MediaBerkman

How does the Internet affect power? How does power affect the Internet?

Factors such as ubiquitous surveillance, the rise of cyberwar, ill-conceived laws and regulations on behalf of either government or corporate power, and a feudal model of security collide to create a circumstance in which those in power are using information technology to increase their power, at the expense of users.

Bruce Schneier—renowned security technologist and author—discusses these issues and more with the Berkman Center’s Jonathan Zittrain.

Also in ogg for download

More info on this event here.

How does the Internet affect power? How does power affect the Internet?

Factors such as ubiquitous surveillance, the rise of cyberwar, ill-conceived laws and regulations on behalf of either government or corporate power, and a feudal model of security collide to create a circumstance in which those in power are using information technology to increase their power, at the expense of users.

Bruce Schneier—renowned security technologist and author—discusses these issues and more with the Berkman Center’s Jonathan Zittrain.

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…or download the OGG audio format!

More info on this event here.

In the past decade, we’ve seen an unprecedented rise of powerful social networks, connecting millions or even billions of people who can now communicate almost instantaneously. But many of the promises that were made by the creators of the earliest social networking technologies have gone unfulfilled. In this talk, Anil Dash—entrepreneur, technologist, and writer—takes a look at some of the unexamined costs, both cultural and social, of the way the web has evolved.

Also in ogg for download

More info on this event here.

David Weinberger liveblogged this talk.

In the past decade, we’ve seen an unprecedented rise of powerful social networks, connecting millions or even billions of people who can now communicate almost instantaneously. But many of the promises that were made by the creators of the earliest social networking technologies have gone unfulfilled. In this talk, Anil Dash—entrepreneur, technologist, and writer—takes a look at some of the unexamined costs, both cultural and social, of the way the web has evolved.

Download the MP3

…or download the OGG audio format!

More info on this event here.

David Weinberger liveblogged this talk.

Once, personal technology and the Internet meant that we didn’t need permission to compute, communicate and innovate. Now, governments and tech companies are systematically restricting our liberties, and creating an online surveillance state. In many cases, however, we’re letting it happen, by trading freedom for convenience and (often the illusion of) security. In this talk, Dan Gillmor—a founding director of the Knight Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication—suggests steps we can take as individuals to be more secure and free, and to take back the permissions we’re losing.

An outline of his talk can be found here.

Also in ogg for download

More info on this event here.

Once, personal technology and the Internet meant that we didn’t need permission to compute, communicate and innovate. Now, governments and tech companies are systematically restricting our liberties, and creating an online surveillance state. In many cases, however, we’re letting it happen, by trading freedom for convenience and (often the illusion of) security. In this talk, Dan Gillmor—a founding director of the Knight Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication—suggests steps we can take as individuals to be more secure and free, and to take back the permissions we’re losing.

An outline of his talk can be found here.

Download the MP3

…or download the OGG audio format!

More info on this event here.

Listen: or download | …also in Ogg

As high school and college students transition into a knowledge economy they face both advantages and challenges with how they find information and engage with co-workers as teammates.

As a recent study of US employers and recent college graduates discovered, some young hires are pretty good at finding out information online and through social networks, but experience significant difficulty with traditional methods of finding answers — going through bound reports, picking up the phone, or researching with groups.

The study, How College Graduates Solve Information Problems Once They Join the Workplace, was conducted by Project Information Literacy, and part of a series of studies supported by the Berkman Center and the Institute for Museum and Library Services to discover how research behavior is changing.

David Weinberger spoke with Berkman Fellow and director of Project Information Literacy Alison Head about her research.

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5.9 billion people now use mobile phones, of which 1.1 billion are smartphones. With this kind of penetration smartphones will empower behavioral scientists to collect terabytes of ecologically valid data from vast global samples—easily, quickly, and remotely, transforming the behavioral sciences even more profoundly than PCs and brain imaging did. Smartphones can record where people are, what they are doing, and what they can see and hear. They can run interactive surveys, tests, and experiments through touch screens and Bluetooth peripherals.

Geoffrey Miller—Visiting Professor at the NYU Stern Business School—discusses what smartphones can do now, and will be able to do in the near future, as research platforms, and the new opportunities for understanding human nature and culture.

Also in ogg for download

More info on this event here.

5.9 billion people now use mobile phones, of which 1.1 billion are smartphones. With this kind of penetration smartphones will empower behavioral scientists to collect terabytes of ecologically valid data from vast global samples—easily, quickly, and remotely, transforming the behavioral sciences even more profoundly than PCs and brain imaging did. Smartphones can record where people are, what they are doing, and what they can see and hear. They can run interactive surveys, tests, and experiments through touch screens and Bluetooth peripherals.

Geoffrey Miller—Visiting Professor at the NYU Stern Business School—discusses what smartphones can do now, and will be able to do in the near future, as research platforms, and the new opportunities for understanding human nature and culture.

Download the MP3

…or download the OGG audio format!

More info on this event here.

The power of big data—analyzing huge swaths of information to uncover insights and make predictions that were largely impossible in the past—is poised to transform business and society. Yet there is a dark side. Privacy is eroded like never before. And a new harm emerges: predictions about human behavior that may result in penalties prior to actual the infraction being committed. In this talk Viktor Mayer-Schönberger—Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at Oxford—and Kenneth Neil Cukier—Data Editor of The Economist—take a look at big data’s power, the dangers it poses and how to address them.

Also in ogg for download

More info on this event here.