BLOGDIAL : We are the best

Losing something physical (say a CD out of your glove box or a pair of knickers) is a lot easier to notice, it makes an immediate physical impact on you and it's also easier to trace (CD was in car, took car to garage, CD gone).

Because people aren't so savvy with computers and IT they may not understand about protecting their files (encryption, safe passwords, etc) and about how easy it could be to gain access to this information.

If someone had stolen your identity, where would you look? It could have been someone behind you in the queue at Sainsbury's, or someone stealing your Oyster card. Maybe your machine was hacked (highly unlikely) and that's why you needed it fixing in the first place. I don't think people will think about the physical access to their machine immediately.

I don't even encrypt my files, do you? Having said that I can usually fix whatever it is I've broken. Like when I accidently deleted the netinfo.db off our server last weekend and stayed in the office until 9am backing up and reinstalling OS X Server on the XServe. There was no system backup, only the data, so that was a pain. Of course, I've learnt the hard way.

I stayed at the office all night trying (and succeeding) to meet a deadline, and now I feel like a zombie. In the last two weeks I've spent far more time here than I have at home. I need a rest.

7"s: Not sure on my favourite. I remember my first, a Bennet tour 7". Curly Shirly. 1996 I think. Bennet were the first band I saw in a small venue. Other 7"s that spring to mind include Shulte Eriksson, Dick Johnson, Yummy Fur, Male Nurse, Bis, Evolution Control Committee, Accelera Deck and Girlfrendo. 7"s remind me of being young, finding weird, badly packaged 7"s in my local store full of wonderful sounds. These days I hardly buy them, although there's still a lot of good stuff being put out there. Les Georges Leningrad, Simon Bookish, etc. Also the FatCat stuff, I love the XinliSupreme and Drowsy 7"s, but you're right Alun, they're not the same as they used to be.

I like the fact that 7"s also seem quite throwaway or low risk, that people can put stuff out that they might not risk on 12" or even CD. V/Vm's Pigs, Janek Schaefer's Recorded Delivery and another 7" I have of the 2 minute silence at Princess Diana's funeral. All very 'weird' recordings, not the usual sort of listen, not really any kind of listen past the first cursory glances, but great records all the same, because they exist (and I have them). And then the more 'high-risk' stuff that gets put out on limited numbered 7"s on anonymous labels. Dancehall Bootlegs. Cassetteboy's Di and Dodi Do Die. Tigerbeat6's fight club series. All those bastard pop mash ups from 2001/2.

7"s are very collectable, maybe more so than 12"s or CDs. Definitely more than CDs. Maybe it's the size, or again, this curious quality they have.

Did Irdial ever release any 7"s?

Maybe I'll go on a 7" shopping spree next week. I am playing some records at slash/ on Thursday and that will be vaguely dancable, noisy guitar things. The perfect music for a 7".

I just remembered my favourite 7": Grauzone - Eis Baer.

Most of all 7"s are cute. Like cassettes. And Japanese schoolgirls. Collectable, fetishistic, pop and cute.