Mergers, acquisitions, and my tinfoil hat
[nb: this is by your long-lost second blogger, who relocated to a large state university two years ago, rather than by the usual fellow who’s been keeping this boat afloat … 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
Flamethrowers and Fire Extinguishers – a review of “The Social Dilemma”
“The myth of technological and political and social inevitability is a powerful tranquilizer of the conscience. Its service is to remove responsibility from the shoulders of everyone who truly believes … Continue reading
“Cover Your Tracks!” – A Critique of the Privacy Project from The New York Times
Whatever you say, don’t say it twice. If you find your idea with somebody else: deny it. He who didn’t sign anything, who didn’t leave an image Who wasn’t there, … Continue reading
All watched over by machines – a review of Yasha Levine’s “Surveillance Valley”
There is something rather precious about Google employees, and Internet users, who earnestly believe the “don’t be evil” line. Though those three words have often been taken to represent a … Continue reading
Techlash! What Techlash?
In the early 1990s an assortment of activists and academics banded together in an attempt to challenge the direction in which high-technology, and infatuation with it, was taking society. And … Continue reading
The Nerd and the Inured
There’s no point being vague about it: Mark Zuckerberg won. Considering what could have possibly awaited the Facebook CEO when he testified before Congress he got off easy. Despite the … Continue reading
The future looks expensive
When times are grim, and menacing clouds literally gather on the horizon, it can be immensely reassuring to have some event that restores faith in the future. All that is … Continue reading
Apple is all ears
Once upon a time, if somebody claimed that there were microphones installed in their home that were listening in on their every word they would be dismissed as a paranoid … Continue reading
The Internet of Things…that spy on you
There is a sequence in the horror film 28 Days Later in which the protagonists find that they have to drive through a dark tunnel. As the car idles outside … Continue reading
Don’t like what you see? – A review of Season Three of Black Mirror
“The future is not a blank page; and neither is it an open book.” – Lewis Mumford 1. When the daily news takes on a particularly grim sheen it can … 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
How to Keep What You Are Reading Secret
Is there anything more annoying than being interrupted with the question “hey, what are you reading?” while you are engrossed in a book? Is there anything more frustrating than feeling … Continue reading
Friends Don’t Let Friends Join Peeple
Social media can leave a funny taste in your mouth. Legion are the companies declaring that their platform will help you reach full actualization whether this occurs through connecting with … Continue reading
Google learns the Alphabet
“You still have to learn the ABC. The ABC says: They will get you down.” – Bertolt Brecht The way to spell “Google” has changed, and now the way to … Continue reading
Ashley Madison and the Internet’s “Original Accident”
The news that a website, retailer, or famous individual has been the victim of hackers has, at this point, become not particularly sensational. It’s the type of revelation that still … Continue reading
Google Wants to Get Into Your Pants
This is not meant as an insult, really it isn’t (please do not be offended), but your pants are stupid. And your skirt, your jacket, your dress, your sweater, your … 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
On Broken Glass
Depending on one’s personal stance, the news that Google is halting production of its polarizing product Glass is either cause for celebration, disappointment, or – for most people – simply … Continue reading
All Hitherto Existing Social Media – a review of Christian Fuchs’s “Social Medial: a Critical Introduction””
Legion are the books and articles describing the social media that has come before. Yet the tracts focusing on Friendster, LiveJournal, or MySpace now appear as throwbacks, nostalgically immortalizing the … Continue reading
Placing Bets and Asking Questions
Though there was not terribly much question about it, there is now clear confirmation that “wearable technology” will be the next major front in technological society. While there had been … Continue reading
Concerned about Privacy? Consider going Postal!
The contents of a mailbox can become amusingly mundane: bills, solicitations, catalogs, credit card offers, and assorted other odds and ends that wind up in the recycling bin without being … Continue reading
A Threatened Net or a Threatening Net?
The activist and writer Grace Lee Boggs is known for starting conversations and lectures with the following question: “What time is it on the clock of the world?” It may … Continue reading
Are We Technologically Literate?
Some of the appeal of new technologies is the ease with which they can be used. Though we may recognize, on a subconscious level, that these devices represent impressive feats … Continue reading
Facebook Gets Emotional
Have you ever found that you felt rather depressed after using social media? What about quite happy? It is probably no great stretch to imagine that the answer to at … 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
Google Glass in Libraries – Disruption or just Disruptive?
Libraries are highly technological places. From books to microfilm readers to computers – a library that is free of technology is an oxymoron. Granted, there is a difference between a … Continue reading
Whose Vision of the Future is This?
Lurking in the background of most inquiries into the technologically wrought future is an oft-unasked question regarding who exactly gets to determine the shape this future shall take. From a … Continue reading
The Flawed “Frames” of Google Glass
It is premature to compose an obituary for Google Glass. While there are many who would be eager to hear Google announce that the eyewear’s full launch is being indefinitely … Continue reading
Make Your Library the Protest
It is an exciting time to be a librarian. No, really. Whether it is a result of potentially positive changes or due to worrisome occurrences (budget cuts) libraries (and by … Continue reading
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