It’s time to fix things – a review of “Move Fast and Break Things”
When the topic of monopoly is raised the first person that many people will think of is Rich Uncle Pennybags – that icon of monopolistic wealth accumulation – with his … Continue reading
Amazon is hungry for more
Here is a joke: Question – Why did the online retailer renowned for its super cheap prices buy a brick and mortar grocery chain known for its ridiculously high prices? … Continue reading
“Thinking ad pessimum” – Notes Towards a Productive Pessimism
Even the Flood Did not last for ever. There came a time When the black waters ebbed. Yes, but how few Have lasted longer. – Brecht (“Reading Horace”) 1) … Continue reading
Is Internet access a choice?
Sometimes the most interesting questions about how technology impacts society are raised unintentionally. Case in point: on Tuesday, March 7, 2017, Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) went on CNN to explain … Continue reading
The world according to Facebook
The majestic plural, the royal “we,” is deployed by individuals in high positions seeking to cast their own opinions as the views of a much larger group for whom they … Continue reading
Well…that happened – reflections on a joke
The guileless word is folly. A smooth forehead Suggests insensitivity. The man who laughs Has simply not yet had The terrible news. – Brecht (“To Those Born Later”) Sometimes one … Continue reading
A Pessimistic Resolution
Every new year brings with it the promise of a fresh start, the promise that this year, unlike last year, we can finally get things right. Thus, the resolution-industrial complex … Continue reading
Prescience and Pessimism
Truly, I live in dark times! The guileless word is folly. A smooth forehead Suggests insensitivity. The man who laughs Has simply not yet had The terrible news. – Brecht, … Continue reading
What Technology Do We Really Need? – A Critique of the 2016 Personal Democracy Forum
Technological optimism is a dish best served from a stage. Particularly if it’s a bright stage in front of a receptive and comfortably seated audience, especially if the person standing … Continue reading
Beyond the Prototype: Libraries as Convivial Tools in Action
How important are the technologies found in a library to the actual library? Are libraries simply places where various tools and technologies are used, or can libraries (themselves) be viewed … Continue reading
You Can’t Spell “Trending Topics” Without Control
Attempting to understand trends can easily give one an unpleasant headache. From fashion to music and from food to news articles – the reasons why a particular thing is trendy … Continue reading
Evidently, Democracy Disrupts the Disruptors
Anybody who has been watching the 2016 presidential primaries can attest to the simple fact that voting has consequences. Indeed, voters can propel a figure widely dismissed as “never going … Continue reading
Apple Is Not the Messiah
There is a lot of money to be made in crafting carefully manicured public relations campaigns for major corporations. Numerous large firms exist solely for the purposes of selling their … Continue reading
TOR, Libraries, and DHS: fuck that noise
Our dear comrade Alison Macrina at the Library Freedom Project had the fabulous idea to set up Tor relays in public libraries — after all, providing services and assuring patron … Continue reading
Treat Your Personal Library…Like a Library
Have you ever found yourself at a gathering at which a speaker says something along the lines of “it’s important to read”? Or perhaps you’ve found yourself at a gathering … Continue reading
Living in the Exterminable Epoch
The end of the world comes in a variety of flavors: the wrath of god, catastrophic storms, gigantic asteroids, unstoppable plague, climate change, nuclear Armageddon…and the list goes on. Particular … Continue reading
Laws Expire, Surveillance Remains
The technological landscape of today is quite a bit different from what it was in the fall of 2001. This point is so obvious as to be banal, but to … Continue reading
Awaiting the Other Shoe
Patience ranks high amongst the virtues that are commonly celebrated. It seems to represent the coming together of a host of other vaunted values: selflessness, calmness in the face of … Continue reading
Hope Comes Pre-Installed
There is an odd dissonance playing out in the news of late – a rather jarring juxtaposition between euphoric promises and doom tinged proclamations. While a defining feature of the … Continue reading
LIS WTF
Hold onto your hats, librarians, you’re hardly going to believe these two bits of news. Yes, they are that busted. ***** First, comes the saga of the Evanston, IL, public … Continue reading
The Less Things Change…
The shock has worn off. At first we reeled and balked out of a sentiment of betrayed fury, but eventually we grew glumly quiet – and gradually we opened our … Continue reading
Librarian Is My Occupation: A History of the People’s Library of Occupy Wall Street
As we’ve mentioned several times (sorry [not really]), your dear co-captains wrote a chapter in the recently-released book Informed agitation : library and information skills in social movements and beyond, … Continue reading
We Apologize, We Will Change – An open letter from the NSA
[For Immediate Release – an open letter from the Assistant Director of the National Security Agency] To my fellow citizens, We are sorry. Let me repeat that to make my … Continue reading
The Day We Fight Back (should be every single day)
So, what are you doing today? Hopefully you are going to take a moment to call or e-mail congress (or the appropriate equivalent) and demand that action be taken to … Continue reading
Political Speeches and Protest Songs
At the outset it is important to recognize that the State of the Union is more about theatrics than anything approximating the actual status of the country. The speech is … Continue reading
The Banality of NSA Reform
“The reforms I’m proposing today should give the American people greater confidence that their rights are being protected, even as our intelligence and law enforcement agencies maintain the tools they … Continue reading
Towards Which Utopia in 2014?
The start of a new year is the socially sanctioned moment when people are encouraged to engage in optimistic dreaming. People “resolve” that in this year they shall achieve some … Continue reading
In 2014…they’re resolved to keep watching…
It may be an understatement to claim that 2013 was an interesting year. Though it may also be a rather meaningless statement seeing as any year could be described as … Continue reading
In Google’s Tentacles – Robots!
At what point do we need to revisit the way that we have come to use the term “Google” in everyday conversations? Since entering the popular vernacular the term has … Continue reading
Surveillance!? We’re Shocked! Shocked!
Of all the victims of the NSA’s massive surveillance effort – from world leaders to you to civil liberties and privacy – there is one particular group that has been … Continue reading
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