The Best Fiction Always Has the "Zing of Authenticity"

My only experience with getting news from a scanner was from inside an ambulance as I and another accident victim were being transported to the hospital. The ambulance driver was about to make a turn onto the street to take us to the hospital when he called the report it. At that moment he turned the wrong way. Not only did he turn away from the hospital, but he also gave an erroneous report of what caused the industrial accident. He was able to make a U-turn back toward the hospital, but his initial report stood. Later that day, the radio reported on the accident, giving the erroneous details of the accident over the air. The next morning, the small-town newspaper was delivered. Like the radio report, the story the paper printed was likewise based on false “facts” that came from a harried ambulance driver who was going the wrong way.

MISINFORMATION

The point of this story is that not one of the so called news professions in that town took the time to check the facts of a report that came over a scanner, made by a driver who at the time had one too many things on his mind. If a news professional doesn’t bother to check the facts, what is the average person going to do when they listen in on a scanner frequency? Or when they read a Twitter feed, for that matter?

You can probably guess from that story, I’m not a big fan of people who pass information off as news simply so they can have the “thrill of being first,” without first checking the facts. And when it comes to social media, who are the fact checkers? Let’s face it—it has to be us, the information consumers. In some cases there may be no one else to do it. Besides, do we want to trust someone else with such an important task?

In the recent events at Bundy Ranch in Nevada, reports came fast and furiously via Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, as well as by a few more traditional news sources. I will admit to feeling on top of the events as I watched a shaky YouTube video on my Facebook feed that showed a protester getting tasered by the police (or sheriff and/or deputies, as the case may be), for momentarily blocking a truck leaving the Bundy Ranch. I knew I was watching the event hours before any TV news source would pick it up, if they did at all.

But the amount of misinformation coming out of the Nevada Desert will take days if not weeks to sift through, before we have the complete story. In our local online St. George News, columnist Dallas Hyland recently posted this timely article, "Searching for truth in the misinformation age."

Now keep in mind that I usually disagree with about 75% of what this person writes. But I figure if we saw everything the same, one of us wouldn’t really be needed. And in case you don’t want to read his article, here are his take-away points:

• Examine carefully what you hear

• Listen to what those you disagree with have to say

• Be honest and accepting

• Be nice. (It’s not that hard to do, and the rewards are worth it.)

POLARIZATION

I will admit it—the zing does get you going. But one obvious problem I see with this is the zing tends to polarize us even more. People seem to, by their very natures, embrace the information that most matches their current beliefs, and discount all other information. So if you're pro-government, you see the armed mob and say, "That's exactly why the government has weapons." If you're pro-citizen, you see the armed government employees and say, “That's exactly why citizens need weapons."

Steven Strauss, a 2012 advanced leadership fellow at Harvard, spoke of this when he said, “(Americans) believe what we want to believe, and we selectively filter out information contradicting our preferences.” This leads to polarization. He also said Americans were less likely to experience this back in the 1960’s when we got our “news from one of three TV networks and local newspapers were often a monopoly.” You can read the full article here.

DWINDLING EMPATHY

The constant stream of news does have other drawbacks, especially when we receive news on our handheld devices 24/7. A report from CNN tells us that streams of information from social networking sites are coming at us so fast that the human brain’s “moral compass” isn’t able to process the information fast enough. This can make us indifferent to the pain and suffering of others, by numbing of our sense of morality.

The study shows that while the brain can respond quickly to the signs of the physical pain of others, it takes longer to process and show compassion. And the study points out that this is even more damaging for the pliable, developing brains of the youth of our society.

CONCLUSION

The best fiction always does have the zing of authenticity. This works great for fiction—it has to get us to buy into the story quickly so we’ll suspend our disbelief long enough to stick around for the rest of the story. But when it comes to our news, I rather have all the facts, and nothing but the facts, even if it takes a little longer. I think the facts are always worth waiting for. Don’t you?

Money Can't Buy Love, But It Can Buy Some Very Satisfying Apps.

