Good points about figuring out what you’re signing onto with online services’ privacy policies. The author asks who is offering the service, what information do they collect, and what do they share. I like how she wants her kids to think about these things, good critical thinking for information literacy. Why I make my kids read privacy policies ... continue reading

This is a great project, documenting people’s dreams from many different places. What People Around the World Dream About ... continue reading

This report from the World Economic Forum looks at policy with respect to disruption and innovation. I haven’t read all of it yet but so far I find it clear they way they set about discussing innovation from incremental and transformative perspectives, and are conscientious about the context of the whole ecosystem. Dealing with Disruption Clearing Pathways for Entrepreneurial Innovation ... continue reading

Librarians Versus the NSA ... continue reading

Neat thinking here about humor as freedom’s highest expression. Charlie Hebdo to Kant, and then some. [Readings] | The Joke, by Justin E.H. Smith | Harper’s Magazine ... continue reading

This is a pretty interesting study on how to make a widespread major change. Rather than trying to go directly and get everyone to change their diets, this group started strategically changing the way food producers, marketers, etc. made and sold food, among many other changes. In the end, all of the peripheral changes added up to an entire overhaul of the population’s eating and living habits, without the pe ... continue reading

Discussions like this, yesterday at supper, make It clear that my son is my son. Parent: So, you were playing with Juliette at daycare today? Child: Yeah. Parent: What were you doing? Child: We found a dead unicorn. And we put it in a box so that it will never live again. ... continue reading

How a paywall prevented research from spreading in Liberia that could have helped prevent the outbreak. Don’t Think Open Access Is Important? It Might Have Prevented Much Of The Ebola Outbreak | Techdirt ... continue reading

Can we harness telepathy for moral good? –“ Kat McGowan –“ Aeon ... continue reading

Real, long-term thinking. I especially like the part about jumping into the umbilical cord to a baby universe. How to save the Universe from certain death –“ Michael Hanlon –“ Aeon ... continue reading

Google is changing, which isn’t surprising. Fine, but this is a good reminder why it’s a bad idea to think that a corporation, where ultimately the goal is to make an ever increasing profit, shouldn’t be sole or even primary source for ensuring very long term archival and preservation of information. We need other entities that focus on that goal to serve that role. Never trust a corporation to ... continue reading

My four-year old recently told me that Schubert was just for babies (he also lumped Thelonious Monk into this category). Now at his ripe age, he refuses to listen to anything but Beethoven, Jingle Bells, and Patti Smith. If I thought he’d pay attention, I’d read him this article. The Magic in Schubert’s Songs by Ian Bostridge ... continue reading

A detailed look at two very different understandings of the Bhagavad Gita and how those influenced history. War and Peace in the Bhagavad Gita by Wendy Doniger ... continue reading