I had hoped that this would encourage me to post more frequently so that this blog wouldn’t become a wasteland of automatically generated posts.

That plan backfired.

As you can see that past three weeks have been kinda (humanly)-quiet around here. There’s lots going on in my life, and the various projects that I’m working on are moving full steam ahead, but for some reason I haven’t been able to find the time or ambition to blog about whats going on.

So please forgive me as I neglect this space. I hope to be back soon.

In the meantime, I’m going to turn off those auto-posts – they only make me feel more guilty.

This is a result of the hard work of a variety of individuals, including Shawn Adamsson and Aaron McGowan.

It shouldn’t come as any surprise that I think this is a great step forward for the City of London. As more and more information and data sets are released and become publicly available the better our society will become.

I’m also excited about this recent announcement because of the potential for further collaboration that UnLondon and the UnLab could help facilitate by connecting like minded individuals who will continue to iterate and improve upon various ideas, projects, and platforms. .

A citizen led initiative around Open Data has already started in London, and I suggest any interested parties connect with them for more information.

At this point it’s by no means exhaustive; some announcements just aren’t ready for prime time yet. So be sure to check back again soon!

Until then there are a couple of projects that I’d love to draw your attention to.

The first is ChangeCamp London, which is an event that I’ve wanted to do here ever since I heard about it a couple of years ago. I’m ecstatic about the team that is involved, and I’m sure its going to be a great program with definite benefits to the city.

Secondly is the annual PodCamp London that is coming up on May 8th. Be sure to check out the wiki for a list of speakers and sessions. I’m sure regardless of your skill level or interests you’ll find a topic that piques your interest.

In addition to the main technology sites covering the details about the new phone; the Internet has been awash with comments about the actions of all the parties involved. Questions about whether the finder was morally right to sell it to Gizmodo, and did the tech site act properly in purchasing and ultimately dissecting the phone for their website.

However, what’s missing in all of these accounts is a discussion about the public, and our role in encouraging these behaviours. Its no surprise that any item that comes out of Cupertino is received with the same amount of fan fare usually reserved for the winning soccer teams of South America. And how much more excited do we get when we can combine our lust for Apple with our natural and insaitable curiousity for tech voyeruism.

Rather then criticizing Gizmodo for their actions, I think we should take a look at ourselves. Are we getting caught up in tech envy and would put aside our own morality just to learn a bit more about a consumer product? I’ll be the first to admit it, I get swept up in the excitement too. But I’ve decided to incite a change and I’m going to work harder to make sure that my love of objects justifies behaviour.

I’m not suggesting that having new toys is bad, or that the capitalist culture of “stuff” is inherently evil. All I want to point out is the double standard we create to satisfy our own interests and desires. Most of us wouldn’t engage in the same dubious practices that some tech journalists use, so why should we reap the rewards?

What do you think? Can we reclaim morality in concepts and no longer let our love of “things” tell us what is the right thing to do?

As a result we are at a point where technical constraints are so low that there can be and should be a seamless transition between the digital and the physical worlds. So the experience that I begin online is easily continued in the real world and augmented through the use of handheld devices, digital signage and online connections.

Many people think that the 3.0 internet will be semantic, the online experience will be unique and tailored for each individual. I think that this is selling ourselves short. Instead, the internet version 3 will be about using technology to improve and build upon your real work experiences. From location awareness to augmented reality we already see this happening.

Because of the proliferation of social networks and media, it makes sense that this coupling of digital and real should continue beyond our social lives. We should take adavantage of technology to improve our healthcare, purchase decisions and general service options.

I’m still working out these thoughts, and I appreciate your comments. Am I way off track and Web 3.0 is going to be something altogether different?