A nation of sheep
TL;DR #168 – 10/06/2018

TL;DR is a weekly review of things that I think you should be reading. A primer of some of the cool things that happened…but you may have missed.

This week I posted the following:

• Child-computer interactions in early childhood – I have a piece coming out soon looking at tech use with infants, toddlers, & young children. As such, I’m starting the process of peeling back the layers on that onion.
• Screentime guidelines for children & adolescents – This post extends on the earlier piece by talking specifically about how screens may play a role in the lives of our children.

How to break your social media addiction (10:31)

Thomas Frank with some practical tips for using social media responsibly – and breaking your addiction.

A quick question for all TL;DR readers…what connections do you see between behaviorist philosophies and social media and other digital tools? I’m working on a writing/research project and would love your thoughts.

How algorithms reproduce social and racial inequality

Chauncey DeVega in Salon indicating that the algorithms that guide our social media feeds may not only be designed to keep us clicking, scrolling, and sharing. They may be keeping the powerful powerful.

Technology is not neutral. How it is used and for what ends reflects the social norms and values of a given culture. As such, in the United States and around the world, algorithms and other types of artificial intelligence often reproduce social inequality and serve the interests of the powerful — instead of being a way of creating a more equal, free and just social democracy.

Introducing the Internet Bill of Rights

Kara Swisher in the NY Times with an overview and critique of the “overarching values” for the use of the Internet as developed by Ro Khana.

Set of Principles for an Internet Bill of Rights

The internet age and digital revolution have changed Americans’ way of life. As our lives and the U.S. economy are more tied to the internet, it is essential to provide Americans with basic protections online.

You should have the right:

1. to have access to and knowledge of all collection and uses of
   personal data by companies;
2. to opt-in consent to the collection of personal data by any
   party and to the sharing of personal data with a third party;
3. where context appropriate and with a fair process, to obtain,
   correct or delete personal data controlled by any company and to
   have those requests honored by third parties;
4. to have personal data secured and to be notified in a timely
   manner when a security breach or unauthorized access of personal
   data is discovered;
5. to move all personal data from one network to the next;
6. to access and use the internet without internet service
   providers blocking, throttling, engaging in paid prioritization or
   otherwise unfairly favoring content, applications, services or
   devices;
7. to internet service without the collection of data that is
   unnecessary for providing the requested service absent opt-in
   consent;
8. to have access to multiple viable, affordable internet
   platforms, services and providers with clear and transparent
   pricing;
9. not to be unfairly discriminated against or exploited based on
   your personal data; and
10. to have an entity that collects your personal data have
    reasonable business practices and accountability to protect your
    privacy.

Police-grade surveillance technology comes to the playground

Schools are increasingly looking for ways to secure their campuses while not making the school look like a prison encampment.

One recent response is to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to outfit campuses with high-tech surveillance, crisis response teams, and police technologies. This raises questions about where the funds come to pay for these solutions…as well as whether or not they infringe on individual liberties and freedoms.

Professor creates climate data visualization tool that can reveal changes in atmosphere in real time

I’ve shared the climate visualization tool Earth.nullschool.net in earlier issues of TL;DR.

PolarGlobe is a large-scale, web-based four-dimensional visualization tool allowing climate data access to anyone with an internet connection. It’s capable of illustrating changes in the atmosphere vividly in real time.

Designed specifically for polar scientists seeking to understand the ice caps, the tool is also useful for high school science teachers and weather fanatics.

Humans can’t control anything – except our own happiness

John Sellars in Quartz with some guidance from Stoic philosophies as we think about happiness, and our response to daily events.

The paradox of Stoicism, as Epictetus formulates it, is that we have almost no control over anything, yet at the same time we have potentially complete control over our happiness.

Setting up your tech on the assumption that you’ll be hacked

Sheera Frenkel writes about cybersecurity for the NY Times. In this post she discusses the tools and tactics she uses to make sure she is protected. I like this post because it provides a real-world framing of how to be secure…and still live your life.

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.

Buddha

TL;DR is a summary of all the great stuff from the Internet this week in technology, education, & literacy. Please subscribe to make sure this comes to your inbox each week. You can review archives of the newsletter here.

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