New Media Works

Whatever happened to intellectual property rights?

This question was recently raised by an excellent thinker and writer I follow (stalk?) on the Internet. Unfortunately, the vast majority of people who use the Internet are by and large unaware that they have sold pretty much all their data (see e.g. “All Your Data Are More Free to Us” or in case that… Continue reading Whatever happened to intellectual property rights?

Waking Up to Basic Literacy Skills

A little over a week ago, I was yet again reminded of how poor the literacy skills of most people — even in some of the most “technologically advanced” countries on Earth — are. Indeed, this is perhaps best depicted in the movie “Idiocracy”, which I have often quoted on this blog already. [1] My… Continue reading Waking Up to Basic Literacy Skills

Let Me Take You to the Beach

This is actually a song title of Frank Zappa’s — I can’t remember the lyrics right now, and I’m too lazy to go dig it up out of my archives … but I will say that I recall them as rather empty. My mind is also sort of empty right now. The mainstream propaganda machinery… Continue reading Let Me Take You to the Beach

“Black Out with My Rack Out”

Is “Spring Break” a rational or an irrational event? In any case, it almost seems to be a calculated irrational media event — and the quote in the title seems like a clever invitation to “click here”. [1] One thing that I believe Milton Friedman may have overlooked in his “Free to Choose” analysis, is… Continue reading “Black Out with My Rack Out”

Nationalist Mainstreams

The degree to which other people might not be aware the things someone believes are central “mainstream” topics should not be underestimated. For example, how many people in Iran actually believe that whatever a so-called “media outlet” in the United States matters to the reality of the everyday life of an ordinary or average (Iranian)… Continue reading Nationalist Mainstreams

Stages in the Transformation of Information from Writing Communities to Written Words

I acknowledge that the title I have chosen is rather broad. So I think I’d like to start off by sketching out the landscape, sort of painting a picture using very broad brush strokes … and then perhaps to suggest one case study in order to begin to flesh out more details. The entire Internet… Continue reading Stages in the Transformation of Information from Writing Communities to Written Words

Imaginary Relationships

I guess you could think of Bob Dylan’s “Every Grain of Sand” (which he played as an encore when I attended a concert of his just a few months ago) … As it is (IRL — more or less), I currently have Andy Summers’ album “The Golden Wire” (1989) playing in my headphones. 🙂 Whether… Continue reading Imaginary Relationships

The Struggle of Being Happy and Fulfilled by a Mediocre Life

I recall a few years ago as I was signing up to participate in a WordCamp event that while filling out the form I responded to a question about speakers I would appreciate at such events, I answered “Amanda Knox”. Amanda, together with her life partner (and also “business” partner) Christopher Robinson, started a podcast… Continue reading The Struggle of Being Happy and Fulfilled by a Mediocre Life

Decompartmentalization (From Individual Life Experiences Toward Cross-Cultural and Perhaps Even Universal Understanding)

This is without a doubt too much for one single post — so I will start off with a broad overview simply as an introduction to the topic. For background, please consider what I have already written related to milieus (see e.g. articles tagged “milieu“). Let’s consider our lives as intertwined narratives created while moving… Continue reading Decompartmentalization (From Individual Life Experiences Toward Cross-Cultural and Perhaps Even Universal Understanding)

That’s Entertainment — But It’s Not Amusing!

I have a friend who keeps informing me about minute details from blockbuster movies — and I guess perhaps I also sometimes note some noteworthy piece of history in music. We are always attempting to trump each other’s facts about which morsel of information is more essential towards a well-balanced liberal arts education. Which brings… Continue reading That’s Entertainment — But It’s Not Amusing!