A response to Om Malik's article, "Money Can't Buy You Love: Why Some Apps Work and Some Don't."

I like Malik's take on how some apps connect with people, and some just don't seem to have the little bit of magic that it seems to take to reach a massive market. I agree with the statement that if “you delight your customers, they are going to reward you with…their dollars.” And I agree that “the companies that provide the most value to their customers win.” This explains why I have given so much of my money to Apple over the years. Apple provides products that have great utilitarian value to me, “tools” which, when I use them, leave me with great satisfaction.

Of course, it’s not the hardware that gives me the satisfaction, it’s the ability to solve problems and/or get work done that brings me satisfaction, and that’s were the apps come in. I’m instantly interested in any app that can make my life easier.

As for the “happy” and “utility” part of the equation? For me, it's more "satisfaction" and utility. I'm a tool user--always have been. The tools I use the most these days have keyboards and touch screens, and they allow me to complete the work that means the most to me at this time of my life. To me, apps are the tools that help to unlock the full potential of my devices, which in turn either help me solve problems or makes the daily tasks of life easier. Does this make me happy? I’d still rather use the word “satisfied.” An app that helps to make my life easier is satisfying, just as a hearty meal at a time when I’m hungry is satisfying. As for happiness, we can hope the satisfaction will lead to happiness, but I doubt you’ll ever hear me say, “using Evernote today made me so happy!”

As the title says, money may not buy love, buy it sure can buy some satisfying apps!

Digital Fast--An Experiment

Digital Fasting

The challenge was intriguing—go 48 hours without digital devices. 

The catch was to avoid anything and everything that has a computer chip. The thought of this was daunting, to say the least. It seems everything these days has a “chip” in it. This made even most forms of travel off limits during the challenge. 

The outcome—success. Not to gloat, but it ending up being so easy for me I felt I had cheated.

The Method

I knew for this plan to succeed, I needed a strong replacement for my devices. Going “cold turkey” is tough enough as it is. The pull to reach for a phone or a tablet is so strong that I knew I needed a strong substitute in place or I’d never last the first 60 minutes. 

So I made a plan. I would spent spring break with family in the Salt Lake City area. I don’t allow myself to read many novels, but I know from years of living with myself that there are a few authors that I can get lost in. And I also know that I’m not the fastest reader. I prefer to take my time and savor the flavor of style of the author. So I figured three average length novels should easily do the trick.

I took full advantage of our digital technology to get set up for this experiment. I ordered three paperback books, written by my favorite novelist, from Amazon. With Prime membership, they were delivered to my doorstep in two days. 

I traveled to Salt Lake City in a 2010 Hyundai, it’s computer-controlled fuel injected engine purring along as I set the cruise control to 80 MPH.

I had already informed everyone of my intent, that I wasn’t going to watch TV, listen to mp3’s, share on Facebook, text or talk to anyone on my iPhone for 48 hours. I let them know I was available for face-to-face interaction, but that was all.

The house where I was staying had a living room with no TV, no “stereo,” no electronic distractions at all. It was the perfect environment. Plus I turned off all my devices and kept them out of sight. No need of increasing the temptation by having them too accessible.

This was probably the only spring break I’ve enjoyed that actually felt like a vacation. The first day the weather was overcast with a storm moving in, making it a perfect day to stay inside and literally curl up with a book. (Yes, that is a cliche, yet it is a cliche for a very good reason.) 

With no distractions from the digital world, I was able to focus on the story I was reading longer than I thought possible, and actually finished the first book early the first evening. As the house quieted down later that night, I jumped into the second book.

I woke the second day to find the ground covered with snow. This was all the motivation I needed to grab the second book and continue reading. Of course, since I enjoy this writer’s style, I was looking forward to discovering where the story would take me. 

Once again, I finished the book before the day was through, and I eagerly grabbed the third book. The second and third books were the first books of a series, which made it even easier to get caught up with the characters and to get lost in the story.

On the third morning, I booted up my laptop and turned on my iPhone. I was amused to see I had only one voice message on my phone, and was even more amused when I played it back and learned it was a wrong number. 

Logging into FaceBook, I was a little disappointed to see that nothing had changed. Oh, there were plenty of new posts from all the same people. You know, those people who are always posting. But there was nothing new. Just the same-ol’-same-ol’.

I had dozens and dozens of new emails, but nothing of any significance. To be completely honest, I felt a little let down. Why did I feel so dependent on my devices when the content was often so boring? 

I checked my Twitter feed, which is where I get much of my news these days, and after scrolling though it I then checked a few online news sources. I was soon up-to-date. Russia was still being the Russia of the eighties, (sorry, I couldn’t resist), and flight 370 was still missing.

In my absence, the world had continued to turn, yet not much had actually changed. Though it was morning, I felt suddenly tired. I closed my laptop, slide my phone back in my pocket, and reached for the third novel. I was ready to find out how the story ended.

Best Device: 3D Printing

Is 3D printing the wave of the future?

Or maybe a better question is: what is 3D printing? This short video does a good job of explaining the technology and it's potential:

3D printing has already been used to create a wide variety of products. A few extreme examples are:

• a handgun made of plastic

• a motorcycle that was customized using 3D printed polycarbonate parts that has:
• won the 66th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
• won the Discovery Channel’s Biker Build-off competition
• set the AMA (American Motorcyclist Association) certified land speed record reaching 136 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats.

The bottom line is anything you can design on a computer you could conceivably create with a 3D printer.

Pop culture even bought into the 3D printing trend when TV's favorite geeks got on board during an episode of "The Big Bang Theory."

Those who are watching this trend say the day will come when every household will have a 3D printer, just as every household now has a computer. But that day isn't quite yet.

The cost of 3D printer technology is still relatively high--the printer that created the gun in the above video cost $8,000. Having said that, take a look at the following screenshots from Amazon.com. These show 3D printers from $350 to $2200.

Keep in mind that there is a difference between “home-owner” quality and “industrial” quality. If you want to build “party whistles,” a $350 printer may work fine. But it will only build components no bigger than a 4 inch cube.  If you’re going to build motorcycle components for a bike that you plan to challenge the land world speed record with, you’ll need a more expensive printer—one that is capable of producing the size of parts you have in mind. The $1200 printer that shows at the top of the list on Amazon will build objects up to 8.8” x 5.7” x 5.9”. And that's not very big, though it may be big enough to build a hand gun--or a "Howard" doll.

Also keep in mind that the price will continue to drop. The first computers were expensive--and huge. The first U.S. military computer took up 1800 sq. ft. and cost the equivalent of millions of dollars in today's economy. The first home computer cost about $10,000.

The following is a chart of current and projected 3D printing adoption, courtesy of futurist Christopher Barnatt, the man behind the Explaining the Future YouTube channel.

With 3D printing, the sky is no longer the limit. Researchers say that 3D printing could make:

• vaccines
• human tissue from DNA
• structures on the moon or even Mars

Okay, let's not shoot for the moon quite this soon. Let me ask you this: what could a 3D printer do for you now?

Think about it. What do you want or need right now? Wouldn't it be great to have the choice of either going to the store to buy it or designing and building it right in your home?

As I look around my house, I can see several things. First, there's that little spatula in the kitchen that's wearing out, and we can't find another one just like it anywhere. Yet it's so handy, we hate to throw it away. With a 3D printer we could have a new one later today, or maybe first thing in the morning. Or what about that lid that cracked on the Bosch mixer? We've had it long enough that there's a new model out, and parts for the older model may be hard to find. But with a 3D printer, no problem. Or what about the roller that broke off the dishwasher rack? Same thing--I can order it and wait for a week (or two) to get the part--after I pay a hefty shipping fee, or with a 3D printer, I could have it made today while I'm out and install it tonight.

That's three examples and I haven't even left the kitchen yet. With this technology, the possibilities will be endless.

Keep an eye on this technology. I think it really could be the next best device in our digital age.

