"A [US] penny minted before 1982 is ninety-five per cent copper—which, at recent prices, is approximately two and a half cents’ worth … (Breaking stride to pick up a penny, if it takes more than 6.15 seconds, pays less than the federal minimum wage.

"Along with the internet, with which it is rapidly merging, [the mobile phone network in the developing world] is the most astonishing technology story of our time, and one that has the power to revolutionise access to information across the developing wo

Chris Dillow: "’News’ is a mere artefact. It’s defined not by any standards rooted in epistemology or information theory, but is merely a commodity produced where journalists happen to be…"

Danah Boyd argues that social networks are becoming class-divided: high-social-status American teens are all on or switching to Facebook while marginalized, low-SES, "non-hegemonic", teens continue to be drawn to MySpace.

"Duncan Watts, professor of sociology at Columbia University … and author of Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age, will lead Yahoo’s research in human social dynamics, including social networks and collaborative problem solving."

Yes, newspapers generate more profit per reader than their web sites — "If someone could have prevented the combustion engine and automobile industries from launching, the horse transportation industry would have remained lucrative as well."

Seamus McCauley reiterates that content creation is not the source of value in newspapers: "Think about it this way - if content creation the source of value why … are newspaper owners so rich and journalists not?"