Interesting Things on the Internet: August 4th 2014

• The Internet of Things Will Ruin Birthdays. The perils of giving more control to people who want to find excuses to insert their brand into your life.
• Privacy Economics. Tim Bray showing a different (to last week's Anil Dash link) way that privacy is a grey area, and how that's good.
• A recipe for starting & prototyping new projects Good tips for life in the digital age.
• Amazon v Hachette: The enemy of your enemy is not your friend. This pretty much sums up this author's take on the Amazon/Hachette battle.
• 'Artists and makers, it's time to be leaders' From John Maeda. Indeed, otherwise we cede control to the beancounters and form-fillers...
• IFB shows Liverpool’s business needs more diversity. Laura on good form exploring how the recent business-jamboree International Festival for Business could be better when it next runs (in 2016).

And a video, Numbers, by Robert Hloz imagining a world where some people see numbers above everyone else’s heads: