SPIKE MAGAZINE

Reviewed by Jacob Knowles-Smith Norman Mailer hated television. He distrusted email. He even hated plastic. Marshall McLuhan was probably right, to some extent, to suggest that Mailer had a Victorian attitude towards technology. Other critics, past and

Digital and mobile devices can bring huge improvements to the health and lives of the very poorest. Vanessa Zainzinger takes a look at the organisations attempting to bridge the technological divide Last month, the non-profit organisation Worldreader

As Google tackles the content farms gaming their system, the ebook platform has become the newest territory for ripp-off content. Vanessa Zainzinger talks to Mike Essex, author of an influential post on the topic, about the war on spam Mike Essex has

Vanessa Zainzinger follows the breadcrumbs to tomorrow’s tracking trends Chances are high that you have already used Google today. As you typed in what you were looking for, scanned through the results and clicked on the link you needed, you provided

The internet has long promised a golden age of metrics, online polling organisation YouGov is hoping to track our political opinions “YouGov is the authoritative measure of public opinion and consumer behaviour. It is our ambition to supply a live

Although you may not know his name, it’s likely you’re familiar with Jordi Parra’s design work Chances are you saw this beautiful Spotify device that was all over the internet a few months ago. The player makes novel use of RFID tags to create

As genetic engineering creates hybrid forms, Thyrza Nichols Goodeve speculates on post-human art and what it means for the Freudian unconscious Mariko Mori: Miko no inori (Link of the Moon): 1996: digital film, 61 x 71 cm “I demand that he who still

Paul* M. Kaestner: Metamorphose Varcavellensis, 1994. 9.8x13.7", 12 pages, mixed media on cardboard This essay was originally written by Thyrza Nichols Goodeve for the exhibition catalogue One of a Kind: An Exhibition of Unique Artist’s Books,

Brazilian label and distribution company offers artists a unique way of doing business What: A music services company and record label with an emphasis on innovative digital marketing strategies. The company blog is a stimulating source for stories about

Chris Mitchell The Search: How Google And Its Rivals Rewrote The Rules Of Business And Transformed Our Culture – John Battelle See all books by John Battelle at Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com John Battelle’s The Search is more than just

Chris Mitchell meets Lawrence O’Toole, author of Pornocopia: Porn, Sex, Technology and Desire It’s a well-worn joke that any dinner-party discussion of the Internet will inevitably include a mention of finding pornography while on-

Chris Mitchell Faster – James Gleick See all books by James Gleick at Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com Faster is a survey of the speed of modern life. Subtitled "The acceleration of just about everything", it’s a book which takes

Chris Mitchell Faster – James Gleick See all books by James Gleick at Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com Technology is often seen as having a negative influence on music. Ever since the advent of sound generated by machines rather than traditional

Robin Askew Pornocopia – Laurence O’Toole See all books by Laurence O’Toole at Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com "To write, as I have, with an enthusiasm for something so loathed in certain quarters is maybe asking for

Chris Mitchell All Tomorrow’s Parties – William Gibson See all books by William Gibson at Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com William Gibson is never going to be able to live down being the sci-fi author who coined the term

Chris Mitchell New Rules for the New Economy – Kevin Kelly See all books by Kevin Kelly at Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com Despite its dry title, Kevin Kelly’s book isn’t just another self-styled business bible for the information

Chris Mitchell Thanks to the globalising effect of new technologies, Britain is transforming from an industrialised economy to a knowledge based economy. Unlike previous generations, many of us make our livings not by producing

Chris Mitchell Throughout his film-making career, George Lucas has continually pushed back the boundaries of technology in order to realise his ideas on the silver screen. John Baxter’s biography of the man is not

Björn Wiman “I am Human”, cries the protagonist in Will Self’s novel Great Apes. A phrase that may sound like a sturdy truism, in Self’s novel rings heavily: the protagonist has waken one morning only

Thomas Handy Loon Colombia’s Gaviotas is a community only dreamers could visualize, and only outcasts could build. Surrounded by rebel-infested llanos (savannas) and vast coca plantations, the presence of its peaceful

Antony Johnston One of Us. A powerful phrase — belonging, kinship, camaraderie. Familiar concepts, though this book deals with them in ways you may not expect. Initially our protagonist, Hap Thompson, seems anything but One of Us. An outsider,

Chris Mitchell It’s traditional to think of technology as the epitomy of rationalism, functioning with the mechanical precision of mathematical logic and mindlessly performing laboursaving tasks for its human creators. But Erik Davis argues that

Chris Mitchell If the novel of ideas has found a refuge within the 20th century, it’s within science fiction. Sci-fi lends itself perfectly to complex speculation about the future and what’s in store for the human race. The only problem is, sci-fi

Antony Johnston has a meeting of minds with the elusive William Gibson about his new novel All Tomorrow’s Parties William Gibson needs no introduction. But he’s going to get one anyway. Gibson coined the term ‘cyberspace,’

David B. Livingstone on why J.G. Ballard is one of the most vital writers of the 20th century “This author is beyond psychiatric help. Do not publish!” It was with these ironic words that an editor at J.G. Ballard’s publisher futilely