Society Meets Social Media: Canaries at the Coal Face of the Internet

30 Jul 2015

Society Meets Social Media: Canaries at the Coal Face of the Internet

2015-07-30
William Dutton
Blog

Bill Dutton gave a keynote presentation for Social Media & Society 2015, an international conference held 27-29 July 2015 at the Rogers School of Management at Reyerson University, Toronto, Canada. An abstract, and links to the powerpoint and video of the talk are posted here. Abstract Legal and regulatory initiatives shaped by moral panics over social media are a microcosm of many general threats to the vitality of a free, open and global Internet. The belief is widespread that social media and related Internet developments are unstoppable and beyond the control of governments and regulators across the world. However, initiatives […]

25 Jul 2015

NYT Buries Lead, Muddies Water on EMF Health Issue

As I explained in an earlier blog post, I believe potential risks associated with our ever-more-intensive use of wireless devices, and the expanding body of research suggesting such risks do exist, are being unwisely ignored in our rush to enjoy the benefits of these technologies. As that earlier post suggested, I see a need for: 1) A much-expanded program of research focused on understanding and mitigating EMF-related health risks, especially for vulnerable populations; 2) A fact-based and respectful discussion of research and public policy issues related to such risks. Given my interest in this subject, I thought I might learn […]

15 Jul 2015

Speech Recognition Reassessed by A. Michael Noll

2015-07-15
William Dutton
Blog

Speech Recognition Reassessed A. Michael Noll © 2015 AMN My new Garmin GPS navigation unit has made me reassess my previously negative opinion of automatic speech recognition. I am now impressed. But it has taken many decades for me to change my mind. Back in the 1960s, when I was working in speech research at Bell Labs, speech recognition was in its infancy. Not only was the performance not very good, but also the applications were challenging to identify. A keyboard and knobs were far easier to use. Speech recognition a half-century ago required the largest computers that were then […]

14 Jul 2015

How Far Can Rocket Fiber Fly Into Detroit’s Neighborhoods? by Mitch Shapiro and Bill Dutton

2015-07-14
William Dutton
Blog

The 2015 launch of Rocket Fiber is poised to add super-fast Internet connectivity to the expanding arsenal of revitalization tools available in Detroit, starting with the city’s downtown central business district, followed by neighboring areas such as Midtown and Corktown. This is an important and exciting development likely to begin reaping benefits in these areas over the next few years. One of the more challenging sets of questions facing Rocket Fiber–and virtually every effort to revitalize Detroit–is whether and how the city’s rising tide of investment can positively impact those households and businesses most distant—both physically and economically– from the […]

24 Jun 2015

CHARGING ALONG: TOO MANY RECHARGERS by A. Michael Noll

2015-06-24
William Dutton
Blog

CHARGING ALONG: TOO MANY RECHARGERS A. Michael Noll June 22, 2015 © 2015 AMN It seems everything we have today – smart phones, cell phones, tablets, computers, watches, toothbrushes, cameras, vacuum cleaners – have batteries that need to be recharged. I have so many chargers all over the house – and many stored away — that I no longer remember what each charges. The chargers are also know as power supplies. But by any name, they seem to proliferate on their own – as do the appliances that require them. Good old-fashioned batteries are used less and less. Even many […]

13 Jun 2015

Anatomy of the FCC’s Network Neutrality Rules, a Webcast by Adam Candeub

2015-06-13
William Dutton
Blog

This Webcast is from a Quello Center seminar conducted by Adam Candeub, MSU Law Faculty and Co-Principal Investigator of the Network Neutrality Impact Study. Professor Candeub provides his preliminary views on the details of the FCC’s network neutrality rules. The title of the seminar was Anatomy of the FCC’s Network Neutrality Rules, by Adam Candeub @ Quello Center, which was held on 18 May 2015. Protecting and Promoting an Open Internet by Adam Candeub from Quello Center on Vimeo. The FCC approved Chairman Tom Wheeler’s network neutrality proposal on 26 February 2015. The 3-2 vote for approval has been called […]

01 Jun 2015

UNESCO Internet Study Panel at World Summit for the Information Society 2015

2015-06-01
William Dutton
Blog

I had the pleasure of contributing to a panel at WSIS 2015 that focused on UNESCO’s Internet Study, and the report entitled ‘Keystones to Foster Inclusive Knowledge Societies’. My team at the Quello team, including Frank Hangler, supported the drafting of this report. The final version of that report should be available online very soon. The panel was organised for the C9 Action Line of the WSIS Forum 2015, held on 28 May 2015 in Geneva. UNESCO’s summary of the discussion was on target, noting that: “… free, independent and pluralistic media online and offline serve as a basis to […]

27 May 2015

The Rush to “Smart” Meters: Maybe Not So Smart?

In a recent blog post I discussed a critique of today’s “smart meters” that focused on the technology’s shortcomings as a step toward creating a “smart grid” that reduces climate change risks and other negative impacts associated with our current carbon-intensive energy systems. In another recent post I discussed the need for more research on EMF health effects. In this post I’m going to revisit the subject of smart meters from a perspective informed by both of those prior posts. One of my goals is to use smart meters as a specific example of how, when making decisions about large-scale technology […]

25 May 2015

EMF Health Impacts: More Research Needed

I’ve long been an enthusiastic supporter of using information and communication technology to support healthcare, education and political and economic empowerment. My interest dates back to 1982, when I wrote a graduate school paper entitled The Human Development Network. At that time, cable TV and desktop PCs were the new technologies of the day, the first brick-sized portable cellphones had yet to hit the market, and the closest thing to smartphones and “wearables” were found in the fictional worlds of Star Trek and Dick Tracy. Given my longstanding interest in beneficial uses of technology, it’s exciting to see today’s explosion […]

23 May 2015

Email Stamps: A Way to Control Spam by A. Michael Noll

2015-05-23
William Dutton
Blog

There is a possible economic solution to spam, which is to make email more like postal mail. Postal mail requires a stamp – email should require a fee paid by the sender, in effect, an email stamp. With postal mail, the charges to deliver are collected by the Postal Service. For email, I propose that the recipients would collect the fees paid by the senders. If postal mail were free, then other than printing there would be no other cost to mailing out vast amounts of junk mail. The requirement for a stamp – even if at a bulk rate […]

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