/ / Down and Out In the Magic Kingdom, News

Jennifer Hoffman’s written an interesting guide to Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom:

I first discovered this novel shortly after it’s release, when prowling my local library for books about Disney World. Along with the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World, it opened up the possibility of thinking critically about Disney Parks, taking them seriously as works of art and culture, and approaching them as implementations of virtual reality and games theory. These books also let me know that hipsters and members of Mensa were kicking back in the parks, loving the attractions as much as I do. That enjoying the Parks and taking them seriously don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

/ / News

Jennifer Hoffman’s written an interesting guide to Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom:

I first discovered this novel shortly after it’s release, when prowling my local library for books about Disney World. Along with the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World, it opened up the possibility of thinking critically about Disney Parks, taking them seriously as works of art and culture, and approaching them as implementations of virtual reality and games theory. These books also let me know that hipsters and members of Mensa were kicking back in the parks, loving the attractions as much as I do. That enjoying the Parks and taking them seriously don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

/ / News


I’m coming to Southern California next week and I’ll be speaking at Claremont McKenna College’s Atheneum series. It’s next Wednesday, 30 March, at 1845h, and it’s free and open to the public. I’ll be reprising and expanding on the “Little Bit Pregnant” talk on technology regulation that I gave earlier this month at the University of Toronto iSchool conference — it’s a topic I’m developing, but one that I find really interesting. The idea is to look at all the different groups, interests and individuals who might call for restrictions on general-purpose computers and networks to prevent some real or imagined harm, ranging from printed weapons to malicious software to libel to copyright infringement, and what we might do to mitigate the real harms and tell them apart from the imaginary ones. I hope to see you!

A Little Bit Pregnant: Why it’s a Bad Idea to Regulate Computers the Way We Regulate Radios, Guns, Uranium and Other Special-purpose Tools