We’ve mentioned Save the Internet before, and no doubt our blogging was a big factor (yeah, right) in getting the video about the importance of Net Neutrality nominated for a Webby award. Why am I highlighting this nominee over the others? Because a friend of the magazine, Matt Thompson, is the creator of the video. […] More »
(image courtesy nyc.uncivilservants.org) Maybe this will be the first in a series of postings about our marvelous Internet, and the complicated issues it inspires. The NYTimes reports on a New York City website encouraging regular citizens to rat on municipal employees potentially abusing their parking privileges in the city. Personal information such a license plates […] More »
(photo of Dorothy Day at a draft card burning, courtesy of the Culture of Peace website Here is a poem by THIS mag contributor, Brian Joseph Davis, from his very funny book Portable Altamont (Coach House 2005): Philip Roth I never should have trusted you When you told me that you were David Lee Roth’s […] More »
I’ve often wondered what impact digital communication will have on our record of history, and apparently I’m not the only one. In the December issue of Popular Mechanics, Brad Reagan looks at the problems faced by archivists — particularly in government — who have to preserve electronic data for generations to come: One irony of […] More »
(CROSSPOSTED TO PROPELLER) Taking a spin through some of my favourite blogs recently in order to get propeller‘s blogroll up to date, I came across Double Plus Ungood’s faux-prickly post about Macs, which links to a pointed Guardian rant on the same topic. Essentially, the argument is that Macs are nothing more than toys for […] More »
Last month I posted about the net neutrality fight in the U.S., and noted in an update that Canadians couldn’t sign the petition set up by the Save The Internet campaign urging the U.S. Congress to legislate against a two-tiered Internet. Since then The Tyee has picked up on this blind spot north of the […] More »
After years of planning and much anticipation, 2007 looks to be the year the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project begins distributing its ground-breaking, $100 portable computers to children in developing countries. A spinoff of MIT labs founded by Nicholas Negroponte, OLPC aims to give the world’s poorest children access to a valuable learning tool […] More »
From DCist, the Washington DC daily blog — this photo by Duncan Brooks and the following description: If you haven’t been down to Union Station this season, you should go — the Norwegian decorations are lovely, and there’s an exhibit about polar bears! Hooray! But as this photo by Flickr user Duncan Brooks shows, there’s […] More »
A nifty video stating the case for preserving net neutrality, essentially the principle of equal access for all web publishers to broadband. Without strong laws in the U.S. guaranteeing this, telecommunications companies threaten to set up a pay-for-access internet fast lane. Clearly, the power of the internet as a democratic tool has the powers that […] More »
Soup is Good Food directed us to a nifty campaign by Amnesty International, a campaign that now has a permanent presence in the right-hand column of Blog This. The idea is to spread the word about sites that are censored in their own countries by publishing their writings. Freedom of speech is a fundamental right […] More »
It’s about time we saw a campaign like this: Greenpeace has launched an effort to organize Apple customers and demand that the company employ non-toxic materials in its hardware. For those of us who consider themselves environmentalists and buy a lot of junk from Apple (myself included), it’s time to stop turning a blind eye […] More »