TITLE: Favorite Passages from Today's Reading
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: December 18, 2013  3:31 PM
DESC: 
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BODY:
From
<A HREF="http://takeaswig.com/the-end-of-the-facebook-era">
   The End of the Facebook Era</A>:

<BLOCKQUOTE><EM>
 This is why social networks [like Google+] are struggling even
 more than Facebook to get a foothold in the future of social
 networking.  They are betting on last year's fashion --
 they're fighting Facebook for the last available room on the
 Titanic when they should be looking at all of the other ships
 leaving the marina.
</EM></BLOCKQUOTE>

A lot of people and organizations in this world are fighting
over the last available room on their sector's version of
the Titanic.  Universities may well be among them.  Who is
leaving the marina?

From
<A HREF="http://www.bratton.info/projects/talks/we-need-to-talk-about-ted/">
   We Need to Talk About TED</A>:

<BLOCKQUOTE><EM>
 Astrophysics run on the model of American Idol is a recipe
 for civilizational disaster.

 ...

 TED's version [of deep technocultural shift] has too much
 faith in technology, and not nearly enough commitment to
 technology.  It is placebo technoradicalism, toying with
 risk so as to re-affirm the comfortable.
</EM></BLOCKQUOTE>

I like TED talks as much as the next person, but I often
wonder how much change they cause in the world, as opposed
to serving merely as chic entertainment for the comfortable
First World set.
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