Visualization and Dominant Perspectives?

Posted on
This article “What can data visualization learn from feminism?” brings up great points on the “view” of data–it’s not without some sort of perspective. This also reminds me of what is sometimes raised in discussion of archives–dominant or privileged perspectives tend to be what we see and it takes effort to go beyond that (like this example of decolonizing Canadian archives ... continue reading

Current German Philosophy and its Popularity

Posted on
Quite a read on the Financial Post about the present state of German philosophy. It tends to present a drive to make philosophy popularly accessed as problematic to profundity. In the end, the article offers examples showing that commercial success doesn’t necessarily indicate a lack of profundity. I tend to think there is room for both. We need much more of a general drive for people to want to think critica ... continue reading

The Typewriter As a Drawing Tool

Posted on
This person, Keira Rathbone, creates some really impressive art using a typewriter. The video shows her rolling the paper back-and-forth while striking keys harder or softer to create different layers of subtlety. The end results look a little like a cross between computer-made ASCII art and a hand-drawn sketch. ... continue reading

Humanities Disciplines and High-tech

Posted on
Techniques and rigour in thinking as well as a more interconnected approach toward understanding humanity remains necessary in high-tech. Simple, good read from the Harvard Business Review. I like this sentiment from the article “We should be careful not to let interdisciplinary jockeying make us cling to what we know best.” ... continue reading

Vigilance: World Press Freedom Day

Posted on
We need to always be vigilant for even the smallest restrictions or alterations to our freedom of expression and our essential rights. If we lapse we lose because hard-won successes in creating a good society don’t automatically remain. Without constant vigilance and maintenance our rights will erode, somewhat like our physical surroundings over time. Except, here we must be vigilant to those people that woul ... continue reading

Logic Gets its Due in Computing History

Posted on
I remember thinking, when studying formal logic in my undergrad philosophy courses, that computer programming was essentially just another flavour of it. Since then, whenever I’ve read articles about the history of computing, I wonder why they invariably neglect to mention its crucial and rich philosophical origins. That’s what I love about this article in the Atlantic. I feel like it nails much of what ... continue reading

Typology

Posted on
Read Richard Polt’s Typology; A Phenomenology of Early Typewriters This is a super article on the phenomenology of typewriters. It looks at the evolution of the machine’s design and the way our world breaks down now with the passing of typing (on the typewriter). ... continue reading

The Canadian Library Association has posted its new statement on intellectual freedom http://bit.ly/…

Posted on
The Canadian Library Association has posted its new statement on intellectual freedom http://bit.ly/1My5mZd (PDF). I like how they've approached the issue, stating: ".. the Canadian Library Association affirms that all persons in Canada have a fundamental right, subject only to the Constitution and the law, to have access to the full range of knowledge, imagination, ideas, and opinion, and to express thei ... continue reading