EFF: MP3 Caper: Nice Flash Animation/Movie from the EFF, as part of their commentary and campaign regarding P2P and music downloading.

"If artists get paid when we share files, then artists win, we win, and yes -- even the RIAA wins."

The Amazing Baconizer
It seems they trawl the Amazon recommendation engine for links between items - Give it a try...

"Describe two items and see how they're linked by consumer preference via intermediate items. Choose from books, CDs, or films, and you can mix and match."

Spammers struggle with words - intersting insight into the current arms-race between the spammers (bad-guys!) and anti-spam software/tools (good-guys!).

They Found Nemo!

knockoff*project:

"Album cover spoofs, goofs, tributes, send ups, near misses and coincedences."

This is worth a read, somebody who should be given money and told to "make it so" !
TV's Tipping Point: Why The Digital Revolution Is Only Just Beginning
"Text of the speech by Ashley Highfield, Director of BBC New Media & Technology, at the Royal Television Society on Oct 6"

Suing Your Customers: A Winning Business Strategy? Sane comment from Wharton University on the state of play of Music/Downloading. Very interesting comparrison with US automotive industry from 100 years ago.

Funny: New "R&B Hit generator" Software.. see screenshot (Suggested by Ciaran).

Tube Map with Walklines:

"For some journeys it's really not worth getting on the tube: it takes a long time, and costs you money. Sometimes it's quicker and easier to walk.

A a whole bunch of links I collected before and after our holiday's in France at the end of September.
Funnies:

SkyHigh
AirlinesStriving for mediocrity !
cheap_ipod.jpgCut out and keep
Beard and Moustache Categories: World Beard Championships
Hoom! Maps and Walking Directions Multi-Map for Middle-Earth
IT Horoscopes - September 2003
The Best of British. British American Dictionary.

Websuff:

Picture of Our Galaxy (get things in perspective)
Silent sounds hit emotional chords This reminds me of some comments a guy made during a (ahem) focus group session during the efforts to startup WNC. His point was about the impact of sound waves so low as to be inaudible to us, yet still able
to have an effect on us. If "lossy" codecs such as mp3 only contain sounds considerd to be audible to the human ear, how does this affect our perception of music ?
Panderers in Japan:
"Japander:n.,& v.t. 1. a western star who uses his or her fame to make large sums of money in a short time by advertising products in Japan that they would probably never use. ~er (see synecure, prostitute) 2. to make an ass of oneself in Japanese media."
Wired News: Swollen Orders Show Spam's Allure- so these are the people who respond to spam !?!
RED HERRING | The Business of Technology - makes a return - is it boom time again ?

David Byrne: Some recent coverage of DB & Talking Heads:

Byrne has a new soundtrack CD out for
the film "Young Adam", and there is a new Talking Heads retrospective Box set due for release.
The Observer Magazine: "This much I know David Byrne, musician, 51, New York"
TH Fan site news item
rollingstone.com TH Box coverage
Amazon Listing for TH Box

More on the stupidity of downsizing and outsourcing technical staff.
This article at the Inquirer: The missing parts of the HP-Compaq jigsaw is a letter from an a Compaq/HP insider, and (assuming it is genuine, and it sounds scarily genuine) is a great example of some really stooooopid corporate "thinking".
[see See earlier item]

Counterculture landmark: the beat goes on

City Lights bookshop, a San Francisco institution, notches up 50 years as the spiritual home of writers such as Ginsberg and Kerouac

Free PDF eBooks - 1-10:

"Planet PDF is now offering an assortment of some of the most popular classics -- free! Help yourself to them, and feel free to share them with your friends."

Groove armada: 5 MP3 players previewed : "which model exudes enough mass-market mojo to topple Apple's uber toy from the top of the MP3 roost? You be the judge." (mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm - gadgets)

eBay auction for a song bought from the iTunes music store
Very interesting testing of law: Does the Right of First Sale Still Exist?

[This guy] just posted an eBay auction for a song I bought from the iTunes music store. It should be interesting to see how this works out. I only spent $0.99 on it but I bought the song just as legally as I would a CD, so I should be able to sell it used just as legally right?"

Very Funny and spot on satire: The Onion | Tanzania Loses Name To Tanning-Salon Chain

Dumping the wrinklies causing massive hi tech problem
Interesting article on "Institutional Memory", and the loss of knowledge caused through wholesale outsourcing of key customer services. I came across a (very tiny) example of this at work recently, where turnover of staff in a small department over a couple of years meant a steady incremental decline in skills/knowledge for a specific semi-technical job, resulting in nobody who really knew the capabilities of the technology in use. I also just had a "courtes ycall" from BT, a very polite chap in New Dehli. I chatted to him briefly about the whole outsourcing thing, and wondered if he was aware of Indian outsoucers losing out to "even cheaper" places, like the former Eastern Europeans (like Poland). He said he was aware of competetion from the Philippines, but not Eastern Europe. I think that there's a lot of very stupid short-termism involved in the kind of management thinking which doesn't value customer service staff, and generally agree with the points raised in the article.
Related Links:

Earlier item on "the new paradigm of the support economy" and "Deep Support"
Infrastructure can't match business boom in India's high-tech city

We are all time wasters now [potential audience for distractions blog growing ?]

One in three small business owners and managers are setting a bad example to their workforce by wasting time on the internet and sending humorous emails rather than working. " Link

ZDNet UK - Special Reports - Hot (spot) in the city - a Wi-Fi tour of London
"Wi-Fi hot spots are springing up around London. ZDNet UK's intrepid reporters set out to find out if the services live up to the frothy hype."

Viruses, Worms & Malware:
Good article here for non-techies wanting to better understand the various PC/Internet worms and viruses etc threatening our world:
PC protection for procrastinators "DON'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT BIG ATTACK TO DEFEND YOURSELF"