In reviewing the fifteen-volume cataloging of the massive Robert Lehman Collection (‘An Astonishing Record of a Vast Collection‘, New York Review of Books, 7 March 2013), Walter Kaiser writes: Like the collection itself, its impressive catalog may well be the last of its kind–and there aren’t, as I’ve said, very many of its kind to beginContinue reading “Walter Kaiser on Online Instability vs. Printed Stability”
Category Archives: Technology
The Asymmetric Panopticon
As I’ve noted before on this blog–in unison with many other commentators–the ‘if you’ve got nothing to hide, then you shouldn’t mind the government spying on you’ argument is among the dumbest to be made in defense of the NSA‘s surveillance program. A related argument is the ‘we don’t have privacy anyway, so quit tiltingContinue reading “The Asymmetric Panopticon”
Nice Try NSA-Defenders (Not!)
There are two very bad arguments and one rather illiterate confusion making the rounds in the wake of the NSA surveillance scandal. I’ll consider each of them briefly. First, we have the ‘it was legal’ argument: the surveillance was sanctioned by the Patriot Act, approved by FISA courts, and Congress was in the loop etc.Continue reading “Nice Try NSA-Defenders (Not!)”
The NSA Needs Better Apologists than Charles Shanor
Professor Charles Shanor of Emory university thinks that ‘liberals and civil libertarians’ are making a mountain out of a digital molehill. Apparently, we should be reassured by the fact that the NSA‘s data collection was legal under the terms of the Patriot Act (you know, that civil liberties disaster), that FISA judges approved it, that selectContinue reading “The NSA Needs Better Apologists than Charles Shanor”
Amazon, E-Commerce and Monopolies
A couple of interesting comments in response to my post yesterday on Matthew Yglesias and Amazon. First, JW writes: I’m not sure I agree with your point…I think the reason e-commerce and Amazon are less scary is that it is harder to charge monopolistic prices because entry is so easy. If Amazon starts charging monopolisticContinue reading “Amazon, E-Commerce and Monopolies”
Matthew Yglesias Does Not Seem to Understand E-Commerce
Matthew Yglesias is skeptical of people who think e-commerce giant Amazon has a creepy, monopolistic plan to take over the world of retail. He quotes Jay Goltz, ‘proprietor of a small retail store’ as saying it is ‘impossible to make money competing with Amazon…because Amazon itself isn’t making money’: Why would a company choose toContinue reading “Matthew Yglesias Does Not Seem to Understand E-Commerce”
Orin Kerr Thinks Executive Branch Searches of The Press Are a ‘Non-Story’
Orin Kerr suggests the story of the US Department of Justice seizing AP phone records isn’t one, wraps up with a flourish, hands out a few pokes at anti-government paranoia, and then asks a series of what he undoubtedly takes to be particularly incisive and penetrating questions: Based on what we know so far, then, IContinue reading “Orin Kerr Thinks Executive Branch Searches of The Press Are a ‘Non-Story’”
Constraints, Creativity, and Programming
Last year, in a post on Goethe and Nietzsche, which invoked the Freedom program (to cure Internet distraction), and which noted the role constraints played in artistic creation, I had referred obliquely to a chapter in my book Decoding Liberation, in which ‘Scott Dexter and I tried to develop a theory of aesthetics for software,Continue reading “Constraints, Creativity, and Programming”
Diego Marani, Europanto, Blinkenlights, and Hacker Neologisms
In reviewing Diego Marani‘s Las Adventures Des Inspector Cabillot, Matthew Reynolds notes his invention of Europanto, a ‘mock international auxiliary language‘: Marani’s ability to see humour in his longing for a universal language has flowered in his creation of Europanto, a jovial pan-European language which began in his office [presumably, either the the Directorate-General for Interpretation of the European Commission,Continue reading “Diego Marani, Europanto, Blinkenlights, and Hacker Neologisms”
More Than 140 Characters on Twitter
I must be a very savvy social networker, because I use both Facebook and Twitter (and indeed, I even have a Tumblr page). That’s a little inside joke – just between me and myself, because in point of fact, I don’t consider myself to be any such thing. And nothing quite shows up my socialContinue reading “More Than 140 Characters on Twitter”
Samir Chopra 