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Thursday, September 27th, 2012Recently I have come across two amazing and redemptive stories that took place in the nexus between cyberspace and “RL” (real life). In the first story, a Reddit user snapped a picture of a Sikh woman with an unusual amount of facial hair and posted it on the site in order to mock her, and […]
Attentional Austerity
Friday, September 14th, 2012I sometimes joke that I have Attention Deficit Disorder. That isn’t literally true, but what is true is that there is too much that interests me, particularly online. I find myself following a never-ending flow of rabbit trails, finding articles I want to read but quickly skipping on to others that those ones linked to, […]
Digital Society Conference, June 22-23
Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012There’s a great conference coming up in Seattle. I will be one of the panelists, and there are some excellent keynote speakers and other panelists. Click on the image to read more details.
Women programmers
Thursday, May 10th, 2012I was encouraged by this article to see that tech companies are recognizing the value of hiring top notch women programmers and resisting the all-male culture that was once common in Silicon Valley startups (and still exists in some). I’m also encouraged to see more women going into the field and gaining leadership roles lately. […]
Is Facebook making us lonely?
Monday, April 16th, 2012This article is possibly destined to become as oft cited as the earlier Atlantic article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?“: “Is Facebook Marking Us Lonely?” by Stephen Marche (Atlantic, May 2012) I think it isn’t a question of one solely causing the other. But both contribute to a worsening cycle. Lonely people seek connection on […]
Surveillance in the Twenty-First Century: A summer course
Sunday, April 15th, 2012Here’s a plug for a week-long summer class at Regent College June 25-29, called “Surveillance in the Twenty-First Century.” It’s taught by David Lyon, Professor of Sociology at Queen’s University in Ontario, and this is his primary area of expertise. He’s taught many times before at Regent, and I’ve really appreciated his laid-back style and […]
Technology and Love
Tuesday, March 27th, 2012Great article from last year, but I just stumbled upon it today: Liking Is for Cowards. Go for What Hurts. by Jonathan Franzen (New York Times, May 28, 2011) Love is hard-won and difficult and involves pain, but is rewarding and totally worth it. On the other hand, “our technology has become extremely adept at […]
To fix government, call in the geeks
Sunday, March 25th, 2012This article and TED Talk call to mind my Dec 2009 article for Comment Magazine, Whither Democracy 2.0?. The concept behind Code for America, kind of a Peace Corps for computer programmers, is using technology to empower citizens to solve problems that government isn’t capable of solving or isn’t solving fast enough. Here is a […]
Homeless hotspots
Tuesday, March 13th, 2012There’s a bit of controversy surrounding this idea that a marketing firm had of turning homeless people into wireless hotspots during the SXSW technology conference in Austin. They go around selling wi-fi access to attendees of the conference, techies who can’t stand to be away from the Internet. [Image source: The Daily What] Some folks […]
Consumers’ Online Privacy Bill of Rights
Friday, February 24th, 2012The Obama administration has just unveiled a blueprint for future legislation which it is calling a “Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights,” a statement of principles which companies can voluntarily agree to uphold. As a first draft, it is a big step in the right direction. It is high time for such a thing. I will […]
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