links for 2009-06-26

"Hash tags were cool for about 10 minutes. But then they started to remind us of IRC, Meta Data, and reading a book written in another language". Don't diss 'Meta Data' [sic] mate...

"When I speak at conferences in the US local business owners often ask me how they can market themselves best in Europe. Europe? I ask. There is no Europe and there are no Europeans! There is a politically united Europe. There is a geographical Europe. There is a dream among some that we will one day get a United States of Europe. But from a marketing point of view the fact remains that there is no Europe and there are no Europeans! We (in Europe) don’t speak the same language, we don’t hear the same music, we don’t have the same laws, we don’t follow the same norms, we don’t laugh at the same jokes and we don’t share the same religions".

"So, yes, [Google] return desktop results to mobile users, but they prefer mobile-optimized results. If there were a number of well-optimized mobile sites available for a particular mobile query, it’s unlikely that any desktop results would appear, and the question of whether or not brands need a mobile site might look very different. Therefore, when I answer the question of whether or not brands who wish to be competitive need a mobile site for a client it is with a resounding yes."

Judith Townend on the audience reaction to The Guardian's coverage of the BBC expenses data

Great list - highly recommended. There are quite a few of these things that I'd like to find time to try my hand at as well.

Not sure if I'd be thrilled that my terrible accidentally swearing and corpsing moment had been carefully converted into an mp3 download for the masses, but kudos to the BBC Radio 4 blog for doing just that themselves, rather than letting someone else post it on AudioBoo / YouTube etc etc

"Q: And where for you are the real problem areas that remain that you think web technologies can help to tackle? A: There are still no meaningful online tools that can help thousands of people discuss complex problems and come to consensual answers. That's the great gap, in my view".

"Steven Wells, one of the greatest music journalists on the planet, has died of cancer. Swells, as most of you will know him, was the NME's funniest, most expletive-prone writer throughout the 80s and 90s. To say he had a way with words is something of an understatement – a way with rampaging, amphetamine-crazed, cock-shaft metaphors was closer to the truth. He was a journalist who didn't so much write as spit, curse and hyperventilate. He was brilliant".