• This case must not obscure what WikiLeaks has told us – Another good piece about WikiLeaks. The news about Assange is starting to obscure the real news.
• Live with the WikiLeakable world or shut down the net. It’s your choice. – “What WikiLeaks is really exposing is the extent to which the western democratic system has been hollowed out. In the last decade its political elites have been shown to be incompetent; corrupt; or recklessly militaristic. And yet nowhere have they been called to account in any effective way. Instead they have obfuscated, lied or blustered their way through. And when, finally, the veil of secrecy is lifted, their reflex reaction is to kill the messenger.”

• The religious excuse for barbarity – “No, we don’t respect your desire to needlessly torment animals because some hallucinating desert nomads did it centuries ago. We don’t respect it at all. You can cry that we are “persecuting” you if we stop you committing acts of cruelty if you want.”
• Penn & Teller – Penn (of Penn and Teller fame) protests the new TSA rules.

• Jon Stewart’s Rally to Restore Sanity draws marchers from across America – Good to see that there is some sense in American politics!
• Some physics to live by… – “Whether we like it or not, human life is subject to the universal laws of physics.”

My first ideas when I first heard that this weeks PhotoFriday theme was “Architecture” was New York. I flirted with other places and ideas — such as the Eiffel Tower and a couple of shots from Vienna — but I kept coming back to the sky-scrapers and bridges of Manhattan. In the end I picked this one because it has Brooklyn Bridge and the Empire State Building.

People are still laying flowers and postcards near where John Lennon died nearly thirty years after his death, so I think this qualifies as being “Unforgettable,” which is this weeks PhotoFriday challenge.

Please also vote for my entry in last weeks challenge, “Reflect.” I’m entry number 257.

• Aerial views of New York – Neat pictures of Manhattan (and bits of New Jersey).
• Wallace and Gromit to appear on Christmas stamps – For once: Christmas stamps that I approve of.
• My First Week with the iPhone – I always assumed that a touch device like the iPhone would be pretty much useless for blind users. It’s good to be wrong.

In fact I’m not completely happy with this image, at least for the theme of “Reflect,” which is this weeks PhotoFriday challenge. It’s a reflection but I’m not completely sure that it means “reflect.” But I couldn’t find one (or think of one to take) that would be more appropriate, so here it is. It was taken earlier this year in New York — it’s a reflection of the Chrysler Building in the building across the road from it.

[](http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephendarlington/4872223660/ ““City of New York” drain cover by stephendarlington, on Flickr”)

Last time I went to New York I wrote a reasonable amount about it so I’m not sure that I have much to add this time. Instead I’ll mainly just let the pictures do the talking.

The hotel I was staying in was not far from Times Square, so I passed through on a number of occasions. It’s always busy, especially early evening when this image was taken¹.

• March 30, 1848: Niagara Falls Runs Dry – Bizarre.
• Twitter fixes oAuth for desktop and mobile with xAuth – Just as I add Twitter support to Yummy, they change something. Typical.
• Famous Movie Quotes – Movie quotes visualised. (via @kottke)

People are impressed by the Academy Awards ceremony, all the glitz and glamour, the celebrities and the recognition for their work. However there are much easier ways to pick up your own Oscar statue.