via @bobbiejohnson, who noted "this is for anyone I've discussed the royal family with recently. They aren't just celebrities or figureheads".

On the World Service and the deal to transfer it from the Foreign Office to the BBC. "This was an unprecedented way of doing business: the future of one of the country’s greatest institutions decided in a matter of days, without public consultation and with its new mechanisms of governance left undecided."

Benjamin Franklin was sure that the document had its faults, and just as sure that the framers were fallible.

"The Anonymous web protests over WikiLeaks are the internet equivalent of a mass demonstration." Reading the Atlantic piece reminded me of Stallman's opinion column in the Guardian, which is also well worth reading (assuming you haven't already).

"Yesterday, I posted a message on twitter. It went like this: “TechHub is currently just a PR company producing misleading press releases. The idea they represent Silicon Roundabout is wrong.” I thought quite hard about this short update, even running a few drafts past friends. I believe it to be true, and I thought I’d just run through a bit of my thinking as to why." James Darling on Techhub and being (mis)represented.

"In this morning's post, my worldly co-blogger ... maintains "that grabbing as many diplomatic cables as you can get your hands on and making them public is not a socially worthy activity". I strongly disagree." A spirited defence of Wikileaks and the publishing of state secrets, in the Economist, of all places.

Charles Arthur: "Recent statements from Cameron and Willetts on copyright and patents show the dangers of being in thrall to IT giants" Also: "[Startups] prefer real streets in real cities, where there's a bagel shop down the road, three other startups within five minutes' walk who they can meet for a chat, and a choice of pubs and coffee houses in which to have ad-hoc meetings."

strangePLperson: one and only Stefan Collini on education cuts in LRB: http://t.co/wFzMcfK

"NaPTAN is a GB national system for uniquely identifying all the points of access to public transport in GB. It is a core component of the GB national transport information infrastructure and is used by a number of other UK standards and information systems. Every GB station, coach terminus, airport, ferry terminal, bus stop, etc., is allocated at least one identifier."

"The 30-year rule for publishing secret government papers is to be reduced to 20 years ... phased in over 10 years by doubling the amount of old records released each year".

Fascinating stuff, about the emigre from Iraq and the way the Norwegians decided to deal with the discovery of oil reserves.

One of the comments on the Economist's review (whining that both parties were for "big government") prompted me to save this interesting review of Jeff Madrick's The Case for Big Government: "since the late 1950s, American government—federal, state, and local—has annually spent approximately 30 percent of GDP, and neither Democrats nor Republicans have altered that by more than a percent or two, upward or downward" (30% is far lower than the 40-50% typical in Europe, of course.) Well worth a read.

A good editorial on deliberative polls - small, jury-style groups meeting with politicians - by James Fishkin. This certainly sounds like a much better idea than raw direct democracy to me.

"Validated traffic count data. Counts taken at road sites across GB, each lasting 12 hours on a weekday between March and October outside of school holiday periods. The counts take place on one day of the year so are not representative of the typical flow throughout the year." Coo. (As mentioned at OpenTech.)

"Until the 1970s, the MPs' only allowance was £500 for a secretary; there were so few letters that, as Dari Taylor (Stockton South) told Westminster Hour a couple of years ago, all her father's constituency work could be answered by hand in three hours on a Sunday afternoon. By 2003 the House of Commons was receiving 10m letters a year." Lots more of interest inside.