Ivor Tossell
Ivor Tossell's bi-weekly take on Internet trends and culture.
Past Episodes
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Why do telcos woo me after I've gone?
I can only conclude that these companies like bad relationships. They seem to be addicted to them.
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Podcast: Social media's not a tool of mass persuasion
Every election since 2006 has been pegged as the one the Internet was really going to shake up
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A question about answer sites
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I have seen the enemy and it is us
Everyone loves to hate On Demand Media, but show me a news writer who’s never cranked one out -- or 10 year’s worth -- or an online editor not focused on page views and SEO optimization. Content is content and it’s hard to draw a hard and fast line between good content, kind of good content and content that stinks.
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When not to whip it out
Laying siege to public sector employees with camera phones will make things worse for everyone in the long run
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Something's missing this time around
When protests rocked Iran, social network users turned green. That movement, compared to Egypt, is viewed as everything that's wrong with digital activism.
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Computers for $200, Alex
News that robots are one step away from taking over the earth makes good television
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On the Internet, everybody is somebody else's bruise
My observation is that many people seem to voluntarily keep a degree of irritation around. Finding someone who bugs you in just the right way is a very compelling thing
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A new era of distribution control
Leaving content distribution in the hands of Apple, a company of filters, was bound to be a fraught proposition
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Why the Internet loves a good drama
What editor Judith Griggs is truly guilty of is copyright infringement with a terrible attitude
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When online activism works
Dan Savage's project comes just as homophobia gains acceptance in the U.S.
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The triumph of the stream
The average goldfish has four times the memory capacity of Twitter search
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All the world's a cellphone-equipped stage
Now that everyone’s a citizen journalist (or at least a well-equipped rubbernecker) the dynamic of group activity is changing
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In Canada, it's silly law o'clock
Digital locks may help some groups, but they throw up walls for others
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Amazing in theory, fun in practice
So many online ventures claim they'll change everything. YouTube actually did.
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In it for the LOLs
i can haz internets culture? 1,000 accidental stars gather in Boston to roll on the floor laughing
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Downfall of the Downfall meme
The irony is that the original film was an attempt to get away from the Charlie Chaplin Hitler caricature.
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iPhone Pilgrims vs The World
iPhone Time: A period in which all participants around a table have their phones out all at once
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A question of value
When virtual good bought are an elaborate electronic contraction of the self., maybe there’s something there.
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The pious future of engagement
Democratic engagement via social media or merely an online broadcast to promote yourself? The kids aren’t fooled.
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The Ministry of Apps
You want access to those thousands of iPhones, then you play by Apple's rules
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Chatroulette: Come for the shock, stay for the talk
Is site the final degradation of our social norms or a fascinating experiment in connecting with people?
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Happy Jobs Day!
The iPad announcement left me wondering: How much life could a live blog blog if a live blog could blog life?
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Google, the 6th Estate
For a company that's selling transparency, you'll never meet anyone as opaque
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There will be cats
Ivor Tossell looks to the year ahead and predicits tablet frenzy, de-freeing of free and, yes, some kind of cute cat video
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Facebook's tenuous grasp on privacy
New settings mean people are going to learn to guard their privacy the hard way
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An insult to agriculture
The coffee shop: Where everybody knows your name, Facebook status and that your screenplay needs work
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Offline and online meet for java
The coffee shop: Where everybody knows your name, Facebook status and that your screenplay needs work
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Life-streaming, a history
The Internet has always respected the mind-body divide. FourSquare makes it so everyone knows you’re at John’s House of Hams.
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Sci-fi tech now available at an App Store near you
What has happened to us since our reality has been augmented? I'll tell you when the apathy wears off.
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Urban renewal 2.0
GeoCities may have been kind of an amateur extravaganza where the little under-construction guy shovelled away all day and all night, but there was something glorious about that.
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All your memes are belong to us
Somewhere between Snakes on a Plane and keyboard cats... with a little Rick Astley and a lot of Chuck Norris.
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Wither the 'user'?
What rights should citizens have to works of culture and how and where should they pay for it?
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Where ignorance is king (or a camel herder)
It’s easy (and fun... and profoundly satisfying) to make fun of Birthers, but are we missing the point?
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The magic genie salesman
Poof. Pardon me for Tweavesdropping but perhaps you'd consider this product...
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Conversation with MetaFilter creator Matt Haughey
Keeping such a vaguely defined online community on track is no easy feat
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Gonzo information on the Internet, film at 11
There has been almost as much coverage of the way the revolution in Iran has been Tweeted as there has been of the revolution itself, but when everything must be short and in real-time, what happens to accuracy?
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Rising tide
Ivor Tossell interviews the deputy chairman of Sweden's Pirate Party and new member of the 2009 European Parliamentary elections
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The Internet and Star Trek: Lovers at first sight
Of starship porn and fairweather fans
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The Internet's big red panic button
Name me a part of the Web that hasn't had a good panic attached to it
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The mystery of the social media expert
The Internet is really just a nifty way for people to do what people do
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Even digital books need their bookiness
The success of information technology still depends on good old physical matter
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Give online ads some love
Web advertising has a problem: It doesn't bring in a whole lot of money
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Online and off, Cancon needs cash -- and fewer rules
In an age of media convergence, time to find a balance between the wild Web and those hungry for regulation
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Microsoft: curator of robot love songs
Songsmith's creative potential succeeds despite itself
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Tweets in the darkness
The birth of a spontaneous online community during Toronto's blackout
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Tweet tweet moo
Nobody wants to standout in an online world of delicately crafted chipperness
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Robo Santa
An interview with the new era of shopping mall Saint Nicholas
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Online anonymity
Cyberbullying verdict turns rule-breakers into criminals
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'Space exploration FTW'
Interview with the brain behind @MarsPhoenix, The Mars lander's twitter personality, which has become something of an online celebrity
