How much do you value tech savvyness?

Dec 30, 2014 3:32pm | by jesse

In a society saturated with technology, literacy plays a central and enabling role when it comes to success and prosperity. Add to that a rapid rate of technological change, and the ability to learn fast, let alone a zeal for education, is crucial. While there are some who may dismiss and belittle game playing as […]

Are we too reliant on technology?

Dec 16, 2014 10:06am | by jesse

We shape our tools, and in exchange our tools shape us. This interaction that exists between our tools and how we use them creates a broader culture of technology that drives us to constantly find better and smarter tools. Carnegie Mellon University Professor Jessica Hammer describes this as a larger responsibility: “I think we have […]

Hear from the Directors

Dec 15, 2014 7:45am | by admin

Inside Doc Studio: One on one discussions with the director’s of “Avatar Secrets” and “Life After Digital.” Filmmaker Marc de Guerre talks about his film “Life After Digital”. The film is a look at the impact of the World Wide Web 20 years after its introduction to society. Ramona Pringle talks about her interactive documentary Avatar […]

Who are you online?

Dec 1, 2014 7:51am | by jesse

There is a powerful promise to the notion that you can be anyone that you want to be. This may explain part of the appeal of online environments, the opportunity to construct a new identity or a new side of our self that has been neglected, untapped, or ignored. Whether it’s in the creation of […]

The Agenda: Avatar Secrets & Life After Digital

Dec 1, 2014 7:48am | by admin

Life After Digital: [panel discussion] For all of the connectedness that the online world gives us, it comes with a cost: the potential loss of privacy. Is this loss simply the price to pay for staying globally connected? Avatar Secrets: [director’s interview] Ramona Pringle, interactive director and producer, sits down with The Agenda to discuss […]

Should everyone on the web be identified?

Nov 24, 2014 8:53am | by jesse

One of the great ongoing battles of the Internet in our era is over the ability to become anonymous. For many this has been a founding virtue of the network of networks, and for others it has been a dangerous myth that never really existed. Ironically it makes sense that our perception of the way […]

How much do you share?

Nov 19, 2014 8:59am | by jesse

The rise of social media has been both rapid and euphoric. While we remain critical of its side effects and by-products, such as the erosion of our privacy, we are, as a society, seduced into the Facebook fold and the Twitter flock because it appeals to fundamental instincts of love, friendship, and community. Dr. Sue […]

Can the Internet predict your behaviour?

Nov 12, 2014 9:14am | by jesse

The rapid rate of technological change makes it difficult for us as individuals, or for us as a society to keep up. Although the concept of “keeping up” is really just a metaphor for our relationship with time, how much we feel we have, and whether we feel ahead, with, or behind the times. Similarly […]

What can we learn from the failure of Samaritans Radar?

Nov 10, 2014 7:48pm | by jesse

The UK based charity Samaritans recently released an app designed to address issues related to depression and suicide. Called Samaritans Radar it seeks to turn your social net into a safety net by using an algorithm to spot when friends are in need of help. Could it play a role in fostering greater social support […]

Do you take responsibility for your technology?

Nov 5, 2014 7:22am | by jesse

  Does technology alter your behavior? Is technology changing us? Is technology eroding our social values? Do we make our tools? Or do our tools make us? This debate around agency and technological determinism has raged for the past few decades and continues to divide scholars, hackers, and activists who wish to harness the empowering […]