I am disproportionately proud of myself for achieving "pro" status at Wii bowling. Perhaps because I have always thought I could be a really good bowler in real life if I applied myself and took a few lessons. Of course there is no where to go now but down so I have a disincentive to…
Category: Information Society
Vote for Your Favorite Net2 Innovation Fund Projects
Jennifer over at TechSoup sent me news about a cool initiative to fund non-profit tech projects. The NetSquared Year Two conference is set for May 29-30 in San Jose, and they are looking to fund 20 new tech projects for social good. 150 projects were submitted to their competition, competing for $100,000 cash from the…
Podcasters invade Manhattan!
I spent today at PodCamp NYC, which was quite an interesting event that I decided to attend at the very last minute last night. The "unconference" gathered around 400 podcasters and other interested folks to talk about issues facing podcast producers like intellectual property rights, monetizing their work, and increasing your listening audience. As a…
Off to Podcamp tomorrow
At the last second I got word about this cool podcaster gathering happening tomorrow at the New Yorker Hotel in Manhattan: Podcamp NYC. Looks like there will be hundreds of cool podcasters and other new media folks there, tons of interesting panels and discussions, and best of all, it’s absolutely FREE. Amazing. Compare that to…
The social impact of in-flight cell phone and wi-fi use
Yesterday the FCC closed its proposed rule making procedure pertaining to the use of cellular phones during air travel. The FCC decided to uphold the ban on in-flight cell phone use, citing a lack of technical evidence that in-flight cell phone use would not interfere with regular cell phone transmissions. There was no mention in…
My interview on Pacifica Radio Program “Deadline LA”
I did a short interview that was broadcast today on the KPFK Pacifica Radio program "Deadline LA" hosted by Barbara Osborn and Howard Blume. The whole program is very interesting, dealing with YouTube and human rights abuses. From the description: Is YouTube the new forum for human rights abuses? Could be. A Guantanamo detainee was…
Bleeding edge tech confronts the oldest human problem
This quote from legendary American journalist Edward R. Murrow has been bouncing around my head the past few days: The newest computer can merely compound, at speed, the oldest problem in the relations between human beings, and in the end the communicator will be confronted with the old problem, of what to say and how…
Online Pornography Research Call for Papers
(If this doesn’t shoot up my google search stats, I don’t know what will.) I just received this call for papers for an academic "Collection on Online Pornography": Proposals are sought for a new edited collection on online pornography. Although online pornography attracts a great deal of public attention and is frequently the focus of…
Tracking presidential hopefuls’ blogs: Wannabepresidents.com
The US Presidential race, still far far away, is already heating up on the net with presidential hopefuls from all parties announcing their candidacy. How to keep track of all the action? One cool new tool is the hilariously named Wannabepresidents.com, a blog aggregator that pulls in content from all of the official blogs of…
Rock the Net: musicians need an internet that goes up to eleven!
Those cool music activists at the Future of Music Coalition have launched a new initiative in support of Net Neutrality called "Rock the Net" to highlight how a free and open internet helps musicians and music fans connect. From the press release: Net neutrality is the idea that all websites and services should be equally…