John Gushue . . . Dot Dot Dot

Who edits Wikipedia, and where

Mapping English Wikipedia

In English, that is. This map was produced from data collected and visualized through the Oxford Internet Institute. 

 

Sage against the machine

"After all, it is we who adapt to the machine. The machine does not adapt to us."
- Friedrich Kittler

Only in America

From a piece I've been reading as part of some research:

“In Seoul, when you move into an apartment, you have a choice of three or four providers selling you symmetric fiber access for $30 per month, and installation happens in one day,” Crawford told TIME in an interview Tuesday. “That’s unthinkable in the United States. And the idea that the country that invented the Internet can’t get online is beyond my imagination.”

Read more here on Time. 

The Daily packs it in

Above is the image of today's cover of The Daily, which has announced it will publish its final edition on Dec. 15. I've had a subscription for a while; at a buck a week, it's a cheap read, even though it's (to be blunt) a dollar a week more than many other sources for online news. I'll be writing my column for the Telegram this week on the Daily's demise. 

Digital architecture

"We build our computers the way we build our cities: over time, without a plan, on top of ruins."
- Ellen Ullman

Wasn't tomorrow wonderful

A new meaning of air mail, non?

This is from a collection of images made in France, largely in the first decade of the 20th century, about what life would be like in the year 2000. The image above imagines what mail delivery might be like in small towns. There are many more to seen here.  Pretty illuminating!

 

Doubly endangered

"Thank you, phone books, for combining the two things that no one answers or reads anymore."
- Jimmy Fallon 

[This was part of the Thank You Notes series on Late Night, airing last week. The feature has inspired a book, not to mention a Tumblr appreciation blog.]

Ringy-dingy

"By inventing the telephone we've damaged the chances of telepathy."
- Dorothy M. Richardson  

 

Instantly dissatisfied

What we call the real-time web is increasingly becoming a reality, with Twitter, texting, search and other platforms raising the bar, and the expectations. 

The downside? We really expect things to be available to us when want it, with no waiting ... even for a simple Google search. 

The numbers in this infographic are pretty revealing. 

Created by: OnlineGraduatePrograms.com

The typical SXSW participant is hardly an underemployed hipster student

The South By Southwest festival may have started off all about the music, but it's basically a business conference these days, with a strong focus on tech and innovation. While the audience is not exactly grey, it's definitely grown-up, and with the salaries to match. Check out some of the details in this infographic, which I found on Cool Infographics. 

Rick Mercer: 'The state has no business in the hard drives of the nation'

Rick Mercer took on the online-privacy uproar in this week's rant. 

 

The humble pencil

"Even what can appear to be the most common, small and simple of objects can reveal itself to be on its own terms as complex and as grand as a space shuttle or a great suspension bridge."
- Henry Petroski, author of The Pencil, a book I heartily recommend  

 

Flip, flip, flip: The iPad add-on I'd love to see

This is a demonstration video of a protypical way of displaying e-books in a way that better suits how people actually read. It was developed by a Korean company. No word on a commercial application, but this does look inviting, if not inevitable.

Evolution

Our cartoon chuckle of the day originally appeared on 9gag.

SOPA and the film industry

This infographic, tied into this week's U.S.-focused SOPA protests, has a point of view, and it won't take long to figure out which one, but it presents a bit of storytelling for its advocacy position. 

I spotted it here, via Tumblr. 

Inside Foursquare

Yes, they're sponsored by American Express, but I find the series of videos the company has been producing on business and innovation to be pretty interesting. The latest features Dennis Crowley and the crew at Foursquare. Have a look. 

If Angry Birds had been designed only for a BlackBerry

Sure, it's easy to knock RIM when it's down ... but I'm sure I was far from the only person to chuckle over this one. 

As seen here. 

Your pocket is skilled at tying knots

Here's the proof. 

I can relate to this. I've a) forgotten most of the knots I learned as a kid and b) have been flabbergasted at what can happen by leaving a USB cord or earbuds in your pocket.

From I See In 8-Bit. 

The elite niche in personal tech, albeit in 1958

Check out this ad for a Motorola transistor radio. A long road has been travelled in five decades or so. 

As seen on this Tumblr feed. 

A lot can happen in 60 seconds

In the mobile universe, indeed, the pace of change is overwhelming. Have a look at the numbers in this infographic. I saw it here. 

Future? Pffft. Already there

An interesting video on expected technologies that (technically, anyway) are already in our midst. 

 

A light bulb goes off for wireless growth

From TED, a revealing look at how wireless can tap into a very common energy source.

The soccer ball that powers a lightbulb

This is the most interesting thing I've seen so far today.

It's called Soccket, and it's one of the featured projects from the American Express-sponsored Take Part program. Four students at Harvard came up with a soccer ball that retains energy every time it's kicked, dropped, passed and so on. At the end of the day ... plug in a light. The idea is to provide affordable energy in the poorest places. Fifteen minutes of play means three hours of reading light. Remarkable.

You can read more here, but first have a look.

Video Pirates

I needed to say "Oh, I am sooo scared" to someone today, electronically, and ... zap! This came to mind. 

It's Video Pirates, one of the segments in the under-rated 1987 comedy anthology Amazon Women on the Moon. This segment was directed by Robert Weiss, and it tackled the very early days of piracy. 

The roots of Silicon Valley

The phrase "Silicon Valley" first appeared in print in 1971, but the roots of the technology industry in that particular stretch of northern California go back to 1938, with the founding of Hewlett-Packard.