One Web Day, and Armchair Science Redefined
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008 by Harry LewisSeptember 22 is One Web Day. I’ll quote from the web site to explain it:
OneWebDay is an Earth Day for the internet. The idea behind OneWebDay is to focus attention on a key internet value (this year, online participation in democracy), focus attention on local internet concerns (connectivity, censorship, individual skills), and create a global constituency that cares about protecting and defending the internet.  So, think of OneWebDay as an environmental movement for the Internet ecosystem. It’s a platform for people to educate and activate others about issues that are important for the Internet’s future.
Lots more information on the site, and suggestions of things to think about and to do.
Now here’s a curious example of web-enabled science that would have been impossible a decade ago. A group of German scientists has discovered that cows tend to orient themselves toward the North or South pole. So do other animals. They figured this out by looking at hundreds of herds in Google Earth images. No explanation offered of how or why they do it.
Nor is there any mention in the summary of whether the cows opted in to this study or even were given a chance to opt out.