google mindreading

picture from beyondmagic

I saw this really neat post on HyperHappen's blog. The gist of it is that whenever anything happens, before anyone has even written any news about it, Google already knows about it due to incoming searches.

“When there is a blackout in New York, the first articles appear [on the web] in 15 minutes; we get queries in two seconds”.
Google

The second point is, I guess, can this information be used as news somehow? As microblogging takes off, maybe a bunch of microblog posts put together will form a half decent news article?

Link to a global visual representation of people microblogging via Twitter.

splashmob waterfight, Hyde Park,

My friend at work told me about this today. A spontaneous waterfight, lasting for 10 minutes only, 1pm Saturday 14th July. It was reported in the London Lite, and their article is based on the Facebook entry.

Mr Hamill, 20, a music student from Clapham, said he had suggested the water fight as a good way to celebrate the start of the summer but within 24 hours of mentioning it to friends, word had spread and 5,000 people had signed up to take part.

Today, his page on Facebook - which has become one of the most popular social networking websites in the UK - boasts 75,000 registered "friends".

This sounds totally awesome, and I totally there.

The other bit of news is the identity of the Virginia Tech shooter and his ex, which I read about on the Sun:

Emily was a popular first-year animal sciences student who dreamed of becoming a vet.
On her MySpace page she told in October how she had just met a “wonderful guy”.
Yesterday a memorial page on website Facebook was flooded with tributes from devastated pals.

What struck me is that in both stories, one frivolous and local, and the other a serious global tragedy, the national press's role has basically been to read Facebook and tell us about it.