Here in the US we have “see something, say something.”

During the Cold War‘s “red scare” the FBI and local police went around photographing folks at gatherings and protests. Now, regular folks are crowdsourcing the identification of people who are involved in riots such as the recent riot after the Canucks lost the Stanley Cup Finals. They’re using all the photos they can find from blogs, newspapers, from Flickr, from Facebook, from phones and the television news. And they’re using social networking to ID each rioter and “summarily executed,” reputation-wise. According to Poynter:

The Guardian reports that people identified in photos and videos have been “deluged by hate calls and threats” and fired from their jobs.

Apparently, there are “several websites and Facebook groups aimed at identifying and punishing people who rioted in Vancouver,” and this is only the beginning.

What do you think about such things? Are we helping over-burdened coppers bring anti-social hooligans to justice, is this social media vigilantism, or is this something a little more nefarious and insidious?  Does the panopticon live? Is this Great Britain’s CCTV taken to the streets?

None of these questions are rhetorical.

On one hand, I think this is so cool but on the other hand, what of due-process, what of rule of law?

Witch hunts never really turn out the way you’d expect.

This photo was taken at the 2010 Nonprofit 2.0 Unconference and was snapped by Geoff Livingston, friend and social media and PR rock star who is devoted to social change, via Flickr — and, then there’s my trusty Director of Client Services at Abraham Harrison, Dan Krueger, via Flickr and again by Geoff:

I have been looking around and discovered that there is also a newer Bristol Blenheim 4, in this case the Blenheim 4S coupé.

This is a gorgeous photo of what is a lovely car with lines and design cues that remind me of all of my favorite cars from the 80s and 90s with a very fresh and new simplicity.

And I have to admit that I am a sucker for proper, executive, classical coupés. The 6-series used to offer that because it became too sporty and the CL was perfect for that until it started getting too fancy and a little vulgar.

This is a perfect car; and, after reading all about the vehicle, it seems to routinely last gladly for 300,000 plus miles and becomes an everyday driver for generations. I am pleasantly amazed that the Bristol Car still exists.

According to these photos on Flickr:

“Car number one of the series ‘S’ specification with LPG. Whilst superficially similar to the earlier Blenheim models, every panel on the 4 has been changed with the roof canted in by a further four inches on each side and smoothing and shaping of all panels. The all aluminium body was shaped on an english wheel wit kevlar front and rear ends. Connelly Leather interior with walnut and wilton. This photo was taken on May 21, 2009 using a Nikon D300. “

Jalopnik is a blog after my own heart.  I would surely design an entire home around being able to view a couple beautiful things — such as a Ferrari and an Eames lounge chair and ottoman.

I mean, Sub-Zeros, Vikings, and 50″ plasmas might be aesthetic and I know most architects and interior designers worth their salt would never indulge me, but I mean, come on! Wasn’tFerris Bueller’s Day Off a movie about a pretty, red, Ferrari 250, no?

Via Jalopnik via Flickr via SaveTheEnzos

I am studying German and have been told that it helps if you listen to German radio so I ordered the Logitech Squeezebox Radio on the recommendation of my friend Scott. I find the Squeezebox Radio to be perfect for the night stand, where I will be listening to the radio before I got to bed.

I set the presets with Berlin radio stations and linked via Wi-Fi and it sounds great in both spoken word and also music.

PRO: The set up was so easy and it even made the WPA/WEP key entry for my Verizon FIOS Internet.

I was also able to easily find all the stations I listened to in Berlin when I lived there and I was also able to find local stations and I could easily “install” BBC and CBC and even a Facebook and a Flickr applet. I am very pleased. I got a red one.

The date and time is awesome because it is updated via Internet so I didn’t even need to set the date or time — so I also have myself an atomic clock, I guess.

There are multiple alarms and also a line in so I can run my iPod and my iPod shuffle through the device, too, which is great for my German homework (a CD I burnt to MP3).

CON: A little expensive but you get a lot more than just a radio. It doesn’t come with a rechargeable battery pack or the remote — an additional $50.

BOTTOM-LINE: Small and deceptively powerful — it is basically a little Linux box in a small boom box/Internet clock radio — and it is the most modern of the Squeezebox line so you can do very cool stuff with the device. Easy to set up and to start using.

It can work as simply as a clock radio with presets or you can get all geeky and install apps and podcasts and you can connect to SIRIUS and all those other paid streaming services. I love it. It is my new favorite thing.

