General
"Mainstream culture," as a concept, needs to die. A little pre-history. The Diamond Sutra, a sacred Buddhist text and the world's oldest surviving printed book, was produced in China in 868 AD. It took another couple of hundred years before moveable type was invented, and
Politics
This speech, in honor of Aaron Swartz, pretty much sums up why I work on the web. This is why it's worthwhile. He was part of an army of citizens that rejects kings and generals and believes in rough consensus and running code. [...] Aaron Swartz was not a
General
I grew up in a culture of counterculture politics. My parents met in Berkeley during the early seventies, which should tell you pretty much everything you need to know; they were, separately and together, involved in Vietnam protests, equal economic and political rights and liberties, tenants' rights, and the
Politics
The geniuses, the nonconformists, the hackers, writers, lovers, activists and revolutionaries. Those should be our heroes. Aaron Swartz was someone to look up to. I didn't know Aaron, but know plenty of people who did. The memories of him, his life and work all paint a humanist picture
Politics
The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that the State of Minnesota is requiring any degree-granting educational institution providing an online course to pay a registration fee: Tricia Grimes, a policy analyst for the state’s Office of Higher Education, said letters had been sent to all postsecondary institutions known
Politics
I had an interesting conversation about sustainable lifestyles on Twitter this morning. I believe that climate change is a major threat to our planet, and that we're in danger of reaching a tipping point beyond which there is no return. More generally, because my personal mission statement is
Politics
The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act just passed in the House, during a vote that was moved up a day and staged during the NFL draft. It vastly expands the already onerous act into one that allows significant domestic surveillance. As TechDirt notes: Basically it says the 4th Amendment
Politics
If there was any doubt that the Internet is radically changing democracy, check this out: Spain's new political party, the Partido de Internet, is a policy-agnostic political party that makes its decisions based on the will of a community based on Agora, a virtual parliament platform. [...] Agora
Politics
I wrote a piece about ACTA for Imperica: [...] Despite declaring an intention to prevent piracy, the agreements once again represent a significant infringement of civil liberties and undermine the principles by which the Internet works. The agreements' intentions appear good at first glance – who doesn't want to
Politics
Like many of you, I blacked out my site for the protests against SOPA and PIPA. These are bad laws that describe themselves as being anti-piracy but will hinder business, destroy jobs, undermine the working of the Internet, and - to add insult to injury - won't stop piracy.
Politics
I joined both the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union today. I also give regularly to the Open Rights Group in the UK. I urge you to do the same. SOPA and PIPA - the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act respectively (PDF links) - are
Politics
Wired reports that a group involved in the Occupy movement is working on its own decentralized social networking platform: “I don’t want to say we’re making our own Facebook. But, we’re making our own Facebook,” said Ed Knutson, a web and mobile app developer who joined a