the constricted soul

In her talk about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test, Sondra Norris claimed a person's type remains constant throughout their life. She cited the example of a person who found his/her results shift away from his/her original type, only to have them revert back over time. A f… Continue

"Nobody ever made a grammatical error in a non-literate society" - Marshall McLuhan


McLuhan's description of the "mosaic" format of the The Gutenberg Galaxy makes it sound as if he is aspiring to mirror the more disorganized, heterogeneous nature of a medium like broadcast television, and on paper, it sounds like a refreshing and daring new structure to adopt. It has to be said, however, that as a treatise putting forth complex and socially relevant ideas, The Gutenberg Galaxy could not possib… Continue

I think Benkler makes a very strong case about the viabilty of enterprises based on social collaboration in challenging traditional power structures. In just about every sphere, from telecoms to the RIAA to encyclopedias, the internet has birthed solutions of equal or increased efficacy.

I especially liked how Benkler suggests that 10 years ago, it would have been impossible to imagine the implementation of a massive multi petabyte distributed storage system that would be resistant to virtually… Continue

Here are two great articles by Bruce Schneier who argues that the issue of privacy vs.security is a false dichotomy - the real issue is liberty vs. control. He also eloquently suggests that privacy is a basic human right.

I… Continue

This Student posted an amusing blog post about a Second Life anecdote.

When you go sprinting through the mall, desperate to fill the emptiness in your life through the purchase of name brand clothing.. you may just find yourself in Guantanamo.