The Thinking Mechanism is a series of weekly posts, published on Fridays, covering the ideas The Mechanism is thinking and talking about with our peers and clients.

The week in quick links:

• The Atlantic releases The Ideas Report issue with the 14 Biggest Ideas of the Year.

• An interview with Dieter Rams, The Greatest Designer Alive by Co.Design.

• Data point: which countries are most social when mobile?

• Understanding copyright and licenses by Smashing Magazine.

• Bill Gates: A rare interview with the World's second richest man.

• The 2011 Idea Execution Audit by The 99 Percent.

• And lastly, The Jedi Path presentation box.