P073009PS-0451, originally uploaded by The Official White House Photostream.

President Barack Obama, Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Sergeant James Crowley toast at the start of their meeting in the Rose Garden of the White House, July 30, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

I heart Facebook. This morning I awoke to Yet Another Facebook Innovation (YAFI). Facebook amazes me because they are driven to make things easier for me — or at least give it a go. Facebook is willing to suffer constant backlash in order to improve usability and efficiency. Case-in-point below:

New Friends Facebook Check Boxes

In this particular case, the innovation is what I call a “Twitterish” innovation — stealing something directly from Twitter. A couple weeks ago, I stayed up until 12:01AM to secure another hype-drenched Twitterish innovation: vanity URLS: facebook.com/chrisabraham — I am such a sucker!

However, Facebook is an equal-opportunity thief and also quite creative as well. Next innovation inspired by Utterli, FriendFeed, or LinkedIn?  Who knows!

I hate to admit it but I am used to lazy web applications.  I am used to apps like Flickr, Delicious, Craigslist, Ebay, MySpace, Twitter, and YouTube — sites that are pretty much the same as they were when they were born. Facebook, on the other hand, innovates almost constantly. In fact, Facebook tends to innovate so aggressively that there are millions of members who constantly picket Facebook to revert itself to the way it was when it was a college-only service. The reason why most apps don’t innovate is because of this vocal minority — the change-averse.

Another thing I love about Facebook is that they’re not wed to their innovations.  When Facebook Beacon pissed off the world, they scaled it back. The developers at Facebook are smart — land grab with ten new innovations, throw them agains the Wall, and then see what people adopt and then, over time, remove the fails.

Facebook is willing to spitball, Facebook is willing to steal ideas shamelessly from other platforms, and Facebook is willing to fail fast and move on.  That’s what you’re supposed to do!  That’s why I love Facebook.

I received a pitch from Amy Jackson of Atomic PR about Daniel Redlich and his social network service called RedGage.  I checked and I think I joined 10-months ago but never went back.  Do you think it is at all compelling?  Have you ever played with it?  Here’s the pitch, so please check this one out . . .

When Daniel Redlich calculated the amount of hours he spent online, blogging, sharing photos, creating video, and catching up with friends on Facebook, he realized that everyday people put just as much effort into creating interesting, compelling content for the web as media companies, but don’t make a cent from it. That’s why the NYC-based entrepreneur set out to create RedGage (http://RedGage.com), a new site that attributes a dollar value to the things we do online every day, and lets their creators make money from their content and social activity.

For the first time, by using RedGage, people are able to manage all of their online videos, blogs, posts, documents, links and photos in a single location, AND have the opportunity to get paid for their content. For those managing several social media accounts, RedGage provides a one-stop destination that will automatically import their new content, so no manual work is required to earn money. By using RedGage, users can make money for what they are already doing online.

RedGage has been in invite-only private beta for several months, and already the user base is a very diverse assortment of people who are using it to aggregate all their activity from Web 2.0 sites. For those looking for new and interesting content, RedGage serves as a central place to read, view and follow new people and new topics – from freelance writers to professional photographers, from doll collections to political blogs, people are sharing a wide range of content on RedGage and getting paid for it.

If you’re interested in getting paid for the content that you are already creating online (Blogger, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, etc.), we can sign you up in private beta before the service launches widely in June. Also, Daniel would like to tell you more about the company, under embargo. Please let me know when you’re available by phone (or if you’re going to be in NYC anytime soon).

Just Completed SWAT Training, originally uploaded by Chris Abraham.

I just completed the working draft of Timothy L. Johnson‘s upcoming book, SWAT (Systems Working All Together) and I am very impressed. It teaches transformation business system theory through a compelling and engaging narrative. Tim is the Paul Coelho of business writing.

Yes, I am saying that SWAT is the The Alchemist of business books. Not fluff, though, as this is real business coaching and training, including end-of-book brainstorming and working materials. I would surely check it out when it is released.

The Anatomy of Buzz While Walking, originally uploaded by Chris Abraham.

My only super power is being able to read deeply while not simply walking but actually negotiating traffic and cities. Today I am walking for hours while reading The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited by Emanuel Rosen.

It is the sort of cool book I should have read when the previous version came out back in 2000.

Mr. Rosen sent me a signed copy to review so I guess that means I arrived anyway, but if I had read this book years ago it would have been so much easier.