The 'stalking herd' of the 'Hotmail Conspiracy'

The Times of London partially lifts the veil of a very modern revolt...

while The Guardian has the full details of the 'Hotmail Conspiracy'...

but if The Times is right, look no further than Hazel Blears, Jacqui Smith, Caroline Flint and the 'Pugin Room Plot'...

so much intrigue, such creative plot names.

Friday Factoid: Indian Democracy

Manmohan Singh is the first Indian prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to be returned to office following a full five-year term (that's since 1964, for those keeping track at home).

Note: I heard this little anecdote on the BBC this morning, and in trying to confirm its validity came across Singh's Wikipedia page. Sure enough, it appears in the introduction. Which got me thinking: is the venerable BBC really relying on Wikipedia for its research? Or was some Wiki nerd really quick to update Singh's page this morning? Either scenario highlights the remarkable velocity with which information is disseminated and distributed in the Internet age.

A better way to look at the world

I've been meaning to post this since hearing a piece about Worldmapper on NPR a couple of weeks ago. Worldmapper has created a selection of maps, published in the new book The Atlas of the Real World, that proportion countries according to different demographic and economic categories. The maps are intended to challenge common perceptions of space, size and power. A selection below:

Crude Petroleum Exports, 2002

Internet Users, 2002.

Finance and Insurance Services Exports, 2002