Category Archives: Uncategorized

In response to last week’s disclosures about the NSA’s Prism spy program, Facebook, together with other tech companies like Google and Microsoft, has called on the government to be more “transparent” about its collection of online data. Writes Facebook’s top … Continue reading →

The nature of Rusanov’s work had been for many years, by now almost twenty, that of personnel records administration. It was a job that went by different names in different institutions, but the substance of it was always the same. … Continue reading →

I don’t think that the world appreciates the existential loneliness, the profound sense of abandonment, endured by those of us who don’t have Facebook accounts. So let me give you a feeling for the blighted landscape through which we outcasts … Continue reading →

The following essay is adapted from “A Spider’s Web,” the tenth chapter of my book The Big Switch. It’s natural to think of the Internet as a technology of emancipation. It gives us unprecedented freedom to express ourselves, to share … Continue reading →

The new paperback edition of my book The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google has been published and is available at Amazon, B&N, Powell’s, and your local independent bookstore. The new edition has an afterword that brings … Continue reading →

In Geneva today, United Nations special rapporteur Christof Heyns presented his report on lethal autonomous robots, or LARs, to the Human Rights Council. You can download the full report, which is methodical, dispassionate, and chilling, here. LARs, which Heyns defines as “weapon … Continue reading →

Over at Yahoomblr!, Rob Walker asks some folks, including me, “What is your most outdated device?” Here’s my reply: “The ‘device’ that feels most outdated to me is my blog,” says Carr. “When I started the thing, in 2005, the personal blog was … Continue reading →