Most people would agree that what we have experienced over the past 12 months has changed - in a lasting manner - the ways in which we share information and communicate with each other, whether for business or for pleasure. Indeed, the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated far-reaching change in ways that no one could accurately have predicted in 2019. Communications technology and the Internet are central to all of this and are at the heart of discussion I had in late January with Paul … [Read more...] about The Internet and a brighter future
Internet
Tim Berners-Lee’s plan to save the Internet: give us back control of our data
Releasing his creation for free 30 years ago, the inventor of the world wide web, Tim Berners-Lee, famously declared: “this is for everyone”. Today, his invention is used by billions – but it also hosts the authoritarian crackdowns of antidemocratic governments, and supports the infrastructure of the most wealthy and powerful companies on Earth. Now, in an effort to return the internet to the golden age that existed before its current incarnation as Web 2.0 – characterised by invasive data … [Read more...] about Tim Berners-Lee’s plan to save the Internet: give us back control of our data
SDF 34: “If broadband goes down, we’re all screwed”
In the midst of coronavirus lockdowns just about everywhere, I suppose it's natural for some people to wonder if the Internet can hold up and not collapse under the strain of millions of people suddenly working at home, schooling at home and playing at home, all during the so-called working day and beyond, for an extended period of continuous months. As someone who works for an organisation that's all about the resilience of the Internet, I also suppose it's inevitable that I'd be the one to … [Read more...] about SDF 34: “If broadband goes down, we’re all screwed”
FIR 190: Digital vs analogue behaviour in the UK general election
For the December edition of The Hobson & Holtz Report - aka episode 190 of the For Immediate Release podcast - Shel and I picked an eclectic list of topics to talk about. As a European and, specifically, a Brit, my hot one was about the result of the General Election that took place here in the UK on December 12 - the result was a landslide win for Boris Johnson and the Conservative party - and the role social media played in influencing voters. Did social media influence voters to … [Read more...] about FIR 190: Digital vs analogue behaviour in the UK general election
FIR 188: Translating the Internet into Arabic
Finding news and information online you can trust about things you're interested in is a high expectation for most people in these connected times in which we live. Unless you're looking for wide-ranging content in the Arabic language, that is. Just 0.6% of Internet content is available in Arabic despite it being the fourth most common language among internet users, according to a report by the Guardian. What some people like Ameen al-Jaleeli in the Iraqi city of Mosul, and … [Read more...] about FIR 188: Translating the Internet into Arabic
SDF Podcast 27: When April Fool’s meets Groundhog Day
So this is the episode when the three stooges of the SmallDataForum were meant to reflect wistfully on what was Great Britain exiting Greater Europe. The irony of recording this on April Fool’s Day wasn’t lost on us. Brexit Fool’s day is every day, these days. Our resident classicist Sam even managed to squeeze in Juvenal’s Satire VI, and even though the reference was in regard to another April Fool’s – Facebook regulation, haha – Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes might just as well … [Read more...] about SDF Podcast 27: When April Fool’s meets Groundhog Day
Values to live by according to John Perry Barlow
John Perry Barlow, one of the visionaries of the Internet in the 1990s and turn of the century, died on February 7. He was 70 years old. He was well known as co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Freedom of the Press Foundation in the US. He was Fellow Emeritus at Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society. And he was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame in 2013. Barlow was equally if not more well known for his earlier career as a lyricist for the … [Read more...] about Values to live by according to John Perry Barlow
Social media stars breaching rules on promoting brands, watchdog says
The Guardian reports on a rise in complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the UK advertising regulator, who says ‘influencers’ on social media sites such as Instagram and Twitter fail to declare that they are being paid to publicise products. The newspaper defines 'influencers' thus: Social media celebrities who have large and engaged followings online. They get paid money to publicise products and can command tens of thousands for one post. This is about disclosure where … [Read more...] about Social media stars breaching rules on promoting brands, watchdog says