It’s clear that the once clear distinctions between intranets, internet sites and extranets are blurring somewhat as the technology evolves and business needs develop. Traditional distinctions between internal and external communication teams (and outputs) will also likely diminish, mirroring this application of technology. This merger though will bring some clear advantages.

• A single design with a single user experience for all places, giving a clarity of corporate identity with smaller overall design bills
• Publicly listed companies are obliged to publicly reveal some materials to the markets before telling employees (see our intranetizen post on laws and intranets). A single merged space could limits the chances of a mis-timed publishing.
• Employees read the corporate site too! Merging ensures that there is no chance of mixed messaging especially if the former intranet and internet materials were managed by different teams. Consistency of content is critical when information consumers can compare and contrast.
• Reduced licensing and support costs as to you move to using a single technology foundation.

We are definitely heading down this path - I'm seeing this issue come all the time during the planning stages for social intranets.

However, in practice right now it doesn't necessarily deliver all these benefits - e.g. licensing models for external and inward facing versions of the same platform can throw a spanner in the works. In some companies, the public internet site is also a more reliable source of information than the intranet - so some users might not see this as an improvement.

But there is not doubt that in the medium term, the intranet is definitely going to be a victim of extranet-isation; meanwhile organisations are also building external facing spaces where staff and customers will mingle. Just a question of if and when these will merge.

The commonly held belief that the internet is turning an entire generation into solitary web-junkies is a myth, according to new research. The findings may offer succour to parents worried that social networking sites such as Facebook are reducing their children's participation in school sports and cultural activities.

In a paper to be presented to a gathering of Nobel prize winners later this month, three influential economists claim their work demonstrates the internet is actually making us more socially active.

Stefan Bauernschuster, Oliver Falck and Ludger Woessmann of the Ifo Institute in Munich reject the claim that the internet isolates people socially and erodes the traditional foundations of society. "There are no indications whatsoever that the internet makes people lonely," Bauernschuster said. He explained that their study revealed that a broadband connection at home positively influences the social activities of adults as well as children.

More research supporting the positives of being online.

For web applications to spring even farther ahead of traditional software, our teams need to make use of new capabilities available in modern browsers. For example, desktop notifications for Gmail and drag-and-drop file upload in Google Docs require advanced browsers that support HTML5. Older browsers just don’t have the chops to provide you with the same high-quality experience.

For this reason, soon Google Apps will only support modern browsers. Beginning August 1st, we’ll support the current and prior major release of Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari on a rolling basis. Each time a new version is released, we’ll begin supporting the update and stop supporting the third-oldest version.

As of August 1st, we will discontinue support for the following browsers and their predecessors: Firefox 3.5, Internet Explorer 7, and Safari 3. In these older browsers you may have trouble using certain features in Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Talk, Google Docs and Google Sites, and eventually these apps may stop working entirely.

+1 Google.

Hat tip Scott Vine.

Hat tip to Andrew McAfee, who observes that:

According to this picture, there has been exactly one development that’s greatly changed the course of humanity — changed it just about 90 degrees. And it’s a technological development.

Of course the big question is what next? Unless of course you believe in the singularity? :-)

In his report, Mr. La Rue explores key trends and challenges to the right of all individuals to exercise their right to freedom of expression, as guaranteed in article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

While noting that the Internet is a relatively new communication medium, the expert stressed the applicability of the international human rights framework when assessing whether Governments are unduly restricting the flow of information online.

“Legitimate expression continues to be criminalized in many States, illustrated by the fact that in 2010, more than 100 bloggers were imprisoned,” the Special Rapporteur warned. “Governments are using increasingly sophisticated technologies to block content, and to monitor and identify activists and critics.”

“There should be as little restriction as possible to the flow of information via the Internet, except in a few, very exceptional, and limited circumstances prescribed by international human rights law,” Mr. La Rue stressed.

“Essentially, this means that any restriction must be clearly provided by law, and proven to be necessary and the least intrusive means available for the purpose of protecting the rights of others,” added La Rue.

I'm not sure how much of an immediate affect this will have, but the UN have at least drawn a line in the sand.

