Tom Coates

From Barbelith

Who the hell is Tom Coates? People want to know!

Insane billionaire playboy genius? Omnipresent media whore? A soldier of fortune, wanted for crimes he didn't commit? The dreaded Virus Merchant of Singapore? That cute-ish guy in the next booth over, covering his face with his hands? (Note: He is cuter than he gives himself credit for, but not by much.)

Yes, he is all of these things and more, more or less. Less is more. Brown is the new black, and beige is the colour of resignation. JustAReminder

When not rigorously training his private army in the art of Liang-Pei Pijiu Kung Fu, Tom Coates dedicates himself to making the web work. As well as designing and maintaining social software (see Up My Street (http://www.upmystreet.com/)), he is a regular commentator on the emergence of new community structures online, and has been quoted in print and online media around the world. Tom is widely referred to as one of the "A-list" bloggers, widely read and frequently linked.

Sometimes he has even said the things people claim. Sometimes, he's been acutely right. Sometimes, acutely wrong. Either way, you get to read all about it at Plasticbag (http://www.plasticbag.org).

In the past, the pages of Plasticbag have featured:

• slices of life from Tom's former job at Time Out...
• slices of life from Tom's former slices...
• portraits of fellow crime-fighter Cal Henderson...
• incomprehensible references to Barbelith (http://www.barbelith.com), Tom's "pocket universe" currently connecting no fewer than 4,066 wandering souls...
• a trail of breadcrumbs leading to The Bomb (http://www.barbelith.com/bomb), a festering hive of resources concerning Grant Morrison's post-modern masterpiece The Invisibles...
• occasional embarrassing homages to The Bangles.

Tom could perhaps do with getting out more. Invitations to Get Out More (or, occasionally, Get More Out) are more than welcome. He is overly attracted to iBooks.

[Notes: to edit the page - you just have to click on "edit" at the top of the ... um ... page...]

[...and if you'd like to start with a, er, less "pulpy" text, click "history" to see what it used to look like. By the way, "liang-pei pijiu" is Mandarin for "two glasses of beer."]

Today: Thursday 13th October 2005