Berkman Buzz: May 27, 2011
A look at the past week's online Berkman conversations
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What's being discussed...take your pick or browse below.
* Ethan Zuckerman explores the lessons to be learned from an Azeri journalist's release from jail
* Harry Lewis compares $100,000 to a college education
* The Citizen Media Law Project explains a British court order against Twitter
* David Weinberger remembers what it was like to be dumb
* Howard Rheingold covers the impact of digital media on youth civic engagement for DMLcentral
* Chris Soghoian reviews the DOJ's reinterpretation of the Patriot Act
* Weekly Global Voices: "Russia: Attack Survivor Journalist Oleg Kashin on Internet Freedom"
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The full buzz.
"So is Amnesty responsible for Fatullayev’s release? Is Twitter? Eurovision? And if social media can claim partial responsibility for the release of a prisoner of conscience, will we see this campaign technique used again? Will it be as successful the next time around?"
From Ethan Zuckerman's blog post, "Who freed Eynulla Fatullayev? And what does his release mean for Twitter activism?"
"Young folks, Peter Thiel will pay you $100,000 not to go to college. Well, may pay you $100,000. First you have to be under 20 years old. Then you have offer up an idea in competition with others, and agree to accept Mr. Thiel's mentorship. And then you have to agree to drop out of college for two years (or not go in the first place)."
From Harry Lewis' blog post, "Mr. Thiel's Offer"
"Social media are abuzz about English Premier League footballer ("soccer player" to us Yanks) Ryan Giggs, who has obtained an order from a British court requiring Twitter to reveal the identity of various tweeters who identified him as having had an affair with model and Big Brother contestant Imogen Thomas."
From Eric P. Robinson's blog post for the Citizen Media Law Project, "Banned in (Much of) Britain, and Beyond?"
"I used to be a terrible, horrible, miserable hobbyist programmer. I enjoyed it a great deal, but land-o-lakes was I dumb! I am still a terrible, horrible, miserable hobbyist programmer. But my ability to solve problems, and, yes, eventually even to learn, has gone up orders and orders of magnitude because of three inter-related things."
From David Weinberger's blog post, "Remember what it was like to be dumb?"
"There’s a lot of conversation about young people’s use of digital media and how it impacts their engagement -- or lack of engagement -- in civic affairs and politics, but not a great deal of empirical work has been done. Until now."
From Howard Rheingold's blog post for DMLcentral, "How does Digital Media impact Youth Political and Civic Engagement?"
"According to two Democratic Senators, the Department of Justice has secretly reinterpreted a controversial provision contained in the USA Patriot Act to give the government surveillance powers that are 'inconsistent with the public’s understanding of these laws.' The senators also accuse DOJ of misleading the American public when describing the use of this legal authority."
From Chris Soghoian's blog post, "Senators hint at DOJ's secret reinterpretation and use of Section 215 of the Patriot Act"
"Global Voices (GV): Oleg, as a blogger and well-known journalist, to what extent do you make a connection between your attack and with attempts to limit the freedom of the Russian Internet?"
From Gregory Asmolov's interview with Oleg Kashin form Global Voices Online, "Russia: Attack Survivor Journalist Oleg Kashin on Internet Freedom"
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Compiled by Rebekah Heacock.
The Berkman Buzz is selected weekly from the posts of Berkman Center people and projects and sometimes from the Center's wider network.
Suggestions and feedback about the Buzz are always welcome and can be emailed to buzz@cyber.harvard.edu.