How Much Would You Sell Your ‘Data Soul’ For?

A Dutch student sold all his online data to the highest bidder to make an important point; your CDs (if you have any left) are slowly dying because they weren’t made to last; meanwhile, the Israeli government is trying to persuade Palestinian Christians to join its military forces. These discoveries and more below.

On a regular basis, Truthdig brings you the news items and odds and ends that have found their way to Larry Gross, director of the USC Annenberg School for Communication. A specialist in media and culture, art and communication, visual communication and media portrayals of minorities, Gross helped found the field of gay and lesbian studies.

In Ukraine, the U.S. Is Dragging Us Towards War With Russia Washington’s role in Ukraine, and its backing for the regime’s neo-Nazis, has huge implications for the rest of the world

The Library of Congress Wants to Destroy Your Old CDs (For Science) That old Michael Jackson disc? You’ve probably been treating it wrong.

Will Europe Censor This Article? The troubling implications of the EU’s new “right to be forgotten.”

Onward, Christian Soldiers For the past 18 months the Israeli government has gradually raised the stakes in its campaign to pressure Palestinian Christians to serve in the Israeli military.

Selling Your Bulk Online Data Really Means Selling Your Autonomy In March, a Dutch student called Shawn Buckles placed his personal data on the market.

At 2 Conferences, Big Claims Are Staked on Higher Education’s Future When it comes to excitement about the role of technology and entrepreneurship in reshaping education, it’s hard to beat the ASU+GSV Education Innovation Summit, held last month in Arizona, with 2,100 investors, companies, policy wonks, and even officials from actual colleges and schools attending.

Who Watches the Watchers? Big Data Goes Unchecked The National Security Agency might be tracking your phone calls. But private industry is prying far more deeply into your life.