I have a Love/Hate relationship going on with London. Whilst the Capital’s lifeblood flows through my veins there are times when I just need to break out of the claustrophobic confines of the city and find a bit of greenery in which I can pause momentarily and breathe.
Finding a little oasis of peace in London is one of life’s little pleasures and something which is to become easier to do thanks to the new Mapping Forgotten Spaces website which is a joint collaboration between the Space Makers Agency and RIBA (the …

Google Maps and Street View launched Google Best Streets Awards a while ago, showcasing virtual walks through the streets of Britain. Users helped decide the Best Foodie, Best Fashion and Most Picturesque street.
The votes have been counted, and  he winners have now been announced:
Britain’s Best Foodie Street
Winner: Stockbridge High Street, Hampshire
The winning street should offer a unique mix of mouth-watering options which could include fine dining, cafés, market stalls and delicatessens, all covering a diverse mix of food types and price points.
Britain’s Best Fashion Street
Winner: Milsom Street, Bath
The winning street …

The following email just popped into my inbox from Twitter’s co-founder Biz Stone. Kinda makes you feel warm inside doesn’t it?
Hi there,
In the early days of Twitter, I used to send out short updates just to keep everyone in the loop since so much was happening. It’s been a while, but you signed up for short, monthly updates from Twitter so we thought it was time to start sharing more information. We’ve had quite a year. If you haven’t visited in a while, we’d like to invite you to come …

OK, my second post on Chatroulette in a week but this piece of news (which floated my way via the all seeing, all knowing, all-round good bloke Ashley Norris at ShinyShiny.tv) merits a mention.

French Connection has launched a competition asking men to try to get a date on Chatroulette as part of its The Man, The Woman campaign. In its own words, the brand is “going boldly where no manly man has gone before”:
The internet poses men a challenge. Can you wade through the virtual minefield of girlie inanity to …

What the HELL is social media explains in 2 minutes using 10 key facts why brands need to take notice of social media:
Here is a breakdown of the reasons listed in the video (via JD Rucker):

Social media is now the number one online activity, beating porn and personal email to the top spot.

Because 2/3 of the global Internet population visit social networks.

Because time spent on social networks is growing at 3X the overall Internet rate, accounting for 10% of all Internet time.

Because online, including social media, has become the most …

The Pingdom folks have been at it again – but this time focusing on the behemoth that is El Goog…
They’ve been digging through Google’s SEC filings, news articles and the trusty old Wikipedia to get plenty of interesting data to include.

I love the fact that 50% of Google products come from the 20% of time that staff are encouraged to work on their own projects.

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Jesse Thomas (a.k.a. JESS3) designed and animated this for the JESS3 lecture at AIGA Baltimore in Feb 2010. I’m a sucker for infographic animations and this one’s got some great little factoids:

JESS3 / The State of The Internet from Jesse Thomas on Vimeo.
About Jess3
Jesse Thomas is the CEO and founder of JESS3, an award winning creative interactive agency specializing in web design, social media, branding, and data visualization. Based in Washington, DC, JESS3 has worked with Pfizer, Nestle, Marriott, Pepsi, Dow Jones/The Wall Street Journal, All Facebook, IndieWire, SnagFilms, C-SPAN, …

Check-out this Foursquare rap (or should that be check-in?) by @borismsilver and @thenewb:

(click here if you can’t view the embedded video above)

“I’m checkin’ off the grid like Tiger Woods be…”

Full lyrics:
Mr. Silvas in da building
Checkins by the hundreds, thousands, trillionz
Ayo I know its my first stop
Look at that leaderboard and see me at the top
Bouncin to new places, adding em quick
I know all the TO-DOs and I got all the tips
Show up at the Bar and I check in Right Away
Sent it to my Twitter cuz Im here to stay
Looks like you …

A huge thanks to Tom Murphy for bringing my attention to this video this morning.
Created by journalist Steve O’Hear, it brings home the real pain that emerges when PRs insist on embargoes and then go even further to ram them down journalists’ throats.

(Click here if you cannot view the embedded video above)
Dylan Tweney, senior editor of Wired.com once famously said:

“Embargo is from a Latin phrase which means ‘F*** you!’”

Embargoes: Not to be confused with 80’s lunchbox favourite Um Bungo or with the popular French appetiser L’Escargot.
2/03/2010 – UPDATE:
A sequel has …

Have you discovered the depraved genius that is Chatroulette? Of course you have… 
Created by Andrey Ternovskiy, a 17 year-old high school student in Moscow the site works on a really simple premise:
Visit www.chatroulette.com and every click lands you in a face-to-face video conversation with a random stranger.
Activate your webcam and click “play.” Then, as people from all over the world pop up one at a time in a box on your screen, you decide whether or not to chat with them. If you don’t like the looks of things, click “next” …