awareness.

Talking of the environment, last year we ran a conceptual contest out of Twitter UK, inviting organisations to think about new ways to use the platform and build applications #PoweredByTweets. One of the winning entries was the idea that pigeons in London could be instrumented with tiny backpacks measuring air quality. At the exhibition of the winning entries in September, there was a display that mocked up how this could work.

Yesterday, the @PigeonAir patrol took flight for real in London, and for another day or two will act as a temporary set of mobile beacons that can report back air quality via Twitter conversations.

I was pretty actively commenting from the event and taking part in the live uStream channel… others have written up some of their experiences and“It was just another act of pure randomness.”

That was the emphatic declaration of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo as he spoke to the media a day after the shooting of a member of his administration Monday, calling the tragedy an example of the need for greater gun control nationwide.

The violence unfolded at a party celebrating the West Indian Day parade, police say. Carey Gabay, a 43-year-old lawyer at the Empire State Development Corp., was making his way to the parade with his brother when he was caught in the crossfire of two gangs fighting in Brooklyn, reports The Associated Press.

Mr. Gabay was rushed to Kings County Hospital, where he remains in “very, very critical condition,” said Gov. Cuomo to CNN, adding that he had “nothing good” to report