I have just returned from my second visit to Birmingham’s Social Media Cafe, and once again I got to meet a bunch of interesting people from a host of different backgrounds; people I wouldn’t usually get to meet in the closed world of academia. However, whilst I enjoy Birmingham’s Social Media Cafe, I can’t help but wish there was a Wolverhampton equivalent. It’s great talking to Birmingham people, but I would also welcome the opportunity to meet some more local people.
With a population of 250,000 Wolverhampton seems likely to be very capable of sustaining its own social media cafe, however I have no idea whether anyone else in the area would be interested in attending/organising such a group. So the question is, is anyone interested in a Wolverhampton Social Media Cafe? In the words of BSMC
“a place for people interested in social media to gather, get acquainted, chat, plot, scheme, and share.”
..but this time in Wolverhampton.
There aren’t many jobs out there that I covet: Prime Minister, Head of the British Library…that’s about it. Or rather, that was it until the government started advertising for a Director of Digital Engagement (via NevilleHobson). All the excitement of social media with the potential to make a real difference to people’s lives…and the £120,000 starting salary wouldn’t hurt either.
The right-wing have their usual reactionary attitude (via The Telegraph)
Conservative Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude said: “Hard pressed families struggling as the recession bites will find it hard to understand how Labour can so freely spend their money on peddling their own propaganda.”
Well Francis, when the ‘recession bites’ it is more important than ever that channels of communication with the government are opened, and [with the exception of myself] you are unlikely to get someone who knows what they are doing for less than £120,000. Maybe the Conservatives would like to take the opportunity to put aside party politics and acknowledge that it is an important role in the future of government.
So, who is your money on as the future Director of Digital Engagement? My money is on Alastair Campbell, recently seen blogging and twittering on a site near you. Whilst I sent him a message on Facebook about an hour ago asking him, he has yet to reply. Other potential candidates? Possibly Charles Leadbeater, but personally I would prefer someone who has their social media feet more firmly on the ground.
Any other suggestions?
[Update 23/02/09: Alastair says 'not a chance'...I hope the government don't just appoint some generic boardroom type]
Over three months since the US presidential elections and it is surprising to see that Sarah Palin is still firmly in the public eye. Whilst Joe Biden is only a heartbeat away from being the most powerful man on earth, it is actually Sarah Palin that has people more interested:
Surely if Palin continues at this level of public interest, there is no doubt she will be going for the Republican nomination next time around. You would almost want her to win, just to see what she would do.
Looking at your Google analytics or Feedjit can occassionally provide insights into some very strange minds. Earlier today Google directed someone to my site looking for paddington bear porn:
Once I had gotten over the shock, and taken Paddington to see a local counsellor, I had one question that I knew Google Insights for Search could answer. Who is the fictional bear of choice in the world of porn?
Whilst neither paddington bear porn or rupert the bear porn have enough search volume to produce Google Insights for Search graphs, both winnie the pooh porn and care bear porn do (at this point my knowledge of fictional bears ran out).
Whilst Winnie the Pooh is, without a doubt, the bear of choice in the world of porn, it is pleasing to note that it is seemingly an industry on the decline.
As members of The Pirate Bay stand trial Bill Thompson points out the need for a philosophy of linking:
The Pirate Bay case hinges on what counts as infringement, and whether simply linking to a site is enough to make someone liable, treating a hypertext link to a third-party URL as an endorsement, as something that makes a connection between two web pages or information sources that has real legal significance and weight.
Yet it is nothing of the sort. Ever since Tim Berners-Lee defined the Hypertext Markup Language and its Uniform Resource Locators one fundamental thing has applied – a link is just a link….
Perhaps we need a ‘philosophy of linkage’ to explore what the use of a link can signify, before the lawyers decide it for us and limit the creative potential of the web through their lack of imagination and understanding.
The theory of linking often comes up as a topic of conversation in webometrics, in much the same way as a theory of citation is discussed in bibliometrics. Unfortunately it often takes a back seat to those webometric areas with more obvious real-world applications, e.g., the creation of web indicators.
Only a couple of months ago a colleague and I started working on a ‘Theory of Linking’, but other work got in the way and the paper remains unfinished. Who knows, maybe if we had written the paper we could have been the first webometricians to be expert witnesses!
Whilst on a short break to Berlin my girlfriend spotted a QR code:
Unfortunately her 5800 doesn’t come with a QR code reader, and she hadn’t got around to downloading one. Try as I might, I have been unable to scan the above photo; presumably too much detail in the QR code.
So, anyone know what this particular QR Code says??
[update 20/02/09]
Solved by @staecker in Zurich (http://twitpic.com/1l4dy):
200 years ago today Charles Darwin was born, one of the most influential figures in science. However, despite being a revolutionary global figure Google gives him a rather weak chocolate-box-painting of a logo:
Even worse, at the time of writing, there is nothing for Darwin at Google.com! Whilst I thought it might be due to the time difference, both Google Mexico and Google Canada have the same logo as the UK. Is Google.com waiting for the 200th anniversary of Charles Thaxton‘s birth instead?
