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  • The Trump-Clinton Twitter War: Bludgeon vs. Stiletto

    October 26, 2016

    Ian Bogost

    Ian Bogost, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication, was quoted in "The Trump-Clinton Twitter War: Bludgeon vs. Stiletto" by The Associated Press.

    Excerpt:

    When the Clinton camp goes on the attack, by contrast, it uses Twitter more as a stiletto than a club. "Delete your account" is a popular internet meme, an arch putdown that suggests someone just said something so embarrassingly stupid that they should just slink away and disappear. The response was an immediate hit that ricocheted around blogs and news sites for days; it's been retweeted more than half a million times.

    Trump is "that rough individual who will say anything," a stance that his supporters find "very refreshing," says Ian Bogost, a communications professor at Georgia Tech. Clinton's tweet, by contrast, "signals to her base that she's with-it on the internet," he noted in an earlier piece in the Atlantic.

    For the full article, read here.

    Published in: The Associated Press

  • The Critical IoT Reading List

    October 26, 2016

    Ian Bogost

    Ian Bogost, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication, was referenced in "The Critical IoT Reading List" by Wired.

    Excerpt:

    Our first post on the blog was a compilation of writings about the IoT that provide a critical lens on the IoT and its social and cultural impacts. We’ve put that list here so it can grow and become a dynamic resource over time. Feel free to suggest additions.

    For the full article, read here.

    Published in: Wired

  • A Pocket Guide to the Robot Revolution

    October 26, 2016

    Ian Bogost

    Ian Bogost, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication, wrote "A Pocket Guide to the Robot Revolution" for the November 2016 issue of The Atlantic.

    Excerpt:

    Paro (2003)
    This therapeutic baby-seal robot makes eye contact and responds to a person’s touch and speech. 

    Furby (1998)
    A hamsterlike toy robot that could gradually learn to speak English. Tens of millions of them were sold in the late ’90s.

     

    For the full article, read here.

    Published in: The Atlantic

  • Internet Transition Can't Be Reversed, NTIA Chief Says

    October 26, 2016

    Internet Governance Project

    An event hosted by the Internet Governance Project (IGP) at the School of Public Policy was referenced in “Internet Transition Can't Be Reversed, NTIA Chief Says” by Bloomberg BNA.

    Excerpt:

    The recently completed transition of internet technical function oversight can’t be reversed, Assistant Commerce Secretary Lawrence E. Strickling said Oct. 26.

    “That contract is expired and can’t be brought back in this point of time,” Strickling, chief of the National Telecommunications & Information Administration, said at an internet governance event hosted by the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

    Strickling's remarks signalled that transition opponents can't roll back the move.

    The U.S. Commerce Department allowed its oversight contract with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the non-profit that coordinates the domain name system, to expire Oct. 1, under a plan that the global internet community spent two years developing. In September, GOP lawmakers attempted to insert language in a stopgap government funding bill to block the transition. Four state attorney generals filed a last-minute lawsuit, which they later dropped after a federal judge refused to halt the transition.

    For the full article, read here.

    Published in: Bloomberg BNA

  • Express Lanes Take Toll on Driver Behavior

    October 25, 2016

    Patrick McCarthy

    Patrick McCarthy, professor in the School of Economics, was quoted in “Express Lanes Take Toll on Driver Behavior” by Georgia Public Broadcasting.

    Excerpt:

    Pat McCarthy studies transportation economics at Georgia Tech. He said the rising demand for the lanes speaks to drivers’ priorities.

    “What it fundamentally says is that the value of that trip to those individuals is worth the cost,” he said. 

    McCarthy explained that road space is a fixed resource. Eventually drivers will decide the costs of using that resource--either paying the toll or sitting in traffic--are too high and change their behavior.

    “Not everyone buys a Rolls-Royce,” he said. “Some people buy less expensive cars. We figure out based upon our incomes what choices we want to make.”

    For the full article, read here.

    Published in: Georgia Public Broadcasting

  • Only Hillary Clinton is Prepared for the Nuclear Threat

    October 23, 2016

    Senator Sam Nunn

    Sam Nunn, distinguished professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, wrote "Only Hillary Clinton is Prepared for the Nuclear Threat" for The Wall Street Journal.

    Excerpt:

    America’s Founding Fathers were determined to avoid a concentration of power in any one person or branch of government. When it comes to the authority to launch nuclear weapons, however, there are no checks or balances. Millions of lives and perhaps the fate of the planet rests on the judgment of a single person, the commander in chief. When voters choose America’s next president on Nov. 8, this is what’s at stake.

