Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Year One Labs, GigaOM, Human 2.0, the author of Complete Web Monitoring and Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks), Hugh McGuire (The Book Oven, LibriVox, iambik, PressBooks, Media Hacks) and I decided that every week or so the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person "must see".

Check out these six links that we’re recommending to one another:

• Civil servants’ web habits revealed – BBC. "Just how far can a freedom of information act go? Pretty far, apparently. A formal request into government employees’ online activity forced the UK Department of Transportation to disclose the 1000 sites its workers visit. Given the blurring between public and private lives in today’s society, is this an invasion of privacy? Or just a sign of the New Transparency?" (Alistair for Hugh).
• Plot Device Is a Viral Masterpiece – Mashable. "This video by Red Giant is a showcase for their video tools. But it’s also a great film in its own right. Mashable thinks they nailed the viral video, and I tend to agree." (Alistair for Mitch).
• The Robot-Readable World – Berg. "Matt Jones explores the ways in which design and esthetics will begin shifting as our devices – extensions of our eyes and ears and voices – start interacting with the world around them." (Hugh for Alistair).
• How Google Dominates Us – The New York Review of Books. "If it’s in The New York Review of Books, and if it’s about technology, you should read it. This one is about Google reading our minds." (Hugh for Mitch).
• Can New York Rival Silicon Valley? – The New York Times. "In a world of hyper-connectedness and the ability to run a multi-million dollar business on a MacBook Pro from the corner cafe, I’m constantly and consistently fascinated with the notion that for a start-up to make it, it has to go to Silicon Valley. Why is this? Why do humans have this traditional notion that a physical location creates better odds of success (especially when the product that is being created is digital)? It’s an issue that was tackled in Montreal during the International Startup Festival and it’s one that has now seeped into this highly interactive discussion over at The New York Times." (Mitch for Alistair).
• Pen Type-A : A minimal pen – Kickstarter. "If you wanted to design, produce and market a pen, where would you turn? I’m a huge fan of Kickstarter – a place where people can post their projects and offer those willing to fund it different levels of access and exclusive gifts. In this instance (which I found out about via Bob Lefsetz), they were looking for $2500 in funding for their pen project. Currently, they’re at over $210,000. Fascinating. People who love pens have an appetite for the unique and, clearly, these folks mis-read their market (in a good way). The other lesson is one of marketing: take a long look at how they posted this project – from the content and images to the choice of levels for funding that were created. This is a brilliant case study in Social Media, mass collaboration and the power of The Long Tail." (Mitch for Hugh).

Now it’s your turn: in the comment section below pick one thing that you saw this week that inspired you and share it.