By Michael Agger
Posted Friday, March 11, 2011, at 11:17 AM ET
When the world is in crisis—as it is after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan—we turn to Google. After the earthquake in Haiti, Google formed a crisis response team that produces tools that anyone can use in a time of calamity. Google's main search page also displayed a tsunami warning. The search engine's Person Finder is also currently live for Japan—you can tell friends and family that you are okay and those searching for someone can post a query. The tool was enormously valuable during the New Zealand earthquake. The Google pages also have emergency numbers and maps of shelters and medical clinics.
http://www.slate.com/id/2287913?wpisrc=newsletter_tis
These things are not just for revolutions! What other apps might be socially valuable?
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Think your movements are private?
We can find you!
This is slightly worrisome to me. What do you think? You can be found any time you log on. It's not just in the movies.
http://www.darnay.com/iec/features/locator/index.html
Ha! A little too skeptical!
This is slightly worrisome to me. What do you think? You can be found any time you log on. It's not just in the movies.
http://www.darnay.com/iec/features/locator/index.html
Ha! A little too skeptical!
Could the same model work for developing all talents?
Shakespeare and Verlander
Why are we so good at developing athletes and so lousy at developing writers?
By Bill James
Posted Wednesday, March 30, 2011, at 6:57 AM ET
Justin Verlander
http://www.slate.com/id/2289380
Why are we so good at developing athletes and so lousy at developing writers?
By Bill James
Posted Wednesday, March 30, 2011, at 6:57 AM ET
Justin Verlander
http://www.slate.com/id/2289380
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Superorganism or Supertool?
Just what is the internet? Can it be controlled? Is it simply a tool or a development toward a super efficient hive-mind mentality? This video almost looks like a live organism. What does it make you think of?
Echoes of Eco
Those of you whom I have taught, or who know me, know that Umberto Eco is one of my favorite social commentators. In his collection of essays Turning Back the Clock: Hot Wars and Media Populism you will find an extremely prophetic essay entitled "The Loss of Privacy". In this essay Eco discusses our culture's acceptance of the loss of both personal and political privacy and the implications for our societal structure
The following points are a simplification for discussion of Eco’s essay on privacy given in 2000 in Venice Italy. The text has been paraphrased and condensed from the original. (see original speech)
Globalized, pervasive communication has broken down the concept of boundaries: political, physical, and psychological.
Two main results of the collapse of boundaries
- Nations find it impossible to prevent their citizens from knowing what is happening elsewhere.
- Our private information is available to anyone with the technological capabilities – who we know, what we buy, personal data and inclinations, and more.
Specificaly considering the political ramifications how can you apply Eco's claims from 2000 to current events in the Middle East? Consider the folowing links as you prepare a response.
Wael Ghonim: Inside the Egyptian revolution | Video on TED.com
Did social media create Egypt's revolution?
BBC News: Middle East
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12435550
Remarks on Internet Freedom
Hilary Rodham Clinton; January 21, 2010
Remarks on Internet Freedom
"Those who clamp down on Internet freedom may be able to hold back the full impact of their people's yearnings for a while, but not forever."
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/01/135519.htm
Twitter's Biz Stone On Starting A Revolution
NPR, February 16, 2011
"People all around the world are realizing that we're not just necessarily citizens of a particular state or a particular country, but citizens of the world. And this is a growing feeling, and I think that the Internet and social media tools are making the world a smaller place and allowing us to feel this empathy."
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/16/133775340/twitters-biz-stone-on-starting-a-revolution
The following points are a simplification for discussion of Eco’s essay on privacy given in 2000 in Venice Italy. The text has been paraphrased and condensed from the original. (see original speech)
Globalized, pervasive communication has broken down the concept of boundaries: political, physical, and psychological.
Two main results of the collapse of boundaries
- Nations find it impossible to prevent their citizens from knowing what is happening elsewhere.
- Our private information is available to anyone with the technological capabilities – who we know, what we buy, personal data and inclinations, and more.
Specificaly considering the political ramifications how can you apply Eco's claims from 2000 to current events in the Middle East? Consider the folowing links as you prepare a response.
Wael Ghonim: Inside the Egyptian revolution | Video on TED.com
Did social media create Egypt's revolution?
BBC News: Middle East
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12435550
Remarks on Internet Freedom
Hilary Rodham Clinton; January 21, 2010
Remarks on Internet Freedom
"Those who clamp down on Internet freedom may be able to hold back the full impact of their people's yearnings for a while, but not forever."
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/01/135519.htm
Twitter's Biz Stone On Starting A Revolution
NPR, February 16, 2011
"People all around the world are realizing that we're not just necessarily citizens of a particular state or a particular country, but citizens of the world. And this is a growing feeling, and I think that the Internet and social media tools are making the world a smaller place and allowing us to feel this empathy."
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/16/133775340/twitters-biz-stone-on-starting-a-revolution
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
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