Category Archives: Computers and Internet

Twitter and Tear Gas

Posted on September 12, 2021 by Harry Katz

The brutal murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer on May 25, 2020 sparked widespread protest across the US. In Seattle, where I live, demonstrations centered in an area called Capitol Hill. For nearly a month protesters occupied … Continue reading →

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Atlas of AI

Posted on August 1, 2021 by Harry Katz

Whether you know it or not, artificial intelligence has become a pervasive force in our everyday lives. When your favorite online retailer shows you “products related to this item,” or the GPS system in your car guides you along the … Continue reading →

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Always Day One

Posted on February 21, 2021 by Harry Katz

Always Day One: How the Tech Titans Plan to Stay on Top Forever by Alex Kantrowitz takes its title from an Amazon corporate motto. “It’s always Day 1” is designed to inspire Amazon employees with a startup mentality; lean, fast, … Continue reading →

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Dematerialization in The Cloud

Posted on February 28, 2020 by Harry Katz

Whenever you log on to Facebook or YouTube or your bank or your favorite online game, you’re connecting to computers in some data center somewhere on the planet. All those servers and all those data centers consume a huge amount … Continue reading →

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Who Can You Trust?

Posted on February 9, 2019 by Harry Katz

Who Can You Trust?  How Technology Brought Us Together and Why It Might Drive Us Apart By Rachel Botsman Public Affairs, New York, 2017 Trust is like engine oil: when it’s present everything runs smoothly, but when it’s not they … Continue reading →

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We Don’t Say Goodbye Anymore

Posted on August 25, 2018 by Harry Katz

A while ago I was watching an episode of Murdoch Mysteries, a detective series set in Toronto in the late 1890’s. At the end of the episode our hero, Detective William Murdoch, says goodbye to the visiting Egyptologist who was … Continue reading →

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Machine, Platform, Crowd

Posted on October 26, 2017 by Harry Katz

Machine, Platform, Crowd: Harnessing Our Digital FutureBy Andrew McAfee and Erik BrynjolfssonW. W. Norton & Co., New York, 2017 Machine, Platform, Crowd is an update to Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson’s fabulous 2014 book, The Second Machine Age. (My review … Continue reading →

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Data and Goliath

Posted on July 26, 2015 by Harry Katz

Data and Goliath:  The Hidden Battles to Collect Your Data and Control Your WorldBy Bruce SchneierW. W. Norton & Company, New York, 2015 Whether you know it or not, whether you like it or not, you’re being watched. Everywhere. All … Continue reading →

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Ada’s Algorithm

Posted on March 9, 2015 by Harry Katz

Ada’s Algorithm By James Essinger Melville House Publishing. Brooklyn, NY. 2014 Lady Ada Lovelace has a good claim to being the first Woman in Tech. Born in 1815, she was the daughter of the poet Lord Byron. She’s best known … Continue reading →

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The Imitation Game

Posted on January 2, 2015 by Harry Katz

I’m sure the Imitation Game takes all sorts of liberties with the story of Alan Turing’s life and his contribution to breaking Nazi codes during WWII. It’s not a documentary after all. But the broad outlines of the story and … Continue reading →

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