Category: Big Picture
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Why Varoufakis’ “Democracy In Europe Movement” (Diem 25) Matters
Earlier today, former Greek finance minister, economics professor and self-described “erratic Marxist” Yanis Varoufakis launched his long-awaited new political movement in Berlin, Germany. It calls itself “Democracy in Europe Movement“, aka Diem 25. This is rather significant, and I get to why in a second. But first I want to talk about why it looks…
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Responding to Ben Werdmuller: Open issues: lessons learned building an open source business
Ben Werdmuller posted a great, detailed essay on his experiences building the Known open-source, personal publishing application and turning it into a profitable business, and then asks some tough questions about the viability of open-source as a business. What a read for a Saturday! The entire essay is excellent; I’m sure he rewrote it many…
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The Internet of Things may not exist (yet)
“Have you seenthe IoT?” The Internet of Things is supposedly the hottest growth sector in technology since the social media craze. So if you visit one of the few conferences dedicated to the IoT, what would you expect to see? I’d expect something like Java One back in the late ’90s. Tons of people. Tons…
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Bye, bye, Spotify! It was nice while it lasted
I have been a Spotify user for years. They don’t offer all the world’s music, but it is close. Recordings that I never would have bought, and so I never would have heard, just a click away. Absolutely amazing. World-altering, for music lovers. Now I’m leaving. Why? Because not even the NSA is accused of…
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Drowning in unmanaged personal data
I don’t know what changed, but in recent months, I’ve started to feel overwhelmed by the amount of personal data that I have an interest in, that I’d like to keep, and that is entirely unmanaged by either me or anybody else. Here are some examples. Note they are “non-traditional” personal data in the sense…