Abraham Riesman
Bombing Out Hollywood
If the most powerful armed force in history isn’t winning in reality, it certainly is on the big screen.
Inside the Pocket-Sized, Dystopian Internet of North Korea
Conventional wisdom never gets you very far when you’re trying to understand the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Take, for example, the bizarre, self-contained universe that is the North Korean internet.In the past few weeks, there’s been a...
The Finer Points of David Rees, Artisanal Pencil Sharpener
David Rees is not kidding. He really does sharpen pencils for a living.
The Ecstasy of Fetishization: An Interview with Guy Maddin
If you listened carefully while the Academy Award for Best Picture went to _The Artist,_ you could hear thousands of film geeks across the world whisper, “Bullshit.” Making a silent movie? Pssh. Guy Maddin’s been doing that kind of thing for years. And...
Twilight of the Phreaks: The Fates of the 10 Best Early Hackers
Before "Anonymous and LulzSec":http://motherboard.vice.com/2011/12/21/2011-was-the-year-of-anonymous, before "warez":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warez bulletin boards, before logins and passwords, before everything, there was phreaking.The first waves...
Has Math Screwed the Syrian Revolution?
A subset of game theory that focuses on political leaders' relationship to those who make the real decisions can tell us what's really going on with Syria.
Has Math Screwed the Syrian Revolution? An Interview with Bruce Bueno de Mesquita
It's been one of those weeks: the kind where the Syrian government bombs neighborhoods into dust, a hundred or so people die, and despite international condemnations, the black hole of the uprising just keeps swirling. Is there any reason for hope? I...
Do they Have Gmail in Heaven? My Suddenly Strange Thread with Anthony Shadid
As soon as the news of journalist Anthony Shadid’s awful and untimely death started crashing through the Twittersphere last night, I was hit with a creeping dread. It was not unlike the feeling a little boy has when he’s certain that a ghoul is...
The Alternate-Reality Facebook That Almost Happened
Just imagine if Harvard officials hadn't been so worried about things like privacy and transparency.