Daily Twitter Links for Tuesday and Wednesday 11-12 September 2012

Here are today's must-reads:

1. Father's note changes family's 9/11 account: 

The note is just five words and two numbers.

Randy Scott scrawled these five words and two numbers on a piece of paper on Sept. 11, 2001, while at work at Euro Brokers Inc. in the World Trade Center.

But if a picture is worth a thousand words, these five words and two numbers have changed the picture completely for Scott's family. Family members refer to it simply as "the note." The note that floated from the 84th floor of Two World Trade Center to chaotic streets below, and was tenderly preserved as it traveled from hand to hand and through time to reach them.

Denise Scott learned of her husband's message in August 2011, just weeks before the calendar marked a decade since he died in the World Trade Center's collapse.

2. The legal mythology of the extradition of Julian Assange: 

Two years ago serious allegations of sexual assault and rape were made against Julian Assange, the founder and editor-in-chief of Wikileaks.

The allegations followed a visit by two women (known in legal documents as AA and SW) to a Swedish police station on 20 August 2010. From what they told the police, a formal criminal investigation was commenced.  Due process started its course.

And then came the legal mythology. Since August 2010 a number of inter-connected assertions have been made about legal aspects of the criminal investigation and subsequent proceedings by supporters of Assange.  Some of the assertions are false and misleading but they remain widely circulated. In my previous quick post I described these contentions as “zombie facts” which carry on regardless even when shot down. 

This creation of this Assange legal mythology presents rather a paradox. 

The great merit of Wikileaks was that it placed into the public domain information which would enable informed public debate. That is why I and many others support the Wikileaks project in principle, and wish it could be disconnected from the on-going Assange matter.  

Nonetheless, a detailed and sourced approach to the legal issues relevant to the Assange extradition remains important, and this post builds on the earlier post in setting out the correct legal situation. 

3. Why the Social Media Revolution Is About to Get a Little Less Awesome:

In the wake of Facebook's disappointing IPO, Paul Graham, the cofounder of the country's most famous and successful tech incubator, Y Combinator, sent an email to his portfolio companies predicting a shift in the way venture capitalists evaluated start-up potential. Before the public offering, companies that build a large audience were not under much pressure to build a revenue model to match. But "the bad performance of the Facebook IPO will hurt the funding market for earlier stage startups," he wrote, "possibly a lot, if it becomes a vicious circle."

Facebook's bad IPO wasn't an aberrational day. The company's stock kept dropping. And dropping. From $38, the offering price, into the $20's and below.

Very little about Facebook, the company, technically changed. Total users kept growing. Time spent on the site kept growing. Average revenue per user in the U.S., Canada, and overseas grew too. But not fast enoughfor investors, apparently. 

These are some of the other things I've been tweeting about yesterday and today:

