links for 2011-08-11

...not yet IMHO, but it might be getting there

"Right there on a late-night BBC2 debate you caught a glimpse of how this week's mayhem would be used by the political classes: as a kind of grand Rorschach test in which members of right and left would peer into smouldering suburbs and shopping streets – and see precisely what they wanted to see."

"For good or for ill, governments have to deal with social media. In Cairo and London and Washington, the way people organize themselves is changing -- and governments are struggling to adapt, adopt, co-opt, or disable the technologies that enable these changes."

Twitter, Facebook, BlackBerry Messenger enable individuals to send one-to-many messages in real-time from their mobile phones meaning it is not only easier to form a group, it is easier to form 'a group of groups' which is necessary for large protests and riots.

Do your bit to help the indie labels affected by the riots

It turns out that one of the people singled out for praise over their stance on the riots likes the odd racist joke or three. Every time someone does a bit of social network digging and exposing someone like this, it makes me wonder harder and harder why our politicians don't employ people who can?

"So this, after a good bit of thinking, is what I think people like me of my generation need to do. We need to spend the rest of our careers pushing barriers out of the way, removing ridiculous bits of 20th century broadcast era thinking and when we’ve done that and if we become the barrier, we need to be proactive at getting out of the way and letting this incredible group of people at it. They’ve grown up digital and social and their thinking is so advanced about service design compared to the systems integrators and the gatekeepers...All I hope is they’ll let me mentor them where I can and that they’ll be kind enough to teach me. They’re wonderful. They’re not young people, they’re not kids, they’re just younger, please don’t patronise them or demonise them. They’re our future and we’ll live in their world in our twilight years and from what I saw last week, I quite like that idea". Amen to that.

Rise above the petty politics and bickering of the riots, and admire this feat: "After a journey of almost three years, NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has reached the Red Planet’s Endeavour crater to study rocks never seen before."

"This is not "frankly derisory" media coverage. London-based press and broadcast media may not have paid much attention until Richard Parks finally scaled his last peak but that doesn't mean it didn't exist. I can't remember the last time I wrote a 'check your facts' blog post but the Observer is seriously wide of the mark with this claim and it deserves redressing."

"Lots of tweets to the Riots (Damages) Act 1886 on legislation.gov.uk. Glad I was right about the year earlier" - legislation.gov.uk still the most impressive government website by far

@newsmary with her first solo byline on The Guardian and it is a corker - especially the advice to keep on tweeting if you are a looter...