Category: Communication Technology

Book review of The BBC: A Century on Air, by David Hendy

Technology has always been about more than simply a route to increased productivity and economic growth; technology also provides the opportunity to enhance, enrich, and empower—basically, to improve shared qualitative values or people’s quality of life (however that is measured). On the flip side, technology also provides the opportunity to develop and project organizational control, which itself can be weaponized to quantitatively determine human value as an asset to that organization, or to reinforce asymmetric power relationships.

The book documents Limbaugh’s formative role in turning an old technology into an instrument of power that transformed the Republican Party and political discourse in the United States. The talk-radio host proved to be a success as both a propagandist and a ratings builder. Station owners were quick to join his syndicated network and to hire personalities who combined Limbaugh’s smooth delivery, ability to empathize with his audience, biting humor, and relentless attack on all things liberal—real or imagined. Profit mattered but winning the “culture war” counted for as much if not more than Rosenwald cares to consider.

Hackathons and other well-intentioned efforts to solve social problems using technology must also include the meaningful participation of affected individuals…  Read More

It is time to move beyond handwringing and nostalgia over our vanished American journalism past. While market forces will sustain some forms of serious reportage, evidence is mounting that creators of journalism in the public interest can’t innovate their way out of a deepening technological crisis.

Does access to science communication inevitably lead to greater public understanding of science, its discoveries, and their impact? Does access to online data sets inevitably lead to full comprehension of available information by scientists?

Orman poses “information overload” as a paradox and gives us three mechanisms through which such paradox arises. The paradox is that technologies help us know more, but in the process, we know less.

Information generated on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, and Instagram are fast becoming powerful and ubiquitous new sources of time-critical data needed to aid decision making during extreme weather events and emergency situations.

Cybersecurity expert Yan Shoshitaishvili joins Heather Ross to talk about the cybersecurity and social implications of the FCC’s December 2017…  Read More

Technology has helped to improve my life in many ways. Talking products such as alarm clocks, thermometers, scales, caller ID,…  Read More

In the wake of crisis situations that can bring tragedy through the loss of human life, or the devastating destruction…  Read More

Building on how the communications revolution could transform the lives of hundreds of millions of farmers in developing countries is…  Read More

Social media, driven by the explosive uptake of mobile computing, has caused a systematic shift in the structure of personal…  Read More

Social capital has been defined by Ostrom and Ahn [1] as “an attribute of individuals that enhances their ability to…  Read More

Probing the Sky with Radio Waves: From Wireless Technology to the Development of Atmospheric Science. By Chen-Pang Yeang. Chicago, IL:…  Read More