Newsletter – June 2009

A selection of news and links captured during June 2009, organised under the usual headings of systems and what makes them: people, information and technology

Systems

• A good definition of a network… …success can easily compound into runaway growth (and vice versa…)
• Power curves – what natural and economic disasters have in common
• The digital panoptican – raising questions about the mass adoption of social technologies
• 35+ examples of corporate social media in action
• Digital Britain report published – taxing landlines to pay for high-speed net
• Waiting for the tipping point means you’re too late – why retailers ignored TV shopping channels and Steve Ballmer ignored search…
• High court refuses to protect anonymity of blogger – social media clashes with the legal system
• IBM launches social network for partners after successful tests
• Inside IDEO – how does the process of designing a better product work?

People

• The not-so-hidden politics of class online – excellent essay by Danah Boyd
• When do your beliefs become knowledge? And what is the impact on learning
• Amplified 09 – nLab event on amplified individuals and business resilience
• Three failures of management – nice straightforward article on how to improve decisions and actions
• Would you be a solvent or a glue? on Will Wright’s team
• On the taming of comment trolls – navigating the moderation waters
• The politics of attention and microblogging governance

Information

• Triumph of the default – when something works by doing nothing
• 20 visualisations to understand crime – compare and contrast the effectiveness of different methods
• Google Fusion Tables – help you visualise and manage your data
• The fable of the dragon tyrant – setting context for questions

Technology

• How cloud computing will change business – Business Week special feature
• Google vs Microsoft on cloud computing infrastructure (ignore the title, it’s a useful article on different approaches to the same solution)
• Google Wave – first impressions from ReadWriteWeb
• Exploring virtual worlds – blog post
• Some lessons out of ECM vendor demo hell

And finally, the usual bit of fun. This time, it appears the Microsoft Office 2010 team forgot to take their meds again

For a more grounded perspective of the potential within Office 2010 watch this space. Joining Dots is participating on the tech preview and will be posting findings here later this year.

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