Spicy Snacks are little bits and bites for people that are into education, parenting, or technology. Enjoy!
Spicy Intro:
So, the term “snack” is actually a misnomer this week. I’m about to put some stuff on the table that is less like cracking into a couple of Doritos and more like eating the whole bag. The kind of stuff that sits in your stomach, rolling around, infusing your insides with feelings that, in the tamest terms, can be described as confusing.
I continue to ask myself: knowing what we now know about the unintended consequences that have transpired due to data-driven technologies, how can I still love it as much as I do? Well, first of all, love is the wrong word. Secondly, maybe I’m fascinated because it feels more and more like we are all living in a bizarre season of Black Mirror which needs to be binge-watched to the end. Lastly, I believe it’s vital that we not forsake our collective agency in making this digitally mediated world one which favours the public interest over the corporate one.
Spicy Listen:
The Agenda welcomes Ramesh Srinivasan, the founder of the University of California’s Digital Cultures Lab, to discuss his book, Whose Global Village? Rethinking How Technology Shapes Our World.
Spicy Read:
The tech industry is no longer the passion play of a bunch of geeks trying to do cool s*** in the world. It’s now the foundation of our democracy, economy, an information landscape.
From Your Data is Being Manipulated, by the venerable danah boyd.
Spicy Video:
Somehow, a tool that started off as a way to get American college kids to socialize online has turned into possibly the most powerful media platform in history. We should be worried about it. Here’s one reason why:
Spicy Tech:
Data breaches are, unfortunately, our new reality. All of the tech companies we sign our info over to hold our data in big black boxes and they’re clumsy at the best of times at keeping it a secret, most likely due to a stunning lack of accountability to its users (reminder: we are the product, not the customer). So, it’s important to know when your data has been breached. 1Password, my long-time preferred password manager has a great inbuilt system which alerts you of known breaches, but you can also subscribe to the free Have I Been Pwned, which will send you an email every time your data is likely to have been compromised.
Also published on Medium.
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