Mmm, freedom: "They'll be finger printed, given a retina scan and then an ID card, which will only allow them to travel around their homes or to nearby aid centers, which are now being built. The Marines will be authorized to use deadly force against those breaking the rules."

Millions to miss out on the net. Is it pithy of me to point out that it depends what you mean by "online"?

If you mean "connected to a network", then I think mobile phone penetration stands at just shy of 80% in the UK. Yes: that's not web access, or broadband, or any of the lovely things which the digital media industry spurts over. But even low-bandwidth connectivity broken into 160-character chunks can be used to accomplish a lot.

...which is not to suggest that there isn't a digital divide, or that getting broadband into the homes of the nation isn't a worthy idea. Just that this stuff gets really interesting not when it can shove 16 million pixels in your face, but rather when it's so weaved into the fabric of our everyday lives that we don't notice it - and mobile is at this point.

Everyone in the whole world went to Design Engaged - except me.

Adam writes it up : "Change got here a few minutes past nine in the morning, Wednesday before last, and it's been waiting on your doorstep ever since - alongside its mate difficulty".

I also like his point about the line between creator and consumer vanishing. In a sick way I'm really looking forward to the Next Big Thing, and going from Not Getting It to Getting It. What will my children and grand-children (invisible superhero in space permitting) take for granted, that I just can't fathom?

Dom on the joy of refactoring. I've been exploring Eclipse's refactoring capabilities over the last few days, and it really is joyful. Two classes look similar? Right click, choose "pull up", select methods, it moves them into a superclass, does all the business. Really nice; as a recent IDE convert I find this incredibly useful...

Dave writes about community wireless networks, WW2 radar jamming, and christmas decorations. Hmm... surely that's a googlewhack?

Update: El Reg have picked up on it...