Section 58A makes it an offence to publish, communicate, elicit or attempt to elicit information about any of such persons which is of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

Which has been mis-used by many police officers to ban members of the public from taking innocent pictures (which I’ve talked about before here: Photography presents a unique problem for law enforcement because it is not illegal).

The response is as useful as the law:

An officer making an arrest under section 58A must reasonably suspect that the information is of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

While also stating that:

It is a statutory defence for a person to prove that they had a reasonable excuse for eliciting, publishing or communicating the relevant information.

I’m so glad that’s all cleared up.

bring a screen shot of 3 sites that inspire you for a warm up discussion: 1 information giving site, 1 income generation site, 1 other

Which is something I thought would be worth sharing here. So here are my three:

Information giving

For infomration giving I’ve picked google reader. I refer to it many times a day, have a reader on my phone  and use it as my main tool for keeping up to date with the web world and beyond. At last count I subscribe to over 200 feeds and I could never track all those sites without a robust feed reader

Income generation

I shop a lot online, as much as possible. One site I am happy to recommend for their online and offline service is photobox. Their service is quick. Very quick. Place an order in the morning and chances are they’ll be delivered the next day in a hard backed envelope. You can share photos with other people and let other people order copies of your photos, even changing the price so you can make a profit in what is sold. The site has a clean and clear design and is simple to use all that an online shop should be.

Other

For this I picked a section of the London 2012 website. I’ve covered this in an earlier post and my thoughts havn’t changed. It’s still a great example of location based media content. And the time slider gives a great historical view of information too. Winner.

There’s been quite a few sites and features which have caught my eye over the last few days, so here’s a little summary of what’s stood out for me:

Shiny Shiny’s website of the week combines two of my geeky interests – maps and photography. They’ve uncovered the Map of Strange which collates the unusual findings people make while browsing the aerial photos of Google Earth or Google Maps (or you online satellite imagery site of choice). Anything from a hotel shaped like a crocodile to a boat graveyard to dozens of crop circles.

Swissmiss, another blog which is worth reading bring together some other interests – social web and food. She’s found Open Source Food which is a free collection of recipies with photos. Reminds me of a pitch on Dragons Den a few weeks ago from the creators of iFoods.tv – a youtube of recipies, nice idea.

Finally something I do like and something I put up with. Going Underground caught site of this emergency notice by Stuart Clary on my very own Victoria Line. I like a good Margarita, I’ll be keeping an eye out for it.

So here’s my Ten places to wonder about, taking photos. I couldn’t put them in an order.

- The City – It may be my favourite but I don’t go there often enough. I love the mix of old and new.

- Borough Market/London Bridge – The market is great for photos of people and the stalls. So much is on sale here by such a mix of people you can wonder around for hours.

- Southbank/Bankside – The Thames is one of the thing I love most about London, and apart from the parks one of the few places where there’s open space. There’s a great mix of architecture along bankside and it offers some great views of the city, St Pau’ls Cathedral and other landmarks.

- Embankment – Opposite Southbank, again there’s some great views east towards the City and west to Parliament, as well as the Millennium Wheel.

- Shoreditch – A great place for graffiti and posters, run down buildings and trendy bars. You can walk around the streets many times but something different will always catch your eye.

- Farringdon/Clerkenwell – Along with Shoreditch this is creative central with media and design firms around every corner. Some great architecture too such as Farringdon Viaduct and Smithfields Market.

- Covent Garden – Great for people watching. The performers and entertainers as well as the crowds of tourists watching them. You need to keep an eye on your gear though, pickpockets are everywhere in the west end.

- Trafalgar Square – Another great place for people watching. The buildings on the boundaries are all superb and with the mix of statues and the tourists there’s always a good shot to be had.

- Southwark – Particularly around the railway arches running into London Bridge. Some great little lanes, archways and old buildings with faded signs

- Waltham Forest – My part of London. So much going on – Walthamstow Market, Walthamstow Village, Leytonstone’s Hollow Ponds and the edge of Epping Forest – Something for everyone.

It’s such a big city though this is just areas I know, feel free to add your in the comments. Where should I go next time I fancy somewhere new?

This issue was raised earlier in the year by The Online Photographer who shows a great clip about restrictions on film and photography, including a film maker being stopped at Oxford Circus by two community support officers and questioned aggressively with no reason what so ever.

And it’s not just in the UK. DCist and The Online photographer both picked up a comical story of the Head of Cumminications of Union Station being stopped from conducting a TV interview. An interview where he was trying to report that there was nothing wrong with filming or taking pictures in the station.