From everyday apps to complex algorithms, Ruha Benjamin cuts through tech-industry hype to understand how emerging technologies can reinforce White supremacy and deepen social inequity. Benjamin argues that automation, far from being a sinister story of racist programmers scheming on the dark web, has the potential to hide, speed up, and deepen discrimination while appearing neutral and even…
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We place a large premium on Human. Mostly because it is what we've always known. But, when given the choice, we often ditch humans for something better. Some random examples… Radio DJs Does anyone actually miss witless chatter between records? Use of Spotify suggests a large number of us don't need a Human to introduce the next record. Or hold a phone-in. Or read out dates of a gig. We m…
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I accidentally bought a load of vinyl records. So I decided to buy the cheapest, shittiest, turntable possible. This is the E1372. Made by Jia Yin King Technologies. This is sold under a variety of names and costs about £30 including postage from China. It's a plastic shell, motor, and ADC (Analogue to Digital Converter), which is powered via USB. It is the cheapest brand new player I could …
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A question to the void. Are you entitled to get the source history of open source projects? Lots of Open Source licences give the consumer of software the right to a copy of the source code. For example, GPLv3 says that distributors of software have to: give anyone who possesses the object code ... a copy of the Corresponding Source What is "Corresponding Source"? The "Corresponding Source"…
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Well, that was a whirlwind! After 18-months at NHSX, my 6-month temporary secondment has reached its end. It's always hard when a job finishes. The secondment was twice extended, and that let me carry on defining open technology standards for the NHS. Now it is over and I'm a bit sad. The pandemic seems to heighten all emotions, doesn't it? I'm luckier than most. I'm still employed. The whole…
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Perhaps you've heard of Micro-Aggressions. They're the steady drip-drip-drip of poison which gradually wears you down. "Where are you really from?" or "I can't pronounce your name, can I call you Jo?" or "Your lot are good at running, right?" or "You're clever, for a ...". Individually, they are tiny pinpricks of discrimination. None of them large enough to be worth kicking up a fuss. Each one…
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The Earth is coming to the boiling point as the climate disaster of the Meteor strike becomes more and more clear, but the political situation is already overheated. Riots and sabotage plague the space program. The IAC's goal of getting as many people as possible off Earth before it becomes uninhabitable is being threatened. Elma York is on her way to Mars, but the Moon colony is still being…
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I first saw cats when I was... 7? 8? Young enough for it to leave an impression on me. I couldn't have told you what was going on, but I was utterly mesmerised. Humans! Pretending to be cats! My parents used it to instil in me a love of West End musicals which persists to this day. A decade-or-so later, I saw one of the last performances on Broadway. By that time, the set was crumbling, the…
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I've been reading lots more non-fiction books than normal. And I'm getting increasingly annoyed about footnotes. Footnotes are a weird skeuomorph hangover from the days of printed text. I don't think they are really suited to eBooks - but they seem to have come along for the ride into the future. There are a few things that really annoy me from a usability point of view. Some of these are the…
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This long-awaited memoir from one of Britain’s best-loved celebrities – a writer, broadcaster, activist, comic on stage, screen and radio for nearly forty years, presenter of QI and Great British Bake Off star – is an autobiography with a difference: as only Sandi Toksvig can tell it. ‘Between the Stops is a sort of a memoir, my sort. It’s about a bus trip really, because it’s my view from the …
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This is a curious set of headphones. The OpenEar Trio by Shenzen Alex Technology. They're completely flat and designed to sit outside the ears. They're designed so you can hear your surroundings. If you're outside exercising, it's useful to hear cars creeping up on you. If you're on a conference call, being able to hear the doorbell ringing is essential. These are super-lightweight. Once…
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Wherever the historians go, chaos is sure to follow… Dispatched to Victorian London to seek out Jack the Ripper, things go badly wrong when he finds the St Mary’s historians first. Stalked through the fog-shrouded streets of Whitechapel, Max is soon running for her life. Again. And that’s just the start. Max finds herself in a race against time when an old enemy is intent on destroying St Mary…
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