Honesty…let us work on it with all our malice and love.
—Nietzsche
My articles can be found through an index or in the list that takes up most this page.
A collection of the articles I have written since 2004 about web pages, forums, and other media used by users of technology to educate each other.
My most rigorous research work, published by three law journals and widely cited on the Internet (February 2000).
A pair of articles exploring the technical and policy implications of the technologies that led to a crystalization of new concepts under the term Peer to Peer (May 12, 2000).
A useful summary, widely circulated on the Internet, of issues in telephony and communications of interest to Internet users and professionals (January 14, 2000).
An overview of current trends in online identity, offering various contexts and philosophical models for defining and judging identity. (June 29, 2006).
A summary of the legal, business, and technological state of reputation, identity, and privacy (December 16, 2007).
A speculative essay on new media emerging in the early 21st century, and their effect on society. Being updated as a wiki (October 8, 2006).
A suggestion for a set of integrated tools combining features of mailing lists, FAQs, wikis, and bug tracking tools to make a new environment that may be more helpful to people sharing technical information (February 3, 2008).
A short story containing an important literary message about free speech as well as a review of case law in the area (Web Review, June 29 and July 6, 2001).
A rarity: an article with a novel and little-heard approach to the questions of online hate speech and censorship (April 7, 1998).
A two-part article explaining the underlying needs shared by a range of modern applications, including Web Services, wireless networks, and instant messaging (April 7 and 14, 2004).
A non-standard view of the fad in the early 2000s for Internet governance, pulling in some critical historical background that change one’s perspective on the debate, and giving little support for either side of the U.S.-U.N. battle (October 20, 2005).
A re-evaluation of the potential for electronic media. The article updates the work of Marshall McLuhan through some observations about computer hacking. A unique article: one-quarter retrospetive, one-quarter social commentary, one-quarter parody, one-quarter marketing material (July 9, 2002).
My last major article on technical writing, discussing how the models and practices of software engineering can make documentation more readable and useful (Summer 1991).
Mostly fun, but also inspirational and cautionary (December 17, 1999; reprinted December 22, 2000).
A broad critique of the interaction between regulation and technology, widely circulated (November 30, 1999).
Highly praised by opponents of “censorware” (October 27, 1998).
Most of the articles were originally published in one of the following forums:
O’Reilly Network, the online technology center run by my company O’Reilly Media, for which I used to write a monthly column.
American Reporter, an independent online newspaper for which I wrote a weekly column for two years.
Web Review, an online magazine about developments in Web design and administration, where my Platform Independent column ran for almost three years.
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, for which I have written several position papers.
Finally, I have compiled a bibliography of my other articles on technical writing and training, most of which are not available electronically.