Confused Of Calcutta » Blog Archive » Three lies about social software:
Lie 3: Social software destroys privacy
There are many reasons why I believe that privacy, as the West knows it, is dead. Some of it is to do with the web. Some of it is to do with social software, I guess. Some of it is probably even due to cyber-crime. But I think we’re missing the point. People share information willingly. Now some of them may not realise quite how much information they are sharing, and how this information may be used against them, but that cannot be laid at the door of social software.
People who don’t want to share openly still use social software. There are passworded wikis, closed-loop IM systems, even things like Orkut Crush. Openness is primarily a choice and not a condition.

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This looks like something that Michael might want to address…

Library as Cultural Memory:
I realized that the thing I enjoy about the library is that it exists as a cultural memory.
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SUbject/object is one of the best library blogs out there. The library does not exist as a cultural memory though. One function of a library is to distribute cultural memories and their requisite ideological functions. The key here is to remember that all mental functions exist as processes, including memory. Just as a library does not transmit and accept knowledge, but knowledge flows through it embodied in people, memory does not exist in the books or the institution. The only things that exists in the institution are interpretations, frequently unfixed from the experiences that created them.

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Andy Ihnatko :: Avoid the loony Zune :
The Zune is a complete, humiliating failure. Toshiba’s Gigabeat player, for example, is far more versatile, it has none of the Zune’s limitations, and Amazon sells the 30-gig model for 40 bucks less.
Throw in the Zune’s tail-wagging relationship with music publishers, and it almost becomes important that you encourage people not to buy one.

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the microsoft zune…. the only way to make it useful… is to change the laws so you can’t own anything else.