Links for 14 May 2008
Posted by Tim Stevens on 14 May 2008
Moving Beyond Globalization, Steve DeAngelis - critiquing a recent article in the New York Times by David Brooks. DeAngelis suggest that globalisation is not ‘universal’ and that while there might be an argument for America to transcend the globalisation paradigm this is simply not possible for many people in less fortunate parts of the world. He does quote an interesting passage from Brooks though:
The globalization paradigm emphasizes the fact that information can now travel 15,000 miles in an instant. But the most important part of information’s journey is the last few inches - the space between a person’s eyes or ears and the various regions of the brain. Does the individual have the capacity to understand the information? Does he or she have the training to exploit it? Are there cultural assumptions that distort the way it is perceived?
This is an important and often overlooked element of the ‘knowledge economy’ debate. Cognition, comprehension and interpretation are critical elements in creating ‘information’ from ‘data’ and imbuing it with socially contructed meaning, semantic meaning.
Technocrat flags up a March 2008 article, The Connection Has Been Reset, James Fallows at The Atlantic - how the ‘Great Firewall of China’ will be ‘modified’ during the forthcoming quadrennial snoozefest:
In reality, what the Olympic-era visitors will be discovering is not the absence of China’s electronic control but its new refinement - and a special Potemkin-style unfettered access that will be set up just for them, and just for the length of their stay. According to engineers I have spoken with at two tech organizations in China, the government bodies in charge of censoring the Internet have told them to get ready to unblock access from a list of specific Internet Protocol (IP) addresses - certain Internet cafés, access jacks in hotel rooms and conference centers where foreigners are expected to work or stay during the Olympic Games.
Update: an interview with Fallows can be found here.
Dan tdaxp has a pop at John Robb:
John clearly has a good marketing mind (agitprop against the status quo is always a seller), though I feel sorry for those who are introduced to serious topics through his writing.
Via Savage Minds, a Guardian article, Are we there just to help the Army aim better? - their Education section looks at the continuing debate over the US Human Terrain System.
IntelliBriefs, Lebanon: Hezbollah’s Communication Network:
The Lebanese government has decided to dismantle Shiite militant group Hezbollah’s communications network — the very thing that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah called the group’s most important weapon. Not only did the government’s decision spark protests and violence, but the network — which spans Beirut and reaches through the Bekaa Valley to the area along the Israeli-Lebanese border — could prove difficult to take down [via Jeff Kouba, Peace Like a River].
The Blue Book: A consumer guide to virtual worlds, MetaSecurity - if you ever thought Second Life and World of Warcraft were the only ones, think again [.pdf].
Dusan Writer, MSNBC Reports on Advances of VW/RW Merger:
Are we closer to living in a “Matrix”-style virtual world? Some sophisticated new projects are showing just how far we’ve come toward creating the visual, tactile and conversational elements of an eye, hand and ear-fooling virtual world.
I love Pruned. Alexander Trevi has unearthed some incredible photos of an anti-ballistic missile complex in North Dakota:
