No Posts
I have been sick for about 10 days. With what started out as a cold. It still amazes me that, with all our sophisticated technology, we cannot figure out how…
Popular Culture and TIA
I just finished watching the five episodes of the BBC miniseries The Last Enemy. Ann had recommended it because it is about computers and privacy and also because Benedict Cumberbatch (of recent…
More About Net Neutrality
This entry was inspired by Meg, who asked some great questions after I posted my last entry. In that entry, I explained what the net neutrality debate is about and why…
Net Neutrality and Why You Should Care
The debate about net neutrality has been around for a while. I taught my students about it back when I was still in the Computer Science Department, during the Bush…
Kid Poker
I am huge fan of Texas Hold 'Em poker. It is an interesting mix of skill and chance with a bit of human unpredictability thrown in and as a result…
Zero Views
Recently, my favorite NPR show, On the Media, had a story about an interesting blog called Zero Views. The blog celebrates "the best of the bottom of the barrel" by posting…
Running on Battery
I have had my laptop for about two and a half years. When I first got it, it could run for three and a half to four hours on battery power. Now, two and…
Google and Privacy
A story about Google and privacy on NPR last week caught my attention because it seemed so strange. And now that I know what the real story is, it still seems really…
Original Research–Good or Bad?
I recently rewatched Julia, the 1977 film starring Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave. It is based on a chapter in Lillian Hellman's memoir, Pentimento: A Book of Portraits. That chapter tells…
News Media Not Doing Its Job
As I drove to the airport in late September, I listened, as usual, to New Hampshire Public Radio in my car. Election season is upon us so much of the coverage that…
New Definition of “Friend”
One of the ways that I first knew that Facebook was having a major impact on our society was that I heard my friends in the real world, many of whom…
Increase Your Probabilistic Inference Skills
The latest salvo in the "games good for you" vs. "games bad for you" debate has been fired. For now, it seems that games are good for you. Researchers at…
Mad Men Mixed Media
Mad Men is one of the most interesting shows on television right now. The characters continue to reveal layers of complexity into the show's third season. The early 1960's setting…
Facebook Places
Here's the status update of one of my friends on Facebook today (August 29): "IMPORTANT!!! Facebook launched Facebook Places yesterday. Anyone can find out where you are when you are…
Barack Obama X?
I could not believe what I was hearing on NPR this afternoon. I had heard about the "Hussein" controversy when Obama was running for President of the United States, where…
Social Games
I recently traveled to Oxford University in England to present a paper at a conference called Videogame Cultures and the Future of Interactive Entertainment. The conference brought together aabout 25…
Translating Between Media
One of the best books I've ever read is a short novel about South Africa after the end of apartheid. The novel is the Booker Prize-winning Disgrace written by J.M. Coetzee, who won the…
Nothing is Real
I got back from a visit to England about two weeks ago. Throughout the trip, I thought about my friend, Robin, and her recent NEMLA panel on Post-Modern Tourism. Ann…
Security Theater Revisited Redux (Redux Redux …)
If you've read this blog before, you know that I'm interested in (and amazed by) the security theater that pervades our airport experiences. I'm in Washington, DC as I write…
New Ways of Thinking
A year or two ago, in one of my classes at the InterLakes Senior Center, a man asked me how he could get a copy of the information he finds…
