Tag Archives: technology

Amusing Ourselves To Death

I’ve been meaning to jot this down for a while. Here is a collection of quotes from Neil Postman’s “Amusing Ourselves To Death” that I found particularly thought provoking: Epistemology and Media “Every epistemology is the epistemology of a stage of media development.” The Telegraph “This fact is the principal legacy of the telegraph: ByContinue reading “Amusing Ourselves To Death”

Thou Shalt Not Share

What are the implications of extending the word “stealing” to include “unauthorised sharing”? Some words to consider All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. (Acts 4:32) You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shallContinue reading “Thou Shalt Not Share”

Photography and Narrative Art

Still mulling over Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, Huxley’s Brave New World, the Manga Bible and now Neal Stephenson’s The Diamond Age. Principally in terms of the difference between text-based culture and image-based culture, and photography vs iconography. Question: to what degree are photos capable of functioning as narrative art? We are flooded with photos from around the worldContinue reading “Photography and Narrative Art”

Never disconnected

I’ve been playing around with my Blackberry this week and exploring its ever increasing potential for making life simpler. Simpler? Well, at least in terms of offloading physical assets (which frees up my space) and automating routine tasks (which frees up my time). Social Mapping In particular I’ve discovered, somewhat belatedly, that the Google MapsContinue reading “Never disconnected”

Seven Disruptive Technologies Christians Need To Know About

New Scientist had the crystal ball out this week, reporting on “seven disruptive technologies that will change the coming decade”. In brief, they say we should keep an eye on: Robot Travel (commuting via telepresence, like in “Surrogates”) Augmented Cities (the looking glass invades shopping malls) Evolved invention (the automation of scientific discovery) 3D PrintingContinue reading “Seven Disruptive Technologies Christians Need To Know About”

Is Facebook killing off faith conversations?

Is it just me or are faith conversations becoming less and less frequent online? I get the impression that, as Facebook becomes more and more public, the conversations are becoming more ‘safe’ and secularized. I feel it myself. Whereas, when I began blogging, there was this subversive community feel to the whole thing, these daysContinue reading “Is Facebook killing off faith conversations?”

Young Men And Women Use Facebook Differently

A new study has reported some interesting distinctions among young Facebook users, suggesting women and men often use Facebook in different ways. “Women, when compared to men, are much more likely to use Facebook to communicate about or share content related to friends and family. Men, by contrast, are much more likely to communicate about orContinue reading “Young Men And Women Use Facebook Differently”

JewPS – track Jews with your iPhone

JewPS: track Jews with your iPhone. At first glance I wondered if neonazi skinheads or the Islamic Jihad was behind this one, but noooo. According to Keren Hayesod and the Jewish iPhone community it’s a kosher GPS app that is coming soon for iPhones. I’m still not sure what to think. If it’s genuine IContinue reading “JewPS – track Jews with your iPhone”

Drones, Spooks and Extrajudicial Killings

The Law Report on ABC Radio National conducted a very interesting interview this morning with Philip Alston, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings. Next week he’ll be flying to Geneva to report to the UN on the use of Drones in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Some very thought provoking observations on the Taliban insurgency, theContinue reading “Drones, Spooks and Extrajudicial Killings”