Category: Notes From The Electronic Cottage

A weekly feature on electronic technology as it affects everyday life with Jim Campbell. Broadcast on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, ME every Thursday at 7:30 AM.

Notes from the Electronic Cottage 7/10/14

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

On a previous program, we looked at some cases in which applying old laws to the new technology of the digital age seemed to run into problems. Today, we look a several court cases in which courts seemed to successfully apply the Fourth Amendment to cases involving cell phone searches, GPS tracking, and computer data.

Notes from the Electronic Cottage 7/3/14

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

Law is one place where the physical world and the digital world exist in a very rickety tension these days. If it was ever true that “on the Internet, no one knows if you are a dog,” it isn’t true any more. For better or worse, government can use laws written long before the Internet existed to find out pretty near anything about anybody in cyberspace, as these recent court cases illustrate,

Notes from the Electronic Cottage 6/26/14

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

On a recent edition of the Electronic Cottage, we looked at the idea of net neutrality and the FCC’s proposals to allow Internet Service Providers to create “fast lanes” on the Internet for companies that can afford to pay more to allow their content to travel faster over the Internet. Today, we look at some of the alternative approaches that the FCC could take to ensure net neutrality.

Notes from the Electronic Cottage 6/19/14

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

Net neutrality is one of the most important current issues for those who use the web. The FCC is proposing new rules on the subject but there are a lot of questions about the FCC proposal. The FCC is taking comments at openinternet@fcc.gov or on the FCC web site at www.fcc.gov/comments. The Net Neutrality docket number is 14-28 if you would like to make a comment. Here are some resources to take a look at if you’d like more background on the issue:
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/04/the-best-writing-on-net-neutrality/361237/
http://www.wired.com/2014/01/killing-net-neutrality-means-killing-economic-equality-access
And this very funny but still relevant one from John Oliver:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpbOEoRrHyU

Electronic Cottage 6/5/14

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

Change is happening so fast in our world that we hardly know what we will need to succeed next year ourselves, let alone what kind of minds our kids and grandkids will need in a farther away future. One person who has some interesting ideas on that subject is Howard Gardner, and he set them down in a book called “Five Minds.” Here’s a short look at what kind of minds he sees as necessary tomorrow – and tomorrows hence.

Electronic Cottage 5/22/14

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

We’ve spoken before about open source software and such. But what if creators of photos or poems or other original material want to share their works – how can they do that in accordance with copyright law? The answer may be “some rights reserved” licenses such as Creative Commons type licenses.