This morning Rachel Armstrong tweeted about whether cities of the future will be designed around energy. The article linked from the tweet discussed how there are two operative principals historically considered when building cities: transportation links and defence. The reasons around defence are a given, and transportation links were important to connect agricultural sites and sources of trade to the urban people.

Now that war machines have the capacity to travel around the globe and supply chains have the ability to deliver fresh produce pretty much anywhere (I bought tofu in the Arctic a couple years ago), what will be the main principal considered in designed cities of the future. General Electric’s Ecomagination blog suggest it is energy, but what about internet connections?

A report that went live this morning, commissioned by Google UK, found that the Internet economy now represents 7.2% of UK GDP, which is more than construction, transport or utilities. The FT said that Britain has become a “nation of digital shopkeepers.”

With an internet connection vital for 250,000 jobs in this country, is fibre optic cable the new trade route?

Photo by Flickr user ILMO JOE, licensed under CC BY 2.0.

For many, whiling the hours away browsing the internet, checking emails and downloading the latest apps on our mobile phones comes far too easily and although we can’t overlook the business benefits of mobile communication it’s the lifestyle and entertainment pros that more often catch our attention and make their way into our conversations.

However, the recent disaster in Haiti has highlighted quite clearly how, for all the fun that mobile access can provide, there is a more serious side to how this technology can be used for our benefit. The first images and videos to reach the public from the earthquake-torn region on Tuesday were captured with mobile phones and now, with the breakdown of traditional means of communication tools such as Twitter are being used as the primary means of contact and Google and Facebook are making missing persons lists available.

Charities worldwide have been quick to set up text aid lines for the public to pledge money to relief work to those in Haiti. As a result the Red Cross and other relief organisations have now raised more than $20 million via text message donations. Not only has mobile communication aided the spread of information quickly, but has had a direct impact on getting help to the right places and people.

For a list of ways to donate money, including by your mobile phone click here

But recent alleged cyber attacks on the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists seem to be have changed its mind. To the point it is now suggesting it might pull out of the country altogether – and at the very least end censorship on www.google.cn.

Whether it will actually go through with the threat is another matter – but making its threats public is going to definitely rile the Chinese government. Let’s see what happens to the Google share price today and how that affects its ultimate decision………

Computing.co.uk – IT managers need to be more honest with staff
Many IT and telecoms workers remain in the dark about their employers business goals, according to new research conducted by YouGov, a situation that has a negative effect on their motivation, productivity and innovation.

IT PRO – Nokia shuts London shop
Nokia is closing retail stores around the world, including it’s flagship location on London’s Regent street, just down from the Apple Store.

IT PRO – Samsung unveils bada smartphone platform
Samsung has unveiled its new smartphone platform bada, in addition to a software development kit (SDK), which it claims will deliver benefits to operators, developers and users alike.

Computer Weekly – Companies failing to keep up with the internet
Companies are failing to keep up with the pace of change on the internet, according to Jeremiah Owyang, a partner at consultancy Altimeter Group. “Most companies can’t keep up with the slow web, let alone the future web,” he said, speaking at the Le Web conference in Paris.

CBR – Open-source BI to grow five-fold through 2012: Gartner
Open-source business intelligence (BI) tools are becoming a mainstream deployment option for all kinds of BI usage, according to Gartner. Gartner analysts said that while functionality is not yet on par with large commercial platforms and is still rarely seen as an enterprisewide BI standard, open-source BI tool deployment is growing solidly.

It is five years since the launch

First, a quick history lesson. After launching Internet Explorer, Microsoft poured millions into the product. This meant it successfully squashed the first independent mainstream browser, Netscape. Job done, it disbanded the development team, leaving users stuck with the same technology and little chance of upgrades.

Enter Firefox and the not-for-profit Mozilla Foundation which provided a clear, and function rich alternative. The result? 24 per cent of surfers now use Firefox. While it isn’t likely to topple the inertia that keeps IE at the top of the charts, it has stimulated diversity in the browser market – witness the introduction and growth of Apple’s Safari, Opera and Google Chrome in recent years.

