Some interesting comments about recent portrayals of social media in the press and parliament. Particularly interested in the commentary re: Dunbar's number, the Economist article I linked to the other day.

i *know* I saw an agency take *exactly* this approach to their site about 18 months ago – just having a nav overlay that simply linked through to relevant social-media contact. I just can't remember who. Bet you it's not the people who built the skittles site, though. Sincerest form of flattery, I guess.

Now you too can pick an ASBO. Just visit central London.

Shit, the London event is sold out. Still, I suppose that might be taken as a good sign. Maybe.

Starts of with some talk of Dunbar's number as it applies to social networks, then gets into the much tighter sphere of the number of people we actually interact with.

Really interesting look at how a group of volunteers in China translate each issue of The Economist.

This is, I assume, information that might be useful to a number of people. God bless the British governement.

This is a perfect summary of that ghastly little word. Key phrase here "It's part of the toxic Internet art of constant callous one upsmanship."

This is straight outta Blade Runner. Ten kinds of awesome.

Last.fm's response to Techcrunch's suggestion that they gave data to the RIAA to help them track down people who have downloaded U2's (less than stellar) new album that leaked the other week.

A short history of one of the most recurrent and widely used design motifs of the last 50 years.

Are you paying attention, music business? This is clearly the future of album promotion. I really, really hope someone take him up on one of the more stupidly expensive ones. And that he goes through with it. After all, if something's worth doing, it's worth doing in the most stupidly over-the-top manner possible.

"Or the past and future of practical city magic." Look, just go read it, because it's a clever man talking. It is not mysical, it is futuristical, and I'll give good odds that a lot of what he's talking about will come to pass. And it reminds me that I must dig up and revise something I wrote years ago on digital shamanism.

Well, this is going to make my little auto-printing app a lot simpler. Set up a fistful of RSS feeds, get them delivered as a formatted newspaper thing in PDF form overnight. Aces!

Nice local information service. Must get feed of my local areas.

Absolutely fascinating article on the adoption of new technologies among Amish communities. It doesn't necessarily seem like such a bad way to live, although obviously they'd need to remove God from the business before I'd sign up.

Del linked to this set of lovely photos of various buildings in London. And now I'm doing the same, because she's right, it's ace.

Interesting talk on models for a relationship with creativity. It's a bit hippy dippy in places, but then, her big book is called "Eat, Pray, Love" so what d'you expect? Still, it's worth thinking about for a few interesting lines of argument.

Matt Jones takes a look at some of the issues surrounding running geolocation based services, and the opportunities they offer us for the future. Particularly pertinent: "location is a matter of routine. We're in work, college, at home, at our corner shop, at our favourite pub. These patterns are worn into our personal maps of the city, and usually it's the exceptions to it that we record, or share – a special excursion, or perhaps a unexpected diversion – pleasant or otherwise that we want to broadcast for companionship, or assistance."