I’m Dan Lyons, the new editor-in-chief of ReadWrite, and today we are relaunching the legendary ReadWriteWeb tech site with a new name, a new design and a new approach.
Tag Archives: Op-Ed
Russia’s New Censorship Law Diminishes the Entire Internet
Russia’s new Web blacklist is only the most recent of an alarming series of authoritarian moves to muzzle networked communications. National governments bent on censorship are eating away at the global, public Internet.
The Web vs. the Cloud: Which Metaphor Survives?
Ask yourself this: Would you install ReadWriteWeb as an app? You might, if you were convinced that it did something useful for you, and if you didn’t have to pay much (or anything) for it. You may already have installed Dropbox, and services like Pinterest and LinkedIn are now smartphone apps. Can you foresee a time when you won’t need a browser to…
The CISPA Amendments We Really Need
The goal of CISPA, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act – the latest cybersecurity legislation pending in the House of Representatives – seemed so simple in the beginning: From time to time, security companies need to provide information about possible threats to government authorities so they can take action. When you write…
Jack Tramiel Remembered: The Legacy of the Commodore Founder and PC Pioneer
Quite a few people have been retroactively credited with the invention of the personal computer. One man who never claimed credit himself, but who would certainly be listed among Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Clive Sinclair, Adam Osborne, and John Roach as original creators of the personal computer industry is Jack Tramiel – who passed away today at…
The Cloud Can Never Be Personal Enough
Facebook says its Timeline “tells the story of who you are.” That’s lofty wording. It assumes that you share “who you are” on Facebook. It also assumes you share enough of yourself to make Facebook Timeline “the” definitive “story” about you. Similarly, Path version 2 calls itself a “journal.”
While both these apps are ostensibly for sharing…
I Quit Path
There are too many apps. “There’s an app for that” has passed the point of cliché and become some strange kind of axiom. Path is the perfect example. We have an app for staying in touch with friends: Facebook. We have an app for sharing pretty photos: Instagram. We have an app for checking into places: Foursquare. We have approximately 9,182…
Why Politics and Social Networks Shouldn’t Mix
You have a friend on Facebook who posts non-stop about all things politics. This friend is either a die-hard progressive, a staunch Republican or a total schizophrenic mixed bag who only posts outrageous political commentary to piss off other users.
With the Republican primaries in full swing, you may see more political-minded posts tend to…
Introducing Your Hyperconnected Online-Offline Identity
Yesterday we wrote about the positive and negative consequences of living a hyperconnected life. One becomes more accustomed to multitasking, shuffling through personal and work-related tasks, and a heightened ability to pick out nuggets of information that are actually useful. On the downside, one can become obsessed with the Internet, and find…
Introducing Your Hyperconnected Online-Offline Identity
Yesterday we wrote about the positive and negative consequences of living a hyperconnected life. One becomes more accustomed to multitasking, shuffling through personal and work-related tasks, and a heightened ability to pick out nuggets of information that are actually useful. On the downside, one can become obsessed with the Internet, and find themselves feeling sad […]
Where Google & Others Crossed the Line on Safari Privacy
Last week’s online privacy fracas-of-the-week was about the revelation that Google (and other advertisers) had learned to circumvent Safari’s settings to let third-party cookies track users more easily. Apple’s browser’s default setting messes with the way advertisers track users.
The gist is this: Cookies are set by the site you’re on, but some…
The App Store Is A Republic
It comes down to this fundamental question: How much responsibility do you want for the workings of your device? The religious divide between iOS and Android hinges on this point. There are nerds – and I always use the term affectionately – whose nerdliness depends upon that responsibility. Without it, they feel no control over their computer…
Did the French Govt. Ask Twitter to Suspend Satirical Accounts?
The morning after French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced he will run for a second term, several parodic Twitter accounts have mysteriously been suspended.
@_nicolassarkozy , an account created in September 2010 and clearly labeled as a satirical Sarkozy impersonation, was suspended on Feburary 16th.
Everybody is Lying to Me and I Don’t Care
Why do I feel like everybody is lying to me all the time? I cannot get around the idea that every technology company with a major platform is doing everything it possibly can to get as much data from me as it possibly can through any means necessary. No barriers go un-trampled in the quest to track me, cookie me and use my personal information to…
Give Google Some Credit
Google’s having a down moment in the press. It can’t catch a break. Every public, top-level decision it’s made recently is either the end of “Don’t Be Evil” or impossibly optimistic. After all, “Giant Company Falls From Grace” is the kind of headline industry reporters dream of writing, so we pounce on any scrap of evidence.
But lord knows tech…
Location, Location, Location: You Don’t Need to Know Mine
When I read Jon Mitchell’s post on Glassmap, my first thought was, “Who in God’s name would want anyone, even friends, knowing where they were all the time?” I wondered if this were a generational thing and to some degree, it probably is. But there’s something more.
My life is interesting enough, even in its dull patches, that I would be…
A Proposal to Fix Online Identity
Facebook’s social graph of you isn’t you. It’s an approximation and an extrapolation based on little clues you’ve left lying around the Web. Using your Facebook or Google identity gives those services more data points about what you do, but that doesn’t mean it substitutes for who you are.
The central thing wrong with the social Web is that…
A Proposal to Fix Online Identity
Facebook’s social graph of you isn’t you. It’s an approximation and an extrapolation based on little clues you’ve left lying around the Web. Using your Facebook or Google identity gives those services more data points about what you do, but that doesn’t mean it substitutes for who you are.
The central thing wrong with the social Web is that…
Stop Saying “Finally”
FIIIINALLY! Google released a Chrome beta for Android! GODDDDD. What took them so long? All the Ice Cream Sandwich users have been waiting, like, FOREVER!
Finally, Tweetbot for iPad came out. I’ve only been asking them for, like, EIGHT MONTHS! Jeez.
Apple fiiiinally released iTunes Match after a whole month, and it didn’t even work right!
Listen…
Stop Saying “Finally”
FIIIINALLY!Google released a Chrome beta for Android! GODDDDD. What took them so long? All the Ice Cream Sandwich users have been waiting, like, FOREVER! Finally,Tweetbot for iPad came out. I’ve only been asking them for, like, EIGHT MONTHS! Jeez. Apple fiiiinallyreleased iTunes Match after a whole month, and it didn’t even work right! Listen to […]