Content submitted by Mary tagged with "internet"

An Introduction to Semiotic Democracy

Posted by Mary in ZapBoom on 30/08/2007 at 9:46

Note: The idea of semiotic democracy - the collaborative public definition of cultural signs (semeîon in Greek) - is gaining popularity, particularly as it applies the the Internet. Here's a passage on semiotic democracy from my case study on the citizen journalism web site OhmyNews. Please feel free to correct my interpretations.

 

Citizen reporters take part in the semiotic process of creating meaning within a culture. They cease to be a passive audience for the culture products which reflect the priorities of others and instead create their own cultural products which reflect their own priorities. Given wide enough

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The Internet That Was

Posted by Mary in ZapBoom on 21/08/2007 at 15:11

Why do people want to be "on the Internet?" One of the main reasons is simple freedom. The Internet is a rare example of a true, modern, functional anarchy. There is no "Internet Inc." There are no official censors, no bosses, no board of directors, no stockholders.

Today that paragraph, written in 1993, seems naive and ill-informed. There certainly are censors on the Internet. Look at China and Saudi Arabia. While there is no "Internet Inc." the Internet is most certainly a commercial entity with its associated "bosses," "boards of directors" and "stockholders." I am not just talking about the

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Summer Reading Assignment

Posted by Mary in ZapBoom on 25/07/2007 at 16:06
Read over the presentations by the Summer Doctoral Program at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard and decide which person's PhD research on the internet is most likely to change the world.  Or just look for cool new ideas.  Lecture and presentation notes are being posted to the ICTlogy blog.
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Paris Hilton Digital Activism

Posted by Mary in ZapBoom on 09/05/2007 at 19:25

I'm about to make a confession that I may come to regret. So far in this blog I've been writing about serious things like social technology and the future of politics. Well, I'm about to break with that tradition and write about something completely different... celebrity gossip!

You may not know this about me (and hopefully you don't) but I love - I mean LOVE - celebrity gossip blogs. I read them every day and they bring me no end of joy and entertainment. There. I said it. There's no going back.

Of course, usually I don't feel the need

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When interactive web apps fall into the wrong hands

Posted by Mary in ZapBoom on 01/05/2007 at 20:43

Mostly, I love what Java, XML, and their love child AJAX have done for the internet. They turn stade webpages into interactive mobile spaces. However sometimes these innocent, fun, web apps fall into the wrong hands.

What I am referring to is Tiffany's new design-your-own-charm-bracelet-page, www.tiffany.com/charms, which allows you to drag and drop any number of charms (silver, gold, or platinum - your choice) onto a chain and then buy it. Here's my effort. I chose the platinum and gemstone line, natch.

 

Honestly, though I don't know why this bothers me so much. I think it must

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In the internet age, everything is known.

Posted by Mary in ZapBoom on 28/04/2007 at 22:09

Tonight I watched The Boys From Brazil, one of those classic films more famous for it's surprise ending (which everyone knows by now) than for being truly great. Once I accepted that is was hokey, though, I really enjoyed the twisty plot. However, there was one element that I didn't understand. There is a bone bracelet that appears throughout the film, and also in the closing shot, and I wondered "what the heck is this damned bone bracelet?" So I did what anyone would do. I googled it.

Soon I found myself on a message board on Internet Movie

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the People's K Street

Posted by Mary in ZapBoom on 27/04/2007 at 11:16

Special interests are the American boogeyman. They are used as political ammunition by both the right and left and everyone agrees that they are a danger to our democracy because the priorities of these "special interests", rather than the public well-being, set the political agenda in Washington.

However, special interests are not the problem. Every citizen has their own special interests. (Mine, for example, include opposition of the Iraq war, support of green energy alternatives, an irrational revulsion towards plastic packaging, and celebrity gossip blogs). No, the problem is not that special interests exist. The problem is that some special

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