Internet

Don’t mourn the loss of libraries-the internet has made them obsolete

We can, and should, still love books, but we should not be sentimental about libraries, because they are a means to an end. Access to information is now widely available via smartphones: three quarters of us have one, it was one in five in 2010. Library and information services have to be designed with that reality in mind.
The true inequality remains access to books and reading. Children who grow up with and around books do better educationally than those who don’t. That is where childcare, nurseries and schools are the key. Libraries must adapt to the changing habits of adults, where there is a clear and irreversible trajectory there. But they must never abandon children. As Groucho Marx once said: “Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.”

From Don’t mourn the loss of libraries – the internet has made them obsolete – Telegraph

We can, and should, still love books, but we should not be sentimental about libraries, because they are a means to an end. Access to information is now widely available via smartphones: three quarters of us have one, it was one in five in 2010. Library and information services have to be designed with that reality in mind.
The true inequality remains access to books and reading. Children who grow up with and around books do better educationally than those who don’t. That is where childcare, nurseries and schools are the key. Libraries must adapt to the changing habits of adults, where there is a clear and irreversible trajectory there. But they must never abandon children. As Groucho Marx once said: “Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.”

From Don’t mourn the loss of libraries – the internet has made them obsolete – Telegraph

How libraries can save the Internet of Things from the Web’s centralized fate

Everyone thinks libraries have a positive role to play in the world, but that role differs greatly based on whether you’re talking to a librarian or a patron. Ask a patron what libraries have in common and they’d probably answer: they share books with people. Librarians give a different answer: they share a set of values. It’s time for libraries to step up to those values by supporting access to the Internet and taking the lead in fighting to keep the Internet open, free, and unowned.

From How libraries can save the Internet of Things from the Web’s centralized fate / Boing Boing

Everyone thinks libraries have a positive role to play in the world, but that role differs greatly based on whether you’re talking to a librarian or a patron. Ask a patron what libraries have in common and they’d probably answer: they share books with people. Librarians give a different answer: they share a set of values. It’s time for libraries to step up to those values by supporting access to the Internet and taking the lead in fighting to keep the Internet open, free, and unowned.

From How libraries can save the Internet of Things from the Web’s centralized fate / Boing Boing

March 29, 2016 by Blake Internet Libraries

Mass surveillance silences minority opinions, according to study

A new study shows that knowledge of government surveillance causes people to self-censor their dissenting opinions online. The research offers a sobering look at the oft-touted “democratizing” effect of social media and Internet access that bolsters minority opinion.

The study, published in Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, studied the effects of subtle reminders of mass surveillance on its subjects. The majority of participants reacted by suppressing opinions that they perceived to be in the minority. This research illustrates the silencing effect of participants’ dissenting opinions in the wake of widespread knowledge of government surveillance, as revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013.

From Mass surveillance silences minority opinions, according to study – The Washington Post

A new study shows that knowledge of government surveillance causes people to self-censor their dissenting opinions online. The research offers a sobering look at the oft-touted “democratizing” effect of social media and Internet access that bolsters minority opinion.

The study, published in Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, studied the effects of subtle reminders of mass surveillance on its subjects. The majority of participants reacted by suppressing opinions that they perceived to be in the minority. This research illustrates the silencing effect of participants’ dissenting opinions in the wake of widespread knowledge of government surveillance, as revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013.

From Mass surveillance silences minority opinions, according to study – The Washington Post

March 28, 2016 by Blake Internet

The Little-Seen Maps and Stories of Women in Cartography

Which women, and when? Mapmaking spans genders, centuries, cultures, and technologies. A complete history of women in cartography would require many volumes of pages, and possibly a graduate degree. To make this series sensible for online readers, I’ve narrowed my selection to works by women mapping North America over the past 300 years. Within this “small” range is a diversity of stories, styles, and approaches that, collected together, should provoke curiosity about the many more ways women have mapped the world.

