Category Archives: Tech
Re: Musk v. Twitter
A collection of some comments on and reactions to Elon Musk’s attempts to buy Twitter, and related issues. Continue reading
Posted in Tech
Tagged Donald Trump Jr., Elon Musk, Goldman Sachs, Jay Rosen, Morgan Stanley, poison pill, Pravda, Twitter, Vanguard Group
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Free-speech as an instrument of repression
One of the more eye-opening discussions on Elon Musk’s attempt to take control of Twitter, and the Twitter board’s attempts to defend the company from the bid, have been playing out on Hacker News (here and, after Twitter’s response, here) – the … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, Tech
Tagged democracy, Elon Musk, free speech, Hacker News, Parag Agarwal, poison pill, social media, Twitter
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If WordPress supports NFTs, should I boycott it?
“I make use of the tools available to me. That doesn’t mean I have to applaud every advance in the field.” Continue reading
Posted in Tech
Tagged blockchain, cryptocurrencies, NFT, non-fungible tokens, web3, WordPress
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Crypto: Climate change means new tech has less time today to prove itself
I spent this weekend reading about permissioned and permissionless blockchain systems. If you want to get in on it, I can’t recommend this post by David Rosenthal enough. Much of the complexity of executing transactions of the major extant cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Tech
Tagged Big Tech, Bitcoin, blockchain, carbon dioxide concentration, carbon emissions, cryptocurrencies, David Rosenthal, decentralisation, Ethereum, Molly White, non-fungible tokens, proof of work, web2, web3
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The way we talk about computing power
Whenever I hear someone rhapsodize about how much more computer power we have now compared with what was available in the 1960s during the Apollo era, I cringe. Those comparisons usually grossly underestimate the difference. A Quadrillion Mainframes on Your … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Tech
Tagged Apollo era, computing power, IBM 7090, information age, information economy, magnetic tape, mainframe
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Disappointing persons of the year 2021
I’m starting to think that in this day and age, you will but err when you pick individuals for traditionally ‘prestigious’ awards, prizes, recognitions, etc., probably because the sort of people who can stand out by themselves have to have … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, Science, Tech
Tagged Balram Bhargava, Elon Musk, Indian Council of Medical Research, persons of the year, SpaceX, Tesla, The Week, TIME Magazine
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The foolishness of a carbon-negative blockchain
With the experience of ‘fortress conservation’, poor implementation of the Forest Rights Act and the CAMPA philosophy in India, it’s hard not to think that the idea of carbon offsets is stupid. This mode of ‘climate action’ has been most … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Tech
Tagged afforestation, blockchain, carbon neutrality, carbon offset, climate justice, cryptocurrencies, Miyawaki method, proof of stake, proof of work, social justice
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A new way to harass editors?
There’s a new way to harass editors – or perhaps it’s an old way that we’re just finding out about, first-hand. We know that repressive governments have started using the US’s infamous Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) as a new means … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Tech
Tagged Amazon Web Services, Digital Millennium Copyright Act, harassment, plagiarism, Shycocan, SLAPP
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Will this blog be online a hundred years from today?
For almost two weeks now, we at The Wire have been dealing with a complaint that someone from Maharashtra lodged against us with Amazon Web Services (AWS), our sites’ host, for allegedly copying one paragraph in one article sans consent … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Tech
Tagged Amazon Web Services, Digital Millennium Copyright Act, internet traffic, Persistent Web, Quiet Web, Shycocan, SLAPP, The Wire Science, WordPress
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