Berkman Buzz: May 31, 2013

Today, the MOOC provider Coursera announced a major new initiative.

Coursera describes itself as a "education company that partners with the top universities and organizations in the world to offer courses online for anyone to take, for free."

They recently announced a partnership with 10 state and regional university systems, where tuition-paying students enrolled in those systems will be able to take courses using the Coursera platform.

PTeens think about online privacy differently than we do. My post on study from @pewinternet & @berkmancenter http://bit.ly/12R0o3j
—Claire McCarthy (@drclaire)

In order to test the beta release of the new simplified Zeega editor, I thought it might be interesting to attempt a remix of Stéphane Mallarmé’s 1897 experiment Un Coup de dés. Mallarmé’s pioneering poem waited a decade and half before achieving publication. Despite its author’s meticulous attention to page layout, his expressive balancing of “empty” spaces with “full” word strings, and the delicate drift of a syntax no less suggestive than elusive, the work never quite rose the absolute standard that Mallarmé set for himself. It failed to become that ideal Book qua spiritual instrument that the Symbolist master had dreamed of and theorized.

In early March, the online retailer Solid Gold Bomb provoked outrage when customers discovered that its Amazon store, which featured apparel bearing dozens of variants on the famed “Keep Calm [and Carry On]” slogan, included a t-shirt that read “Keep Calm and Rape A Lot.” Solid Gold Bomb generated the shirts, and Amazon offered them for sale in its marketplace. To complicate matters, it appears that Amazon doesn’t review the stores in its marketplace like a mall owner might review physical storefronts, and, particularly unusual, Solid Gold Bomb didn’t review the shirts they offered for sale: the designs were computer generated. How far, then, should blame extend? When unsupervised automation produces results that everyone regrets, how do we decide whom to hold responsible, and when do we decide to hold anyone responsible in the first place?

Yes you should help save podcasting: @EFF & @berkmancenter raise $30K to file for USPTO review of podcasting patent https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/05/help-save-podcasting
—Jake Shapiro (@jakeshapiro)

The internet introduces the challenges of credibility but it also highlights the consequences of living in a world of information overload, where the issue isn’t whether or not the fact is out there and available, but how much effort a person must go through to manage making sense of so much information. Why should someone trust a source on the internet if they don’t have the tools to assess the content’s credibility? It’s often easier to turn to friends or ask acquaintances on Facebook for suggestions. People use the “lazy web” because friends are more likely to respond quickly and make sense than trying to sort out what’s available through Google.

A massive blackout in Cambodia has sparked online discussion about the country’s power supply situation. Citizens are demanding explanation about the recurring blackouts in recent months. Urban Voice, a crowdsourcing initiative, has mapped the blackouts in Phnom Penh City.