Astra Taylor began her career making documentaries about thinkers (Zizek! and Examined Life). Now she's doing the thinking herself. In her new book, The People's Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age, Taylor argues the Internet isn't as liberating a force as its initial boosters promised. She's joining us at 2 p.m. ET here in Kinja to take questions and talk about her book.

What do science-fiction/science-history meganovel writer Neal Stephenson and Internet crank Nick Carr have in common? They both postulate that our society's glut of video and network access trains people not to sit down and learn how to think for themselves — why figure anything out if you can just Google up an answer? (Case in point: The stock-research guy who Googled a 2002 story about United's bankruptcy and wrote it up as if it were news.) Stephenson's Anathem, which takes place in a world where grownups actually do math, is available in bookstores Tuesday. You can read my Wall Street Journal review, or — heh — just watch this video.Click to viewI didn't know they make trailers for books now. "The World of Anathem" is by Seattle videographer Brady Hall, who I'm told makes a decent living from the genre.

Thanks to Google search and Gmail's ever-expanding capacity, I don't have to remember much of anything anymore beyond a unique string or group of words to call up facts, dates and important documents. Convenient? Yes, as long as my laptop is nearby. But is my brain rewiring itself to rely on Web-based memory? That's what Matt Asay is arguing on News.com. Asay highlights quotes from Nick Carr's article in The Atlantic which suggest our malleable mind is increasingly dependent on the Internet for cognition. Does that make Google the sizzling pan, and our brains fresh eggs ready for a fryup? I'm not so sure.

• "So to hear today that Microsoft is partnering with Novell to offer sales support for Novell's Suse Linux AND cooperate with its old rival on Linux-Windows interoperability is ... astonishing — a bit like discovering that Stalin really sent Trotsky to Mexico for a nice vacation or that Itchy has shacked up with Scratchy." [Good Morning Silicon Valley]

• Web 2.0 start-up Kiko gets auctioned off for $50K. Kinda like that chick from "Family Matters" whose boyfriend pimped her out to porn. And both heed the disclaimer: Past traffic is no guarantee of future traffic. [Ebay]

What happened to the nice Mike Arrington? We don't pretend to know, but now that the formerly friendly TechCrunch blogger has transformed into Fighting Mike, here's a round-up of his feuds and feuds-to-come.

Here's what's happening today in the world of the Long Tail (Wired editor Chris Anderson's niche-marketing theory, recently disputed in the Wall Street Journal):

If today's lengthy introduction to the Gillmor Gang didn't explain who Steve Gillmor, Michael Arrington, Nick Carr, and Jason Calacanis are, this simple chart ought to do it. Below are the names, positions, and recent exploits of four highly respected members of the tech industry.

So the weekly podcast "The Gillmor Gang" is in limbo as members Michael Arrington, Steve Gillmor, and Nick Carr fight their personal demons. I'm wondering the same thing you are about this tiff: Who are these guys, what's their problem, and why should I care?

Nick Carr, long-time flamebaiter turned linkbaiter, declares Wikipedia dead. (No fair pointing at the very live site!) We can't let Nick be the only one gunning for Steve Gillmor's coroner job. So in the interest of upping our own fake authority, here's Valleywag's table of what's wagged, sagged, and body-bagged. Apologies to Wired — that is, we're so very sorry.