I was lucky enough to be invited to submit a piece to Ian Bogost's Atlantic series on the future of cities (previously: James Bridle, Bruce Sterling, Molly Sauter, Adam Greenfield); I told Ian I wanted to build on my 2017 Locus column about using networks to allow us to coordinate our work and play in a way that maximized our freedom, so that we could work outdoors on nice days, or commute when the traffic was light, or just throw an impromptu block party when the neighborhood needed a break.

James Bridle (previously) is the latest contributor to The Atlantic's excellent series on the future of cities (Bruce Sterling, Molly Sauter, Adam Greenfield); in a new piece, Greenfield discusses the phenomenon of "virtual citizenship," and how it affects cities that are either turned into dumping-grounds for inconvenient poor people, or rootless, tax-dodging one-percenters.

Adam Greenfield (previously) is one of the best thinkers when it comes to the social consequences of ubiquitous computing and smart cities; he's the latest contributor Ian Bogost's special series on "smart cities" for The Atlantic (previously: Bruce Sterling, Molly Sauter).

Adam Greenfield's new book Radical Technologies: The Design of Everyday Life (previously) has scored an outstanding review from The Guardian's Steven Poole, who calls it "a landmark primer and spur to more informed and effective opposition" to "the pitiless libertarianism towards which all [Smart Cities] developments seem to lean."

For 13 years, I've been writing about Adam Greenfield, one of the world's smartest critical thinkers on what we're calling "The Internet of Things" this decade — but since the first glimmers of the idea of networked people, places and objects, Greenfield has been writing smart things about the subject, most recently in Radical Technologies: The Design of Everyday Life, a book that Verso will publish next week.

Adam Greenfield proves again that he's one of the best writers and thinkers on "smart cities," explaining how the top-down, expensive, tech-centered approach produces unlivable corporate dystopias in which people are just another "thing" to be shuffled around — and showing that there's an alternative, low-tech, high-touch, human-centered version of the smart city that makes resilient, thriving communities.

Here'a an excellent piece on the promise and peril of "smart cities," which could be part of a system to make cities fairer and more transparent, or could form the basis for an authoritarian lockdown. As Adam Greenfield says, "[the centralized model of the smart city is] disturbingly consonant with the exercise of authoritarianism." — Read the rest

Adam Greenfield snapped this "Occupy Legoland" piece at OWS, including a Lego QR code (!). As Adam says, 99%, but 100% awesome.

Occupy Legoland!

Windows Phone 7's minimalist interface is "a true design marvel," the first really fresh and successful approach to a mobile platform since the iPhone, says Andy Inahtko. What I like about it most myself is how plain it is, how unashamedly computerized. — Read the rest

Here's ubiquitous computing dude and smart guy Adam Greenfield talking about treating cities as "software under development." It's a provocative and exciting essay:

Provided that, we can treat the things we encounter in urban environments as system resources, rather than a mute collection of disarticulated buildings, vehicles, sewers and sidewalks.

Adam Greenfield's "Breathe Deep and Let Go of Things" tee is a nice variant on the classic WWII "Keep Calm and Carry On" posters that crowded graced England's streets during the Blitz (by contrast, today's posters warning you that the man next to you on the bus is probably a terrorist and inviting you to go through your neighbours' trash-cans looking for evidence of bomb-making might as well read, "When in trouble/or in doubt/run in circles/scream and shout"). — Read the rest

Adam "Everyware" Greenfield — a sensible skeptic about radio-frequency ID tags whose writing on the subject is bang-on fascinating — is presenting the material from his next book, "The City Is Here For You To Use," at NYC's Cooper Union on April 9. — Read the rest

Andreas sez, "Back in June, Cory reported about a presentation by Adam Greenfield about his recently published book 'Everyware'. [Ed: Everyware is a book about the threat and potential of a world dominated by RFIDs and other tracing technology — about the potential empowerment or control that such a world would bring]
We invited Adam to Keio University in Tokyo for a similar talk and now the videos of the event are up — more than 80 minutes of CC-licensed Everyware goodness!" — Read the rest

Yesterday I caught a presentation by Adam Greenfield about the ethics of "ubiquitous computing" (the idea that the devices around us will know where they are, what they are, and who you are). This is a place where science fiction and real world policy are converging; for example, it's becoming harder and harder to ride the London Underground without carrying a radio-pollable card that could be used later to identify who you are and where you've been. — Read the rest

Somehow, I missed reporting on this panel when I listed my SXSW stuff: I'm on a panel on Digital Preservation on Monday, 15 March, at 3:30 in room 15:

We take for granted that our cultural artifacts will last. It offends and horrifies us when we learn of decaying archaeological sites, looted museums and burning libraries.