    Nine nations possess nuclear weapons. In a military confrontation, leaders will have little warning of a potential nuclear attack and only minutes to respond. Sophisticated hackers could deceive warning systems or disrupt command-and-control processes. Moscow and Washington still posture their nuclear forces so that they can be ordered to fire in minutes, a dangerously outdated strategy from the Cold War. Once a missile is in the air, even if fired by mistake, there is no way to order it back.

    For the full article, read here.

    Published in: The Wall Street Journal

  • Murray Interviewed on Marketplace Tech

    October 20, 2016

    Janet H. Murray

    Janet Murray, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication and the Associate Dean of Research in the Ivan Allen College, was interviewed about the future of television on the October 20, 2016 episode of Marketplace Tech for American Public Media.

    Listen to the full episode here.

    Published in: American Public Media

  • Death of the Gamer: Why the Term ‘Gamer’ Matters

    October 6, 2016

    Ian Bogost

    Ian Bogost, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication, was quoted in “Death of the Gamer: Why the Term ‘Gamer’ Matters” by Forbes.

    Excerpt:

    Ian Bogost, in the conclusion to his book How to do Things with Videogames, remarks that “we must face a humbling and perhaps even disturbing conclusion about the media forms we love: they’re just not that special” (pg. 148). It seems a strange conclusion for someone whose career is largely built on videogame studies. Why bother with all that research for a medium you don’t think is all that special? And yet, Bogost makes a crucial point.

     

    It is part of a process he calls demystification. All mediums begin in the form of some innovative, strange, captivating technology. You can use a machine to print endless copies of exactly the same text?! You can use a device to instantly paint a highly-realistic image of whatever it’s pointed at?! You can takes thousands of these images and play them in quick succession?! You can use a joystick to control and change what happens on-screen?! As a bewildering progression of technology, the newest step carries a degree of intrinsic wonder. The act of playing a videogame is in itself just a really cool, interesting thing to be able to do.

    For the full article, read here

    Published in: Forbes

  • U.S. to Give Up Control of the Internet's ‘Address Book’ After Years of Debate

    October 4, 2016

    Milton Mueller

    Milton Mueller, professor in the School of Public Policy, was quoted in “U.S. to Give Up Control of the Internet's ‘Address Book’ After Years of Debate” by The Guardian.

    Excerpt:

    Milton Mueller, professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology School of Public Policy and a principal of the Internet Governance Project, said that the real story of the Iana transition is that it provides a great example of how to create a global governance model.

    “The overall positive outcome is that we’re creating a global governance regime that matches the global scope of the internet and we can extract ourselves from all the existing arrangements that are related to nation states,” he said. “We don’t want to put it into the intergovernmental politics of the UN.”

    For the full article, read here.

    Published in: The Guardian

  • Science, Technology, and the Future of Warfare

    October 2, 2016

    Margaret Kosal

    Margaret Kosal, associate professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, wrote "Science, Technology, and the Future of Warfare" for the Modern War Institute blog.

    Excerpt:

    We know that emerging innovations within cutting-edge science and technology (S&T) areas carry the potential to revolutionize governmental structures, economies, and life as we know it. Yet, others have argued that such technologies could yield doomsday scenarios and that military applications of such technologies have even greater potential than nuclear weapons to radically change the balance of power. These S&T areas include robotics and autonomous unmanned system; artificial intelligence; biotechnology, including synthetic and systems biology; the cognitive neurosciences; nanotechnology, including stealth meta-materials; additive manufacturing (aka 3D printing); and the intersection of each with information and computing technologies, i.e., cyber-everything. These concepts and the underlying strategic importance were articulated at the multi-national level in NATO’s May 2010 New Strategic Concept paper: “Less predictable is the possibility that research breakthroughs will transform the technological battlefield…. The most destructive periods of history tend to be those when the means of aggression have gained the upper hand in the art of waging war.”

    For the full article, read here.

    Published in: Modern War Institute

  • More Evidence Cars Will Never Be Sexy Again

    September 30, 2016

    Ian Bogost

    Ian Bogost, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication, wrote "More Evidence Cars Will Never Be Sexy Again" for The Atlantic.

    Excerpt:

    The automobile has become the enemy of progress. It’s an unlikely outcome, from the vantage point of the 20th century. Not that long ago, cars were still unequivocal symbols of personal power—especially in America, where basic mobility is often impossible without one.

