Hey, New Orleans! At this very moment, I’m flying your way for an event tonight at Octavia Books at 6PM. Tomorrow, I’ll be in Houston, and then to Austin for a bookstore event and a benefit for EFF-Austin. I’m not done, either: there’s plenty more cities left! Come on down and say hi!
Here’s a nice surprise: a glowing review of my new novel Homeland in the WSJ.
“Homeland” is as dead serious as “1984,” as potentially important a “novel of ideas,” with a much more engaging central character and an apparently inexhaustible supply of information on everything from brewing coffee to sneaky surveillance and how to defeat it.
Mr. Doctorow is bang up-to-date (as Orwell never was) on the uses of rapidly changing technology, both good and bad. If you want to keep up, there’s a four-page appendix on how to protect your privacy and use the Net productively—so long as you’re allowed, that is.
Here’s a nice surprise: a glowing review of my new novel Homeland in the WSJ.
“Homeland” is as dead serious as “1984,” as potentially important a “novel of ideas,” with a much more engaging central character and an apparently inexhaustible supply of information on everything from brewing coffee to sneaky surveillance and how to defeat it.
Mr. Doctorow is bang up-to-date (as Orwell never was) on the uses of rapidly changing technology, both good and bad. If you want to keep up, there’s a four-page appendix on how to protect your privacy and use the Net productively—so long as you’re allowed, that is.
Hey, New Orleans! At this very moment, I’m flying your way for an event tonight at Octavia Books at 6PM. Tomorrow, I’ll be in Houston, and then to Austin for a bookstore event and a benefit for EFF-Austin. I’m not done, either: there’s plenty more cities left! Come on down and say hi!
Hey, New Orleans! At this very moment, I’m flying your way for an event tonight at Octavia Books at 6PM. Tomorrow, I’ll be in Houston, and then to Austin for a bookstore event and a benefit for EFF-Austin. I’m not done, either: there’s plenty more cities left! Come on down and say hi!
My latest Publishers Weekly column, “I Can’t Let You Do That, Dave,” is a look at the dangers of redesigning our computers to boss us around instead of doing what they’re told and trying to help us:
Contrary to what’s been written in some quarters, Aaron Swartz didn’t attempt to download those journal articles because “information wants to be free.” No one cares what information wants. He was almost certainly attempting to download those articles because they were publicly funded scholarship that was not available to the public. They were scientific and scholarly truths about the world, information that the public paid for and needs in order to make informed choices about their lives and their governance. Fighting for information’s freedom isn’t the point. It’s people’s freedom that matters.
All of which makes the publishing community’s embrace of DRM and its advocacy for badly written, overly broad legislation to support DRM, fraught with peril. Since Frankenstein, writers and thinkers have recoiled in visceral horror at the idea of technology overpowering its creators. But when we actively build businesses that require censorship, surveillance, and control to thrive, we make a Frankenstein’s monster out of the devices that fill our pockets and homes, and the network that binds them all together.
My latest Publishers Weekly column, “I Can’t Let You Do That, Dave,” is a look at the dangers of redesigning our computers to boss us around instead of doing what they’re told and trying to help us:
Contrary to what’s been written in some quarters, Aaron Swartz didn’t attempt to download those journal articles because “information wants to be free.” No one cares what information wants. He was almost certainly attempting to download those articles because they were publicly funded scholarship that was not available to the public. They were scientific and scholarly truths about the world, information that the public paid for and needs in order to make informed choices about their lives and their governance. Fighting for information’s freedom isn’t the point. It’s people’s freedom that matters.
All of which makes the publishing community’s embrace of DRM and its advocacy for badly written, overly broad legislation to support DRM, fraught with peril. Since Frankenstein, writers and thinkers have recoiled in visceral horror at the idea of technology overpowering its creators. But when we actively build businesses that require censorship, surveillance, and control to thrive, we make a Frankenstein’s monster out of the devices that fill our pockets and homes, and the network that binds them all together.
After nearly two weeks on the road, I’ve finally resolved the niggling technical issues I was having with the free, CC-licensed electronic edition of Homeland. Many, many thanks to Nat Torkington and Ralph Amissah for their invaluable assistance. You can download and share the free ebooks from the official Homeland site. Go nuts!
After nearly two weeks on the road, I’ve finally resolved the niggling technical issues I was having with the free, CC-licensed electronic edition of Homeland. Many, many thanks to Nat Torkington and Ralph Amissah for their invaluable assistance. You can download and share the free ebooks from the official Homeland site. Go nuts!
