ethics

Swartz vs Snowden OR Resist Restrictions that Seem Arbitrary or Capricious

MIT released its report on Aaron Swartz (.pdf) this morning. It is interesting to read about the amount of energy and concerted effort around Swartz, in contrast to Edward Snowden. Swartz’ prosecution and MIT’s “neutrality” to that effort seem sad when taken in the context of President Obama’s comment on June 27th where he said “No,… Continue reading Swartz vs Snowden OR Resist Restrictions that Seem Arbitrary or Capricious

I’m on Your Roadz, Scanning Your License Plates

For a long time, I’ve imagined what it would be like if you could see information about other drivers around you in real-time. For example, if you are driving down the freeway you would see a red arrow over cars that are known to have been involved in bad driving practices. This information would be… Continue reading I’m on Your Roadz, Scanning Your License Plates

M.I.A. Uses Twitter, "Space Odyssey" to Bring Attention to the Continued Plight of Tamil Civilians in Sri Lanka

Musician M.I.A. released a song titled “Space Odyssey” this past week that has become notable for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was her reaction to a New York Times travel guide spotlighting Sri Lanka as a travel destination in 2010. First, new work from M.I.A. is eagerly anticipated as she went… Continue reading M.I.A. Uses Twitter, "Space Odyssey" to Bring Attention to the Continued Plight of Tamil Civilians in Sri Lanka

Nationalization or Expropriation? Independent Facebook Application Developers Continue to Face Uncertainty

There is some interesting discussion going on in the Facebook Developer’s forum. The gist is that Facebook has made changes that are causing some developers to feel disenfranchised. A few developers are upset enough that they are speaking of creating a union of independent Facebook application developers. What might the goals of a union of… Continue reading Nationalization or Expropriation? Independent Facebook Application Developers Continue to Face Uncertainty

Adsense Textual Advertisements Returning To This Blog

I’m bringing some G Adsense advertising back to this blog because I’m a student again, and the monthly checks help. Until my mindset changes I’ll include ads in entries I think will be getting a lot of search engine traffic. I dislike web advertising as much as the next person, and for people who read… Continue reading Adsense Textual Advertisements Returning To This Blog

Disney Takes A Stronger Position on Health

Walt Disney has become the first Hollywood studio to take smoking out of all of its films. I didn’t notice any smokers in Ratatouille, and I couldn’t see them in a new traditional film from Disney either. But the FT article goes on to state that Bob Iger’s position is that “the company would also… Continue reading Disney Takes A Stronger Position on Health

Reckless Endangerment of the Developing Mind

The Mercury is a “Alternative” weekly publication distributed in Portland, Oregon. It is published by Rob Crocker and edited by Steve Humphrey. The paper has strong ties to The Stranger in Seattle, Washington through Tim Keck. The very first content following the Letters to the Editor and Index is a column called One Day At… Continue reading Reckless Endangerment of the Developing Mind

Viral Reactionary Content Creation and Personal Equity – Web User's Rights in Web 2.0

There has been nothing short of an uproar regarding the recent changes to Tribe.net’s design and interface. Longtime users of the site began viral reactionary content creation which is making effective use of community building to voice discord with the direction of a website. The changes were rolled out on January 18th and the response… Continue reading Viral Reactionary Content Creation and Personal Equity – Web User's Rights in Web 2.0

The Spark That Creates Life

I was cruising The Drudge Report for some brain relief after five hours of focus and came upon this article on creating synthetic life forms. The article is about a scientist named Craig Venter who is trying to create life from scratch. Craig’s credentials are pretty good. Previously he helped sequence the first privately-held map… Continue reading The Spark That Creates Life