Communications of the ACM
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How fast can you sort arrays of integers in Java?
Programming languages come with sorting functions by default. We can often do much better. For example, Downs has showed that…
From Apophenia
The US Federal Government Needs a VP of Engineering, not a CTO
If you look at the roster of the Biden-Harris transition team, it’s quickly apparent that the incoming administration is tech-forward. Given the systematic dismantlement...
From Apophenia
Joyfully Geeking Out
In 2015, I was invited to join the Commerce Department’s Data Advisory Council. Truth be told, I was kinda oblivious to what this was all about. I didn’t know much...
From Apophenia
Facing the Great Reckoning Head-On
I was recently honored by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Alongside Oakland Privacy and William Gibson, I received a 2019 Barlow/Pioneer Award. I was asked...
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The Messy Fourth Estate
(This post was originally posted on Medium.) For the second time in a week, my phone buzzed with a New York Times alert, notifying me that another celebrity had...
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The case for quarantining extremist ideas
(Joan Donovan and I wrote the following op-ed for The Guardian.) When confronted with white supremacists, newspaper editors should consider ‘strategic silence’...
From Apophenia
You Think You Want Media Literacy… Do You?
The below original text was the basis for Data & Society Founder and President danah boyd’s March 2018 SXSW Edu keynote,“What Hath We Wrought?” — Ed. Growing up...
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The Reality of Twitter Puffery. Or Why Does Everyone Now Hate Bots?
(This was originally posted on NewCo Shift.) A friend of mine worked for an online dating company whose audience was predominantly hetero 30-somethings. At some...
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Panicked about Kids’ Addiction to Tech? Here are two things you could do
Flickr: Jan Hoffman (This was originally posted on NewCo Shift) Ever since key Apple investors challenged the company to address kids’ phone addiction, I’ve gotten...
From Apophenia
Beyond the Rhetoric of Algorithmic Solutionism
(This was originally posted on Medium) If you ever hear that implementing algorithmic decision-making tools to enable social services or other high stakes government...
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The Radicalization of Utopian Dreams
Amazon Fulfillment Center, CC Scottish Government The following is a transcript of my lightning talk at The People’s Disruption: Platform Co-Ops for Global Challenges...
From Apophenia
Your Data is Being Manipulated
Excerpt from “The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine,” Sergey Brin and Larry Page (April 1998) What follows is the crib from my keynote at...
From Apophenia
Data & Society’s Next Stage
In March 2013, in a flurry of days, I decided to start a research institute. I’d always dreamed of doing so, but it was really my amazing mentor and boss – Jennifer...
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How “Demo-or-Die” Helped My Career
I left the Media Lab 15 years ago this week. At the time, I never would’ve predicted that I learned one of the most useful skills in my career there: demo-or-die...
From Apophenia
Tech Culture Can Change
We need: Recognition, Repentance, Respect, and Reparation. To be honest, what surprises me most about the current conversation about the inhospitable nature of...
From Apophenia
Failing to See, Fueling Hatred.
I was 19 years old when a some configuration of anonymous people came after me. They got access to my email and shared some of the most sensitive messages on an...
From Apophenia
When Good Intentions Backfire
… And Why We Need a Hacker Mindset I am surrounded by people who are driven by good intentions. Educators who want to inform students, who passionately believe...
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The Information War Has Begun
Yesterday, Steve Bannon clearly articulated what many people have felt and known for quite some time when he told journalists, “You’re the opposition party. Not...
From Apophenia
Why America is Self-Segregating
The United States has always been a diverse but segregated country. This has shaped American politics profoundly. Yet, throughout history, Americans have had to...
From Apophenia
Did Media Literacy Backfire?
Anxious about the widespread consumption and spread of propaganda and fake news during this year’s election cycle, many progressives are calling for an increased...
From Apophenia