Velcro City Tourist Board is the personal blog of Paul Graham Raven.
I am writer, researcher, and a consulting critical and creative foresight practitioner, specialising in narrative prototyping—which is a fancy way of saying that i tell stories about futures from the inside rather than from the outside. (I’m also a fairly minor author of science fiction, which is similar, but not quite the same thing.)
Founded in 2006, this blog has tracked whatever I was interested in at the time, with the result that its core concerns have been science fiction literature, futures and foresight (very broadly conceived), and sociotechnical systems.
These themes persist, though more formal writing around all of them will henceforth be found on Worldbuilding.Agency, which is in turn the online research journal of my foresight firm, Magrathea Futures AB.
In turn, what appears at VCTB will in general be more personally reflective and less fully-formed… which is to say, it’s a personal blog, albeit the personal blog of someone who should probably have a much firmer line between their work and the rest of their life. Do feel free to subscribe to the RSS feed, which will always be free to air.
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36 responses to “About”
I was saying only recently to someone that I reckon more and more creators are going to abandon Patreon etc. And just run their own subscription service / card payment processor on their own website.
I was saying only recently to someone that I reckon more and more creators are going to abandon Patreon etc. And just run their own subscription service / card payment processor on their own website.
I was saying only recently to someone that I reckon more and more creators are going to abandon Patreon etc. And just run their own subscription service / card payment processor on their own website.
I was saying only recently to someone that I reckon more and more creators are going to abandon Patreon etc. And just run their own subscription service / card payment processor on their own website.
I was saying only recently to someone that I reckon more and more creators are going to abandon Patreon etc. And just run their own subscription service / card payment processor on their own website.
Your Twitter thread is great! But it is also ephemeral, temporal and easily forgotten. This is why you should start a damn Blog
3 nights away to recharge somewhere warm
I’m giving up refined sugar for Lent. I’m already regretting it.
I’m giving up refined sugar for Lent. I’m already regretting it.
Sorry if blogging about blogging is boring.
I think there could be a lot more done representing my phone use beyond lame bubbles falling down every-time I unlock my phone.
With the festival cancelled, last year I contributed a piece about being a teenaged conspiracy theorist to Unsound 2020’s ‘Intermission’
With the festival cancelled, last year I contributed a piece about being a teenaged conspiracy theorist to Unsound 2020’s ‘Intermission’
With the festival cancelled, last year I contributed a piece about being a teenaged conspiracy theorist to Unsound 2020’s ‘Intermission’
With the festival cancelled, last year I contributed a piece about being a teenaged conspiracy theorist to Unsound 2020’s ‘Intermission’
With the festival cancelled, last year I contributed a piece about being a teenaged conspiracy theorist to Unsound 2020’s ‘Intermission’
I went back to the chalk for 5 nights for my dads Birthday this week. It was good.
I went back to the chalk for 5 nights for my dads Birthday this week. It was good.
I touched on productivity anxiety during my podcast this week. It’s something that’s been bothering me a lot this year, especially in the weeks before we went on holiday last month.
I’ve thinking about ‘Nomic’ this week. A game system created in 1982 by philosopher Peter Suber, and how it could relate to Kennings.
I’ve thinking about ‘Nomic’ this week. A game system created in 1982 by philosopher Peter Suber, and how it could relate to Kennings.
I’ve thinking about ‘Nomic’ this week. A game system created in 1982 by philosopher Peter Suber, and how it could relate to Kennings.
I’ve thinking about ‘Nomic’ this week. A game system created in 1982 by philosopher Peter Suber, and how it could relate to Kennings.
I’ve thinking about ‘Nomic’ this week. A game system created in 1982 by philosopher Peter Suber, and how it could relate to Kennings.
From this week I’m adding a new section to my weeknotes. I want to highlight work friends who’ve posted to the web outside of social media
I thought I’d throw a blogparty to celebrate 300 weeknotes in a row. But after the fanfare of last week, the number is duly noted
I thought I’d throw a blogparty to celebrate 300 weeknotes in a row. But after the fanfare of last week, the number is duly noted
Part of me thinks that this might be my *last* laptop. Or at least the last one priced under the logic of late capitalism.
Part of me thinks that this might be my *last* laptop. Or at least the last one priced under the logic of late capitalism.
Freedom is totally hardcore and does what it says on the tin: Blocks everything that you tell it to block.
Freedom is totally hardcore and does what it says on the tin: Blocks everything that you tell it to block.
It’s been quite the week here at Jaymo Industries. Just one thing after the another. I also hit 1000 days of my photo-a-day project
OpenAI’s Operator browses the web autonomously, and Deepseek R1 runs locally. Testing both in the same week left me with a touch of Future Shock
Anu’s essay Make Something Heavy over on the Working Theorys newsletter has been making waves in my media sphere this week.
This evening I just junked the whole thing and went with with a SaaS tool. So that was 12 solid hours spent this weekend totally up in flames.
DIY, Cultural Fracking, The Chrome Of Yestermorrow, Cyberpunk, Solarpunk, Visions of the Future and the Anthropogreen at Unsound 2019
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