plasticbag.org

• An interesting overview of some webloggers’ responses to an article on the evolution of religious belief
  I’m quoted, although I’m not sure that it’s the bit I’d have used to represent my position.
  (categories: god weblog)
• Americans have insincere smiles
  British people are apparently just better or something…
  (categories: smiling behaviour)
• Mr Webb’s tapping into Powerbook accelerometers
  And using the whole machine as an interface for controlling iTunes
  (categories: itunes accelerometers haptic interface haptics)

• Mind Hacks live at Foyles – March 23rd 2005
  The cult starts here. Mind my words.

• seti@home style distributed software is being planned to look for extra-solar planets
  And if you’re one of the people whose computer finds one, you get to name the little bugger. Sweet…
  (categories: seti planetarysystems astronomy exobiology planets software distributedcomputing)
• Using CSS to make e-mail addresses harder to harvest
  Of course it wouldn’t take an enormous effort for spammers to figure out what’s going on here and rebuild their spiders to compensate – if enough people do it to be valuable
  (categories: spam css email)
• Interesting-looking DAB radio walkman from Sony
  I wonder how much it costs. It looks pretty sweet. I wonder if there will ever be radios in iPods…
  (categories: ipod audio radio music dab sony)

• Engadget review of the Siemens SK65
  I was interested in this phone because of the intriguing way they’ve integrated a QWERTY keyboard into it – but it sounds like the rest of the phone is a bit lacking
  (categories: mobilephones phones siemens design)
• An interesting job is going over at Headshift
  Social Software consultant, you say… Hmm…. Interesting…
  (categories: socialsoftware headshift consultancy)

So my colleague Matt Webb is about to abandon me in the BBC and is now trying to work out what to do next. Maybe you guys can help.

This feels like my most significant decision for the past decade, and the one that will most shape my life for the coming ten years. I’ve no idea what to do. Last time I tried to make a decision was last year, but then the book came along and I did that instead. Before then there was another offer too good to refuse. This time I really have to decide, the time is right, because even if I decide to keep to the status quo, this time that means I’m staying in industry, pretty much for good. And whatever happens now is significant because of my age, and because the subjects I’m interested in are coming to fruition both with people and technology, and because of all kinds of other externalities (funding bodies and so on)… But I can’t work it out, and I need to make a decision, I think, in the next few weeks–not only which way to turn, but which college, what focus, which subjects.

If you’re thinking of employing Matt, then obviously you could send him an e-mail offering him work and stuff. Or – and I think this is a much much better idea – you could send me an e-mail with details of the opportunity and I’ll make sure he gets it… in the end… as soon as I’ve checked that it wouldn’t be more appropriate for a person of slightly wider girth experience instead… er… or something… cough… nothing to see here…

Anyway, good luck old chap. You’ll be much missed, impossible to replace and work will not be as much fun without you. Think of me fondly while you’re out there in the real world, and send me a postcard occasionally.

• Terrifying graphs of the decline in life expectancy in some major African countries
  The article puts this at the door of HIV/AIDS, although I haven’t read the supporting material so couldn’t state for certain that was the case

• Banksy, graffiti artist, comes to Brighton with this epic and beautiful image
  Passionate policement. Stunning.
  (categories: police gay homosexual art graffiti banksy brighton)
• Digital radio sales outstrip analogue
  “Sales of digital radios have outstripped the demand for traditional sets for the first time, leading UK high street store Dixons has said” – and highest sales of radios since 1985!
  (categories: radio digitalradio audio bbc dab)
• A highly entertaining summary of an article about biologists fixing radios?
  More of a treatise / satire on the biological method than anything else – although perhaps drawing analogies that do not hold…
  (categories: radio biology science scientific method humour funny)
• The Observer’s folksonomic zeitgeist tracks the tags that Observer blog authors are using to categorise their posts
  Designed to help people see what’s currently causing a buzz in the Observer’s offices. Interesting.
  (categories: folksonomy visualisation zeitgeist observer guardian weblog tags)
• “If human population increases at the current rate – and we colonize other planets at light speed, humans will still all die this millennium.”
  David Galbraith responds to a book on Xenobiology and the consequences of human overpopulation…
  (categories: davidgalbraith overpopulation population exploration colonisation space)
• Fiona Romeo on a possible link between autistic savants and synaesthesia
  “When I multiply numbers together, I see two shapes. The image starts to change and evolve, and a third shape emerges. That’s the answer.”
  (categories: synaesthesia savants autism)
• Halle Berry shows up to collect “Worst Actress” award, recreating her Oscar speech in full
  She thanked everyone involved in “Catwoman,” a film she said took her from the top of her profession to the bottom.
  (categories: halleberry awards oscars razzies actress actor catwoman)
• An exercise in clarity: Define Podcasting in ten words or less
  I’m interested in this as a general approach to the articulation of new concepts
  (categories: podcasting process)
• Jewelcase visualisation for iTunes
  I would try this out for you guys except it’s a .pkg and you have to do installing things and they make me nervous
  (categories: itunes jewelcase visualisation)
• Thoroughly very much enjoying Jason Kottke’s design for a contributions bar
  It’s shiny and elegant and 37signals-ish, and anyone who doesn’t like it is a grumpy old sod
  (categories: jasonkottke weblog)
• The 48 Laws of Power
  Hideous, selfish, dishonourable and sickening approach to life that makes me feel nauseous and depressed
  (categories: power philosophy)
• Looking for a few good blog designers‚Ķ
  I’m basically posting this because I’m vain and I like the way that they compliment me for my bastardised design sense
  (categories: weblogs design)

Here is a brief list of some of the panels I would be particularly interested in if I could go to SXSW, which I can’t since I’m going to – and speaking at – ETech instead:

• No Absolutes: Social Software and Shades of Trust
• Blogging Showdown
• How to Create a Compelling Community Website

And here’s one panel that I not only wish I could see, but wish I could be on: Spam, Trolls, Stalkers: The Pandora’s Box of Community, much as I wish that I had enough brain power and space to do my day job, maintain Barbelith and keep up my community management site, Everything in Moderation…

• Siobhan’s Diary on Dancing Orange Pixies
  I’m somebody’s blogdad. That’s so cool.
  (categories: weblog)
• Interesting post on Google toolbar’s zip code autolink feature
  “What if my Yahoo page turned Google Adsense links to Overture ones? Would you be cool with that? Is it the users right to remove the ads on Google and replace them with ads they prefer?” There’s a whole new business model there for people selling browser
  (categories: google toolbar googletoolbar adsense advertising web)
• Obsessively awesome network-based flash game
  Key lessons to learn – there are no dead ends that don’t end with a circle or diamond, the centre block can rotate, but it’s not necessarily easy to see…
  (categories: game flash fun network networks)