Social networks are not really social—they’re informational. While they may appear to be social, and perhaps we flock to them and participate in them because we feel a need to socially connect, the real currency is information. Whereas we might go to a bar, a cocktail party or a dinner and spend 90% of our … Read more
Here’s a very cool way to mix technology and environmental stuff, via the Google Earth Blog. (Interest declared: It’s part of the NEWtrees project, the brainchild of my publisher and friend Mark Hanusz): The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) offers you the opportunity to buy a tree which will be planted in a rainforest in Sebangau … Read more
One guy I’m always inspired by is Jan Chipchase, who does more for Nokia’s credibility than any of their products. Here he observes how small things are more likely to spread more rapidly than big ones, making them closer relations to ideas than to things: Today we’re comfortable with the rapid dissemination of information and … Read more
This is an edited version of my weekly column for Loose Wire Service, a service providing print publications with technology writing designed for the general reader. Email me if you’re interested in learning more. Wikipedia has gone through some interesting times, good and bad, but I think the last couple of weeks has proved just … Read more
Not sure who to credit for this one. Let me know if it’s you. Not sure where this originates, but it’s doing the rounds. A terrible example of Indonesia’s rampant property rights abuse, or a reflection of Indonesian-ness? (For non-Bahasa speakers, just say the first word quickly. The second means coffee, not, in this case, … Read more