- A Taxonomy of Social Networking Data (Bruce Schneier) — he divides information by who gave it, why, and who controls it. Useful to remember that not all social data are equal.
- Five Ways to Revolutionise Computer Memory (New Scientist) — the physics and economics of new memory technology.
- News at Seven — project to automatically generate news report, complete with Flash-animated news readers and text-to-speech voices. A project from the Intelligent Information Lab at Northwestern University.
- Bacteria-Powered Micro-Machines — A few hundred bacteria are working together in order to turn the gear. When multiple gears are placed in the solution with the spokes connected like in a clock, the bacteria will begin turning both gears in opposite directions and it will cause the gears to rotate in synchrony for a long time. Video embedded below (via BoingBoing)
"social networks" entries
Being online: Conclusion–identity narratives
Identity online is created by combining many discrete items into a
coherent picture. This concluding section of the article suggests that
Social networking gives individuals more control over the picture.
Being online: Group identities and social network identities
Groups take on their own identities online, and social networks
threaten to subsume individual identities into groups. This section
of the identity article explores grouping in all its online facets.
Being online: Forged identities and non-identities
Creating a fake identity used to be more popular than it is now, but
some people have still hidden who they are when going online. This
section of the identity article covers some ways they do it.
Being online: What you say about yourself, or selves
Sociological research about online participation says more about the
fringes of identity than everyday activity. This section of the
identity article explores how we present unified or fragmented selves.
Being online: Your identity to advertisers–it's not all about you
Advertisers collect information on us for two reasons: to target us as
individuals and to place us in collective categories of consumers.
This section of the identity article coves a few of their techniques.
Four short links: 21 December 2009
Social Networking Data, Memory Tech, Sim News, Microbe Jalopy Breakthrough
Being online: Your identity online–getting down to basics
What men daily do, not knowing what they do!
The Internet provides minimal information about us when we go online,
but compensates by providing immediate, dynamic exploitation of that
information. This post in the identity article series shows what we tell
others just by connecting to the Internet. Previous posts in this series explored the various identifies that track you in real life. Now we can look at the traits that constitute your identity online. A little case study may show how fluid these are.
Being online: Your identity in real life–what people know
Professional investigators can find out more than most people realize
about individuals. This section of the identity article introduces how
investigators do their work, on and off the Internet.
Being online: identity, anonymity, and all things in between
To be or not to be: that is the question.
Hamlet’s famous utterance plays a trick on theater-goers, a mind game of the same type he inflicted constantly on his family and his court. While diverting his audience’s attention with a seemingly simple choice between being and non-being, Hamlet of all people would know very well how these extremes bracket infinite gradations. Our fascination with Hamlet is precisely his instinct for presenting a different self to almost everyone he met. Social networking gives us an impetus to review how we appear online. When people ask who we are, questions multiply far beyond the capacity of a binary “to be” digit.
Four short links: 15 December 2009
Open Source Imagery Analysis, GPL Lawsuits, Small World, Regina v Internet
- Opticks — Opticks is an expandable remote sensing and imagery analysis software platform that is free and open source. Hugely extensible system. (via geowanking)
- Best Buy, Samsung, And Westinghouse Named In SFLC Suit Today (Linux Weekly News) — the Software Freedom Law Center is suing them for selling GPL-derived products without offering the source. They’ve been unresponsive when contacted outside the legal system.
- Twitter Helps Reunite Owner with Camera — Kiwi blogger saw camera fall from car in front of him, posted a picture from the camera to his blog and asked “anyone recognize someone from this picture?”. How long do you think it took to get a hit? I love that New Zealand is a village with a seat at the UN.
- R vs The Internet — seminar held in New Zealand about the effects of the online world on law, including matters of suppression and contempt. See session notes from TechLiberty and video of the sessions from R2.