January 2005 – MichaelZimmer.org

More “friendly” search engines…

Posted by Michael Zimmeron January 31, 2005in Search Engines, Values In Design

(via John Battelle's Searchbog) Craig Silverstein, Google's technology officer, asks how your search engine can become more like your friend:It's clear that a list of links, though very useful, doesn't match the way people give information to each other," says…

Submission to “Science and Technology in Society” Conference

Posted by Michael Zimmeron January 31, 2005in Events, Mobility, Privacy, Values In Design2 Comments

I've made the following submission to the Science and Technology in Society conference sponsored by the School of Public Policy at George Mason University, The Center for International Science and Technology Policy at George Washington University, the Science and Technology…

iPod therefore iAm

Posted by Michael Zimmeron January 31, 2005in Personal Tech, Values In Design

Wired News writes about Prof. Markus Giesler's ethnographic study of iPod users called "iPod Therefore iAm." Giesler uncovers the formation of a new "cyborg consumer":According to Giesler's preliminary research, the iPod isn't simply an updated Walkman. It's an entirely new…

No Place to Hide

Posted by Michael Zimmeron January 30, 2005in Information Law & Policy, Privacy

(Via Privacy Digest) The New York Times reviews Robert O'Harrow's new book No Place to Hide: Behind the Scenes of Our Emerging Surveillance Society:...Mr. O'Harrow provides in these pages an authoritative and vivid account of the emergence of a "security-industrial…

Seeking Better Web Searches

Posted by Michael Zimmeron January 30, 2005in Search Engines, Values In Design

Scientific American is seeking better Web searches. They report on all sorts of innovations happening outside the Google-Yahoo-MSN zone that the press is usually reporting on, including GPS-enhanced searches from University of Maryland, Shape Retrieval and Analysis from Princeton, musical…

Tool for Thought

Posted by Michael Zimmeron January 30, 2005in Values In Design

Steven Johnson writes a fascinating essay in the NY Times Sunday Book Review on the tool he uses for organizing and collecting thoughts - a wonderful example of an innovative information interface. Consider how I used the tool in writing…

What Contracts Can’t Do: The Limits of Private Ordering in Facilitating a Creative Commons

Posted by Michael Zimmeron January 28, 2005in Information Law & Policy, Privacy

Today I attended the latest Colloquium on Information Technology & Society hosted by the Information Law Institute (of which I'm a Student Fellow), at New York University School of Law. Professor Niva Elkin-Koren of Haifa University Law School gave an…

Workshop Values in Computer Design and Information System Design

Posted by Michael Zimmeron January 25, 2005in Events, Values In Design

I've been accepted as a Graduate Fellow to the Values in Computer Design and Information System Design workshop hosted by the Center for Science, Technology & Society at Santa Clara University. It should prove to be an ecxellent opportunity to…

The Age of Egocasting

Posted by Michael Zimmeron January 24, 2005in Personal Tech, Values In Design

Christine Rosen's article "The Age of Egocasting" in the latest The New Atlantis provides needed insight on the impact of new technology (such as TiVo & iPod) on our desire to feel "in control" of the media that we experience.…

Technopolis

Posted by Michael Zimmeron January 19, 2005in Social Media, Values In Design

Just came across Langdon Winner's blog, Technopolis: Technopolis, a weblog by Langdon Winner, offers occasional reflections on historical, philosophical, and contemporary questions that involve the perplexing intersection of human ends and means.