From The Little-Seen Maps and Stories of Women in Cartography – CityLab

Which women, and when? Mapmaking spans genders, centuries, cultures, and technologies. A complete history of women in cartography would require many volumes of pages, and possibly a graduate degree. To make this series sensible for online readers, I’ve narrowed my selection to works by women mapping North America over the past 300 years. Within this “small” range is a diversity of stories, styles, and approaches that, collected together, should provoke curiosity about the many more ways women have mapped the world.

From The Little-Seen Maps and Stories of Women in Cartography – CityLab

March 28, 2016 by Blake Internet

Americans and Lifelong Learning – Pew Research Center

Most Americans feel they are lifelong learners, whether that means gathering knowledge for “do it yourself” projects, reading up on a personal interest or improving their job skills. For the most part, these learning activities occur in traditional places – at home, work, conferences or community institutions such as government agencies or libraries. The internet is also an important tool for many adults in the process of lifelong learning.

http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/03/22/lifelong-learning-and-technology/

Most Americans feel they are lifelong learners, whether that means gathering knowledge for “do it yourself” projects, reading up on a personal interest or improving their job skills. For the most part, these learning activities occur in traditional places – at home, work, conferences or community institutions such as government agencies or libraries. The internet is also an important tool for many adults in the process of lifelong learning.

http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/03/22/lifelong-learning-and-technology/

March 22, 2016 by Blake Internet Libraries

Reimagining Libraries In The Digital Era: Lessons From Data Mining The Internet Archive

As the digital revolution fundamentally reshapes how we live our lives, libraries are grappling with how to reinvent themselves in a world in which they are no longer a primary gatekeeper to knowledge. As I wrote in 2014 for the Knight Foundation’s blog, “perhaps the future of libraries lies in a return to their roots, not as museums of physical artifacts for rental, but as conveners of information and those who can understand and translate that information to the needs of an innovative world.” As the Knight Foundation wraps up their most recent Challenge on reinventing libraries for the 21st century (which has attracted over 225 submissions to date) and as the nation prepares for a new Librarian of Congress to shepherd the organization into the digital era, what might the future of libraries look like?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevleetaru/2016/03/19/reimagining-libraries-in-the-digital-era-lessons-from-data-mining-the-internet-archive

As the digital revolution fundamentally reshapes how we live our lives, libraries are grappling with how to reinvent themselves in a world in which they are no longer a primary gatekeeper to knowledge. As I wrote in 2014 for the Knight Foundation’s blog, “perhaps the future of libraries lies in a return to their roots, not as museums of physical artifacts for rental, but as conveners of information and those who can understand and translate that information to the needs of an innovative world.” As the Knight Foundation wraps up their most recent Challenge on reinventing libraries for the 21st century (which has attracted over 225 submissions to date) and as the nation prepares for a new Librarian of Congress to shepherd the organization into the digital era, what might the future of libraries look like?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevleetaru/2016/03/19/reimagining-libraries-in-the-digital-era-lessons-from-data-mining-the-internet-archive

March 20, 2016 by Blake Archives Internet Libraries

NYCLU: City’s Public Wi-Fi Raises Privacy Concerns

“Internet access is not a choice, it’s a modern-life necessity,” said Mariko Hirose, senior staff attorney at the NYCLU. “The city’s public Wi-Fi network should set the bar for privacy and security to help ensure that New Yorkers do not have to sacrifice their rights and freedoms to sign online.”

In order to register for LinkNYC, users must submit their e-mail addresses and agree to allow CityBridge to collect information about what websites they visit on their devices, where and how long they linger on certain information on a webpage, and what links they click on. CityBridge’s privacy policy only offers to make “reasonable efforts” to clear out this massive amount of personally identifiable user information, and even then, only if there have been 12 months of user inactivity. New Yorkers who use LinkNYC regularly will have their personally identifiable information stored for a lifetime and beyond.

From NYCLU: City’s Public Wi-Fi Raises Privacy Concerns | New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) – American Civil Liberties Union of New York State

“Internet access is not a choice, it’s a modern-life necessity,” said Mariko Hirose, senior staff attorney at the NYCLU. “The city’s public Wi-Fi network should set the bar for privacy and security to help ensure that New Yorkers do not have to sacrifice their rights and freedoms to sign online.”

