A video: The State of Wikipedia and a cyberculture roundup

The State of Wikipedia not only explores the rich history and inner-workings of the web-based encyclopedia, but it’s also a celebration of its 10th anniversary. With more than 17 million articles in over 270 languages, Wikipedia has undoubtedly become one of the most visited and relied upon sites on the web today. The fourth video in our the “State of” series, JESS3 is proud to release The State of Wikipedia as our first video of 2011. And, as if it weren’t good enough, the video features none other than one of the co-founders himself, Jimmy Wales, as the narrator.

How Twitter reconnects footballers with fans

Although they don’t do it very well, football clubs still seem particularly keen to try and keep clinging on to vanished notions of ‘command and control” PR. Only this week The Guardian was banned from covering Leeds United match because one of its reporters asked a question the chairman didn’t like.

Bitcoin – a Step Toward Censorship-Resistant Digital Currency

A few weeks ago, we mentioned a rather unusual technological endeavor to create an online currency. We received a few queries about this subject, so decided to provide a more thorough description of what digital currency is, how this system works, why it’s appealing and how it might fall short of user expectations.

What is Crisis Mapping? An Update on the Field and Looking Ahead

I last updated my piece on A Brief History of Crisis Mapping some two years ago, well before the first International Conference on Crisis Mapping was held (ICCM 2009). So a brief update on the past 24 months may be in order, especially for a field that continues to grow so rapidly. When I Googled the term ?crisis mapping? in September 2009, I got 8,680 hits. Today, one gets 81,800. A factor of 10 difference. If you?re curious about the origins of the field and what happened before 2009, my original blog post still serves as a useful intro. I also recommend the piece on Proposing the Field of Crisis Mapping (also from 2009).

Don’t Sacrifice Security on Mobile Devices

Increasingly powerful mobile phones are making Internet access and use more convenient than ever. However, the security of mobile operating systems is not as mature or as strong as that of workstation and server operating systems. Platforms like Windows and Ubuntu receive security scrutiny, and regular and frequent updates to resolve security problems. The open source/free software communities and Microsoft are more or less open about security problems and fixes. (For example, here is Ubuntu?s security notices page and Microsoft?s excellent Security Response Center blog.)

Social Media and Law Enforcement: Who Gets What Data and When?

This month, we were reminded how important it is that social media companies do what they can to protect the sensitive data they hold from the prying eyes of the government. As many news outlets have reported, the US Department of Justice recently obtained a court order for records from Twitter on several of its users related to the WikiLeaks disclosures. Instead of just turning over this information, Twitter ?beta-tested a spine? and notified its users of the court order, thus giving them the opportunity to challenge it in court.

Hypertext Vannevar and the Memex

Vannevar (1945) describes the memex as a potential ‘invention’ to increase access to knowledge that men of science should build rather than weapons of mass destruction. The memex would extend the power of a man’s mind through the creation and saving of information through human association patterns of thought. While Vannevar was describing an invention, his idea is echoed in the 1960’s by Marshall McLuhan and his 4 laws of media.