Mireille Hildebrandt (Radboud): Introduction to the Value of Personal Data; and Slaves to Big Data — Or Are We? From The Atlantic, why is software so slow? James Fallows interviews software executive Charles Simonyi on why computer applications lag behind hardware, and how new apps could end drudgery. History.exe: How can we preserve the software of today for historians of tomorrow? Harry McCracken on the myth of Steve Jobs’ constant breakthroughs. Tom Slee reviews Networked: The New Social Operating System by Lee Rainie and Barry Wellman; Black Code: Inside the Battle for Cyberspace by Ronald J. Deibert; and Coding Freedom: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Hacking by E. Gabriella Coleman. Leon Neyfakh on why you can’t stop checking your phone: To fight texting and driving means confronting a bigger problem, say experts — our technology is reprogramming us. Andrew Feenberg reviews Invasive Technification: Critical Essays in the Philosophy of Technology by Gernot Bohme. Jo Confino on how technology has stopped evolution and is destroying the world. Can the language barrier be breached? Google certainly thinks so: Under the leadership of a computer scientist from Germany, the company is making progress toward a universal translation tool. From Cracked.com, Chris Bucholz on 6 ways smart technology has made things dumber, and on 5 crazily primitive ways we use advanced technology.
