Week 7 Readings

Tyson -- How Internet Infrastructure Works

I am intrigued by this Internet Society. Tysons says they oversee policies and protocol for how we use the internet, but I am reminded of a quote from a reading for LIS2000 in which Terrence Brooks calls the internet "a lawless meaning space." But maybe their policies are more about the technical side of things and less about meaning and/or morality. How powerful is The Internet Society? Are they like the Masons?

I clicked over to the page on how routers work. That explanation makes them seem even more important -- there would be no way to deal with the massive amounts of information zooming around. It has some pictures of gigantic industrial-sized routers. Are those really the same thing as what I think of as my wireless router in my apartment?

IP addresses: So, my computer gets assigned a new IP address every time I connect to a different wireless network. Is the old IP permanently erased or is it stored somewhere? If it were permanently erased, it would be much harder for internet activity to be traced back to one computer/user (ie for the government to spy on us). Right now I'm in a coffee shop but if I go home or to campus I'll be connected to a completely different network.
Pace -- Dismantling Integrated Library Systems

If this article is to be believed, libraries are at a dramatic juncture (or were 4 years ago). Old systems have been rejected but the new ones aren't up to the same standards.

Searching on PittCat, for example, isn't at all as intuitive as Google. If only it had that "Did you mean _____?" misspelling fuction! Now that most people are used to natural language internet searching, library systems need to catch up to that level of sophisitication.

Of course, the need for new systems means more profits for vendors, so they are less intersted in supplying products that are just a one-time purchase. This article makes open source sounds appealing (even if the costs balance out -- why NOT spend the money on tech staff rather than expensive software? Seems like a better use of funds to me). I'm sure advances have been made since 2004 -- I believe we looked at some of them in class.

Brin and Page: Inside the Google Machine

Not to sound like a PC jerko, but is anyone else slightly uncomfortable with the whole "Africa = the Dark Continent" thing? Is there a way to talk about access disparities without sounding like missionaries/colonialists? It seems self-evident now that increased access to technology benefits everyone; I just hope history bears us out on that one.

Google incorporating principles of Montessori education is pretty fascinating. Sounds like a great workplace, anyway. I honestly think some of Google's success is due to that somewhat playful attitude -- the logo changing, etc. Obviously their product is the main draw, but I think the non-intimidating yet non-condescending (unlike yahoo and aol, which seemed to be designed for 80 year old using the internet for the first time) feel really helps.