In fact, it provides a template for what can be achieved with open source collaboration, listening to users and providing innovative solutions. Here’s to the next five years!

http://www.computerworlduk.com/technology/internet/applications/news/index.cfm?RSS&newsid=17033

While accessing information in the Internet has grown to mythical proportions, it remains the complete opposite of mobile search, where development has remained static despite wide user adoption. “There is little ‘joy of use’ in the current mobile search user experience,” according to Sarah Burnett, senior analyst of global consulting and advisory firm Ovum.

The Daily Telegraph – People ‘anxious’ when cut off from internet

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/6307460/People-anxious–when-cut-off-from-internet.html

People are more likely to feel “anxious” when cut off from the internet or their mobile phone than feel “liberated”, according to a survey. Staying in a place with no mobile phone coverage, or suffering from the internet going down, is a cause of high stress and anxiety for an increasing number of people, the study suggested.

The Daily Telegraph – Martha Lane Fox: over 10 million in UK never been online
More than 10 million adults across the UK have never used the internet, according to a new report commissioned by Martha Lane Fox, the government’s Digital Inclusion Champion. This means 17 per cent of the entire population have never been online and four million of this group are also socially excluded, because of their economic, employment or housing circumstances.

After buying the UK rights for the game, Setanta, the pay-TV firm collapsed. So, digital sport specialist Perform stepped in to stream the match exclusively online.

This raises the question of whether the Internet will prove robust enough to cope with the volume of subscribers logging on to watch the game. If the feed drops then how long will it take to fix, if at all? It was only last week that research from Cisco found that the UK’s broadband is ‘not fit’ for future demands and ranked it 25th out of 66 countries in terms of the quality and reach of its network – Can football fans nationwide put their faith in the country’s broadband offering to watch Saturday’s match seamlessly? I guess the proof will be in the pudding. If the network copes then this could see a new trend of exclusive sports fixtures being streamed online, but if it fails to make the grade then Perform will have a lot to answer for.

Silicon.com – CIOS and the joys of working in IT
Video: “Every day is different…”
more video op platform piece goodness from Silicon

BBC News - Push for ‘instant-on’ web search
A company that provides “instant-on” computing will bring “instant search” to the PC for the first time. Splashtop, made by DeviceVM, already lets consumers access email, chat with friends, share photos or surf the web seconds after turning on their PC.

Computer Weekly – Doctors solve nipple problem via phone camera
Pictures from a camera phone can help doctors diagnose remotely unusual conditions that may be hard to see under normal conditions, a medical journal reported today. In an article published on bmj.com, doctors in Norway described the case of a 25-year-old pregnant woman who reported frequent episodes of severe nipple pain.

Total Telecom – Mobile Internet access grows as operators push flat rate offerings

Analysts, equipment manufacturers predict high levels of broadband growth; Telekom Austria’s €29.90 Internet package offers fully subsidised notebook. Mobile Internet usage is becoming mainstream in Europe, according to a report published Thursday by Forrester Research.

FT Technology – Google’s mobile ad gambit starts to pay off
|Google’s aim was to create a mobile platform for its services and, eventually, to drive more advertising. Data from Admob (which serves up 8bn mobile adverts a month and so has as good a view as anyone of where those ads are going) show the plan is unfolding on schedule.

Computing - Project Kangaroo technology to form new video-on-demand service
The technology assets of the BBC-led video-on-demand service Project Kangaroo have been acquired by a company that plans to launch a service akin to that of the failed project in the coming months.

Computing – UK opts out of Nato cyber security centre
The UK will not become a sponsor of the Nato Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, defence minister Bob Ainsworth said yesterday.  The centre is located in Estonia and was set up last year to conduct research and training on cyber warfare. It has a staff of 30 people, half of them specialists from the sponsoring countries – Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Spain.