from our current, parenting related postings, to mention a review by Bruce Schneier, a internet security expert; of the book Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky.

This book goes into how the internet has made it possible for truly ad hoc organizations to form, and then disappear with almost zero organizational cost.  This is an amazing thing, for example, the London Transport bombings, since photos and video of the event were available in an organized manner on Flickr within minutes of the event.  This is hugely dangerous when more radical groups use the very same tools to organize themselves for crimes against society.

It’s easy, but shortsighted to argue that these tools should be outlawed on the basis of the purposes to which they could be put.  People make the very same arguments with regards to firearms.  But the courts and society have repeatedly shown that, say, Smith and Wesson isn’t responsible for the murder caused by their Magnum handguns.

I was very intrigued by the review’s implications that these tools will allow for people to become far better informed decisions, and to increasingly isolate themselves from good information.