Your Social Networking Credit Score

“Big Data” Can Help Determine Who Really Deserves a Loan. But There Are Dangers.

The buzzword tsunami that is “big data”—a handy way of describing our vastly improved ability to collect and analyze humongous data sets—has dwarfed “frictionless sharing” and “cloud computing” combined. As befits Silicon Valley, “big data” is mostly big hype, but there is one possibility with genuine potential: that it might one day bring loans—and credit histories—to millions of people who currently lack access to them. But what price, in terms of privacy and free will (not to mention the exorbitant interest rates), will these new borrowers have to pay?

In the …

Mr. Schmidt Goes to Pyongyang

Google’s Chairman Is Visiting North Korea. Will the Hermit Kingdom Finally Permit the Internet?

On Monday, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt arrived in North Korea, a country that is almost completely cut off from the Internet. Schmidt, who is traveling with former New Mexico Governor Bill …

Tearing Down the ‘Electronic Cottage’

Why Telecommuting May Destroy Your Work/Life Balance

The early case for telecommuting—made most prominently by Alvin Toffler in his best-selling The Third Wave in 1980—had a strong romantic flavor to it. For futurists like Toffler, the home office …

Screening Babies, Stopping Asteroids, and Making Laptops

The nutshell: Almost every American newborn is screened for more than 50 genetic disorders—most of which you haven’t heard of. UCLA sociologist Timmermans and UNC anthropologist Buchbinder spent three years following …

Real Startups, Fake Stuff, and Pirated Property

New Books on Silicon Valley, Synthetic Biology, and Digital Copyright Law

In The Six-Point Inspection, Zócalo takes a quick look at new books that are changing the way we see our world.