Tag Archives: Sociology

Patriot Hacker The Jester’s Libyan Psyops Campaign

via infosecisland.com Is the Jester, a patriotic hacker better known for bringing down allegedly jihadist websites, injecting fake news strories about Libya to demoralize Gaddafi’s forces? Anthony Freed of infosec reckons so. Very good piece, and opens up all sorts of interesting avenues for dark hacktivism.

Hoodiephobia, Or We Don’t Lie to Google

Does what we search for online reflect our fears? There’s a growing obsession in the UK, it would seem, with ‘hoodies’—young people who wear sports clothing with hoods who maraud in gangs. Michael Caine has just starred in a movie about them (well, a revenge fantasy about them.) This Guardian piece explores the movie-making potential… Read More »

Satellites to the Rescue

Here’s a piece I wrote for the Bulletin of the World Health Organisation on how satellites and space technology are helping, and might help, in the case of big medical emergencies, from earthquakes to Ebola. It’s a slightly different tack for me and perhaps not the usual fare for loose wire blog, but I thought… Read More »

Art, the Internet and the Rise of Symbiosis

Great piece from the NYT on the decline of mystery and the rise of symbiosis for artists, who find there’s a living of sorts to be made by engaging with fans online and allowing the community that emerges to choose the direction their musical careers take — even to the point of how much to… Read More »

Citizen Monitors

I like the idea of this: Using ordinary folk to monitor elections, via SMS from their cellphone. And it seems to have worked. Nigeria used a system called FrontlineSMS, developed by UK-based kiwanja.net to keep track of all of the texts. Some 54 trained associates recruited volunteers to invite as many people as possible via… Read More »