Human nature

Recently I read two articles that address the ever changing/never changing kaleidoscope of human nature. I think both articles are worth sharing. The first article deals with the quirky confusions of the puzzle that is the adolescent mind.  What’s Wrong with the Teenage Mind? , written by Allison Gopnik, professor of psychology at UC Berkeley, appeared…Read the Rest of Article

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A push for privacy…

Below is a brief article published today on the Save the Internet website. The complicated issue of maintaining ”privacy” (digital and otherwise) for individuals while keeping the Internet “open” to free speech is a complex and vitally important consideration. Congress has really been behind the curve on this issue, and any developments toward correcting that, however belated, are welcome. The following…Read the Rest of Article

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The Sartorialist…Lunch for 25

  This is a website to love…The Sartorialist…watch this great video clip (and enjoy the background music): Lunch for 25.  

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Late afternoon sunlight…and shadows

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You and me, and the importance of digital privacy

The issue of digital privacy is only now beginning to get the kind of attention that it rightfully deserves. It’s long overdue. Below is an article by Rebecca MacKinnon that I pulled from the New America Foundation website. I’m including the entire article, because I think the subject is immensely important, and Rebecca MacKinnon is a strong and intelligent voice…Read the Rest of Article

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The Drones of War…and Democracy(?)

Sunday’s New York Times carried an opinion article about the increased use of armed drones and Presidential war powers…and the decreased influence of Congress regarding both. Peter Singer, Director of the 21st Century Defense Initiative at the Brookings Institution, and author of “Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict of the 21st Century”, considers…Read the Rest of Article

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Reading fiction, understanding reality

As a novelist it isn’t unusual to hear a reader refer to the time they spend reading fiction as a “guilty pleasure”, or an act of self-indulgence, as if reading fake stories about fake people is somehow something for which they need to apologize. Reading a novel, they strongly imply, kept them from doing something…Read the Rest of Article

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Challenging the Facts…or Assertions

The New York Times’ public editor, Arthur Brisbane, created something of a dust-up on Thursday, January 12th when he wrote a column titled, Should The Times Be a Truth Vigilante?  The gist of the column posed the question: should reporters challenge the “facts” newsmakers assert when reporters write stories stating those assertions? The column caused…Read the Rest of Article

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The Filter Bubble…and Clueless You

The last few months of 2011 were wildly busy. I was finishing Sorrow’s Spy, the second volume in the serial novel that I’m calling The Marten Fane Story (Pacific Heights was the first volume), and I was writing the opening content for The Marten Fane website which will, I hope, go online in a month…Read the Rest of Article

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Internet Privacy…and You.

I’ve been trying to track down studies regarding the increasing (or not) concerns that Americans have about privacy and the Internet. I see studies that reflect trends going in both directions, (the more people use the Internet, the more they become  careless and unconcerned about privacy, OR the more people use the Internet the more they get…Read the Rest of Article

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