    But now cars are increasingly uncool. For one part, they’re a major source of carbon emissions, and thereby a principal cause of global warming. For another part, they’re expensive to own and operate, especially in big cities. The high-status technology, media, and finance professionals who live in cities like New York and San Francisco and the like can get around by public transit, on foot, and by bike. Elsewhere, the recession stifled car purchases and use among all demographics. Millennials just entering the workforce, who might have started buying cars had the economy been better, are more likely to have found and then acclimated to other options—including ride-hailing services like Uber.

    For the full article, read here.

    Published in: The Atlantic

  • Games People Play: Three Books on What's Behind the Fun

    September 29, 2016

    Ian Bogost

    Ian Bogost, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication, had his new book, Play Anything, reviewed in “Games People Play: Three Books on What's Behind the Fun” by The New York Times.

    Excerpt:

    In “Play Anything: The Pleasure of Limits, the Uses of Boredom, and the ­Secret of Games,” Ian Bogost takes the widest angle view, promising to “upset the deep and intuitive beliefs you hold about seemingly simple concepts like play and its supposed result, fun.” Bogost, who also wrote “How to Talk About Videogames,” is a philosopher, professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology and video game designer. Proposing an aesthetic of play, he draws on myriad examples, from golf to the task of watering his lawn to his daughter’s self-directed rules of “step on a crack, break your mother’s back.”

    For the full article, read here.

    Published in: The New York Times

  • An Online Education Breakthrough? A Master's Degree for a Mere $7,000

    September 28, 2016

    Julia Melkers

    Julia Melkers, associate professor in the School of Public Policy, was referenced in "An An Online Education Breakthrough? A Master's Degree for a Mere $7,000" by The New York Times with regards to her research on Georgia Tech's online master's program in computer science.

    Excerpt:

    The on-campus program enrolls only 300 students or so, nearly all top students from other countries. It isn’t easy to find room for more. Lecture halls and classrooms are expensive, and competition between departments for space is fierce. The online program has nearly 4,000 students, the large majority American. Many have organized study groups in their home cities. At that scale, there is almost always someone else online, day or night, to talk to about a thorny problem in machine learning.

    The combination of a prestigious department, traditional degree and drastically lower price was something new in American higher education. Joshua Goodman, an economist at Harvard, decided to study the program, along with Julia Melkers from Georgia Tech and Amanda Pallais from Harvard. They were interested in whether Georgia Tech was simply recruiting students who would have enrolled elsewhere — or if the program was creating something new.

    For the full article, read here.

    Published in: The New York Times

  • How to Review a Paper

    September 27, 2016

    John Walsh

    John Walsh, professor in the School of Public Policy, was quoted in "How to Review a Paper" by Science.

    Excerpt:

    I usually consider first the relevance to my own expertise. I will turn down requests if the paper is too far removed from my own research areas, since I may not be able to provide an informed review. Having said that, I tend to define my expertise fairly broadly for reviewing purposes. I also consider the journal. I am more willing to review for journals that I read or publish in. Before I became an editor, I used to be fairly eclectic in the journals I reviewed for, but now I tend to be more discerning, since my editing duties take up much of my reviewing time.

    - John P. Walsh, professor of public policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta

    For the full article, read here.

    Published in: Science

  • How Donald Trump's Internet Policy Could Benefit Russia

    September 27, 2016

    Milton Mueller

    Milton Mueller, professor in the School of Public Policy, was quoted in "How Donald Trump's Internet Policy Could Benefit Russia" by Science.

    Excerpt:

    In short, policy experts are coming out of the woodwork to say that Cruz and Trump are wrong. The pair's argument earned them three Pinocchios from Glenn Kessler, who writes the Post's Fact Checker column.

    According to critics, Trump's call to stop the transition would actually wind up helping Putin rather than undermining the Russian leader.

    "If the U.S. is forced to abort the transition now it would play right into the hands of authoritarian states," said Milton Mueller, a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology. "'Look,' they will say, 'the U.S. wants to control the Internet. Why can’t we?'"

    For the full article, read here.

    Published in: The Washington Post

  • Sam Nunn Talks Nuclear Weapons and Terror Prevention

    September 27, 2016

    Senator Sam Nunn

    Sam Nunn, distinguished professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, was interviewed in "Sam Nunn Talks Nuclear Weapons and Terror Prevention" by WABE.

    Excerpt:

    Former Georgia Democratic Sen. Sam Nunn is a co-founder of the NTI. Georgia Tech named its Sam Nunn School of International Affairs after him. Last week, it hosted a policy forum on addressing the underlying causes of international extremism. 