Convergence Presentation: The History of Television

[Click here for a "Prezi" presentation. May take a few minutes to load.]

1927: Philo Farnsworth, (born near Beaver, Utah, raised in Rigby, Idaho), develops the electronic television picture.

Network TV

1930's

1939:  World’s Fair in New York City—NBC begins broadcasting from Rockefeller Plaza.

Four months later, the first major league baseball game is televised.

1940's

1948: The Ed Sullivan Show begins it’s 23 year run as post-WWII TV entertainment “explodes.” 

1949: A girl falls into a well in Los Angeles. Live TV news coverage is born.

1950's

1955: The $64,000 Question premieres, and the TV game show is born.

Satellites

1960's

1962: Satellites are launched, and 15 min. news programs become 30 min. programs.

Documentary programs are developed

1967: Public Television and Talk shows are launched.

1970's

1970: More Americans now receive their news from TV than from newspapers.

Mid 1970’s: PBS becomes a serious news organization

Reality shows and miniseries began

Cable TV

Mid 1970’s continued: Home Box Office becomes the first pay cable network

1980's

The Cable News Network—CNN—founded by Ted Turner. Ironically, CNN makes a name for itself by providing around-the-clock news coverage of the rescue of "Baby Jessica," a Texas toddler who fell into a well in 1987.

TV News Anchor Walter Cronkite is named “the most trusted man in America.”

1990's

1990-91: CNN becomes a leader in world news coverage during Gulf War. Because of an earlier investment in infrastructure, CNN was the only news network that was able to communicate inside Iraq during the beginning hours of the war.

Citizen Journalism

1992: Amateur videographers provide images of the Rodney King riots.

In Summary

The big three Networks, namely:

ABC

CBS

NBC

        (and later PBS added their "flavor" to the mix.)

were in control during the first "half century" of television.

What is driving the medium: the content or the channel? 

During the Reign of the Networks, everyone was watching the same programming, everyone was sharing the same events:

Cultural

Social

News

The networks created the content, and the audience "consumed" it.

Blogsy

I was in California for the weekend, and had left my laptop home, opting to take the lightweight iPad instead. Sure, I could have spend all the time visiting, but while everyone else was watching a movie on TV, I thought I'd make a quick blog post. I'd started working on the text the night before, and it was challenging. There's an old saying that goes something like, "Sorry the letter is so long--I didn't have time to make it shorter." This piece was like that. It took a while to get it just so.

But the text wasn't the only challenge. I wanted to use images--five, in fact. This was when I began regretting not bringing the laptop. For a device that is so easy to use, embedding images into a blog on an iPad is ridiculously hard. You'd think you could simply tap on an image in the photo stream and "git 'er done," but, alas, that would be too easy. After what seemed like two hours, I finally had all five images where I wanted them--then one vanished. It was there one minute--then somehow did a Houdini on me. "There has to be a better way," I mutter as I pulled up Google and did a search.

Minutes later I learned about Blogsy. The reviews were good--they claimed the app made working with images as easy as, well, as easy as touching and dragging. At this point, the $4.99 price tag didn't phase me. Don't get me wrong, there are times I won't spend a dime on an app. But since I'd already invested so much time into this one post, and realizing that if the app could save me time in the future, five bucks was a bargain.

So I downloaded Blogsy, and went to work. The main "how to" screen didn't mean a lot to me--I had to dive in and get my hands wet to really learn the program.

It was actually rather intutive. Once I set up my account, all my Blogger accounts came up.

From there I only had to chose which blog I was posting too, and I was in business. And I learned that even that isn't totally neccessary, because when it's time to post it you're given a chance to choose where to post it to. One nice feature is that once you have all your blogs listed, you can go to any posts or drafts you may have already started in any of your blogs, pull it up in Blogsy, and continue working on them.

The main feaure of course is the ability to manage images easily. This is what I got it for. Once my photo stream showed up, it was literally as easy as touch and drag. Keep your finger on the image, and once the picture shows up "behind" it, you can center it or drag it to either side.

