ginger coons - Not so obvious

A seagull on a beach with its mouth open, apparently in the act of screeching.

nature

Interview with the seagull

What does it mean to think about the planet’s inhabitants, beyond the humans? Is thinking about them enough, or do we need to find ways to consult them?

Close-up detail of a cog wheel mechanism.

bookpile

"Book"pile 2: The Real World of Technology

Bookpile is short posts on Fridays about what I’m reading now and what I’m liking about it. In this week's Bookpile, Ursula M. Franklin's The Real World of Technology.

Overhead view of a storm, with clouds swirling in the foreground, and water and land in the background.

ELSA

What I mean when I write about ELSA

There’s a concept called “ELSA” that I talk about a lot. As you might guess, ELSA is an acronym. It stands for “Ethical, Legal, and Social Aspects.” Used in the study of emerging scientific and technological developments, it brings people with expertise in ELS aspects to the table.

books

Bookpile 1: Enshittification

Bookpile is short posts on Fridays about what I’m reading now and what I’m liking about it. In the first Bookpile, Cory Doctorow’s Enshittification.

A diagram which shows several different nodes on a network and the flows of information between different nodes.

art

Digging the internet

In 2014, I made an installation about digital enclosure, bringing visitors into a world of subversive online activism. A group called the True Equalizers were agitating to build new networks, not overseen by the all-powerful internet overlords who controlled the flows of socialization and access.

Check your spam

A quick note for those trying to create accounts and receive updates by email. Because not-so-obvious.net is a pretty new domain name, emails may be landing in your spam folder. If you're trying to sign up, look out for a confirmation email to complete your registration.

civil society

Civil society and empty bottles

My research methods teacher in grad school had this story about bottle collectors – people who go around town, finding bottles with deposit value, collecting them, and redeeming them. This first part of the story is in Toronto, where beer, wine, and liquor bottles all carry a deposit. In Toronto, if

Photo of a train carrying intermodal shipping containers. In the foreground, a grassy field. In the background, a blue sky with fluffy clouds.

Hello world

A colleague of mine who is generally very right is constantly pointing out to me that there are things in my head that I take for granted or assume everyone also knows. This comes up when we’re writing together. He’s one of my more regular and more successful