Jaron Lanier’s new book came out last week, and if the reviews online are any indication, I may be the only person on the planet who actually READ the damn thing from cover to cover.
The Globe and Mail reviewer certainly didn’t. Slate, Salon… academic blogs… you name it. It’s extremely easy to write a review if you only skim the first few pages. Reading is hard. Read More
Yes, yes… it’s been a veeery long time since I’ve posted anything here.
Well, instead of simply writing about WHY I haven’t posted (major health issues, holidays, and an insane teaching load this semester), I’ll just dive right into the post-Oscar media frenzy. Read More
Thought I’d share this here, as it’s something I’ve been involved with for a little while now…
For those interested in ‘scene’ as a research tool:
Call for Papers
Scene Again: Social Life, Research, and Cultural Studies – Special Issue intended for Cultural Studies Read More
Two posts in one day? Has he gone mad?
Here is a second paper that I presented in Kitchener-Waterloo last week. This one summarizes three empirical case studies and the methodological strands connecting them. I co-authored this paper with two colleagues, and I would encourage you to check out their work when you can.
Hopefully, there will be more work from this ongoing collaboration to post soon.
(Note: these are edited/modified versions of the papers presented at Congress 2012 in Kitchener-Waterloo. For full versions with reference lists, please feel free to contact me. Some content has been reserved for future publications.) Read More
“Now the Irish have a saying, and in it truth will always ring… /
Don’t matter who you vote for, you always end up with a king.”
– The Rheostatics, ‘Bread, Meat, Peas & Rice’.
After an evening of (mild) relief and (even milder) surprise, I have a few comments on the Alberta provincial election.
For those who may not know my terrible secret… I’m an Albertan. I know… Me. Albertan. And here you thought I was so well behaved and hygienic.
Nope. I grew up in Calgary, and I still visit my parents each year at Christmas. I like to think I have some insight into the world of Albertan politics, having experienced The Crazy firsthand. So with that in mind, here are my thoughts on yet another Conservative majority… Read More
I’ll be the first to admit – when the iPad was first released, I made my fair share of jokes. Why on earth would I want an over-sized iPhone? Why would I want a laptop with no keyboard, no USB ports, and a hefty price tag?
And here I am… composing a blog post on a goddam iPad.
How did it come to this?
Well, I guess it started when my MacBook decided it no longer had a wireless card, a Bluetooth card, or even a power supply. A laptop is pretty useless when it won’t connect to … anything… and it flat-out dies after a few hours of use, never to work again. Read More
A quick update, as it’s been a little while since I’ve posted anything here.
Rather than weigh in ONCE AGAIN on why I prefer Google+ to Facebook (‘ZOMG! New Privacy Policy! EVIL!’) I’d like to take a quick moment to ask a simple question:
If Pinterest is so silly and pointless and trivial… just what in the hell are you doing on the internet that’s so amazingly important?
As I continue to head toward the full de-activation of one online account, I find myself suddenly having to ‘defend’ my use of another. With recent changes to its privacy policies, Google has somehow begun to flirt with ‘evil’, according to numerous online onlookers.
This post isn’t intended to praise everything Google does. Rather, I want to share some of the thinking that’s gone into (and continues to inform) my decisions with respect to social networking platforms. Privacy is, indeed, one of my major concerns. And I still think Google is the safer bet in the long run. Read More
Ok, so I’m no doctor, but…
Why would anyone listen to medical advice from Don Cherry?
Seriously… the man is a professional idiot, and a part-time racist.
You wouldn’t take healthcare advice from this man, would you? … Then why would you take it from any other random individual you encounter?
This story caught my attention because I’ve been engaged in this ‘discussion’ with a number of people lately. (I don’t want any of you to take particular offense to this, please… I really have been discussing this a lot lately, with many people. This ain’t about you.)
In a nutshell, the debate comes down to:
Western Medicine is a Sham vs. Anecdotal Evidence is Basically Irrelevant.
Take a wild guess which side I’m on! Read More
Ok, ok, so I’m posting content on a day when thousands of websites are going ‘dark’ in protest of bad laws in the works…
But seriously: I get about 5 hits a day. Asking my web designer to add fancy graphics to my site would just annoy him, and wouldn’t affect anyone else in any way…
For the 5 of you who read this site… I don’t need to tell you about SOPA/PIPA. (Say it quickly enough and it sounds delicious…)
Many other sites have covered this story for months, and many other sites have written up eloquent summaries of the issues involved. The Oatmeal even drew pictures of koalas and goats to make their point.
My own take on the various protests and actions happening around the web today has less to do with SOPA/PIPA itself, and more to do with my growing doubts about anything that claims to ‘raise awareness’ of an issue. Read More