The second feature I like is, because of how Blogsy is set up, it also becomes a blog management tool. As I have already pointed out, you can write, edit and post to any of your accounts from here. Not something I was looking for, but since I'm already here for the image feature, why not. It has the standard fomatting options--actually, it has a few I've never used before--like text color options and background colors.

If you like writing code, you can even change the screen and use the HTML feature. Not something I can see myself doing, but the option is there.

Perhaps the feature that really seals the deal for me though, are the help videos. Instead of doing a Google search, or going to YouTube to find how-to videos, just tap the settings button to the lower right.

Then tap on the How-To Videos line, and choose the topic you need help with. How easy is that?

The only snag for me came when it was time to publish my post. I tapped the button in the upper left and got this screen:

I didn't have a Flickr or Picasa account set up, and I didn't know I needed one. But without such an account, I couldn't get past this point. Once I understood this, I set up an account on Picasa, and then I sailed right through the rest of the prosess.

I was surprised, thought, at how long it took to publish the piece. When you publish a post with images, the images have to be uploaded to photo-sharing website--which takes longer than I would have thought. But then, I was uploading five images, so maybe the time wasn't that bad. It just seems much longer than it takes when I post from a computer. Still, the job got done. My blog post was online, and that's all that really matters.

All in all, I'm glad I purchased Blogsy. It's made by the guys at Fomola:

and I'll definitely keep an eye on other products they develop.

Social Media and Public Opinion

Social media does much to influence public opinion. This can be good--and bad.

On the plus side, social media allows us to find the village we belong to. On the minus side, social media polarizes us. It’s the old “double-edged sword" scenario—the very medium that allows us to find a global family we can relate to also allows us to more easily turn our backs on and ignore all others we don’t relate to, or agree with, simply by ignoring their views. This can breed a terminal case of groupthink in which we refuse to consider all points of view outside that of our village. And we can see this very thing happen every day.

Social media plays a big role in fostering social change. There are those who credit social media for fueling the advancement of gay marriage, or at least the use of social media to create the network necessary to see the changes we are now seeing. (Click here to see The Atlantic article.)

In fact, social media appears to the ideal tool to facilitate social change. Surveys suggest the same-sex marriage supporters use social media twice as much as non-supporters to share their views. And it’s obvious that they are gaining ground across the U.S.

This PBS article credits social media with uniting same-sex marriage supporters. And no one can discount the value of unity.

I think these trends show technological determinism at work, for it's obvious that our technology is driving a major shift in both social and cultural contexts.

More importantly, at least to my mind, is the fact that social media gives a platform and a voice to people whose opinions would otherwise be marginalized and lost in the noise of the public opinion arena.

Case in point: without social media I would never had heard the story of Robert Oscar Lopez. He was raised by two “moms,” and is in a unique position to offer a child’s perspective on growing up without a father figure. You can find the full essay here.

Lopez explains that his stance has been marginalized for forty-one years because he is a bisexual male raised by lesbian mothers, who is in a committed heterosexual relationship—which includes children he fathered—and he is a conservative. I’m sure you’ll agree that’s quite a combination. And I’m also sure you’ll agree his story needs to not only be told, but it also needs to be heard. And social media allows this to happen.

Social media also introduced me to Doug Mainwaring, a gay man who supports same-sex civil unions, but opposes same-sex marriages. Social media gives him a platform, a soapbox, if you will, a chance to get his voice heard. You can "hear" his voice by clicking here.

The medium does have a social effect. For without social media, none of these voices would be so readily available to the masses. And all voices need to be heard, just as all voices need to be weighed. Even our Supreme Court admits there isn’t much data on the consequences this issue could have on our society as a whole.

We do need to get past the tendency to allow social media to polarize us. While it’s good to find a global village of people who are most like us, we mustn’t allow ourselves to become like the China of old, and build a wall around our village to keep our enemies out. For if we do, we will also keep future friends away, along with innovations and improvements, and we will become stagnant. And when that happens, growing ceases, and dying begins.