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The Cloud

The “cloud” has come to mean the storing and accessing of data (including programs) over the internet rather than on on our device (computer, phone or otherwise). The official definition of the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology is: “Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of […]

The Information Superhighway

In 1994 the Canadian government formed the Information Highway Advisory Council (IHAC). The Council submitted it’s report, which contained 300 recommendations in September 1995 with a final report in 1997. The irony that a copy of either of the reports seemingly cannot be found on-line is truly a breathtaking commentary on (___fill in the blank___). […]

The Global Village

Famously this photo was taken from Apollo 8 in 1968. It’s been called “the most influential environmental photograph ever taken.” For our purposes it may be seen as reflecting the illusion of a smaller world that the evolution of communications technologies has delivered to us. jon

The Library of Babel

The Library of Babel by Jorge Luis Borges is one of my favourite short stories ever. An endless library plays the role of the universe. Not a bad metaphor for the internet. Read it here:  “The Library of Babel”. The above illustration above is by Erik Desmazieres. Fair use, Link jon