    One point the military and academic experts brought up: the causes of extremism are at the grass roots, in things like education systems in many countries. So, many solutions must be at the grass roots, too. 

    In a conversation on "Morning Edition," host Denis O’Hayer began by asking Nunn whether people-to-people terror prevention efforts could be jeopardized by the war against ISIS — if the war makes it easier for terrorists to radicalize young people in the region.

    For the full article, read here.

    Published in: WABE

  • Why a Silicon Valley Founder is Funding a Factory for Trump Memes

    September 23, 2016

    Ian Bogost

    Ian Bogost, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication, wrote "Why a Silicon Valley Founder is Funding a Factory for Trump Memes" for The Atlantic.

    Excerpt:

    The classic battle between nerds and brutes is one of brains versus brawn. In the geek films of the 1980s that introduced and immortalized this conflict—Revenge of the NerdsWeird ScienceGhostbustersSixteen Candles—the nerds are always outcasts and misfits. And these fables all end the same way. Through a combination of smarts and good fortune, the nerds demonstrate some unique prowess, by means of which they join the ranks of normals. The outcasts aren’t so different, after all. Everyone hugs, cue music, roll credits.

    It always should have been obvious that life doesn’t work this way. Real outcasts and misfits don’t enter the mainstream through quirky self-effacement turned tender sympathy. Misfits often stay misfits, even when fortune, power, and influence comes their way. And when it does, an outcast never forgets that he (yes, of course, he) was once cast out. If able, he takes revenge—preferably by burning down the institution of popularity itself.

    For the full article, read here.

    Published in: The Atlantic

  • Why the World Can't Quit Dots, the Brilliantly Designed Non-Game

    September 21, 2016

    Ian Bogost, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication, was quoted in "Why the World Can't Quit Dots, the Brilliantly Designed Non-Game" by Wired.

    Excerpt:

    Although the game is three years old, it remains popular and has of late appeared in everything from magazines to promotional videos to fashion shows. That’s because Dots,the game and the eponymously named studio that created it, has from the start embraced a design ethos that lends itself to the artistically inclined.

    “Playing Dots is like being in the cool lobby bar at the right boutique hotel, while playing Candy Crush is decidedly not like that,” says Ian Bogost, game designer and author of Play Anything. The company is capitalizing on that perception with strategic marketing to establish its reputation as a “game for non-gamers,” and make more games like that.

    For the full article, read here.

    Published in: Wired

  • Fact Checker: Cruz's Claim That ICANN's Transition Will Empower Foes to Censor the Internet

    September 21, 2016

    Milton Mueller

    Milton Mueller, professor in the School of Public Policy, was quoted in "Cruz's Claim That ICANN's Transition Will Empower Foes to Censor the Internet" by The Washington Post.

    Excerpt:

    ICANN says it is only a technical administrator that does not regulate content on the Internet, and that Cruz is claiming it has power that does not exist. “The U.S. government has never, and has never had the ability to, set the direction of the community’s policy development work based on First Amendment ideas,” the statement said. “Yet that is exactly what Senator Cruz is suggesting. The U.S. government has no decreased role. Other governments have no increased role. There is simply no change to governmental involvement in policy development work in ICANN.”

    Experts who favor the ICANN transition are scornful of Cruz’s assertions, saying they are a mash of misinformation and falsehoods. “Simply ending U.S. approval of root zone file changes does not alter the policymaking process in ways that increase the influence of foreign governments or global corporations. In some respects, the reforms associated with the transition reduce the power of GAC by requiring it to have consensus before it can offer advice,” said Milton Mueller, a professor in the Georgia Institute of Technology School of Public Policy and author of a book on ICANN.

    For the full article, read here.

    Published in: The Washington Post

  • Don't Believe the Claims That the U.S. is Giving Away the Internet

    September 20, 2016

    Milton Mueller

    Milton Mueller, professor in the School of Public Policy, was quoted in "Don't Believe the Claims That the U.S. is Giving Away the Internet" by MIT Technology Review.

    Excerpt:

    The argument, championed by Cruz, that the transition will cede control to foreign governments is “the opposite of the truth,” according toMilton Mueller, a professor of public policy at Georgia Tech and cofounder and co-director of the Internet Governance Project. The purpose of ICANN, which Mueller helped create, is to keep Internet governance out of the hands of governments, he says.

    Mueller adds that if the United States does not honor the agreement to privatize these functions, it could lend weight to arguments from nations such as China and Russia that Internet governance should be nationalized or turned over to the United Nations.

    For the full article, read here.

    Published in: MIT Technology Review

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