machine-envy

After James showed me the web is us/ing us video, I wrote about it for my latest openDemocracy piece. It’s the first time I’ve been able to join up my interest in linguistcs with my interest in the information age, and I’m quite proud of the result.
After the Sandinista government took power in Nicaragua in […]

Okay, it’s happened again - I have a new job and I’m not blogging. Sorry.
This is just a quick post to prove I still exist, and its theme is funny drawings on the web. I keep getting sent links to xkcd - this one cracks me up. And here’s a link to my favourite […]

Is this the hardest end of year quiz of all time? I actually worked at openDemocracy for most of this year, and I still only scored 64%. And most of that was thanks to the questions in the internet and copyright section. How much will you score?

I’m pleased to announce that as of 15 January next year, I’ll be joining the Open Rights Group as their new Executive Director!
Suw Charman, ORG’s outgoing Exec Director, has just posted the announcement on the ORG website. I’m looking forward to working with her, ORG’s Ops Manager Michael Holloway, and the incredibly diverse and talented […]

My interview with Andrew Gowers has gone up on openDemocracy.

“‘Look at the debates that there have been on intellectual property since the arrival of the internet. They have been loud and shallow. They have been between people who say everything’s free and you shouldn’t pay for […]

I’m logged on to the BBC Parliament channel this morning, awaiting Gordon Brown’s pre budget report, which should start in 15 minutes. The Gowers Review of Intellectual Property will be released after this speech.
As a precursor to the report, my column in openDemocracy asks whether the government will go with Gowers’ leaked recommendation, that copyright […]

Two reasons to drop in on openDemocracy this week. The first is a pilot podcast, 20 minutes of audio journalism that takes in Sidney Blumenthal’s view on the Democrats’ victory in the states, Alain de Botton’s view on architecture, and prospects for an independent South Ossetia, as well as vox pops from the oD team. […]

This fortnight’s column for openDemocracy tries to add something useful to the commentary surrounding Novell’s recent Faustian pact with Microsoft. In particular, it asks whether either the deal’s nod to non-commercial developers or Moglen’s threat to legally fork FLOSS with GPL v3 are predicted by Lawrence Lessig’s recent, controversial, “two economies” theory. My thanks to […]

I’ve had quite a few articles published since I last posted. Here’s a quick summary:
The net effect on parliament
How can civic hacking site TheyWorkForYou save MPs from themselves?
User demands push Firefox
Two years on from the 1.0 release, is Firefolx losing its sheen?
The right to know everything
Coverage of the IPPR’s excellent new report on intellectual property
Flash! […]

This fortnight’s article for openDemocracy continues on a theme:
“My column a fortnight ago (”Claiming our digital rights”, 26 September 2006) sparked a train of thought that hasn’t stopped chugging through my brain since. The piece was a celebration of the imminent victory over that most unsuitable of technologies, digital rights management, but sounded a note […]