• i don't think it's that surprising really: "A third of U.S. population refrains from using Facebook and Twitter"http://pjblack.me/QEfbdV
• i think @SocialcamApp has almost got it right: "Instagram For Video—Massive Market Opportunity, Yes! Done Right, No!" http://pjblack.me/QEeDor
• "The Weird Economics of Utility Networks" http://pjblack.me/QEevoJ
• "Nipplegate: Why the New Yorker Cartoon Department Is About to Be Banned from Facebook" http://pjblack.me/QEer8u
• apparently boys really do throw better: "Throw like a girl? You can do better" http://pjblack.me/SacNZl
• a good list from @wired: "12 of the World’s Most Annoying Technologies" http://pjblack.me/Sac4r7
• "What kind of people are we going to attract into public life if something you did at uni can be held against you?" http://pjblack.me/Sabjya
• you've got to love @TheOnion: "Number Of Users Who Actually Enjoy Facebook Down To 4" http://pjblack.me/QEd5dW
• from @delimiter: "History repeating: Five ways data retention is like Conroy’s filter" http://pjblack.me/S6ysl1 #auspol #openinternet
• "Best Australian law schools according to the QS World University Rankings" http://pjblack.me/QEtMpL #highered #auslaw
• "Now I Know - Learn Something New Every Day, By Email" http://pjblack.me/Sabcmj
• grape juice it is: "Study: Red Wine Is Healthier When It's Non-Alcoholic (Sorry)" http://pjblack.me/QEcUze
• sad but probably true: "Why the Social Media Revolution Is About to Get a Little Less Awesome" http://pjblack.me/O9nGtt
• "Carrick rebrand 'involved politics'" http://pjblack.me/QEdtcg #highered
• "Universities face Asia revolution" http://pjblack.me/SabEAR #highered
• a controversial anti-abortion society at the university of sydney: "Abortion battlelines drawn on campus" http://pjblack.me/QEddKD #highered
• "Australian unis in QS World Rankings" http://pjblack.me/QEcA3s #highered
• "Rankings of universities from QS show Australia's challenge" http://pjblack.me/Saa2qR #highered
• a look at the qs top universities ranking: "Perceptions matter in assessing universities" http://pjblack.me/Sa9TE0 #highered
• "One World Trade Center: Construction Progress" http://pjblack.me/QE61Oo
• "What Did It Feel Like to be Inside the World Trade Center at the Time of the 9/11 Attacks?" http://pjblack.me/Sa3XLe
• "9.11.01: The Photographers' Stories, Pt. 1—'Get Down Here. Now.'" http://pjblack.me/QE7t3j
• "Father's note changes family's 9/11 account" http://pjblack.me/Sa3Krr
• from @TheGlobalMail: "Truth Tally — What’s Wrong With Australian Political Debate" http://pjblack.me/QBB25x#auspol
• "How to tell if someone is a Republican or Democrat without asking them" http://pjblack.me/TKlv4S
• "Big Court Decisions Coming Soon for Hotfile, Vimeo" http://pjblack.me/S6v9KD #lwb486 #lws008
• "Why does coffee never taste as good as it smells?" http://pjblack.me/TKlyh2
• "Studies Show Microwaves Drastically Reduce Nutrients In Food" http://pjblack.me/TKlyO4
• from @tnw: "American Airlines first to get FAA approval to use iPads in ‘all phases’ of flight, saving some $1.2M" http://pjblack.me/S6rP2n
• "Apple and Facebook at risk of litigation due to copyright laws" http://pjblack.me/QBwFYp #lwb486 #lws008
• "How much does America’s patent policy matter?" http://pjblack.me/S318vm #lwb486
• "How Instagram became the social network for tweens" http://pjblack.me/S32A0H
• from @buzzfeed: "20 Things That Probably Should Not Exist" http://pjblack.me/QyLB9z
• from @TheIPA: "Be like Gough: 75 radical ideas to transform Australia" http://pjblack.me/QBqMuj #auspol
• from @poynter: "What Twitter teaches us about writing short & well" http://pjblack.me/QyKWEY
• from @pbs: "Why Fact-Checking Has Taken Root in This Year's Election" http://pjblack.me/S2DHCf
• "Why It Matters That Both Presidential Candidates Are Lawyers" http://pjblack.me/S2fxbc
• "Kim Kardashian settles lawsuit against retailer Old Navy" http://pjblack.me/QyoAn9 #lwb486
• from @USNewsEducation: "Use Social Media to Get Into Law School" http://pjblack.me/S1ZM46 #highered
• "Germany’s Former First Lady Sues Google For Defamation Over Autocomplete Suggestions" http://pjblack.me/S1Z32H #lwb480 #kkb175
• umm how romantic?: "Wedding Vows Exchanged On Twitter. Seriously, This Happened" http://pjblack.me/S1YTZi
• "Study: Sweden is best at using Internet" http://pjblack.me/QycuKP
• i don't think so: "Do We Really Need a Tooth Fairy App?" http://pjblack.me/QybZQV
• "New YouTube app for iPhone and iPod touch now available, hands-on photos and video" http://pjblack.me/S6mPL3
• how ridiculous: "The Hug Me Jacket" http://pjblack.me/S1XC4s
• i don't know if i agree but amazon is in it to win: "How Amazon will win the tablet wars" http://pjblack.me/S1JPuB
• "How one game developer is making The Pirate Bay work for him" http://pjblack.me/RZzO0T #lwb486 #lws008
• "Restaurant Owner Found Guilty Of Libel After Posting Fake Sex Profile For Customer Who Wrote Negative Review" http://pjblack.me/QwsbSN #lwb480
• from @JohnQuiggin: "Queensland budget – profligacy for everyone except the PS" http://pjblack.me/QBlK0D #qldpol
• "Fatigue and hunger sway judges' decisions" http://pjblack.me/NlAYqO #auslaw
• one for @ryyder: "Color Blindness Sunglasses Could Help Determine Colors" http://pjblack.me/QwsaOP
• "Can Facebook-Style Elections Produce Candidates We Actually 'Like'? http://pjblack.me/Qwh7oL
• "The legal mythology of the extradition of Julian Assange" http://pjblack.me/Qwh4ZW
• fascinating piece at the @edge: "How Culture Drove Human Evolution" http://pjblack.me/QwgQlB
• good question: "Why Do So Many Countries End in '-stan'?" http://pjblack.me/RyIiLZ
• part of kurt eichenwald’s "500 Days" in @vanityfair: "How Bush Snared Blair" http://pjblack.me/RZ554a
• from the @nytimes: "Elephants Dying in Epic Frenzy as Ivory Fuels Wars and Profits" http://pjblack.me/RZ540a
• john kay explains "Why Sony did not invent the iPod" http://pjblack.me/Qw6qT1
• "Australian city beats Paris, New York in food stakes" http://pjblack.me/NlhRxg
• go @612brisbane and @SpencerHowson! congratulations on another big win in the breakfast radio ratings http://pjblack.me/NlhjYc
• this is unbelievable: "The Most Anti-Gay Piece Of Political Mail This Year" http://pjblack.me/NlcaPH
• makes sense: "Bill Grueskin: News orgs want journalists who are great at a few things, rather than good at many" http://pjblack.me/Qw6277
• "Wish You Were Here producer turns to Pozible for next feature" http://pjblack.me/RZ4Rdp
• how rude should a critic be? what is the role of a critic?: "How Is the Critic Free?" http://pjblack.me/RZ4IGK
• a very macabre wedding proposal: "Guy Fakes His Own Death to Make Girlfriend See Life Would Be Empty without Him" http://pjblack.me/RYW7UH
• from @wired: "The Algorithmic Copyright Cops: Streaming Video's Robotic Overlords" http://pjblack.me/RYTJNy#lwb486
• "A Viewer's Guide to the Least Successful Movies Ever" http://pjblack.me/RYTfXP
• links to the stories i discussed on @612brisbane this morning http://pjblack.me/S2wNgm
• this would be cool: "Is Spotify Preparing To Push Its App Center To Its iOS Mobile App?" http://pjblack.me/QycNoZ
• from @buzzfeed: "10 Of The Most Ridiculous Parenting Products Ever Made" http://pjblack.me/RZ49wP

Follow me on Twitter @peterjblack.

And you can get my latest links anytime on my Rebelmouse social media front page.