FRONTLINE: Digital Nation...a sobering wake-up call.

Last week, I had the chance to watch Frontline's excellent special "Digital Nation", which focused on many aspects of our country, and our world, and how technology has become all-encompassing. A new generation of children, and many, many adults, are spending massive amounts of time multi-tasking on computers, playing video games, texting, and surfing, as the computer and various smart devices become secondary extensions of ourselves and vital links to the world around us.

But how vital, and at what cost were the main issues focused on the show. I found it fascinating that during a multi-tasking study at MIT (where many students currently focus on a lecture, music, facebook, and email simultaneously), the results surprising showed that the individuals were doing each task worse than if they simply focused on one. The "dumbing down" due to too much stimulation from various sources at once was becoming apparent.

I can state from my own experiences, and my almost daily-multitasking as well, that my focus is never in one place, and I feel that I've been performing a bit "under my best" at many times. I've tried to work on only one thing at a time lately, and stay away from checking email, facebook, tv, or other distractions will working.

There were other great explorations, and I fully recommend watching the show.

WATCH THE SHOW HERE

Sound file for project

Initial sound file creation for project:
"One day, humans may need a special counseling service or group to help them learn to live in harmony with robots."

Sound Link

Elements Used:

• Song Clip (Old) : “Wrap your troubles in Dreams”, Bing Crosby
• Song Clip (New) : “To Cure a Weakling Child“, Aphex Twin

• Animal Sound : Birds Chirping
• Sound Effect: Robotic Voice, “There is no need to fear robots”.

• Recorded Electronic Sound : Apple Start-Up Sound
• Recorded Mechanical Sound : Camera Focus and Shutter Click

Presentation - Week 3

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Presentation - Week 3

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Assisted death...why not ask the patient?

An interesting article from Technology Review shows that, by using brain imaging, a patient in a vegetative state was able answer a series of yes or no questions.  Based on where the brain activity was happening, scientists could determine whether the answer was yes or no.

While the complexities and variables of testing for this, and even the moral and ethical questions are still very prevalent, it makes me imagine how something like the Terry Schiavo case would have been handled differently...if you actually could assess her own thoughts.

Schiavo, who was in a vegetative state for 7 years, become a national media sensation when her husband petitioned to have her feeding tube removed, and thus end her life.  Aside from the media, our own president and government at the time stepped in, to attempt to maneuver this into a politic issue about assisted death.  In the end, her husband and guardian was granted the removal by the state of florida.

It is interesting to think about the implications if Terry could communicate via this new technology...what would she say?  Would she understand her condition, and if so, possibly agree with her husband?  Or not?  The more we discover, the less easy answers we may have. 

http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/24475/

What's expected vs. what's amazing vs. What is REALLY SAD

Seth Godin waxes poetic on today's new world in which information on people we met,  interact with, and will interact with is so readily available, that it won't be amazing anymore when someone knows all about us (via twitter, facebook, etc).

And sadly, what does that say about the state of our world?  What do we really, truly know about people?  Take myself, with over 300+ facebook friends, and only about 25 of which I interact with on a daily or weekly...hell, even a monthly basis.  What about the rest?  Do I truly know anything about them besides what they post?  I feel like I have more "friends" than ever, but less interaction than ever.  I'd rather keep it to the 25 I know personally, on a real level, besides what they post and let the rest of the world see.  That, to me, is the amazing part.

Link

"Animated" News of Taiwan's notorious newstation draws ire of US news stations...but why?

The recent discovery of a Taiwanese news organization called Next Media that has been recreating recent current events and news stories with 3-d model dopplegangers that act out the events has drawn scorn and criticism from US news organizations.  US media companies claim, such as CNN in this article, that the lines between fact and fiction, and the reporting of "real" news, is being blurred by these computer-generated images that claim to represent actual events.  Next Media's most famous creation was a Tiger Woods scandal animation, where the company created Tiger's SUV crash using 3-D models, animation, and voice overs.

Yet, I am surprised that news organizations in this country like CNN, FOX, and MSNBC are not looking towards themselves when they cry "foul".   Our most popular "news" outlets consistently use shocking visual graphics, alarmist headlines, and carefully chosen musical cues to twist and skew news stories in the hipe of attracting an audience and drawing out emotion.  Is this practice any different than Next Media's 3-D representations of the news stories themselves?  And while I find the whole idea of 3-D dopplegangers portraying the news, at least the Taiwanese news station seems to be simply following the story they get, and not spinning it to match their own ideals.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/01/30/taiwan.animated.news/

Digital Design Ray Mancini

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Digital Design Ray Mancini

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