On 19 January 2012 the United States Department Of Justice seized and shut down the file-hosting site Megaupload.com (Mega Upload) and commenced criminal cases against its owners and others. On 20 January Hong Kong Customs froze more than 300 million Hong Kong dollars (US$39 million) in assets belonging to the company. Acting upon a US Federal prosecutor's request, the New Zealand Police arrested Schmitz and three other Megaupload executives in a leased $30 million luxury mansion at Coatesville near Auckland on Friday, 20 January (NZDT, UTC+13).[36] This was pursuant to a request from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation that the four be extradited. (more)

one Framing of the New Economy

Make Magazine from OReilly (aka Make Zine) - for Maker-s (more)

Fred Wilson thinks it's time to consider a Flat Tax. (I hope DisQus can handle the comment load.:))

Venkatesh Rao notes that the Social Network (of Social Capital) has constant churn now - you can never treat anyone as a stranger, because they may not stay that way. This isn’t social mobility. The whole idea of social mobility, at least in the sense of classes as separate, self-contained social worlds, is breaking down. Instead you have context-dependent status churn... Even more unprecedented than status churn is temporal churn... Social situation awareness is not allowed to fade. The active and unstable double-take layer is constantly suggesting opportunities and ideas for deeper interaction... It is increasingly going to be a world of shifting alliances and status relationships within a larger, far more active and unstable layer in a much larger double-take zone. A world where you will never be quite sure where you stand in relation to a large number of potentially important people... I am not certain whether I like or dislike this emerging world. I think I am leaning towards dislike. The slogan, the world is small and life is long describes a tense and anxious world of constant social shadow-boxing. One where you must always be on, socially. A world where burning bridges is more dangerous, and open conflict becomes ever costlier, leading to less dissent and more stupidity. It is a situation of false harmony. One where peace is less an indicator of increasing empathy and human connection, and more an indicator of increasing wariness. (more)

Period of European history covering roughly 400-1400... between Classic Al Civilization and the Renaissance. (more)

Word Press is launching an RssAggregator. They'll be supporting RssCloud for Real Time updates. (more)

US Senate member, Presidential Candidates 2008 (more)

The Ny Times' "Public Editor" Arthur Brisband asked whether they should actually Fact Check the statements of "newsmakers". Uh, isn't that pretty much a core part of Journalism? (more)

A piece by Michael Strong ("The Creation of Conscious Culture Through Education-al Innovation") is a candidate to become a Change This manifesto. Please vote for it.

Google launched a "SearchPlusYourWorld" model that combines Social Search and Real Time Search into the rest of your Search Engine results. Google Plus is heavily promoted, while Twitter results are not. Platform War! (more)

in-manuscript book by Michael Strong on Educating Kids and Culture (more)

Michael Strong... (more)

Rands In Repose gives a good overview of the varieties of Web Design for engineers. Engineers are uncomfortable with ignorance, but worse, we’re bad at asking for help outside of our domain of expertise. This primer is the first step at building a solid bridge between our professions. So, chill. This is not a definitive design guide, it’s a place for engineers to start thinking about design and if you happen to learn something about how we think — super. Graphic Design... Interaction Design... User Experience Design.

old Reality Hacker writer (more)

John Thackara on the Post-SpecTacle City. Hearing about these storytellers reminded how much we have lost, in the "developed" world, of the un-mediated, impromptu interactions that once made cities (Urban Design) vital. We now design messages, not interactions. The world is awash in print, and ads, and billboards, and packaging, and spam. Semiotic pollution. Brand intrusion at every turn. Our buildings are now about one-way-communication, too. Sports stadia, museums, theatres, science and convention centres. Such buildings do an accomplished technical job: they deliver pre-cooked experiences to Passive crowds. And whom do we have to thank for this semiotic pollution, for the catatonic spaces that despoil our physical and perceptual landscapes? The "CreativeClass". That's who's responsible. In the same way that mill owners optimised Mass Production, the creative class has optimised the society of the spectacle... Sophisticated Paris, in its bid for the Olympics, says that (Spectator Sports) is replacing culture as an attractor in urban regeneration. "The role that investment plays in the Games of the 21st century will be comparable to that played by industrialisation at the end of the 19th century", burbles their bid. Claude Bebear, chairman of the Paris Olympics Committee, does not think of sport as kicking a ball around a field. He thinks about twenty million dollar sponsorships, and the well-being of the people who provide the spectacle... Spectacles may be spectacular, but they are low bandwidth. "I believe that a desirable future depends on our deliberately choosing a life of action, over a life of consumption. Rather than maintaining a Life Style which only allows to produce and consume, the future depends upon our choice of institutions which support a life of action". That was Ivan Illich, in 1973. Thirty years ahead of the rest of us, Illich argued for the creation of convivial and productive situations - including our cities. A sustainable city, Illich understood, has to be a working city, a city of encounter and interaction - not a city for the passive participation in entertainment. What matters most in a post-spectacular city is activity, not architecture. (follows up with ideas about WireLess connectivity improving the ability of people to connect in the city)

Ulla Mutanen built an Interactive installation using NFC-supporting Mobile-s. The idea of Green Touch is to encourage the DOTT07 exhibition visitors to explore the design objects on display and learn about their production and environmental impact by touching them with NFC-enabled phones... Green Touch brings the Thing Link interface to mobile devices. We used Nokia 6131 NFC Edition phones running a custom Java midlet.

Back in April John Robb suggested The solution is to improve our Resilience to these systemic shocks through a social and Economic Transition that follows this simple formula: Localize production; Virtualize everything else. (more)

Cool concept Of The Day: Interactive Wall Paper display.

A Dutch Advertising agency made a First Person Shooter Computer Game tied to Google Maps. Google killed that. Despite Google’s disapproval of machine guns, it seems to me inevitable that gaming will incorporate Google’s vast database of location imagery. And it doesn’t have to be a first person shooter. What about using it in a Second Life-type game? A Virtual World based on the Real World. (more)