Monthly Archives: April 2014

It may not be surprising that many of those shocked by recent news reports of a threat to ‘Net Neutrality’ are the same ones who object most strongly to ‘Usage Based Billing’, but it is nonetheless a bit odd. After … Continue reading →

This article (series) in The Tyee brings up, and actually slightly confounds, two important questions. One is the issue of carbon “credits” in advance of the sequestration that they are purported to buy. This points up what to me has … Continue reading →

Ahmed Humayun at 3quarksdaily writes of The Shadow of Militant Ideology over Islam. He thinks that “it is clear that the greatest danger of militant ideology is posed to Muslims living in Muslim majority societies”, but although that may well … Continue reading →

Interesting observation from someone who wrote in 1944 Contrary to libertarian economists from Adam Smith to Hayek, Polanyi argued, there was nothing “natural” about the free market. Primitive economies were built on social obligations. Modern commercial society depended on “deliberate … Continue reading →

Radia Perlman is another woman with a major place in the history of computing – whose spanning tree algorithm greatly facilitated the creation of the internet. This interview with Rebecca J. Rosen in ‘The Atlantic’ includes a number of interesting … Continue reading →

Why?

Progressive media are generally approving and maybe even right that it’s not a question of censorship. But Ophelia Benson is right about the offensive and dishonest wording of the Brandeis announcement. Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s courage in the face of unspeakable … Continue reading →

While the predictable reaction to Brendan Eich’s appointment as CEO at Mozilla does make one wonder why they made it, it also raises the question of whether either that reaction or the response was appropriate. One could argue that publicly … Continue reading →