When I’m standing on the bridge and the sun is setting behind the skyline, glowing through the breaks between buildings as if it were blood running through the city’s veins, I feel I am part of the beating heart of New York. And every time, I fall more and more in love.

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Kathryn Bigelow’s awards triumph
The Guardian Comment is Free

Cameron’s Avatar may be impressive, but special effects do not a good director make; Bigelow’s directing of The Hurt Locker was breathtaking. It may be a David v Goliath fight, but if Bigelow ends up winning the Oscar, I’d bet there would be plenty more young women keen on pursuing a career behind the camera, rather than as the “talent” in front of it. That really would be something to celebrate.

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Is loss of privacy a price worth paying?
The Guardian Comment is Free

Perhaps, in our rush to embrace the digital era, we’ve voluntarily, albeit unwittingly, forfeited any privacy protection we had. Every social networking site we sign up to involves another profile, more uploading of information, further chipping away of the private block, shaping it into the public one that’s on display. But is this such a bad thing? Is it not a fair price to be paid by the dramatic improvements in communication, connectivity and socialising, gained by embracing the online medium?

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Sexblogger’s tale: How my life changed forever
The Guardian Comment & Opinion

It’s not easy being outed. Three years ago I was doorstepped by the Sunday Times; as I opened my front door, a secret photographer took photos of me. The paper then threatened to use these in their exposé of me, in the hope I would succumb to vanity and agree to an interview and photoshoot. The spread ran – without my contributing to it – two days later and the three years of anonymity I had as the author of the sexblog Girl with a One Track Mind was lost in an instant.

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Amazon feels the web’s wrath
The Guardian Comment is Free

It seems that books written by lesbian or gay authors, or with lesbian or gay themes, were being classed as “adult”, actively removed from searches, and de-ranked, alongside the books featuring erotic content. Authors are dependent on people being able to find their books. If a book is not readily available in bookshops, then many book buyers will seek it online, and Amazon is often their first port of call. If the ability to find that book via searching the landing page is removed, then that could have a huge impact on book sales, and authors may suffer the consequences of this for some time to come.

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Calacanis calls time on the internet ‘me-toos’: Jason Calacanis interview
The Guardian Technology pages

It’s impossible to walk into a room and not notice Jason Calacanis. This is not because he is famous – although he’s arguably a celebrity in internet circles – but due to the fact that he exudes confidence and has a dominant presence. He might be perceived as little arrogant, but he’s earned his authoritative position: he has held successive productive roles in the tech world for many years, seen it through the good times and bad and come out the other end a millionaire several times over. It’s no surprise, then, that people pay attention to what he has to say.

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Can we move beyond the headlines?
The Guardian Comment is Free

Engaging with young people and giving them relevant information can help protect them by making them feel safe, comfortable and cared-for; it can assist them with learning about boundaries; and it can give them self-respect, self-esteem and self-confidence. Being taught just the basics of human reproduction in science classes does not provide children and young people with the knowledge necessary for relationships – of any sort – later on in life.

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“The democratic approach is a very valuable thing”: Kevin Rose interview
The Guardian Technology pages

Rose’s focus though, remains with what the site offers to its users. He gets most animated when talking about Digg’s interactivity and its “community”. “Any time you can work with the community and stay active and in touch with the community, the better. I’m trying to get out there and be in touch with people who use our service. The best thing I can do is get constant feedback from the community. They help us shape our products, they tell us when we’re screwing up; and we’ve screwed up.”

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Zoe will be speaking at the Guardian Open Weekend in London on 24th March

Zoe will be speaking at the CybHer conference in London on 12th May 2012

Zoe will be speaking at the Festival of the Erotic Arts in Edinburgh on 22nd June 2012