"Google bought Nest for $3.2bn (£1.8bn) earlier this year despite the fact it only had two relatively niche products on sale. The search firm's chairman Eric Schmidt described the acquisition at the time as "an important bet" on intelligent devices for the home that were "infinitely more useable" than existing kit. Others are also making early steps into what is being called the "internet of things":"

"Earlier this month non-profit organisations and companies including Google, Mozilla, Yahoo, and Reddit united to organise a day of action called Reset the Net. The event marked the first anniversary of Edward Snowden's revelations about the National Security Administration's extensive and illegal dragnet surveillance apparatus."

If you enjoy being involved in Twitter chats you may sometimes find it difficult to keep up with the discussions - you might find that running a search for the appropriate hashtag and then refreshing the search just doesn't really cut it for you. If that's the case, you might want to explore TWchat They say of themselves: "Our public service allows you to create realtime chat rooms based on twitter hashtag. Invite users and perform the presentations online without any additional software! Add your friends or colleagues to help you with moderation."

"The 3D printing world has been trying to come into the home for a very long time. It has been hindered by high costs and unnecessary complexity. Strooder is a product that looks to accelerate the adoption of 3D printing in the home by reducing the cost of filament in a simple and safe way. Only with the reduced costs of filament can home 3D printing become a widespread reality."

"The following Google Hangout video call guide shows you how to get started, invite participants, record a call, collaborate over a Google Doc and more."

BRCK makes accessing the internet simple and reliable wherever you are. It's a rugged, cloud managed, full-featured modem/router with built in fail-overs and programmable GPIO expansion. If there's a way for you to connect, BRCK will help you get up and stay up no matter where you are.

"Google openly collects user data from its online services but not via apps for education, but there is concern that the online activity of teenagers is being analysed for targeted advertising."

Dan Leighton originally shared to Google Classroom (Discussion): Some comments on #GoogleClassroom with a full review of what's great, and what may not work so well... It's going to be fantastic...hopefully by September when we start next term! Dan Leighton 13 June 2014

"Social media offers some great opportunities for learning in the classroom, bringing together the ability to collaborate, access worldwide resources, and find new and interesting ways to communicate in one easily accessible place. Teachers around the world have found innovative ways to use Twitter as a teaching tool, and we've shared many of these great ideas here with you. Read on, and we'll explore 60 inspiring ways that teachers and students can put Twitter to work in the classroom."

"Planet Nutshell produces short animated videos to explain products, services, and concepts. One of their series of videos is all about the Internet and Internet safety for K-12 students. The series is called NetSafe and it has 17 episodes that were produced for the Utah Education Network. The videos are labeled with grade levels so that students in high school don't watch videos designed for K-3 students. "

"Published on 3 Apr 2014 Molly Wood explores services that allow you to search online without compromising your privacy."

We all love infographics (well, I do. Well, decent ones anyway) which is why this one is really interesting. Instead of being a static "this is what happens in an Internet-minute" like this one and this one) you can see the number of posts, likes, tweets, pins, emails, views, downloads, clicks, saves, etc. build over the time it takes you to view the details of the infographic.

A great movie showing how to create an interactive Google Form that incorporates feedback loops via pages

"Ogilvy Paris Innovate an Irresistible Way for Vittel to remind people to drink the recommended 8 glasses of water a day. 'Vittel Refresh Cap'. A tailor made cap that pops a flag every hour to gently remind you to drink."

"Watch the kids try and figure out how to use a 1970's era computer in another special Old Technology episode! "

"Finding great stock photos is a pain. You're left with either low-res amateur photos, people wearing cheesy headsets, or photos that are out of budget for the project you're working on. Below is an ongoing list (so bookmark it) of the best stock photo sites I've come across."

"Our aim is not to buy an expensive super-computer that most students will never fully take advantage of; rather, we strive to provide a device and the digital tools that do what most students need most of the time, extremely well. This key trade-off opens the door to a faster, simpler platform for staff and students to utilise. Chromebooks are designed for the web and that's where we see resources, books and tools heading (if not already there). Add all of this to our longstanding success with Google Apps, these devices made for the perfect extension of what we were already doing."

"FAILURE:LAB is a raw and intimate evening showcasing personal stories of failure. With a refreshing vibe of openness, it helps pave the way for change by crushing the isolation and stigma around failure. FAILURE:LAB empowers audience members to persevere by exploring the space between people who fail and quit, and those who get back up again. By talking about failure, the audience can begin a dialogue about how the local community can help foster success. Failure then takes its rightful place as the crucial first step to the next big thing. Embrace it, learn from it, build on it."

"Earlier this month, the UN's International Telecommunication Union (ITU) released new figures on the state of the Internet. They revealed that by the end of this year, there will be 3 billion Internet users, a substantial fraction of which hail from developing nations. That's not to say the number of connected people in the U.S. isn't also growing. In fact the UN says the number of online citizens in developed nations is reaching saturation. The Connectivist presents some of the ITU report's findings."

Feedient is a free-to-use web application that provides a thorough overview of your Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube feeds, all in one browser window. Feedient also lets you interact with these posts, and even lets you post to Facebook or Twitter (or both) directly from the application.