Specters of Ludd – A Review of Gavin Mueller’s “Breaking Things at Work”
A specter is haunting technological society—the specter of Luddism. Granted, as is so often the case with hauntings, reactions to this specter are divided: there are some who are frightened, … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Eighty-Third Week
It is not that you are living in fear. But that even after so many months you are still living in a pandemic. * We are eager for the pandemic … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Eighty-Second Week
It would be inaccurate to claim that the decline in new cases and the decline in daily deaths will mean that we shall stop paying attention to the pandemic. Such … Continue reading
Imagine the End of Facebook
“On the one hand the computer makes it possible in principle to live in a world of plenty for everyone, on the other hand we are well on our way … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Eighty-First Week
If you must name the current season do us all a favor and refer to it as the autumn thus may we enjoy the crispness in the air and the … Continue reading
Librarian Was My Occupation – Remembering the Occupy Wall Street People’s Libary
In the fall of 2011, the angry shout of “we are the 99%!” could be heard echoing in localities big and small across the US. The movement had seemed to … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Eightieth Week
You need not know the exact number or the statistical details that will allow you to place that first number into a broad historic or population sized context for you … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Seventy-Ninth Week
So you did not finish writing the novel you were going to write. So you neglected the sourdough starter you were going to bake with. So the weights You were … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Seventy-Eighth Week
At the start of every month I tell myself that this is the month in which the pandemic will finally come to an end. Of course I know that I … Continue reading
Don’t Fall for Facebook’s Trojan Horse
“What we use is not ours simply because we use it.” – Erich Fromm “With the release of its own smart glasses last week, Facebook seems to have learned from … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Seventy-Seventh Week
Fortunately, I am not religious for if I were a believer I imagine that the sight of the four horsemen trotting back and forth across the headlines week after week … Continue reading
The Climate of Despair – Climate Change, COVID-19, and the Feeling of Impending Doom
“It is only for the sake of those without hope that hope is given to us.” – Walter Benjamin Whenever the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issues … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Seventy-Sixth Week
No matter how ardent is your attempt you will never succeed in keeping a hurricane from making landfall by standing alone on the beach and blowing at the sky. * … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Seventy-Fifth Week
Of course we know that there are events occurring in the world other than the plague but that does not mean that we can blithely ignore the plague. * Prometheus … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Seventy-Fourth Week
How distressing it is to be reminded that this wretched pandemic is not the only worsening catastrophe in which we are embroiled. * We can howl with grief. We can … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Seventy-Third Week
How exhausting it is to begin your week knowing that by week’s end the situation will have become even more dire. And how exhausting it is when you come to … Continue reading
Technological Lessons from the Pandemic
“The public be damned is the private motto of the majority of our citizens: which means that they are damning themselves; and at a serious crisis like the present one, … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Seventy-Second Week
I would not be so bold as to now predict exactly how much longer the plague will last for I will admit that it has already lasted longer (much longer) … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Seventy-First Week
My father (who missed us) keeps looking at the familyassembled together hereand proudly declaring that“we all got through this”because I know how worriedhe has beenbecause I know how worriedhe still … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Seventieth Week
At long last it is time to admit it: the alarmists were right to be so alarmed. * Death is inevitable so too are virusesbut that this virushas killed so … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Sixty-Ninth Week
We celebrate with the greatest intensity when we suspect that we have little cause to celebrate. * How very unfortunateare thosewho can act as thoughthis last yearnever happened. How very … Continue reading
Theses on Technological Pessimism
We fly over the mountains As though there was nothing to it Great are the works of humans! But bread for all? We can’t do it. Child, ask why Can … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Sixty-Eighth Week
You do not need to say that we are not ready for the challenges that await us for there is ample evidence that we are not ready for the challenges … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Sixty-Seventh Week
That things have improved does not mean that from this point forward they can only keep improving progress requires maintenance we worked to get here should we become idle we … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Sixty-Sixth Week
Stop being foolish things cannot go back to how they once were for you cannot now go back to confidently believing that your society is impervious to a pandemic. * … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Sixty-Fifth Week
When I speak to my friends in other countries about how I can now go about maskless and gather with others they look at me with envy. When I speak … Continue reading
Theses on Techno-Optimism
“If you fall in love with a machine there is something wrong with your love-life. If you worship a machine there is something wrong with your religion.” – Lewis Mumford … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Sixty-Fourth Week
We devotesingle daysto rememberingso that we can devotemost daysto forgetting. * Perhaps in some future yearwe shall commemorate the plague’s victimswith a weekend saleon tires and clothes. * I confessI … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Sixty-Third Week
My apologies I do not wish to ruin your week when it has only just begun but as you remove your mask and bask in the idea of a return … Continue reading
Burn it All – a Review of “Your Computer is on Fire”
It often feels as though contemporary discussions about computers have perfected the art of talking around, but not specifically about, computers. Almost every week there is a new story about … Continue reading
