2011-11-16

Time to protect lawful sharing of information on the Internet.

This post: http://www.mozilla.org/sopa/ is a timely reminder of the risk to untrammeled sharing of communications (including those that are scholarly) that a blunt and overstepping use of the law is likely to pose. Unless we act now.

Hat tip: Ben Adida.

Genesis of citations

I was just reminded of an excellent review of the various forms of transmission of authoritativeness and outright falsehoods through citations by Steve Greenberg when I saw this all too accurate portrayal of citogenesis.

XKCD Citogenesis

2011-11-04

Conflicts of interest and the need for expertise.

Ben Adida reflects here on Lessig and makes an interesting point about what might be lost if we do not listen to experts (in vaccine efficacy in this instance) even if they are in conflict of interest.