From Edge, Charles Leadbeater on cloud culture: The promise and the threat. What’s more dangerous on the Web, hackers or hacks? Here are 20 things you didn't know about computer hacking. From Monty Python to mass-mailing misery, New Scientist charts the unstoppable rise of spam (and more). A look at the world’s top 10 spammers. Simon Cox on how he helped nail the "manhood" spammer. David Bollier on protecting and enlarging the Digital Republic. A review of Fatal System Error: The Hunt for the New Crime Lords Who Are Bringing Down the Internet by Joseph Menn. While we are building identity in social networks, our online behavior generates a plenitude of information, meanings and content that constitutes a "cognitive surplus" generated by the "hive mind". Our digitally undying memories: The Internet never forgets, and that's not necessarily good for us. Google Buzz raised hackles over privacy concerns, but it should also make us consider how omnipresent Google is becoming. From Wired, a look at how Google’s algorithm rules the Web. An article on the (good and bad) future of the Internet — and will the Internet make us stupider? Two futures of the internet: Will the future be cyber-attacks and an uneasy balance of terror or cultural collaboration hosted by Google's servers? How dictators watch us on the web: The internet is meant to help activists, enable democratic protest and weaken the grip of authoritarian regimes, but it doesn’t — in fact, the web is a boon for bullies. Will the real Chinese Internet please stand up? It's fashionable to hold up the Internet as the road to democracy and liberty in countries like Iran, but it can also be a very effective tool for quashing freedom. Making the Web safe for democracy: Daniel Calingaert on what the United States can and should do to spread Internet freedom.
