I'll probably come back around to this important topic again, but right now I have only two points to add to what's partly a discussion about free speech in social media, fueled in the past week by feminist Soraya Chemaly in the Huffington Post. It's difficult to talk about "controversial humor" pages in the context of free speech because this content on Facebook (and now on Tumblr, its creators … [Read more...] about Of free speech in global social media
State of cybersecurity concerns: Study
It's National Cyber Security Awareness Month in the US, and a group of companies, government entities, and nonprofit organizations kicked it off with some research. The survey from McAfee and the nonprofit National Cyber Security Alliance found that 90% of people surveyed responded "not completely" when asked how safe they feel from "viruses, malware and hackers while on the Internet." Their … [Read more...] about State of cybersecurity concerns: Study
Hacking to get students to college
They were hacking education over at Facebook yesterday. Well, more like helping to open up the college entrance and completion process for high school students who want to go to college but face hurdles – e.g., low-quality schools, socio-economic struggles, or families not familiar with the college experience. It was a hackathon at Facebook for app developers who – with the support of the Bill and … [Read more...] about Hacking to get students to college
Unboxing learning
Last spring I had the privilege and fun of spending a whole class period with middle school students talking about their favorite uses of technology. Of course there were about as many preferences as there were students, so I'll just zoom in on one student whose interest I felt best illustrated how very individual and diverse digital tech use is. He loves shoes. I can't remember the brands, but … [Read more...] about Unboxing learning
Facebook ‘privacy breach’: Misperception-cum-meme?
The "news" that people's private Facebook messages were appearing on their "walls" spread like wildfire earlier this week, but Slate reports that it's more meme than news. It all started in France, where users complained about finding private messages posted between 2007 and '09 on their profiles pages, but news outlets reported that "the issue is not systematic and affects only certain accounts." … [Read more...] about Facebook ‘privacy breach’: Misperception-cum-meme?