The more things change, the more things stay the same.

Awesome collection of radio docs - 30 minutes a piece.

s Lord Mandelson's anti-piracy Digital Economy Bill begins its uncertain journey through parliament, John Tatlock investigates the music industry's most troubled decade yet and says 'stop whining, it's only a scratch'.

I have a small problem with these articles which say "social media is nothing new - we've been doing this since the Internet was created." Yes, it's true that Twitter is directly descended from IRC but it's the mass adoption of Twitter and Facebook that makes it interesting. It's like me saying fanzine culture was the precursor to blogging. Sure it was, but blogging was much more revolutionary because the barriers to entry tumbled. But, that said, it's good to know your history if you want to understand these tools and this is a nice short introduction to that history

Promoting his new book (which I've not started yet) Scott gives a very basic introduction to the origins of the form and dispells a few myths. 35 mintues of talk followed by Q&A. Worth watching.

Matt Haughey, who created MetaFilter back in the day, has a moan about how things ain't like they were. I love this sort of stuff.

Dunc Autumnstore on the Birmingham record label that started with the seminal zine "We Brought Our Friends" and carried on for a decade.

"Roger Shannon pays tribute to Sir Michael Balcon, grandfather of Daniel Day-Lewis, and a genuine movie mogul who had his roots in Birmingham."

The Gay Birmingham History Project was formally launched on Thursday. Love the Bull icon.

Some nice tunes from one of the "We Brought Our Friends" late 90s bands.

Aiming to record the city’s rich LGB social cultural and political heritage, the project team has collected reminiscences and information from nearly 80 interviewees spanning seven decades, plus boxes of magazines, flyers, photographs, badges and other