Where were you when you heard the news? That the white smoke had been sighted over the Sistine Chapel. That the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica rang out, to be joined by other chapel bells around Rome. When Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, of the Jesuit order, greeted the gathered masses and begin his life as Pope […]
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Once upon a time, when Web 2.0 was new, there was an online platform that people could use to share videos they made of their cats playing piano, their children reacting to dentists’ drugs, and their renditions of the history of dance. And that platform was good, as it gave anyone the chance to have their 15 seconds of fame […]
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As a society, as a civilization, even as a species, we like to celebrate success. With the Summer Olympics under way in Ye Olde London Towne, we have one of the great examples of how much we humans celebrate success. We give people medals, trophies, money, cereal endorsements, all for outrunning, outgunning, outswimming, outsynchronizing their rivals. We are surrounded by […]
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We often hear how the Internet and the World Wide Web were founded on, and should promote, the fundamental tenets of democracy. These technologies should be held as virtual spaces for open public discourse, to encourage conversation and innovation, and to promote the ideals of equality and fraternity around the globe. Being structured and lauded as open spaces, with no […]
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