The River Ribble in the United Kingdom is being outfitted with a grid of sensors that communicate via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to sense when the river’s rising, and predict if and how it will flood.

If you’re the type to buy a BMW, you’ll probably be pleased to learn your next one will learn your tastes in audio entertainment and retrieve a customized mix, while you sleep, over built-in Wi-Fi. I’m often dismissive about gewgaws in cars, but I have to admit it would be pretty cool to time shift NPR.

I don’t know if the rise of online, customizable geopolitical information is just eye candy for politically obsessed geeks or a real tool for an informed citizenry, but it’s sure interesting to watch unfold.

Steven Johnson’s new website Outside.In looks really interesting: it strives to bring to one place the disparate voices of a neighborhood. I suspect it will be a lot more useful for people urban-ites: those of us in the wilderness of American suburbia are likely to find there aren’t that many people talking about our town.

Whatever the cause (and there are many theories, here’s one) of overcrowding of jails in the United States, prisoners have to be put somewhere. The United Kingdom has used prison ships in the past, and is thinking of doing so again.