off place...

I'm going to the pub...

Writing and alcohol
I've always warmed to the romantic notion of the late night writer, pumping out damning prose on a rattling typewriter, a bottle of whisky on the desk and Frank Sinatra on the Dansette.

So how come I can barely write a word of sense once I've had anything more than a half shandy? Not only am I crap at writing when drunk, I can't even do it with a hangover either.

In case you didn't know, I've been a freelance writer for Internet Magazine for years and every month I work myself up into a state trying to finish articles on time. I've no idea why writing is such a battle for me - the articles usually come out fine in the end - but the writing process always seems to involve stress and panic in equal measures.

When I was writing my book, I was totally unbearable - it was a nightmare! The amount of self-discipline involved was horrendous and the pub seemed to be calling my name whenever I sat down at night.

Still, I got the book finished in time, and I've nearly finished my Internet Mag articles too - with a hangover still lingering!

Look out Dylan Thomas!

A Brixton drunk night
It was one of those nights that make you feel good to be alive: meeting loads of chums in your local, chewing the fat, talking shit and having the odd deep convo with close friends before staggering along to a late bar (the Dogstar) for more beers and then wobbling home from a night when you feel you've connected with what's going on.

I'm sure some of you won't have a clue what I'm on about (or maybe you're not as pissed as me!), but if you'd spent as much time as me living in bleak, unfriendly areas of London before finding an area with a proper community, then you'd know why I'm feeling so chuffed to be living in Brixton! :)

(I think it's time I went to bed now!)

New party photos online!
Apologies for the delay, but the photos from the Offline 3 party at the Ritzy, Brixton last night are now up on the site.

Top night!
Updates from a fabulous night in the West End, watching feminist Oregon rockers, Le Tigre at the Astoria. And they rocked!


We met up with urban75-ers Kea, Phototropic, Dubversion and Furvert at the CrowBar (a no-nonsense rock/goth bar opposite Foyles Bookstore) before heading into a packed Astoria - where we bumped into another urban75-er IanW and his lovely girlfriend.


Le Tigre were fantastic: a head on clash of Human League meets X Ray Spex meets The Slits meets the B52s meets the Shangri Las all mixed up with attitude and a healthy dose of political outrage. They were chuffing superb!


The after show party was at the Ghetto - a small underground gay bar opposite the Astoria


The vibe inside was friendly, up-for-it and fun. And cans of lager were only £1.50! Definitely a club to check out again. We left as the mixed dancefloor went mad to the sounds of Sparks: "This town ain't big enough for the both of us".

Apologies to urban75 bulletin board folk
The boards have been going up and down faster than an over-excited pneumatic drill on amyl nitrate today, but the word is that someone in Germany is 'personally taking care of the problem' right now. Whatever that means.

Today, I've spent longer than I'd care to recall listening to mid 80s, lighters-aloft, mullet-toting stadium rock while being kept 'on hold' to the server people.

And some of the lyrics aren't exactly encouraging:
"That's just the way it is
Some things will never change"

Ouch! Me 'ead
Today I'm suffering the mother, father and extended family of hangovers.

Last night was lager plus - and more - and now I'm paying the full price for my excesses.

The club night at Offline went well (I'll post up pics later) despite having to hastily reshuffle the DJ list around.

Last night's deck newbies were Em and Bond who soon overcame their nerves and put on fine sets.

Old Offline pros, Scott, Blagsta and Dubversion did the business as usual while I managed to fumble through my set of post punk/00's tunes without cocking things up too badly.

After the club it was all back to mine for more partying...and party we did till the sun came up!

I'm hoping that the second cup of coffee I'm currently working my way through in the Brixton Lounge will get me back to life - I've got a review I have to finish tonight!


Monster late night quaffing at Chez Urban75 last night

It's my birthday!
And so far it's been a good 'un.

The day started with a hearty breakfast in bed (hot croissants, fresh fruit and Earl Grey - thanks Em!), followed by a trip into town to exchange my dodgy Minolta A2 camera (the first one showed excessive 'streaking' in the viewfinder.

I'm now enjoying a coffee and free birthday cake at the Photographer's Gallery before I head home to prepare for tonight's Offline

See you there!

Fame! I want to live forever!
Publicity ahoy!

The urban75 'lad detector' has sprung into action after archetypal blokes mag, FHM Magazine, declared urban75 to be one of their "greatest 100 websites".

And this comes only a day after the Media Guardian declared that urban75 is "one of the sites that has come to embody the fact that cutting edge culture and satire is far more likely to be found on the internet than between the pages of a glossy monthly magazine"

Which is nice.

Web-tastic
It doesn't seem that long ago that the web was seen as the exclusive domain of tightly zipped anoraked spodheads - I can remember when receiving an email was an event.

With the web an everyday part of many people's lives, it's only the terminally uncool that still enthuse about the ability to email anyone in the world instantly.

But I occasionally remind myself about just how amazing the Internet is - heck, I'm writing this in a café on a weensy little PDA and communicating my dull wafflings to the web via a wireless connection.

And that is kinda cool, no?

Today's Evening Standard placard announcing Google's email plans really reminded me about just how commonplace the web has become



(cue mumblings about 'the good old days' when websites were properly built, when we had proper email, not so many oiks around etc etc etc zzzz)