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On this page:

• what's a sneedle flipsock?
  how does it taste?
• can you dance to it?
• where do I get one?

[Captain Vimes] unhooked a speaking tube from a brass and leather construction on his desk and hesitated.

"Have they got that problem sorted out, sergeant?" he asked...

"Yes, sir. The pneumatic message system and the speaking tubes are definitely separated now."

"Are you sure? You do know Constable Keenside had all his teeth knocked out yesterday?"

"They say it can't happen again, sir."

"Well, obviously it can't. He hasn't got any more teeth. Oh, well..." Vimes picked up the tube, held it away from him for a moment and then spoke into it.

"Put me through to the cells, will you?"

"Wzzip? Wipwipwip?"

"Say again?"

"Sneedle flipsock?"

"This is Vimes!"

"Scitscrit?"

Vimes put the tube back on its cradle and stared at Sergeant Angua.

"They're still working on it, sir," she said. "They say rats have been nibbling at the tubes."

"Rats?"

"I'm afraid so, sir."

How does it taste?

Weekly, on Fridays.

Comes in two sizes:

1. plain-text e-mail (subscribe by e-mailing me at flipsockgrrl at gmail.com)

2. HTML on the sneedle flipsock home page

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Can you dance to it?

Sneedle Flipsock is built on the same principles as a weblog that I used to edit at RMIT University, ie if you offer a range of interesting stuff, then people will keep coming back to your web site, and this builds goodwill.

The RMIT version, Mindworks, attracted about 1000 hits per week on its web page and had around 300 subscribers to its e-mail edition. Mindworks was discontinued when I left RMIT, but it's still viewable.

Where Mindworks had a marketing/branding agenda, Sneedle Flipsock is purely personal: it reflects my own interests and those of the subscribers who contribute occasional links, comments etc.

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Where do I get one?

Variously described as a polymath, editor, hard-nosed bitch, webdiva, Science-Matters Eminent List Person (thanks, Toby!), worshiper of Erudite and raving lunatic, I've long been a surfer of fine web sites, reader of multifarious books and occasional participant in sf fandom.

I also work in a university, which could explain a lot.

Combine these qualities with a voracious ego and an excitement about all things purple, and you end up with a weekly weblog about education, web and Internet culture, arts, sciences and a whole lot of other stuff.

2004 flipsocks:

17 Dec: the sock has flipped
10 Dec: anything anywhere any time
3 Dec: instant flattery
26 Nov: the steamroller of branding
19 Nov: fried v rice
5 Nov: the page with no name
29 Oct: and then there were none
22 Oct: filled with naughty laughter
15 Oct: get souls and disconcert the public
8 Oct: ooh, aah, ooh
1 Oct: pinch and a punch
24 Sep: design is the new art
17 Sep: footsteps of Aeneas
10 Sep: slow art, viral aesthetic
3 Sep: I can see your house from here
27 Aug: forever blowing bubbles
20 Aug: jargon for the digital age
13 Aug: beautiful plumage, the Norwegian blue
6 Aug: brokenated terribility
23 Jul: Alice underground
16 Jul: color-coded
2 Jul: for so long treated as nouns
25 Jun: looking for love, echidna-style
18 Jun: joy-to-stuff ratio
11 Jun: fun's fun but a girl can't dance all night
4 Jun: pink dinosaur
28 May: two people every minute
21 May: incompitnce [sic]
14 May: zygomatic smile
5 May: mailbox
30 Apr: bananaguard
23 Apr: mmmmmWAH!
15 Apr: playtime
8 Apr: googlewhack
2 Apr: we wish to inform you...
18 Mar: daffy dills
12 Mar: echo chamber
9 Jan: refund profologies

Recent reads:

Neal Stephenson: The Diamond Age
Robert Ludlum: The Road to Gandolfo
Alexander McCall Smith: The Sunday Philosophy Club
Terry Pratchett: Going Postal
Charlotte Bronte: The Professor
Duncan J Watts: Six Degrees: the science of a connected age
MJ Simpson: Hitch Hiker: a biography of Douglas Adams
Linda Fairstein: Final Jeopardy, The Deadhouse, The Bone Vault
Christopher Wren: The Cat Who Covered the World
more

Current playlist:

Also on this site:

about this site
home page

articles:
who is geoffrey ebert?
testing for the fun factor
chicken at the (higher education) crossroads
crawford's theory of interactivity
froghunting
home-page real-estate wars
the eagle has landed

listmania:
must-reads for web people
recent reads
pop-culture quotes

neology:
they shoulda been words

recipe:
lemon and rosemary risotto

reviews:
Written In Blood by Chris Lawson
The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams

Without whom (web):

frankenstein journal (Chris)
tbn97 (Troy)
webster's encyclopedia [sic]
science playwiths (Peter)
neroliwesley.com.au (Neroli)
Fraser
Jonathan
Maverick IT network consultants (Rick)
Look! There's a castle! (Brent)
Cairns Corporation (Gerald)
Homosapien Books (Julie and Bruce)
Southern Sky Watch (Ian)
Panda's Thumb (Ian again)
ABC Science-Matters (official)
science-matters (unofficial)
chisig
Bovios
Disinfo.com (Alex Burns)
Lee Battersby
Little Malop Gallery
Digest of Usability Resources and News (Dey)
WooWooWoo (Andrew)

Without whom (also):

Ramona P Lovechild
Dombardo
Katherine with a K
Katherine (no relation)
Catherine
Teresa
Corey
Claire
Claire (no relation)
Helsbels
Iain
Toby and Jann
Andrew
Paul, Warren, Dr K and The New Reality
Stephen
Tania
Trevor