Episode 131: Pushing Against the Public Transcript

Dr. Thomas Whitley and the Rev. Sam Harrelson discuss Black Friday, gaming, moral questions, Evangelical strawmen, and complicity.

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Tech and Public Policy

Interesting article from NY’s Attorney General directed at the FCC:

In today’s digital age, the rules that govern the operation and delivery of internet service to hundreds of millions of Americans are critical to the economic and social well-being of the nation. Yet the process the FCC has employed to consider potentially sweeping alterations to current net neutrality rules has been corrupted by the fraudulent use of Americans’ identities — and the FCC has been unwilling to assist my office in our efforts to investigate this unlawful activity.

If law enforcement can’t investigate and (where appropriate) prosecute when it happens on this scale, the door is open for it to happen again and again

via An Open Letter to the FCC: – Eric Schneiderman – Medium

“What’s a computer?”

There’s this meme that keeps coming back on Twitter. A young person discovers a floppy disk and calls it the save icon. Apple is using the same idea with this ad. When the mum asks her daughter what she is doing on her computer, she answers “what’s a computer?”

via Apple’s new ad shows how iPads are going to replace laptops | TechCrunch

There’s no doubt that “computing” will continue to evolve from the way we interpret that action today (based on conventions that come from machines primarily from the 80’s but also the mainframes and typewriters that preceded them).

I’ve been using a Google Pixelbook for 99% of my “computing” over the last two weeks. I love the integration that this device has with the Android app store and being able to install apps like Microsoft Word or Excel or Powerpoint and use them in full screen as if I was on a Windows laptop. I also love being able to flip this device around into “tablet mode” and play racing games or browse Netflix using what were previously mobile apps. Combined with the Pixel Pen, this device has changed the way I think about my own workflow in a rapid fashion.

The iPad Pro can do that for many people (especially students but also “adults”) as well.

I’m a big fan of the show Westworld. It has incredible visual effects and a captivating story. But the technology used by characters on the show is what really draws me in (I know I know). The handheld “computing” devices they use with foldable screens, touch sensing, AI, and integration of mobile and laptop features is so attractive to me. I hope Apple / Google / Amazon / Microsoft or whatever company that is currently being bootstrapped in a young person’s garage apartment gets us there in the next decade.

We’re almost there with transitional devices like the iPad Pro or the Pixelbook.

 

Episode 130: Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

Dr. Thomas Whitley and the Rev. Sam Harrelson are joined by Prof. Chris Frilingos to discuss his book "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph: Family Trouble in the Infancy Gospels" and why the Infancy Gospel of Thomas and Proto-Gospel of James are so important for contemporary audiences.

Special Guest: Christopher A. Frilingos.

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Episode 129: Writing Their Last Chapters

Dr. Thomas Whitley and Rev. Sam Harrelson watch election returns together and discuss the impact of our choices and the role of our national patience.

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“a new combination of media company and public utility”

Great point… and it’s unimaginable to me that anyone in government or a high profile position would take their own security and (operational and informational) so lightly…

As we saw this week, when Twitter, Facebook, and Google testified on Capitol Hill about Russias election meddling, “social media companies have failed to come to grips with who they are, and what role they play in society. They imagine themselves as tech companies that just make products, but they’re actually a new combination of media company and public utility,” Singer added.

These companies use of contractors, often part-time workers in internet call centers, to handle abuse and moderation is something else to consider. Twitter, for example, has never provided a breakdown of how much of its workforce is contracted.

via A Former Twitter Employee Told Us How a Contractor Could Take Down Trumps Account – Motherboard

Episode 128: “I have no idea what you believe.”

Sam is joined by The Rev. Merianna Neely Harrelson to discuss beards, doubt, faith, securing your spot in The Good Place or The Bad Place, ethics and eschatology, rededicating your life, and salvation bracelets.

Special Guest: Merianna Neely Harrelson.

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