Archive for July, 2014
Unions are not too strong; they are too weak; and we all suffer
July 8th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
I may be biased. For most of my career – some 24 years – I was a national trade union official. But read what Aditya Chakrabortty, senior economics commentator on the “Guardian”, states in this article: “… the current imbalance of power between workers and bosses, between labour and capital is so lopsided as to […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
Should we be worried by big data?
July 7th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
I’ve recently read a novel which presents a nightmarish vision of how the collection of personal data could totally undermine any notion of personal privacy. You can read my review of “The Circle” here. But big data could give us totally transformative approaches to the development of public policy and the tackling of social problems. […]
Posted in Science & technology | Comments (0)
The two new movies I’ve seen this weekend
July 5th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
They were very contrasting in subject and style: “Belle” – my review here. “Cold In July” – my review here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
I have completed “The Circle”
July 4th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
“The Circle” by Dave Eggers is a novel that will appeal to anyone who enjoys a good read and wonders where all this digital technology might be leading. You can read my review here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (2)
How good is your country?
July 3rd, 2014 by Roger Darlington
Simon Anholt is a British policy adviser who has developed a Good Country Index. The idea of the Good Country Index is pretty simple: to measure what each country on Earth contributes to the common good of humanity, and what it takes away. Using a wide range of data from the U.N. and other international […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
Today my web site is 15 years old
July 2nd, 2014 by Roger Darlington
I suppose that, like most non-technical people, I first became aware of the Internet around 1995 when world-wide the number connected to the network doubled. Besides e-mail, for me the great benefit of the Internet was the web. I’ve never been interested in newsgroups or gaming and make limited use of social networks. The more […]
Posted in Internet, My life & thoughts | Comments (4)
Are you on Facebook? Do you know how its newsfeed algorithm works? Do you know how to control your newsfeed?
July 1st, 2014 by Roger Darlington
During a January week in 2012, around 700,000 English-speaking Facebook users were chosen, without their knowledge or consent, to be emotional lab rats. The researchers found that, if you tweak what people see in their Facebook newsfeed – the scrolling information on your page –to suppress or heighten certain emotive words, readers’ emotions will shift […]
Posted in Internet | Comments (0)