Celebrate the freedom to read – Banned Books Week – Sep 30 – Oct 6

  Everyday in America someone tries to ban a book. The American Library Association reports 326 challenges in 2011. A challenge is more than a person being annoyed with a book, it is a person telling the library they don’t want anyone else to read the book. That is censorship in its most basic form. …

Next Apple event for iPhone 5 set for September 12 – maybe also for iPad mini

iMore has learned that Apple is planning to debut the new iPhone at a special event on Wednesday, September 12, 2012, with the release date to follow 9 days later on Friday, September 21. This information comes from sources who have proven accurate in the past. The iPad mini will be announced at the same September 12 event, as …

Ai WeiWei reviews London’s opening ceremony for 2012 Olympics – criticizes Beijing’s

Brilliant. It was very, very well done. This was about Great Britain; it didn’t pretend it was trying to have global appeal. Because Great Britain has self-confidence, it doesn’t need a monumental Olympics. But for China that was the only imaginable kind of international event. Beijing’s Olympics were very grand – they were trying to throw a party …

Simple summaries of the Affordable Care Act – aka Obamacare

A final summary of the major changes under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) (aka Obamacare): – Kids can continue to be covered by their parents’ health insurance until they’re 26. – Insurers cannot impose an unreasonable premium increase without justification (generally anything less than 10% is ok). – Insurers have to tell customers …

Google takes a big step towards becoming a (smart) encyclopedia – look out Wikipedia!

“We’re in the early phases of moving from being an information engine to a knowledge engine” – Google That’s a quote from the video below where Google explains a new panel they are adding to search. Called the ‘knowledge graph’ it is basically a mini-encyclopedia. See the panels in the images below.     This …

How I Redefined "Man" For The World (Wikipedia's Battle for Diversity – Part II)

For more than two years, if you visited the Man page in Wikipedia, you would have found the following section outlining (7) characteristics of masculinity in general culture…

How I Redefined “Man” For The World (Wikipedia’s Battle for Diversity – Part II)

For more than two years, if you visited the Man page in Wikipedia, you would have found the following section outlining (7) characteristics of masculinity in general culture…

Reflections from the 1st Chief Information Officer of the USA

“Last Friday was my last day at the White House. As I begin my fellowship at Harvard University, I’d like to share my reflections on public service…” So begins, Vivek’s 12-page summary of his time in the Obama administration (the full version can be found via Alex Howard’s GovFresh piece). I’ve been a big fan of …