Internet Articles
Citizens as scientists
Sep 23, 2010
Earlier this week the New York Times Bits blog had a post about a new research project at ARM Holdings, the British chip designer. Called mbed, ARM has put together a kit for a microcontroller, which is a basic, low-power computer on a chip. ARM provides a set of...
Netflix: premium cable’s worst nightmare
Sep 19, 2010
This week’s Bloomberg Businessweek discusses Netflix’s relentless expansion as the DVD-by-mail service makes even better use of the Internet. Instead of relying on the US Postal Service to deliver its product, Netflix is increasingly streaming content online. The...
OneBeep offers one-way connectivity to remote communities
Aug 24, 2010
In true Wikinomics spirit, every year Microsoft’s Imagine Cup challenges students around the world to dream up new ways to use technology to solve some of the planet’s toughest problems. Participation in the contest has soared from less than 1,000 student competitors...
Negroponte offers good advice to India’s $35 computer project
Aug 4, 2010
Nicholas Negroponte, founder and chair of the One Laptop per Child Foundation, just posted an open letter to the Indian government, offering to share his hard-earned expertise and help the government achieve its recently announced goal to distribute a $35 tablet...
Privacy worries continue to grow
Jul 20, 2010
Two interesting items re privacy. A poll released last week by the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion revealed that fully half of Americans who have a profile on social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn are worried about their privacy. And the...
Changing the World, One Friend at a Time
Jul 6, 2010
I first met Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg a few years ago at a World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland. He and his partner Matt Cohler wanted my advice on how to take their fast-growing company to the next level. I gave my views: The way to make a...
We can't afford BP to go it alone
Jun 26, 2010
I’ve just read an incredibly depressing Fast Company piece on InnoCentive and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The story reports on a recent blog posting by Dwayne Spradlin, President and Chief Executive Officer of InnoCentive. If you’re not familiar with InnoCentive,...
Twitter's users dictate what's happening
Jun 5, 2010
I recently watched a video of Jack Dorsey’s presentation to The99percent conference, which you can see here. In it, Dorsey shares three core takeaways from his experiences in conceiving and building Twitter. 1) Draw: get your idea out of your head and share it, 2)...
Will publishers rise to the challenge?
Jun 4, 2010
As an author of many books, I’m thankful for the hard work of my publishers, but I also I’m fascinated by changes in the publishing industry. An author self-publishing his or her book -- also known as the “vanity press” -- has traditionally been viewed with a bit of...