Archive for July, 2006
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- Look Ma… No Program Menus! • July 31, 2006
It’s pretty much official at this point: Microsoft is ditching program menus.
By program menus, I mean that narrow bar at the top of every program in MS Windows which usually starts with “File” and ends with “Help.” These menus have been a part of day-to-day computing experience since the first Macs in the ’80s, and [...]
- How to Manipulate the TV News • July 28, 2006
I’ve always been skeptical of television news. Most of the time, it’s been just a generalized distrust without any real basis in fact or evidence. But over the past couple years, I’ve gotten first-hand knowledge of how easily it is to manipulate television news.
A company I used to work for (which shall remain nameless) has [...]
- Limits on Speed, Limits on Freedom • July 26, 2006
Technology isn't always about giving us more freedom to do things we couldn't do before. Sometimes technology can help precisely by taking away our freedoms. Small, inconvenient, and irritating freedoms. For instance: speed limits.
- “Alien”: In Space, No One Can Hear You Screw Your Employees • July 21, 2006
Riley Scott's "Alien," while a great space/horror movie, is really a film about the exploitation of blue-collar workers.
- How to Get Information to Flow Backward • July 18, 2006
As Johnny Depp's comments about America and subsequent apology demonstrate, information only flows one way. It goes forward, not backward. And now the problem is ingrained in the very structure of the web, our greatest informational tool.
- Infoquake News: Suite101 Interview, Library Journal Review, B&N Rave • July 15, 2006
More Infoquake-y goodness. (As previously mentioned, the book is definitely shipping from Amazon and has been seen at numerous Books-a-Millions around the country.)
Interview with Cat Rambo on Suite101. Science fiction writer, Clarion West graduate, and Armageddon MUD maven Cat Rambo has published an interview with me on Suite101. The interview mostly talks about promotional techniques [...]
- Dave’s Grand Ideas: Amazon for Voters • July 13, 2006
What’s the biggest problem with our system of democracy? John McCain and Russell Feingold seem to think that it’s lax campaign finance rules that allow moneyed interests to funnel cash into campaigns. Others think it’s media bias or homogeneity of opinion between the two parties.
I happen to think the main problem is too much information.
The [...]
- Readercon Report • July 10, 2006
Readercon 17 was indeed a fabulous time. Infoquake CDs, flyers, and business cards were distributed; hands were shaken; and I discovered the pleasures of Smithwick's beer (pronounced "Smitticks"). For those who were not present, here's a quick rundown of the highlights from my perspective.
- My Schedule at ReaderCon, July 7-9 • July 6, 2006
As previously mentioned, I will be at ReaderCon 17 this weekend, from Friday, July 7 through Sunday, July 9. Here are the events I’m scheduled for:
Libraries in Imaginative Literature (Panel) — Friday, 5:00 pm
Borges’ Library of Babel is perhaps the best known, but the repository of knowledge (especially the repository of all knowledge) is a [...]
- Interview on Meme Therapy • July 5, 2006
Last week saw an interview with me by Hugo and John W. Campbell Award-nominated author John Scalzi. This week, there’s a short interview with me up on the Meme Therapy blog.
My favorite quote:
But there’s something about [Natch, the protagonist of Infoquake]’s drive and his selfishness that you simply can’t ignore. It’s just part of the [...]
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