The debate over – whether the Net is good or bad for us fills both the airwaves and blogosphere. But for Rushkoff, the real question is, do we direct technology, or do we let ourselves be directed by it and those who have mastered it? “Choose the former,” explains Rushkoff, “and you gain access to the control panel of civilization. Choose the latter, and it could be the last real choice you get to make.”
See the full event listing at the University of Lethbridge.
[The City-Wide Read Program] is an initiative among various stakeholders in Vancouver, including the Creative Media & Digital Culture (CMDC) program and the City of Vancouver, to educate and engage the citizenry in a discussion about the trends and impacts of digital media on individuals, families and the future economy.
Read more about the program on #nextchapter.
The U.S. Postal Service appears to be the latest casualty in digital technology’s slow but steady replacement of working humans. Unless an external source of funding comes in, the post office will have to scale back its operations drastically, or simply shut down altogether. That’s 600,000 people who would be out of work, and another 480,000 pensioners facing an adjustment in terms.
We can blame a right wing attempting to undermine labor, or a left wing trying to preserve unions in the face of government and corporate cutbacks. But the real culprit — at least in this case — is e-mail. People are sending 22% fewer pieces of mail than they did four years ago, opting for electronic bill payment and other net-enabled means of communication over envelopes and stamps.
Read more on CNN
I have been reading Douglas Rushkoff’s writings on cyberculture since the early 1990s when I did my senior dissertation on Cyberpunk Literature. Although he was not the only one at the time writing critical essays about a future where humans and machines became increasingly indistinguishable, his was a voice that stood out from the rest. What he talked about often sounded fantastic, but extremely plausible. Later when I was getting my M.S. in technical communication, Rushkoff’s Cyberia: Life in the Trenches of Cyberspace was required reading if you wanted to understand the future of communication.
Read the interview in Wired
A discussion between authors Micah Sifry and Douglas Rushkoff about technology and its impact, both positive and negative, on the world. This event was hosted by McNally Jackson Books in New York City.
See the video at Book TV.
“People want magic. We’re all looking for transcendence…but we’re still not finding it.” —WikiLeaks and the Age of Transparency author Micah Sifry, last night at McNally Jackson, talking about our fascination with new technology (and why we’re simultaneously consumed by it and disappointed with it).
Look for the video of the event on C-SPAN’s Book TV. Read more about the event on This OR That: The OR Books Blog.
Ever feel like you’re a dandelion tuft on the Internet winds, floating in and out of Facebook and Twitter feeds to wherever those links might take you? Not to worry, just chalk up those hours on handhelds and laptops as time well spent—we’re current, we’re engaged, and we’re savvy to the ways of life on the web. But savvy this: what if we’re completely oblivious to the way the digital environment is actually shaping us as we attempt to take it all in?
That’s what worries media theorist and author Douglas Rushkoff, the thought that we’re being caught unawares by software of our own design, that we may end up abdicating our agency as the reins on everyday technology slip from our grasp.
Read the rest of the interview at LibraryJournal.com.
I think this book, Program or be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age by digital critic and thinker Douglas Rushkoff, should be required reading for anyone interested in modern culture, politics or economics. It’s a short book, densely argued, that requires careful reading and attention to its ideas. Which probably makes it daunting to many in this era of fragmented ideas and short subjects. But it’s divided into ten clear sections (note “commands” as in programming inputs, rather than “commandments” as in biblical instructions) and is well worth the effort a reader must put into reading it.
(via Writerscast.com)
Like a momentary glitch on a flat-panel display, the attacks by hackers calling themselves “Anonymous” came and went. Visa, PayPal, MasterCard and Amazon report no significant damage, and business goes on as usual. The corporations acting to cut off WikiLeaks remain safe.
Read more at cnn.com.
Having read and reviewed Rushkoff’s previous books, Think Outside The Box, which was good, and Life Inc., which was nothing less than brilliant, I wondered what was next for the media maven. This new one is short and concise, but a highly worthy successor. His mission is to raise awareness of the human implications of our technologies — the context (if you will) of our actions.
Read more at the Miami Herald.
