I've been reading some fascinating books lately on the science of networks and complexity. In particular 'Six Degrees' by Duncan Watts, and 'Linked' by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi. Both Watts and Barabasi have been active in many revolutionary studies and research papers that have changed the way we think about networks and their impact on society.

Network science is of great interest to me, as in researching my own book Futuretainment i've been studying how the interconnectivity of consumers is changing the media and entertainment industries.

Barabasi's book traces the history of thinking in Networks, from the static random network graphs of Erdos and Renyi, to our understanding today of dynamic systems like the Web or Facebook. It makes for dense but interesting reading. In his words, 'Nodes always compete for connections because links represent survival in an interconnected world'.

I just got back from a quick trip to Tokyo. I love going to Japan. In some ways it feels like the last truly alien place on the planet. The outside world is reflected, but always through a distinctly local filter. That applies equally to innovation as it does to food.

Joi Ito put it well. In an interview with Tim O'Reilly at the Tokyo Web2.0 conference, he observed that big web ideas were typically absorbed into Japan, digested, and then transformed into a mobile context. Its more than just flashy handsets. I saw much greater use of high tech devices and mobile TV services on subways in Seoul than i did in Tokyo. But there is an undeniable mobile internet ecosystem in Japan that you really don't see anywhere else in the world.

Anyway, enough geek talk. For the true sybarites out there - you might enjoy my latest video on the Modelux network.

I've been watching the new web video series Quarterlife recently. Its worth a look. Commissioned as a web only series by MySpace, and written by Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick, the guys behind “My So-Called Life” and “Blood Diamond” - its a sign of how fast the online content space is moving away from just random YouTube stunts and webcam stars.

The first episode is a little shaky, and I was worried at first it would be a paltry LonelyGirl15 reprise. But by the next installment, I realised that Herskovitz and Zwick were on familiar ground - honing into generational foibles and twisting the knife. It will be interesting to see how the show pans out, and whether the adjunct online creative communty launched with the series has legs. But there is no doubt that in the next year we will see both more professionally produced web only content like Quarterlife being produced, and more networks imitating NBC and Fox's surprisingly well executed Hulu video platform to capture growing numbers of audience members who are moving from their TV couch to their computer chair.

I've been totally immersed in Mobile TV for the last few months and on Friday I presented a keynote talk at CASBAA's 2007 conference in Hong Kong on the subject. One of the main problems with Mobile TV at the moment is expectations. Individually - 'mobile' and 'tv' - are two of the biggest business ideas of all time. Not surprising then that most people simply expect 'Mobile TV' to be a runaway success right out of the box. If only it were that simple.