Getting back to writing after a bit of travels, I report today from the beautiful campus of Santa Clara University in the silicon valley. I’m here attending a small conference/meeting on Theology and Communications: In Dialogue being held by the Pontifical Council on Social Communication, in conjunction with the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. It has been a collegial and thought provoking meeting, with lots of talks and conversation.
Institutional Trust and Silencing a 9-Year-Old Girl
Happy Father’s Day, belatedly! My parents and in-laws were in town this weekend, so I was not able to finish this post on time. But here it is, hopefully still of interest.
Over the course of Friday, we saw an interesting story unfold about an Scottish food blog written by primary school student. John Russell at The Next Web (UK: Local Authorities Silence 9-Year-Old Girl Behind School Lunch Blog) writes:
A nine-year-old British school girl has had her popular blog about school food closed by a local council. Martha Payne, a primary school student in Western Scotland, began posting photos of her school dinners with commentary in May and today ‘Never Seconds‘ passed more than 2 million page views.
Posted by Jim Caccamo on June 18, 2012
https://rewiringvirtue.com/2012/06/18/uk-local-authorities-silence-9-year-old-girl-behind-school-lunch-blog/
Rodney King In Life
It has been reported widely that Rodney King was found dead yesterday at the bottom of his pool. For those of us over in our early forties, the video of Rodney King being beaten literally senseless by police officers in Los Angeles will stand as one of the truly brutal and horrifying media experiences of our lives. But it was also one of the first of what we now call “viral videos”. Before YouTube, before the web, the Rodney King video was everywhere. Everyone had seen it. And because it was shot by a bystander, it it was also one of the first major events of citizen journalism of the digital era.
Posted by Jim Caccamo on June 18, 2012
https://rewiringvirtue.com/2012/06/18/rodney-king-in-life/
“Leave a Beautiful Hologram” Alone
I’ve been away for a few days at a conference, so haven’t written muhc. This bit by Nicholas Carr at Rough Type (Live fast, die young and leave a beautiful hologram) disturbed me enough to get me back to the keyboard. Sounds like the estate of quite a few deceased entertainers are arranging to have their loved ones appear in front of new crowds using digital hologram technology.
Posted by Jim Caccamo on June 13, 2012
https://rewiringvirtue.com/2012/06/13/leave-a-beautiful-hologram-alone/
Next Steps In Net Neutrality
The issue of net neutrality—the idea that internet service providers should not be able to prioritize particular particular sources or types of data—has been pretty contentious for quite some time. ISPs like Verizon say it is necessary to prioritize data in order to be sure systems function properly: you don’t want streaming movies to crowd out first responder or military data. Others suggests that if allowed, companies like Comcast that both provide service and content offer faster service when using their own content, but limit bandwidth when people try to, say, stream content from other creators. The FCC put in some rules, but the telecoms sued, and they will probably be overturned.
Hillicon Valley has reported that the FCC has now created the Open Internet Advisory Committee to try to come up with some middle-ground interpretation policies for the current FCC net neutrality rules.
Posted by Jim Caccamo on June 8, 2012
https://rewiringvirtue.com/2012/06/08/next-steps-in-net-neutrality/
Preserving the Dignity of Death in the Digital Age
Technology develops quickly, but law evolves to meet it at a much slower rate. Megan Guess at Ars Technica reported on an important recognition of the way that the internet’s viral power may very well compromise one of our dearest legal and moral protections.
On Wednesday, Ninth Circuit judge Alex Kozinski ruled that San Diego County, Coulter’s employer, violated Brenda Marsh’s due process constitutional rights when Coulter made photocopies of 16 images in her son’s autopsy reports for himself and later gave them out to a newspaper and TV station. While many states and counties have laws forbidding the dissemination of death-scene images unless the photos are given out by family members, this ruling is the first that says it is also a constitutional right for family members to be able to protect their privacy after a loved one’s death.
Posted by Jim Caccamo on June 7, 2012
https://rewiringvirtue.com/2012/06/07/preserving-the-dignity-of-death-in-the-digital-age/
Rewiring Virtue 