War diaries
Before the Crimean war introduced the civilian war reporter, British newspaper editors used to employ junior officers to send letters and diaries from the front. Nearly 150 years later, a new kind of war diary is emerging as one of the most compelling and immediate forms of war reporting: the warblog.
The BBC has a warblog for its pool of reporters, and it is updated every hour or so. The Seattle Intelligence Post has two reporters aboard the USS Lincoln posting a daily warblog. Fascinating as they are, the trouble with these sites is that, like other forms of war reporting, they remain subject to military censorship.
Kevin Sites, a correspondent for CNN, had been posting his own private blog about the war. But last Friday, CNN asked him to suspend it until further notice. Sites had gathered a cult following, styling himself as a one-man unit, using portable, digital technology to report, write, edit and transmit his stories from conflict areas around the world. He says he will continue to document his experiences and hopes to come to some agreement with CNN in the near future.
www.kevinsites.net
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/
seattlepi.nwsource.com/lincoln/journal
War games
If, as Vladimir Nabokov once wrote, "satire is a lesson, parody is a game," what are we to make of some of the animated political cartoons of Don Asmussen or Idleworm? Part game, part animation, both update the art of the political cartoonist for the age of the internet. Asmussen, an editorial cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle, produces a bi-weekly cartoon for the web. His two-minute film, Operation: Terrortubbies, satirises western Hollywood's glorification of war. Idleworm is a game that pokes fun at our fascination for info graphics. www.dontoons.com
www.idleworm.com
Infested water
The Saatchi Gallery is famous, or notorious, for showcasing a generation of young British contemporary artists. The gallery has been without a home since it moved from its old light-bulb factory in north London. Next month, it is to open permanently at the more salubrious location of County Hall on London's South Bank. Amazingly, the Saatchi has not had an internet presence until now. The new site is little more than a smartly designed brochure at the moment, but it will give you a taste of what will be on show. Despite the fact that many of the artists Saatchi has bought and shown have made work for the internet, (Tomoko Takahashi and Bob and Roberta Smith, to name but two), there is no net-specific work on show. www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk
Meet up
Meetup.com, which is already being used by supporters of US presidential candidates, offers to facilitate events for anyone who wants to suggest a topic. At the site, which is free, you can start your own group or join ones around a given interest. The themes are as wide-ranging as the conversation down the local pub. The site lists gatherings in London, for example, for groups as diverse as ex-Jehovah's Witnesses and devotees of Wi-Fi. Some 545 cities are listed, 10 in the UK, and more than 200,000 people have already signed up. Meetup.com
Virtual pets
Have you ever owned a robot like a Sony Aibo, or have you ever kept a virtual pet? If so Sherry Turkle, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) wants to hear about it. Send your stories by email and the results will be published, anonymously, in a book and on the web. Turkle's earlier books include The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit, and Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet.
http://web.mit.edu/ sturkle/www/vpet.html
Post Rhizome
After years of being free, Rhizome, the community-based net.art portal, began charging a $5 subscription last month. Some of its members were angry to be charged a sub scription after contributing much of the site's content for free for years. One, Vladimir Kovacevic, was so incensed that he posted a rather personal attack on Rhizome's founders. The site is a bit of a rant, but towards the bottom there is an excellent list of alternative net.art sites that remain free. www.rhizome.org
www34.brinkster.com/afterrhizome
Seconds out
Do you have a couple of minutes to watch 10 movies? The prize for the best 10 Second Film will be announced today. Even better, submit your own film for the next round of prizes. www.tensecondfilms.com
New & noted
· The latest mobile news:
www.mobitopia.com
· Read and publish short stories online:
www.otherpeoplesstories.com
· Web designers opposed to war:
www.futurefarmers.com/nowar.html
· The first Gulf war:
www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf
