Tech Bones

An upsetting trend looms over proposed national legislation and international agreements that threatens First Amendment rights on the internet. While public outcry has successfully hindered the advancement of such measures so far, attacks to our freedom of speech on the internet continue to increase according to Google. A Fox News article entitled "Google sees 'alarming' uptick in government censorship' outlines several recent examples of governments submitting requests to have material it finds "illegal, hateful, terrorism-promoting, or offensive" removed from the internet. While Google has refused the requests in some cases, they have been forced to comply in others. Fox News: Google sees 'alarming' uptick in government censorship http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/06/18/google-sees-alarming-uptick-in-government-censorship/ Dorothy Chou, Google's senior policy analyst, wrote in a Sunday blog post, "It's alarming not only because...

Communication is an art form. Those who have ever listened to or been in the presence of a great speaker know exactly what I mean. A gifted orator can captivate and inspire an audience. Communication comprises more than mere words. The ability to effectively articulate your message, whether written or verbal, gives impact. The added benefit of personal face-to-face, eye-to-eye exchanges allow for shared energy and raw expression. As people rely more heavily on eMail, Facebook, Twitter and text messaging, they tend to sacrifice the art of communication in favor of merely "connecting." Complete sentences, grammar, and even spelling are cast aside for the sake of brevity. Thoughts and ideas become a series of snippets, abbreviations, and acronyms. Sound bites at best, subject to misinterpretation and imperfection. True expression becomes lost. Case in point, I recently visited with the CEO/Founder of an early seed-stage startup company. We initially connected via eMail and...

Recent updates by Facebook have many of its users pounding their keyboards in protest. While the uproar may possibly result in some minor tweaks, the reality remains that it will most likely be short-lived because most users have become so addicted to socializing that they will eventually accept the intrusion. Some might choose to drop Facebook for Google+ in protest, but the vast majority will not be willing to go cold turkey with social networking. Personal Privacy and Social Networking exemplify oxymorons, just like Network Security, Virtual Reality and Legally Drunk. Something " personal " implies private not " social ," and any expectation of " privacy " cannot coexist with " networking " or " socializing ." Such reasoning resembles constructing a billboard of your life in your front yard while expecting that only your best friends will notice. Social Networking provides a lazy way to share information with a vast audience. Why s...