technology
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Talking, Lying Heads
Certain technological mediums seem to encourage lying, and—according to this article— “may make it easier for talking heads to lie.” Researchers have found that—compared to in-person interactions—people lie more by phone, but less by email and IM. Factors that encourage…
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Rewire Your Brain
Now body hacking exists! A new startup focused on “rewiring your brain” accounts for your caloric intake, exercise habits and sleep patterns, all to make you into a happier person. “Much as an engineer will analyse data and tweak specifications…
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5 for Print
Wired has 5 reasons why E-books cannot replace print. Besides the tech-related qualms (like books being divided by app, not allowing readers to see all their books in one place), problems like “an unfinished e-book isn’t a constant reminder to…
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Franzian Guidance
Jonathan Franzen dispensed some optimistic guidance in a NY Times Op-Ed essay, an adaptation of his recent commencement speech to Kenyon graduates. He covers techno-consumerism, the environmentalist anger that once confined him to his room and his bird-watching revelation that…
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Composing the Wilderness: An Essay on the Nested and Dynamic Model of Nature, Humanity, and Technology
In July, 2010, I delivered a keynote address at Goddard College’s MFA Writing residency in Port Townsend, Washington, on the theme “Composing the Wilderness.” This essay is included in an anthology of addresses given by Goddard College MFA faculty, to…
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Book Cover Missed Connections
“Such encounters are becoming increasingly difficult. With a growing number of people turning to Kindles and other electronic readers, and with the Apple iPad arriving on Saturday, it is not always possible to see what others are reading or to…
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Too Many Choices
“I feel like an alcoholic pushed into a permanently stocked bar, and I can’t even taste the merlot because I’m trying to down a tequila and sip a martini at the same time. I’m dying to return to the mono-media…
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What Will My Facebook Say When I’m Dead?
“New online lockboxes allow you to specify beforehand who’ll get your passwords, which private Flickr photos should be purged, and what final status should be posted at Facebook, but these services are no substitute for a will. And writers and…
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Emptying the E-shelves: Amazon Removes Macmillan
Update: Amazon caves to Macmillan’s demands! Read on to learn more about the dispute: After Macmillan Publishers challenged Amazon‘s pricing of e-books for Kindle users, Amazon retaliated on Friday by pulling not only all e-books by Macmillan authors but also…
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The Rumpus Sunday Book Blog Roundup
The books blogs always like to talk about the future, but this week was like some sort of official book blog crystal ball week, what with this new decade they tell me we’re in now and everything. We’ve already linked…
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The Web is the New Phone
“We talk too much about television as an antecedent to the Web, and not enough about the telephone… In America Calling: A Social History of the Telephone to 1940, the sociologist Claude S. Fischer argues that our customary mode of…
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Scott Rosenberg’s Thoughts on Twitter
Scott Rosenberg, a co-founder of Salon who has written a fascinating history of blogging (in time, we’ll be interviewing him about his book), recently wrote up his thoughts on Twitter in two posts: how Twitter differs from blogging, how it…