Does the Internet have any effect on the way we live? Is the Web influencing society, religion, politics, even the way we interact? Are we in danger of losing our humanity or will technology end up enhancing it? We\’ll bring you stories and sites that illustrate, illuminate and make you think about the profound, sometimes sublime, ways that the Internet touches our lives.
Living in San Diego, I’m used to receiving little pamphlets or booklets a few weeks prior to all elections. Yesterday a 165-page, letter-sized whopper arrived. I’ve lived here since 1986, and this is the largest Voter Information Guide I’ve seen. Don’t misunderstand, I appreciate living in a country with a democratic election […]
This title meme is the battle cry of the neo-scientific creationists. It’s creationism vs. evolution, Part Deux, all over again. Only this time it’s more insidious, sneaky, sexy. They’re trying to “sell the sizzle” because there is no meat. And they’re doing it with our children! A more coherent articulation is […]
“Big Brother” sounds cliche, but evidence says it’s true…
The Associated Press reported today that the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the agency that controls America’s spy satellites and other aerial surveillance equipment, is keeping a close eye on matters at home. This spy work skirts a fine line between protecting the public and “performing illegal government spying […]
The spread of technology and the ease with which we can communicate has made our world seem less safe at times. This story is a great example.
…until he called me an ankle-biter, that is. I’m gonna prove him wrong on two counts. 1) Blanket-generalizations are bad. 2) I’m going to take myself to task for having used them in the past.
I think Steven is trying to re-assert his place now that big media has been dealt a serious credibility blow. And […]
Search algorithms may skew the political spectrum of their results.
Have you heard about the Gmail-o-matic machine? Everyone is so hot for Google’s Gmail accounts that they were selling on Ebay until Google put a kibosh on the practice. Last week isnoop.net unveiled its “Gmail invite spooler.” The one-Web-page-only service allows you to submit your e-mail address to request an invitation to […]
It’s a wonder it took Sony this long to finally come around. You would have thought they learned their lesson with Betamax.
This morning, before I headed off to the office, I decided to check my e-mail/RSS feeds to see if anything interesting had arrived overnight. What greeted me was a message from Doug Kaye, founder of IT Conversations, regarding a new audio file that was available entitled “The Induce Act 2.0: Law and IT“. I quickly […]
Memes (pronounced “meems”)
are interesting things; they are (for lack of a better term)
thought viruses. They don’t just shape our beliefs, they *ARE* our beliefs. I
don’t have the space to get into a whole thing on memes here; I just wanted to
touch on the subject before diving in.
It’s all over the Net. The remarkable results of the Internet Deprivation Study sponsored jointly by OMD marketing and Yahoo! Inc. Actually it’s two research projects. Conifer Research performed an ethnographic study of two weeks of reactions of 28 participants who were deprived of an Internet connection. This is from the Yahoo-issued press […]
Start getting your grant proposal writing skills together if you’d like to win a $50,000 grant to change the way the world deals with biodiversity loss (mass extinction). The Threshold Foundation considers it a critical issue in building a sustainable world. The organization’s mission is to assist “the social change movement through collaborating […]
Remember a few days ago I wrote about NewsByName? But wait, there’s more — Blabble, self-described as a blog analysis and research tool. Warning: it’s still in beta 2.0, but you can sign up to test it and subscribe to a mailing list. Sample searches, supposedly covering over four million […]
I’m a transatlantic person. Every so often I have to venture back to Portland for major life events that can’t possibly be experienced in Manchester. I tend to fret for the first hour or so of the flight about what I haven’t done. Did I? Will they be able to find? Do they have a […]
There used to be a time when no one would ever consider catching a computer virus from a picture file. Seems like those days are over.
What happens when “involvement in the process” and “having your voice heard” is no longer enough to motivate the voting population? Bribe ‘em, of course. Jim and James, those crazy college guys that brought you HotOrNot.com, completely disproving the old addage “looks don’t count”, are giving registered voters a chance to win $200,000. Half the prize money goes to a random winner, and the other half goes to the person that referred them.
The site is VoteOrNot.org, and it’s open to all registered voters in the US. If you’re not registered, they give you links to do it electronically.
Amazon.com’s entry into the search engine wars is finally out of beta and launched today. Why do we need another search engine? The folks at Amazon probably anticipated this question, so they decided to focus on “what else can we do with our service to make people come?” Their response: “We provide […]
According to Intel’s CTO, Patrick Gelsinger, the Internet is falling, and Intel is ready to pick up the pieces. Speaking at a San Francisco conference, he said that the ten-fold growth in traffic across the 30-year-old structure threatens to sabotage the system. A new system, not surprisingly designed by an Intel-sponsored group, has the […]
Americans all remember what we were doing on that fateful day in September. We always will. My heart has been moved each year as various ceremonies honored and remembered the fallen, and gave thanks to current crop of soldiers, fireman, policeman, nurses, and EMTs.
I’ve seen these heroes honored at baseball games, school ceremonies, and a […]