When designer Katie Salen was teaching at the University of Texas a decade ago, she came upon a novel teaching method while trying to help her students understand online interfaces […]
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By mid-century there will likely be 9 billion people on the planet, consuming ever more resources and leading ever more technologically complex lives.
In a recent article in The Australian, Matthew Westwood writes about Canadian social scientist Sarah Thornton, whose book Seven Days in the Art World (cover above) “explores the dynamics of […]
Not being able to find a demo of Google TV online, I am still at a loss as to why I would want Google TV. It was perhaps telling that […]
In just a few years, basic microchips will be so cheap they could be built into virtually every product that we buy, creating an invisible intelligent network that’s hidden in our walls, our furniture, and even our clothing.
“In fact, it is often stated that of all the theories proposed in this century, the silliest is quantum theory. Some say that the only thing that quantum theory has […]
Newspapers may be dying, but the news business is not. The paper part of the business—the physical newspaper itself—is doomed. It no longer makes any sense to print and distribute […]
Next week there will be big news on the science communication front. In anticipation, I was just going back over some things that I have written on the topic over […]
How many times have you felt guilty when someone talks about the grand crises in the world: water, energy, food, poverty? You assiduously recycle your bottles, cans and paper, but have a nagging feeling you should be doing something more. Don’t beat yourself up. It’s hard to help when you don’t understand the exact nature of the problem. Now there’s a way: games. Or to be more accurate, serious games. Yes, it sounds like an oxymoron but serious games are becoming the most popular tool to engage citizens to collaborate and solve world challenges.
Somewhat predictably, several pundits and commentators have framed Thursday’s Pew survey as supporting an all too common yet misleading “fall from grace” narrative about the place of science in society. […]
This semester in the sophomore-level course I teach on “Communication and Society,” we spent several weeks examining the many ways that Americans are using the Internet to alter the nature […]
Today is world tuberculosis day, but there is “no better news” writes Global Post as complacency and lack of funding deter research into the disease.
Today is the first day of Passover. To most Jewish people, that means a seder, matzo, wine, recounting the story that’s in the Haggadah. To Rabbi Niles Goldstein, it’s more […]
Here then is the hidden truth that none of the established political parties will tell the electorate in this, the penultimate week in what is fast proving to be one […]
The financial crisis threw a lot of us into a funk: either we lost our jobs or questioned what we were doing with our lives in the first place. Some literally packed their bags and went on 6 month trips around the world. If you can’t do the global adventure trip, but would love to ‘reset’ your thinking and career, start by living the kindergarten life!
Do you frequent porn sites? If you do, you’ll be pleased to know that you are a customer of one of the most tech-savvy industries in the world. It’s a […]
We all suspect we’re being watched. Sometimes it’s obvious like when you see CCTV cameras peering at you from every street corner in London (London is perhaps one of the […]
As with anything else, there’s good news and there’s bad news. The bad news is that the earth is continuing to heat up—this past decade was in fact the hottest […]
The press didn’t just do a lousy job of explaining the stakes during the healthcare debates, they failed us on a much more fundamental level. According to the Columbia Journalism […]
A group of Scottish scientists are beginning one of the biggest computer backup projects in history: they’re creating an “accurate to within 3mm” 3D model of Mount Rushmore, so it […]
Nanotechnology, when perfected, may lead to developments including robotic muscles, solar cells, or synthetic muscles for humans.
Now that the dust is settling around the Berlin Wall metaphor which Hillary Clinton made during her major address last Friday on the Internet, let’s have a look at the […]
China has accused America of “hypocrisy and initiation of cyberwarfare against Iran” in response to criticism by Hillary Clinton of countries that censor the internet and engage in hacking.
If it wasn’t for the sheer misery of most of its luckless inhabitants, wouldn’t the World be a duller place without North Korea? There really is no place quite like […]
When J.D. Salinger passed away recently, many casual fans who only remember him from tattered copies of The Catcher in the Rye lost long ago seemed shocked that he was […]
The chatter in the media these past few days seems to have borne out a W.E.B. DuBois observation — “the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the […]
All creatures “great and virtual” – the newest innovations in cyber kittens and pooches are investigated by The Independent.
As the year draws to a close, I want to finish by passing along my personal list of the most interesting essays on political issues from 2009. My selections are […]
Gabe Zichermann did not move to New York City for the Mexican food. In fact, he schedules layovers in California simply to satisfy his chronic cravings for Mission Street burritos. […]
In a move that goes completely against the conventional wisdom of online media—which Orion Jones discusses here—News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch is considering preventing Google from indexing his news sites, […]