http://www.ted.com/talks/gary_kovacs_tracking_the_trackers.html
If you think you’re covering your tracks as you explore the web, think again. This TED talk shows how we’re being tracked and suggests what we might need to do about it.
Category: -Context
http://www.npr.org/2012/05/31/153701673/the-internet-a-series-of-tubes-and-then-some
The Internet isn’t just a software cloud. Andrew Blum’s book, Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet, reveals the nuts and bolts of the physical Internet. In this Fresh Air interview, he talks about the hardware network that makes our Internet experience possible.
wired.com/design/2012/04/10-things-3d-printers-can-do-now/?pid=171
It’s easy to imagine a future filled with 3D printers doing all kinds of fantastic things. But 3D printers are already being put to work in all kinds of fascinating applications. You’ll probably be surprised by many of the pictures in this Wired photo essay.
npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2012/04/19/150905465/to-read-all-those-web-privacy-policies-just-take-a-month-off-work
Did you ever wonder about those privacy policies you’re required to accept before using popular web sites? This NPR story sheds a little light on those Internet annoyances.
http://www.radiolab.org/blogs/radiolab-blog/2012/mar/19/turing-problem/
It’s hard to overstate the importance of Alan Turing. The man who invented artificial intelligence before computers existed also created a machine that helped the Allies win World War II, saving thousands of innocent lives from the scourges of war and totalitarianism. But instead of being honored for his monumental achievements, Turing was persecuted and driven to suicide because his private life didn’t conform to British norms. This moving 20-minute Radiolab podcast shines a light on Turing and examines the central question of his work.
Facebook is a complex, ever-changing digital world. No matter how much time you spend there, it seems there’s always more to know about it. For example, did you know that Facebook filters out most of your posts before your friends can see them? Or that Facebook users are, in general, hiding more personal information than they did even a year or two ago? These two Huffington Post articles have details.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/29/facebook-posts_n_1311330.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/24/facebook-users-privacy-social-media_n_1299211.html?utm_campaign=022412&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Alert-technology&utm_content=FullStory
After decades of technological advances, the Digital Divide is still with us. A lack of competition and other factors keep Internet access expensive for most of us and completely out of reach for many poor people. The cost of a lack of Internet access is staggering. Non-computer users can’t even apply for jobs at Walmart or Target. And, by the way, they can’t read this Huffington Post article, which shines a bright light on this dark corner of our Internet Age.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/01/internet-access-digital-age_n_1285423.html?utm_campaign=030112&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Alert-technology&utm_content=FullStory
The world’s biggest social network has a nasty habit of changing its user interface often enough to confuse and anger users all around the world. The latest Facebook iteration, the Timeline. presents your history (and may threaten your privacy) in a whole new way. This Macworld article tells you what you need to know to make the Timeline work for you.
www.macworld.com/article/164999/2012/01/your_complete_guide_to_facebook_timeline.html
www.ted.com/talks/luis_von_ahn_massive_scale_online_collaboration.html
If you use the web, you’re almost certainly part of a global team that’s digitizing the world’s books, one word at a time. How are you helping digitize one hundred million words each day? In this entertaining, mind-expanding TED talk, Luis von Ahn explains how a group of researchers created reCAPTCHA and turned one of the web’s big time-wasters into a crowdsourcing project involving ten percent of the world’s population. He also describes an emerging project to apply the same visionary approach to language translation.
Categories
-Context 14.6 Inventing the Future: The Future of Programming 3.5 Inventing the Future: Tomorrow's Peripherals 4.5 File Management: Where's My Stuff? 8.4 The Network Advantage 9.5: Inventing the Future: The Invisible Information Infrastructure Chapter 13 E-Commerce and E-Business: The Evolving Internet Economy Ports and Slots Revisited
Making the Cloud Clear
NPR.org/2011/12/26/143795017/now-hovering-above-us-all-the-cloud
If you’re not completely clear about “the cloud,” reading or listening to this short NPR story should help. Even if you understand the basics, you’ll probably be surprised by the many different ways that cloud technology is changing our world.