Boing Boing tv - Technology and the Iraq War: Noah Shachtman at ETech.

Today on Boing Boing tv, Xeni speaks with defense technology journalist Noah Shachtman about the role technology plays in the Iraq war. This episode is part of our ongoing series of interviews with some of the thinkers, hackers, and tinkerers at the O'Reilly Emerging Technology conference this year.

Noah is a contributor to Wired, and the editor of Wired's defense tech blog Danger Room. Don't miss his recent Wired magazine feature, "How Technology Almost Lost the War: In Iraq, the Critical Networks Are Social — Not Electronic."

Link to BBtv blog post with discussion and downloadable video.

[#1 posted by Jeff , March 18, 2008 9:25 AM]

"...almost lost the war [?]" Did we almost win the war? As far as I know it's still going and it doesn't look too good. I think it might be more accurate to say, "How all our gee-whiz technology still didn't let us win the war."

[#2 posted by flyinglily , March 18, 2008 10:22 AM]

Combat IT doesn't work for rebuilding a culture. Is this a surprise to anyone? Schachtman recommends talking to people. Have we reached this point - the numbingly obvious sounds like insight?

[#3 posted by Markus , March 18, 2008 4:10 PM]

I remember Danah Boyd writing about the meaning of Facebook and MySpace for young soldiers. MySpace is therefore banned because young soldiers started telling their friends at home whats really going on in Iraq. And that`s all but positive advertisment for the army.

http://www.danah.org/papers/essays/ClassDivisions.html

[#4 posted by Ascender , March 18, 2008 5:46 PM]

Here I am showing my boss Boing Boing, trying to find the article about the Scots planning on DNA profiling "troublesome" youths, and who do I see? My girlfriend's cousin! Kickass! I don't really have a comment on his speech or his perceptive comments.

[#5 posted by Takuan , March 18, 2008 6:01 PM]

That wasn't the bleedin Scots! T'was Brit idiocy!

(sorry all ye haggis sucking kilt fetishists!)

[#6 posted by kaosdevice , March 18, 2008 10:41 PM]

Wow, there sure is a lot of 'hey look at me, hey look at me' in Xeni's videos. It distracts a bit from the ideas she is trying to get at.