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.
First Amendment no big deal, students say
From AP, via CNN:
WASHINGTON (AP) - The way many high school students see it, government censorship of newspapers may not be a bad thing, and flag burning is hardly protected free speech.
It’s encouraging and ironic that the percentage of voters who turned out for the election in Iraq is estimated to be about the same as that for last fall’s U.S. election. While the violence and death accompanying Iraq’s election are lamentable, we can rejoice that the amount was much lower than had been anticipated. […]
If you want to reform our broken media system, then please join us at the National Conference for Media Reform, in St. Louis from May 13th - 15th.
These are exciting times, as we witness an unprecedented explosion of interest in media issues. I invite you to join activists, educators, policy-makers, journalists, artists and concerned […]
Global warming is a subject that certainly generates a lot of controversy. This article on the BBC talks about some of the findings from Climateprediction.net, and struck me as interesting as it dealt with distributed computing.
Today’s Parade magazine, a weekly tabloid carried by many U.S. Sunday newspapers, ran an article by writer Norman Mailer. He suggests that eliminating TV ads will alleviate declining literacy rates in the U.S. His focus is the concentration it takes to read; his thesis, TV commercials not only make children fat, but also teach them […]
You’ve heard it before, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) making claims about how peer-to-peer (P2P) software vendors/users are forcing them to brink of extinction because of the rampant piracy that occurs with these products. In order to support these less than substantiated claims, they have attempted to demonstrate a cause and effect relationship […]
Is it reasonable to question possible alternative causes for the tsunami earthquake disaster?
Are you really so sure that earthquakes cannot be easily triggered by either planned or careless human action?
For those who are willing to explore alternative ways to think about what really triggered the recent tsunami in the Indian Ocean, I have put together […]
Within Google Groups you can find an amazing 20 years of Usenet archives. That’s more than 800 million messages, dating back to 1981. Google calls it “the most complete collection of Usenet articles ever assembled and a fascinating first-hand historical account.” The page listed above has links to some historic posts, such as […]
When you think of piracy these days the first thing that comes to mind for many is downloading of music, movies or software. Then comes along a headline that throws a new spin on what piracy means to different companies, industries and consumers. It seems that Monsanto is suing farmers over piracy issues.
The biggest obstacle it seems for many of our electrical gadgets is supplying power to them. How often have you had your batteries die on you at the most inopportune time? While fuel cells may be on the horizon we have a constant power source in the sun in the sky.
From Free Press:
You’ve probably heard by now: Right-wing political commentator Armstrong Williams admitted receiving $240,000 from the Department of Education to promote the Bush administration’s No Child Left Behind Act on national television - including dozens of Sinclair stations - without disclosing that he was on the government’s payroll.
Laws have been broken. Williams issued […]
Some of my many joys of the Internet are making friends around the world and learning about different cultures. A particular focus of my activities in this area is to learn from Muslim friends in the Middle East. I met these people on Google’s Orkut social networking service, and some of them read […]
Did you ever wonder what scientists and other intellectuals really believe, outside their research projects, media interviews, and books for sale? “What do you believe is true even though you cannot prove it?” is the question of the year posed by John Brockman on The World Question Center, a part of the internet site […]
Dean over at Dean’s World
asked bloggers around the globe to link to a post from Chief Wiggles so here’s my link Dean:
Gnomie Nimal Wanniarachchi writes:
I am a long time subscriber and a citizen of Sri Lanka.
As you know, a major disaster has occured in my country and elsewhere in the Asian region. I would very much appreciate if you could encourage the members of your newsletters to make donations to a relief organization that is […]
The disaster in the Indian Ocean from the tsunami is on staggering scale for sure. The relief efforts and logistics required to help those affected is a nightmare. It’s nice to see that the internet and blogging are making a difference.
Three years after the collapse of Argentina’s economy under IMF and World Bank recipes for development, the South American country’s budding recovery is stunning international observers.
Defying the IMF’s prescriptions, president Kirchner and his economic advisers have told creditors to get in line and wait, while building the economy from the bottom up. An excellent […]