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Review of 'Wired Shut,' by Tarleton Gillespie
At long last, my review of Tarleton Gillespie's book on copyright in the digital era -- Wired Shut: Copyright and the Shape of Digital Culture -- is done and published in the Resource Center for Cyberculture Studies. (Just to be clear, though: The 9-month lag time was due almost entirely to my procrastination, not to RCCR or my editor, David Silver.)
I'll post the review to the articles archive soon, but for now you can find it here -- and see Gillespie's response here.
Genius Grant Goes to Great Cause
On FedBlog today, Tom Shoop reports that author and Veterans Affairs psychiatrist Jonathan Shay is among the winners of this year's $500,000 MacArthur Foundation "genius grants."
When Does Imitation Become the Sincerest Form of Rip-Off?
I'm in the process of reviewing Tarleton Gillespie's Wired Shut: Copyright and the Shape of Digital Culture, which (so far) is a very smart look at an issue that's of great personal and professional interest to me. So rather than just scribble in the margins, I thought I'd drop random questions, observations and interesting factoids here as I work my way through the book.
I would say this is the first of many posts in a series, but hopefully there won't be too many -- the review itself is due soon...
The South Also Rises
Book Review, NationalJournal.com
First things first -- cover photo and subtitle notwithstanding, Michael Lind's "Made in Texas: George W. Bush and the Southern Takeover of American Politics" is not about Bush.
Those $4 Lattes Are Not The Problem...
Book Review, NationalJournal.com
Crab Blood, Prescription Drugs And Rumsfeld (Really!)
Book Review, NationalJournal.com
As this week's other review makes clear, managing a common resource for the greater good is no easy task. And as William Sargent shows in "Crab Wars," these shared commodities can take on surprising (and smelly) forms.
For Veterans, Getting Home Is Only Half The Battle
Book Review, NationalJournal.com
Few Americans understand post-traumatic stress disorder, much less choose to read entire books on the subject. Combine disturbing clinical accounts of Vietnam veterans' psychological and emotional damage with an allegorical reading of Homer's "Odyssey," and one could be forgiven for assuming the target audience is a half-dozen classically educated psychiatrists.
Eggheads in the White House
Book Review, NationalJournal.com
After George W. Bush's victory over über-wonk Al Gore in 2000, one might assume that "intellectual" had become a dirty word in presidential politics. After all, Bush repeatedly made it clear that he had no interest in "reading a 500-page book on public policy or something," while Gore seemed to downplay that fact that he had written such a book.
The War Against Al Qaida: Connecting The Dots
Book Review, NationalJournal.com
To develop a thorough understanding of the dangers terrorists still pose to the United States, one would need to religiously scour the national and international press reports, read between the lines of the government's various threat advisories, and file countless Freedom of Information Act requests for documents both past and present.
Or one can simply read Rohan Gunaratna's new book.
Does The Military-Civilian Divide Really Matter?
Book Review, NationalJournal.com
When Bill Clinton and, later, to a lesser extent, George W. Bush were questioned about their efforts to avoid Vietnam, the underlying pretext was that a president must understand the culture and capabilities of the military he commands. And while the politics may not have always been pretty, the point is a valid one.
