Here’s another Declan article on the Total Information Act. Although i am not in line with Declan’s libertarianism, his fears of the TIA affecting the future definitely echo my own.
Monthly Archives: January 2003
TECHSPLOITATION: Reputation System
I just ran across a funny little article about reputation systems in blogs.. no startling revolutions but cute none-the-less.
empire
The NYTimes has another great article about the US becoming an empire and what this means. Although i don’t entirely agree with the author’s bent on the situation, i think that he clearly articulates some of the historical precedents for empire and what our behavior means, what role we are playing and the problems with playing that role. Anyhow, interesting read.
Bhopal
In 1984 DOW Chemical created a major disaster in Bhopal, affecting thousands. Lawsuits have continued for decades and many of those affected were not properly compensated. To celebrate the anniversary of this disaster, a group of folks created a spoof website and emailed thousands in protest; this action was severely censored. At the same time, many of the women survivors did a silent protest of DOW Chemical in India to object to their treatment of this; DOW Chemical is suing these peaceful protestors for costing them money because their employees were distracted. This situation is a reminder of why it is so problematic that our society and governments are controlled by corporations with greedy motives and minimal social responsibility.
forced sterilization
Against Their Wills is a magnificant (yet terrifying) article about the forced sterilization that has occurred in North Carolina and why it lasted so much longer than in other states. Aside from being an amazing article, the stylization of the article is fabulous.
identity theft
Over the holidays, “thieves nabbed personal information of 500,000 members of military and families.” Scarily enough, this data was nabbed because all medical records of the military members have been systematized and therefore are aggegatable. I wonder who will have to experience identity theft before the practice of collecting data is questioned. Often data is collected for a very different purpose than it is used. What happens when someone else believes that they have a right to this data? Or when data is sold (liquidization of a business) or when it is outright stolen? I really do hope someone tries to steal John Poindexter’s identity… i think that would be a hoot.
consumerism
Here’s a preacher i could follow: Preaching Against the ‘Evil’ of Consumerism
Don’t you love how evil is encapsulated with quotes, as though a newspaper can’t actually admit that there’s an evil element in consumerism without quoting it? I mean, could be preaching against the “evil of consumerism” which sounds awefully different than the “evil” of consumerism. But don’t forget: orange is the new pink (why couldn’t that have been a good movie???)