FREQUENT internet users are less likely to respect the law, serve on a jury or do volunteer work, a study has found.

An Australian National University poll discovered that while regular web surfers were more politically engaged, they also had less deference for traditional societal values.

Only 38 per cent of respondents who logged on at least once a day felt it was important to obey laws and regulations, compared with 51 per cent of less regular cyberspace visitors.

“Frequent internet users were less willing than infrequent internet users to accept that traditional norms of citizenship such as obeying laws and regulations, serving on a jury if called and being active in voluntary organisations are very important in order to be a good citizen,” the report said.

Still, report researcher Juliet Pietsch said the internet wasn't causing people to withdraw from society.

Interesting to read The Australian's take on this survey. The Sydney edition of MX, the free metro newspaper, leads with this story on the front page but takes a much more positive view of the same results:

...frequent internet use is actually helping people be more social and caring... 70 per cent of those who used the internet more than once a day felt that to be a good citizen it was important to support people who were worse off than themselves.

I guess the lesson here is to by pass the media and make your own conclusions.

UPDATE: I did read the report for myself. A couple of brief comments:

• A lot of the benchmarks used in the report are from the US and are 5-10 years old. The Web has changed a lot in that time, so its a shame we don't have more recent data compare against.
• I would be interested to know if there are any particular laws and regulations that frequent Internet users don't think its necessary to obey... also bear in mind, only 51% of infrequent users said it was important to obey - that really puts that point into perspective.

Obviously, you get what you pay for. But I think for families and other people that don't have the cash to splurge on a high-end desktop or laptop, netbooks like this are great for removing the barriers for getting online.

Personally, I'd chuck in a cheap LCD monitor plus a wireless keyboard and mouse so you can use it as a desktop machine (and reduce wear and tear). Speakers or headphones are also a must if you want to listen to music or watch video. All up I think you can kit yourself out like this for about AU$360.

However, based on my own experience with a 3-cell battery on an Acer Aspire One, you also can't expect to really use a low-end netbook like this as a mobile or commuting computing device. If this is what you want, then you'll need to spend a little more on a netbook with a 6-cell battery.

Note: As the link appears to be broken, the model I'm talking about is an eM350 10.1" Netbook with Windows 7 starter. Wireless b/g connectivity. 1GB RAM. 160GB HDD. 1.66GHz processor.

I have to admit that picking up Cyburbia was a bit of a random act - and I almost didn't. But if you can get past the title and bizzare introduction, this book turns out to be a rather dense, but interesting history of our online society and cybernetics.

Norbert Wiener, the originator of cybernetics, is a constant feature through the book along with a cast of other familiar people, places and online things. The famous Ebbsfleet United crowd management experiment even gets a mention.

Once you are past the introduction, the books works through a logical sequence of chapters titled The Loop, The Peer, The Tie, The Network Effect, Peer Pressure, Non-Linear, Multiplicity, Feedback and Network Failure.

As I said at the begining this book is pretty dense, so its hard to pin point a particular insight or seminal moment. As a result, I think its fair to say that there aren't a lot of answers in this book, although the general tone is both a little sceptical whilst also being ultimately optimistic. The author, James Harkin, eventually manages to pull together his thesis into a satisfatory conclusion at the end of the book.

Its worth considering that cybernetics has its origins in Wiener's attempts to create a better anti-aircraft gun, through the use of feedback loops. However, human-computer interaction has evolved to become much more importand and influential. Harkin's writes in his final few pages that:

The system is certainly self-steering and running on autopilot, but only because it has us as its automations, darting around through information clouds in response to an endless stream of instruction and feedback.

Part of his point here, I think, is that we shouldn't forget that both the message AND the medium are important. Of course, what we shouldn't underestimate is the value of the message these new Web mediums create.

He also makes some good arguments about the strenghts, weaknesses, oppourtunties and threats of the weak ties that the Web medium enables.

I wouldn't make this my first or only book on this topic, but I found it provided me with another perspective on the history of technology in society. As someone once said (or something similar), a nation without a history is like a man without a memory. And in the respect, Harkin has added a little more richness for me to that history.