2 reviews of my little auntie Vic, here and here: "Forgot the dull blathering of Katie Melua and the like; order yourself a copy of this and enjoy the mellow bliss of Victoria Hume."

Mobile radio: hmm, it might be fun for telecomms expats, but until the commercial models are right (i.e. flat rate data) it's not viable for most of us. And of course, many phones have traditional FM radio receivers in them now, so it's not hard to imagine that they'll have DAB soon.

But overall this just seems like a missed opportunity: what can being on a mobile networked device add to radio? An awful lot, as it happens: interactivity, complementary content (bundled applications, video or graphics), interconnectivity between listeners, and links elsewhere ("hear more by this band").

IMHO the big wins aren't in funnelling radio over mobile networks, but rather about mobile augmenting and improving the radio experience...

More links I don't have time to write about properly:

• New cell phones will reach out and slap someone, a story about haptics from the New Scientist;
• WAP adverts are back; we did what I was told at the time was the first mobile+web+PDA ad campaign, with 24/7 Europe, just after FP launched back in 2000 I think. Not that shoehorning banner ads onto phones is anything to be massively proud of (there are much better ways to tie up mobile and advertising), but just to say that this stuff isn't new. Another good post on mobile ads here.
• Is Nokia coming to I-mode?
• DoCoMo open up DoJa development; again, we looked at this back in 2001 when we first started doing mobile Java projects, and did a few bits and pieces (all on emulators, of course - given that we're in Brighton, not Tokyo). It was good preparation for the J2ME work we're inundated with today: worthwhile technically but not commercially.
• "Jef viewed good design as a moral duty, holding interface designers to the same ethical standards as surgeons." - what an obituary.
• On Nintendo: "Can Nintendo really expect to move DS units by appealing to people that don’t consider themselves to be video game players?". My vote: shit yes, the number of people who aren't hardcore gamers dwarfs those who are, and Nintendo are a machine for converting electrons into fun.

This is a fantastic story: "Rather than using a standard punch card or signing in electronically, the clock presents a QR code that the users snaps a photo of -- designating the times at which they check in or check out."

Not so much for the idea of using QR codes as a punch-in clock; like the article says, that's pretty pointless. But it had never occurred to me to change barcodes from being static items to dynamic things that change over time or in response to the environment...

This one just had me sniggering out loud on the train: augmented animals. I want kittens with lasers, goddammit!