Using The Web To Advance Politics Doug Bernard | Washington DC Tuesday evening, as President Barack Obama delivers the State of the Union, millions of people in the United States and around the world will turn to their TVs and radios to learn what may be in store over the coming year. But a growing […]
Facebook Fasting
Posted February 5th, 2013 at 2:21 pm (UTC-4)
A New Study Suggests How And Why Users Take A Facebook Break Doug Bernard | Washington DC Think for a moment about how you spend your time online. Researching? Randomly clicking through Wikipedia? Watching cat videos? Now think about who’s there with you. Not in real flesh-and-blood terms, but who’s hanging around you online…watching what […]
Cuba Experiments with Internet Speed, Not Freedom
Posted January 25th, 2013 at 5:07 pm (UTC-4)
Kate Woodsome | Washington DC Cuba, as seen through reflective puddles, windows and windshields. Photo by Zoriah. Whenever my Internet connection is slow, I try to imagine I’m using a typewriter so that I’m pleasantly surprised, rather than infuriated, by the pace and technology. It’s a mind game I learned years ago when I lived […]
The Year Anonymous Disappeared
Posted January 7th, 2013 at 3:23 pm (UTC-4)
Just What Happened to the Internet’s Great Terror? Doug Bernard | Washington DC Prediction is a fool’s game. Just ask anyone leaving Las Vegas. Or Nate Silver. Generally speaking, we don’t play the “Top Ten 2013” list-type entries that populate blogs and other journalism this time of year. There aren’t many things about the future […]
Fun with Fake Facebook Friends
Posted December 17th, 2012 at 2:16 pm (UTC-4)
Sometimes Facebook Friends Are Not As They Seem Ross Slutsky | Atlanta GA The other day I got a friend request from a man claiming to work at VOA in DC as a programmer. His pedigree was impressive, with claims to an Oxford education. As a one-time VOA intern and current Digital Frontiers contributor, I […]
UPDATE: US to UN: Hands Off The Internet
Posted December 13th, 2012 at 1:54 pm (UTC-4)
Nations Struggle To Control What Was Designed To Be Uncontrollable Doug Bernard | Washington DC UPDATE December 14, 17 hours UTC: Negotiations to create a consensus for new standards for Internet oversight and privacy collapsed in Dubai Friday when several nations, lead by the United States, refused to sign on to any agreement. The […]
Hpy Bday Txtng! (*smiley*)
Posted December 3rd, 2012 at 2:27 pm (UTC-4)
20 Years Of Texting, And What The Next 20 May Hold Doug Bernard | Washington DC According to the calendar, the 21st Century began exactly at 12:01am on January 1st, 2001. But in practical terms, you could argue it actually began about eight years earlier, on December 3rd, 1992. That’s because that was the day […]
Internet Silence In Syria – UPDATED
Posted November 29th, 2012 at 3:55 pm (UTC-4)
Claims That “Terrorists” Cut The Web Fall Flat Doug Bernard | Washington DC Update December 3, 1330 UTC: Renesys’ Jame Cowie writes on the company blog that Internet service has been almost fully restored in Syria. Traffic began flowing into and out of Syria at 4:30pm Damascus time on Saturday afternoon: “The restoration was achieved […]
Facebook Powergrab?
Posted November 23rd, 2012 at 11:53 am (UTC-4)
Should Facebook Users Be Able To “Dislike” Privacy Changes? Doug Bernard | Washington DC There’s an old truism in public relations: if you have bad news to announce, look for a good time when people are distracted to bury the story. That may, or may not, have been the motivation for Facebook to propose a […]
John McAfee’s Internet Meltdown – UPDATE
Posted November 20th, 2012 at 2:54 pm (UTC-4)
Has The Software And Security Pioneer Gone “Bonkers”? Doug Bernard | Washington DC UPDATE December 3, 1400 UTC: There are conflicting reports and rumors swirling whether Belize police have actually captured John McAfee, or if he remains at large. On December1, someone posted a short note on the “Who Is McAfee?” blog. “We have received […]
