The Thorn and The Blossom By Theodora Goss
I do 90% of my reading on an ereader, which is convenient for commute reading, easily brings me the sequel to the novel I’ve just finished, and fits neatly into my purse.
Book Review > The Last Blind Date
The Last Blind Date sparkles with the warmth and honesty of the best blogs. Sometimes, though, in reading certain blogs, I feel like an awkward voyeur into unwitting secondary characters’ lives. And here it was hard to enjoy the sulky stepdaughter, touchy-feely in-laws, and the trashy wedding of an overage bride (note: not the narrator) while I felt awkwardly like a friend was oversharing.
Songs About Steve: Spotify
When someone’s online activities come back to embarrass them offline, I always just roll my eyes. It seems silly that anyone could be surprised that tweets, blog posts, or photo sharing comes back to bite them. You put it on the internet, man, of course it’s public…
CYBERCULTURE > Anti-Social Networking: Google Plus’ Circles
Have you noticed that all social features being most praised on Google’s new G+ are all social features to help us be, well, less social? Or at least more selectively social.
CYBERCULTURE > OpenStudy | ChinesePod | TwoChop
Studying can be fairly antisocial. Writing papers and studying for exams are solitary activities, but OpenStudy, a social learning network demoing at TechCrunch Disrupt’s Start-up Alley, aims to change that. OpenStudy connects students in distant locations in what CEO Chris Sprague calls a ‘massively multiplayer classroom’.
CYBERCULTURE > Sonar: Tech-enabled Telepathy
Start-up social networks of any sort easily fall prey to a huge hurdle. Without a strong, active userbase, all the clever design and clear UI in the world can’t make a social product a success. If a user posts a question, shares a photo, or interacts with the product in whatever way the designers intended, and he doesn’t make a social connection, there’s no network.
