The Takedown of Sony Entertainment and it’s Implications

On November 24th, Sony Pictures Entertainment had their cybernetic head handed to them by a shadowy group known only as “Guardians of Peace.” This past year has seen numerous attacks on various major companies, with embarrassing data breaches resulting in … Continue reading

On Slow Reading Seminars

It’s long past time that I describe an extended experiment in group learning conducted over the last few years. The setting was Christ Church Episcopal in Portola Valley, California, where my spouse and I were Scholars in Residence, conducting seminars … Continue reading

What is the NSA Collecting? An Exercise in Open-Source Intelligence Analysis

The recent revelations of NSA warrantless data collection is of interest mostly because one has to wonder why so many people seem surprised about this. It wasn’t a matter of reading tea leaves or anything, it was right out there … Continue reading

A Question on the Link Between Education and Democracy

By Sheldon   Over the weekend I ran across a very interesting interview with Noam Chomsky on the future of democracy and education in the 21st century. Chomsky is one of America’s leading intellectuals, but on matters of education he … Continue reading