Mac Slocum

Mac Slocum is director of online content at O'Reilly. He's been writing, editing and producing web content in various forms since the mid '90s. He also dabbles in video interviews from time to time.

Top Stories: June 25-29, 2012

William Gibson's apt predictions, why C matters, and a vote against lightweight DRM.

This week on O'Reilly: James Turner noted that the corporate dystopia predicted in "Neuromancer" has come to pass, author David Griffith discussed C's continued popularity, and Joe Wikert explained why lightweight ebook DRM isn't viable.

Top Stories: June 18-22, 2012

Copyright and intellectual disobedience, improving health IT integration, and pushing the envelope on digital images.

This week on O'Reilly: Artist Nina Paley explained her "intellectual disobedience" stance on copyright, Shahid Shah looked at the future of health IT integration, and illustrator Laura Maaske discussed the next generation of digital imagery.

Visualization of the Week: The story behind the U.S. power grid

"America Revealed" illustrates the complexity of the United States electric power grid.

The PBS TV series "America Revealed" visualizes the creation, use and fragility of the U.S. electric power grid. It's also an example of how data and context should always go together.

Copyright and "intellectual disobedience"

Artist Nina Paley on pushing the boundaries of copyright.

"Sita Sings the Blues" creator Nina Paley explains her "intellectual disobedience" stance on copyright and notes that current copyright laws are "completely out of touch with human behavior."

Top Stories: June 11-15, 2012

The future of desktops, ethics and big data, narrative vs spreadsheets.

This week on O'Reilly: Josh Marinacci predicted that 90% of computer users will rely on mobile, but 10% will still need desktops; the authors of "Ethics of Big Data" explored data's trickiest issues; and Narrative Science CTO Kris Hammond discussed narrative's role in data analytics.

Visualization of the Week: A whole new way to look at the NBA Finals

A series of basketball visualizations reveal team and player tendencies.

The New York Times uses shot selection and completion data to break down the championship matchup between the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder.

Stories over spreadsheets

Kris Hammond on replacing rows and columns with sentences and paragraphs.

Imagine a future where clear language supplants spreadsheets. In a recent interview, Narrative Science CTO Kris Hammond explained how we might get there.

Velocity Profile: Schlomo Schapiro

Web ops and performance questions with Schlomo Schapiro.

A profile of web operations and performance expert Schlomo Schapiro, systems architect and open source evangelist at ImmobilienScout24.

Velocity Profile: Kate Matsudaira

Web ops and performance questions with Kate Matsudaira.

A profile of web operations and performance expert Kate Matsudaira, vice president of engineering at Decide.com.

Top Stories: May 21-25, 2012

Digital government's new strategy, obsessive tracking vs open-ended motivation, gaming as a force for cultural transformation.

This week on O'Reilly: We learned how data, privacy and shared services are driving the White House's new digital government plan; Jim Stogdill examined the fine line between obsessive personal tracking and an open-ended approach to motivation; and author John Ferrara discussed gaming's role in cultural transformation.