The Guardian reports today (UK mobile phone firms to sell data about customer activity) that mobile telecomms firms have been harvesting data about their customers web browsing habits, and that they plan to uses these data to increase advertising revenues.

The GSMA's chief marketing officer, Michael O'Hara, said: "We can see the top sites, see where people are browsing regularly. See the time that sites are being viewed, the number of visits, the duration of visits and we can also get demographic data so you can have age ranges, male/female ranges. 

The journal Current Biology invited a number of prominent biologists from a number of disciplines to re-read Darwin's On the Origin of Species, and to write commentaries - they can be found at (Re)Reading The Origin.

Charles Darwin's 1859 book On the Origin of Species is much referenced, especially in this double anniversary year. But, does anyone still read it? And, if so, what is the book itself like as a text? We have asked biologists from a range of fields evolutionary biologists, but also geneticists, ecologists, paleontologists and molecular biologists to re-read (or read) The Origin for Current Biology. Below are the responses, contributed by: Andrew Berry, Matthew Cobb, Simon Conway Morris, Jerry Coyne, Hopi Hoekstra, Peter Lawrence, Robert May, Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, Mark Ptashne, Matt Ridley and Marlene Zuk.

After a bit of teasing in the blogosphere that the draft sequence of the Neanderthal genome would be released in time for Charles Darwin's birthday this week, I was eagerly looking for a paper.  Instead what I find are three news articles in Science, one describing some of the outcomes of the work, and two setting it in context. Some quotes:

Initial comparisons with our own 3 billion bases indicate that a mere 1000 to 2000 amino acid differences, as well as a yet-unknown number of non-coding changes, do that job. For comparison, about 50,000 amino acid differences separate us and chimpanzees. 

A bit of a rumpus about UK science funding policy erupted this week, following publication of a letter to the Times Higher about the move to increase the emphasis towards funding science with a more immediate benefit to the UK economy. This manifests itself as a two page document (the Impact Summary) that now forms part of every Research Council grant application (in addition, I think, to the short "Beneficiaries" section that already exists.

This policy seems to be favoured by the Science Minister, Paul Drayson.  Lord Drayson is a politician with a commercial science/engineering background, but who has never been elected to public office.  he was ennobled, and reaches Minister status via a seat in the House of Lords.  Interestingly, as befits a proponent of grant applicants predicting and outlining future benefits of their yet to be performed research (not just economic but social as well), he appears to claim sixth sense "I saw it coming, says minister of sixth sense Lord Drayson".

It's been a little while since I last blogged about the vile Phorm system, in which all internet activity that is undertaken by customers of ISPs using the system is inspected and analysed for key words via which targeted adverts may be delivered.  For more information about this system, check out the excellent Dephormation.  We've seen a variety of "spinning" techniques used by both Phorm (former spyware distributors) and their principal client, BT, over the last few years, and news over the last couple of days has been typical.

Back in 2006 and 2007, BT conducted secret tests of the system, using their customers as guinea pigs, without their knowledge or consent.  This was probably illegal, and certainly an unreasonable act.  A third trial (in which users were invited to participated) was held at the end of 2008.

While wandering round the internet during the recent flare-up of bloggers writing about recent developments in the MMR-autism conspiracy theory, I came across this neat graphic which seems to me to encapsulate some of the issues relation to causation vs coincidence (for example, see "MMR and false syllogisms" for more information).

In the meantime, Ben Goldacre's Bad Science blog seems down - maybe the recent upsurge in traffic has overwhelmed it.

I am sat on the train, reading my emails using the Vodafone USB mobile broadband stick, when I get this:

I've been looking at reports of various eBook readers over the last few years, and even read a few books on my Pocket PC.  This device, Amazon's Kindle 2, looks to being very useful for a traveller wishing to carry several books.

There's a review over at The Register (Amazon unveils Kindle 2.0), from where this image is sourced.

Ben Goldacre's posted an update on the fracas with LBC and Jeni Barnett over their ill-advised broadcast on the topic of the MMR vaccine and autism.  In essence, while LBC's decision to threaten their legal muscle did cause Goldacre to pull the audio clip from his blog, it's now got spread over the internet, has attracted considerable celeb support, and now is the subject of an early-day motion.  Barnett's own efforts at damage-limitation appear to be restricted to deleting critical comments from her blog.  Thankfully, the power of the internet has ensured the information is still out there, and is proliferating.

Ben Goldacre's latest article very clearly explains why this is such an important issue, and why under-informed dimwits shouldn't make irresponsible broadcasts.  Perhaps LBC should keepa closer eye (or should that be "ear") on their broadcasters.

The Open Rights Group have reported on the Lords Constitution Committee report on surveillance and privacy.  This is a monster document, which can be read here: Constitution Committee - Second Report. Surveillance: Citizens and the State.  It's a big document, and it perhaps easier to digest via the ORG synopsis, and as the ORG say, "Those with nothing to hide can still have a great deal to fear".

The RIPA sections are interesting (Committee report section; ORG interpretation), in light of pretty clear local council abuses of RIPA ro spot fly-tippers etc.