In order to register for LinkNYC, users must submit their e-mail addresses and agree to allow CityBridge to collect information about what websites they visit on their devices, where and how long they linger on certain information on a webpage, and what links they click on. CityBridge’s privacy policy only offers to make “reasonable efforts” to clear out this massive amount of personally identifiable user information, and even then, only if there have been 12 months of user inactivity. New Yorkers who use LinkNYC regularly will have their personally identifiable information stored for a lifetime and beyond.

From NYCLU: City’s Public Wi-Fi Raises Privacy Concerns | New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) – American Civil Liberties Union of New York State

March 16, 2016 by Blake Internet Privacy

Handful of Biologists Went Rogue and Published Directly to Internet

It was a small act of information age defiance, and perhaps also a bit of a throwback, somewhat analogous to Stephen King’s 2000 self-publishing an e-book or Radiohead’s 2007 release of a download-only record without a label. To commemorate it, she tweeted the website’s confirmation under the hashtag #ASAPbio, a newly coined rallying cry of a cadre of biologists who say they want to speed science by making a key change in the way it is published.

From Handful of Biologists Went Rogue and Published Directly to Internet – The New York Times

It was a small act of information age defiance, and perhaps also a bit of a throwback, somewhat analogous to Stephen King’s 2000 self-publishing an e-book or Radiohead’s 2007 release of a download-only record without a label. To commemorate it, she tweeted the website’s confirmation under the hashtag #ASAPbio, a newly coined rallying cry of a cadre of biologists who say they want to speed science by making a key change in the way it is published.

From Handful of Biologists Went Rogue and Published Directly to Internet – The New York Times

March 15, 2016 by Blake EBooks Internet Publishing

Common Search: We are building a nonprofit search engine for the Web

Our mission is to build and operate a nonprofit search engine for the Web.
Why?

The Web is now a critical resource for humanity, of which search engines are the arbiters. They decide which websites get traffic, which companies survive, which ideas spread.

The Web is currently in danger because the only arbiters available to us are all profit-seeking companies.

To be clear, there is nothing wrong with profit-seeking. It has been a tremendous driver for innovation, and will continue to be. What is wrong is not being able to choose an alternative.

This is why we are building a new kind of search engine: open, transparent and independent.

Just like an arbiter should be.

From Our mission – Common Search

Our mission is to build and operate a nonprofit search engine for the Web.
Why?

The Web is now a critical resource for humanity, of which search engines are the arbiters. They decide which websites get traffic, which companies survive, which ideas spread.

The Web is currently in danger because the only arbiters available to us are all profit-seeking companies.

To be clear, there is nothing wrong with profit-seeking. It has been a tremendous driver for innovation, and will continue to be. What is wrong is not being able to choose an alternative.

This is why we are building a new kind of search engine: open, transparent and independent.

Just like an arbiter should be.

From Our mission – Common Search

March 14, 2016 by Blake Internet

At Calif. Campuses, A Test For Free Speech, Privacy And Cybersecurity

A controversy over a secretly installed data monitoring system is simmering at university campuses across California.

Last summer, hackers broke into the computer network at the UCLA medical center. A few months later, the University of California system’s president quietly ordered a new security system to monitor Internet traffic on all UC campuses.

“And the people who had to put the box in place were ordered to do so and also ordered to keep quiet about it,” says Ethan Ligon, a professor of agricultural economics at the University of California, Berkeley.

From At Calif. Campuses, A Test For Free Speech, Privacy And Cybersecurity : All Tech Considered : NPR

A controversy over a secretly installed data monitoring system is simmering at university campuses across California.

Last summer, hackers broke into the computer network at the UCLA medical center. A few months later, the University of California system’s president quietly ordered a new security system to monitor Internet traffic on all UC campuses.

“And the people who had to put the box in place were ordered to do so and also ordered to keep quiet about it,” says Ethan Ligon, a professor of agricultural economics at the University of California, Berkeley.