As recently as May 15, I questioned where the young techies, building their virtual worlds, are taking us.  Certainly, they live a schizophrenic existence.  On the one hand, they purport to be bringing people together and creating a democratic agora for ideas.  On the other hand, t

I know so little about today’s blog topic, I should blush with shame.  I’m so ignorant about technology, I’m not certain where my Wi-Fi lives. Remember me? I’m the woman who secretly believes the algorithms installed on my computer do more harm than good. (Blog, 5/17/2017) �

My blog platform comes with an “editor” that is unreliable.  If I were to write, “I brake for animals,” fifty percent of the time it would suggest “break” with the word underlined in red.  That substitution would have earned a student an F in my English class. The progra

Mark Zuckerberg and his nerdy cohorts have  a dream to turn the internet into a global village that will spread ideas and possibly democratic seeds to all parts of the world.  (“Connection can breed contempt,” by Jamelle Boule, excerpted from Slate in The Week, May 5, 2017, pg.

Unlike a declining number of people on the planet, I can remember when my life wasn’t documented.  I can recall researching the subject of ear wax at the library without finding my mailbox stuffed the next day with discount coupons for drops or scrapers to facilitate its removal. 

Like Paul Revere,  I and others have spent time shouting, “The robots are coming.  The robots are coming.” I’m unsure what to do about it, but as writer  Jennifer Alserver notes, these machines are becoming smarter, more people sensitive and more versatile.   (“Is This Ro

The article reads like a John le Carré spy thriller. (“Chasing the Phantom,” by Garrett Graff, Wired, April 2017, pgs. 52-63)  Writer Garrett Graff recounts the hunt for the world’s most successful and notorious hacker, who, with his code, walks through bank vaults as if they

Just as science and art have long debated the social consequences of their activities, (Blog 2/10/17), it’s time for technology, the Sixth Estate, to grapple with its responsibility. Not only are its innovations transforming society, but they are doing so faster than in the past, ef

James Wolcott in a recent essay pokes his finger at the thorn of my discontent.  We are in a period of hysteria where the political alt-right and alt-left, overblown with fears and secretly hoping for a revolution, begin to sound the same.  As Wolcott explains, the two sides may not

By the time a person reaches their 80s, many will have had hip or knee replacement surgery and possibly a pacemaker inserted under their skin to moderate heart beats.  I often write about robots becoming more human with the aid of Artificial Intelligence (AI), but the question might