social commentary
« Previous EntriesSelling Democracy (Slight Return)
Thursday, November 17th, 2011Writing about the influence of the Internet on pro-democracy movements earlier this year, I observed: As individual control over the flow of information rises, central control wanes. And this, obviously, is the crux of the dilemma facing businesses and governments across North Africa and throughout the world. They are belatedly coming to realise that they [...]
Remembering Steve Jobs
Thursday, October 6th, 2011Okay, look: Gallows humour aside (for the moment), Steve Jobs doesn’t deserve our reverence. He deserves our respect, yes, for being one of the only people in the industry to actually think about how people used hardware. He was a great hardware designer in part because of his obsession with detail and his absolute inability [...]
Warring Stories
Sunday, August 7th, 2011[Note: Tim Bray is conducting an interesting exercise in public debate over on Google+, testing its commenting capabilities to see how it fares in civil discourse on contentious political topics. His efforts are well worth following. I'm re-posting one of my comments below for posterity - as much for my own benefit as anyone else's.] [...]
On Pseudonymity
Wednesday, July 27th, 2011My friend Skud (yes, Skud) recently had her Google+ account suspended, apparently for not using her ‘real’ name. The section of Google’s privacy policy dealing with the issue of names says only this: To help fight spam and prevent fake profiles, use the name your friends, family or co-workers usually call you. For example, if [...]
Vanuatu Applauds Call for ‘Government Intelligence’
Wednesday, May 25th, 2011[Originally published on sathed.vu - Vanuatu's Satire website] Police Commissioner Joshua Bong’s call for improved government intelligence was roundly supported by all sectors of Vanuatu Society. The announcement, made at the closing of a recent security conference, met with enthusiastic responses from everyone this writer interviewed. A survey of 100 people asking the question ‘Do [...]
The Powerful and the Good
Tuesday, May 17th, 2011[This review of Wan Smolbag Theatre's new play, Zero Balans was written for the Vanuatu Daily Post.] Zero Balans, the new play from Wan Smolbag Theatre, seems to argue that you can be powerful and you can be good, but you can’t be both at once. This political morality tale recounts the story of Ezekiel. [...]
The Wealthy Programmer
Sunday, March 27th, 2011In discussion today about programming for money – as opposed to programming for the love of it, or helping to change the shape of modern technology – someone made the following point: I’d have thought striving to be independently wealthy would be an admirable goal – it’s a lot easier to be a philanthropist when [...]
Governance and Goodness
Friday, March 18th, 2011I’ll say this again, in all sincerity: A principled man who’s willing to walk that muddy road is a better man than I, because I would always take that principled stand, keep my conscience clear, and fail entirely as a politician.
That may sound back-handed to some. It’s not. Life is a complex and messy thing; there are no simple answers. And sometimes staying pure and principled means staying powerless.
For my part I’m willing to abdicate that power, because once in a while things need to be said at any cost.
It’s easy for me to say this, but I don’t say it lightly. I say it because others can’t:
If a Government Minister resorts to political violence and coercion and the government takes no action to remedy this, that government deserves to fall.
Forget Fear
Thursday, March 10th, 2011[Originally published in the weekend edition of the Vanuatu Daily Post] My name is Dan McGarry. I’ve been using the nom de plume of Graham Crumb since 1995, but today I have decided to draw aside the literary veil. I do so in solidarity with Marc Neil-Jones, publisher of the Daily Post, in order to [...]
A Novel in Three Links
Friday, February 11th, 2011This + this + this = an opportunity to change the way we communicate, and history as well.
The freedom that we experienced on the Internet of the ’90s is waning. Governments and commercial interests take ever-increasing steps to circumscribe people’s ability to communicate digitally. The only way to change this tide from ebb to flood is to fulfill a promise that was first made in the ’90s.
We need to disintermediate the network. It’s an ugly duckling of a word, but cutting out the middle man matters more now than ever.
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