September 24, 2004
Washington Monthly asked 16 "experts" what would happen if Bush wins the forthcoming US presidential election.
September 16, 2003
Four interesting ideas for reversing the trend of declining votes, nicely executed.
July 29, 2003
The US military wants to let traders bet on the likelihood of future events in the Middle East, in an effort to predict what will happen.
June 27, 2003
I finally got round to reading the June issue of Wired, a large chunk of which is edited by architect Rem Koolhaas. There are some interesting, but extremely short, articles about global trends, all shoehorned into the vague theme of...
December 28, 2002
The City Scan project uses hand-held computers, digital cameras and GPS to allow citizens to pinpoint instances of problems such as graffiti, holes in road, etc. This data is then used to generate reports and maps that officials can use...
June 24, 2002
We hear a lot about how the networked society will bring political decision making closer to individuals, but finding concrete examples of this trend in action is tough. However, a week ago, the British government backed down over a proposal...
April 25, 2002
Two things: First, an article about a piece of software that analyses Reuters news feeds and uses the data to create "conflict carrying capacity" (CCC) scores for every country, ranging from 100 (peace) to 0 (chaos). I'm a sucker for...
February 27, 2002
It may turn out to be nothing, but there does seem to have been a growing difference in outlook between Europe and the US since the World Trade Centre disaster (for example, Chris Patten's remarks). But now the Council of...
February 25, 2002
The state government in South Carolina, USA, have been keeping DNA records of all babies since 1995 without the consent of parents. Some of this data has now been passed on to a genetics laboratory and the State Law Enforcement...
December 20, 2001
The Institute for Applied Autononmy have developed a very pretty program that allows a user to identify a route between two points that will take them past as few CCTV cameras as possible. The data for the New York map...
March 05, 2001
A RAND report on the Net twenty years out, and particularly America's place within it: "American ideals, with modest refinements, would write the constitution of a global civil society, even as the American state itself would lose its primacy." (via...
September 03, 2000
The Institute for Applied Autonomy develops robots for use in various forms of protest that may cause human protagonists to be arrested. For example, the GraffitiWriter and Little Brother, an automated pamphleteer. (via Nettime)...
August 11, 2000
Supplies of fresh water are, of course, disappearing rapidly. Canada has 40 per cent of the world's supply and this article looks at the position the country will be in when it controls so much of a scarce commodity. (via...
August 10, 2000
We often hear about the increasing mobility of populations, and the numbers of people on the move (refugees, immigrants, etc) is increasing. This Disinfo article talks about campaigners focussing on borders and the treatment of illegal immigrants. As ever, a...
July 28, 2000
For the first time in its thirty year history the International Union Romani is demanding recognition for a non-territorial nation for the Roma people. Links in to the whole demise of the nation state concept. (via Haddock)...
February 17, 2000
The softening of opinions on drugs takes two big steps: Cleveland has become the first police force to suggest considering "the legalisation and regulation of some or all drugs" and a Police Federation report recommends that ecstasy should be downgraded...
February 02, 2000
Perhaps an oversimplistic comparison of the state of the Internet in the world's largest countries, but interesting nonetheless. The Chinese government has closed 127 Internet cafes in Shanghai, in the same week the Delhi government launches its first cybercafe, undercutting...
November 28, 1999
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, plus China, Japan and South Korea have said these are "distinct possibilities". Import duties on most goods will be eliminated by 2010....
November 15, 1999
A deal has been signed which sets China on course to join the World Trade Organisation subject to member agreement. Easier access to China for foreign companies and to foreign markets for China whose state industries will face increased competition....
November 01, 1999
Iowa is testing voting over the Internet alongside its conventional election. Voters receive a unique ID number to enter, and their vote is encrypted and "read anonymously" at a computer clearinghouse. Washington and Virginia have already conducted successful and secure...
