EDINBURGH AIRPORT, YESTERDAY.

(1) Hey, cool, they have a Boingo hotspot with SkypeAccess! Cheap Wifi here I come.

(2) Meh.

In the UK this week, but here’s a little link round-up:

TuneGlue music map – try it with the name of your band-of-the-moment and see what it spits out

Hitmen old and new – Edward Lucas in the Economist argues that modern technology makes killing easier—but harder to get away with

Can a Russian Oligarch Save the British Press? – Der Spiegel on Lebedev

The iState of the Union – Sorry, a bit late with this one but it’s still worth reading

ToneMatrix – cool toy from Andre Michelle

Couple marries at 5th Avenue Apple Store – from TUAW

vParticle – cool Russia iPhone app. Via Andy at Siberian Light

Enjoy.

Moscow, January 13, 2010: My pal Luke Harding reports that James Cameron stands accused of ‘borrowing’ from Russian Sci Fi author brothers Boris and Arkady Shrugatsky in creating the world of ‘Avatar’.

Luke further tells us that the sole surviving Shrugatsky, Boris, ’shrugged off’ the suggestion, denied accusing Cameron of plagiarism. No harm done. And in a delicious potentially plagiaristic sub-plot, numerous other outlets play the same obvious ’shrug’ gag the following day.

Sydney, February 5, 2010: The Australian Federal Court rules that an incidental flute riff in Men at Work’s ‘Down Under’ bears too much of a resemblance to the old girl scout refrain, Kookaburra, penned by one Marion Sinclair in 1934. That, when our heroes weren’t busy buying bread from men in Brussels, their dastardly deeds included stealing tunes off of Aussie schoolgirls.

The contrast? Boris Shrugatsky, 76-year-old niche sci-fi writer appears, as we’ve said, unfazed by Avatar’s resemblance to his work – and perhaps, justifiably, even a little flattered by the comparison. No accusations made, no damages sought.

Kookaburra’s owner, however, is Larrikin music, who bought the rights from Marion Sinclair’s estate 56 years after she wrote it, and shortly after her death. Larrikin is seeking substantial damages from the boys in the fried-out Kombi. Says Larrikin’s MD, Norman Lurie, of Kookaburra:

“It’s earned a hell of a lot of money for us since we’ve bought it.”

Moral high ground’s all yours, Boris. Vegemite sandwich?

Apple lost two sales today.

I’d been teetering on the brink of replacing my five-year-old MacBook Pro with a new one. I don’t really need it, but the new ones are shiny. My daughter is busily saving up every Pound, Ruble and Dollar she can, so that she can have a MacBook of her own to replace her ageing G4 tower.

Don’t need either now. Just put me down for a couple of these.

… but everything works.

It’s minus 25 out there today. Rumour has it that this is the coldest Winter Russia’s seen since 1942. Well Leningrad’s no longer under blockade, but it’s definitely pretty chilly.

Your face starts to go numb after a few minutes outside. The skating rink on Red Square is practically deserted, because it’s too cold. The new ice-breaking party boats on the river haven’t been seen for a while. We’re freezing Lt Blender’s Margaritas on the balcony. But everything works.

The streets are clear of snow, barring the light dusting of powder which has been gently falling all day. The commuter trains and the metro all work. Domodedovo and Sheremetyevo airports are as busy as ever. The trams and trolleybuses are all still doing their thing.

Just saying.

My friends and former colleagues over at H&K have just published their ‘What would the first 100 days of a Cameron government look like?‘

The answer, of course, contains more questions and precious few predictions. Nobody knows what’s going to happen in March, May or whenever, or what the outcome will look like.

But I do know one thing: It’s going to be an interesting year.

PS No ‘New Year resolutions’ – they don’t work. No fanfare, no apology. Just a note to self: must get back to blogging.

Let’s all give a big blogosphere welcome for … Andrew Fairburn!

On their new blog at reputationspotlight.wordpress.com, Regester Larkin are looking at some interesting reputation management issues. My friend and former H&K colleague Andrew Fairburn (who’s always reminded me of Tiff Needell, although I’m not sure he knows that) is doing much of the writing. This is great to see; many of my better postings on my old H&K blog started off as office banter with Andrew.

I shall watch with interest. Particularly like yesterday’s Nuclear post.

Marvellous news from Amazon that the Kindle will shortly be available in ‘over 100 countries’, including here in Russia, in time for Christmas. No blogs or browsing, though, and there’s no 3G here yet.

Just make sure you sign the Kindle License Agreement And Terms of Use. Or Gort’ll get ya.

(you shouldn’t need to scroll down, but just in case …)

Moscow never ceases to surprise. This was the scene at McDonald’s on Old Arbat late yesterday evening.

… for being so silent for so long.

I’ll be back soon, I promise.