Apple Stock vs. Apple Products

As an owner of Apple Stock, and someone who amazingly had bought some BEFORE the first ipod came out, I can attest to the recent stock price run-up that Apple has had.  It went from a very low, 12 dollar a share stock at the time, to the $270 a share behemoth it is today.  Alas, why did I not buy more than I did?

I recently came across a great chart, which compared the price of Apple products over the years, the price of those products, and what your earnings would be now if you had bought apple stock at that time, instead of that product.

If you bought an Apple PowerBook G3 250 (Original/Kanga/3500) in November of 1997, you spent around $5700.  Today, that Powerbook is worth very little.  BUT, if you spent that same $5300 on Apple stock at the time, it would now be worth $330563.38!

Read the rest of the chart here.

Latest Stop Motion Project

Cable Companies - "The fight has just begun"

As many know, I have recently given up my cable television subscription, and replaced it with faster internet access and a wideband connection from Timewarner.  Cable television, with it's set times for viewing shows, and it's lousy DVR and HD that never seemed to work right, had worn out its welcome at my house.

Sadly, my dreams of watching all of my shows on the internet, like I do now, may not last forever.  Because where there's money to be made, don't doubt there will be someone there to make it.

That someone is the cable companies themselves, who, fearing the flight of people just like myself to the World Wide Watching Web of online viewing, are preparing the next round in the fight for my eyeballs.  A recent article in Businessweek discusses "TV Everywhere", in which "viewers can watch shows for free, but only if they're cable subscribers first. In other words, as long as you tap a subscription code into your device—any device—you can watch anything you want, whenever you want."

Uh-oh.  

Already, HBO has been trying out this format in a few select cities, and found that people who were already paying for HBO, and got access to watch shows online, didn't spend any less time watching HBO on TV than on their laptops.  Time Warner executives and Comcast executives began to meet, and dream up a new model where cable companies would create this new model...as long as you could confirm that you were a cable subscriber, you'd get access to all of the same channels and shows online.  The model would use the existing infrastructures and establish interfaces.

Initial concerns and issues would be that the rest of industry would have to sign up for this model...meaning, the rest of pay TV and content providers would have to join up with the cable companies.   And while it seems impossible, never estimate the amount of clout, and money, that the large cable companies control and have at their disposal.

While both companies were on board,  on large disagreement between the strange marriage of Comcast and Time Warner was how to go about this...create one portal online site where all users would go to get their content?  Or let the studios keep their own sites...like abc.com, nbc.com, etc.  They agreed to the latter, and began the grand experiment of trying to woe the studios.

Apparently, the studios and content providers are eager to play ball...while upstarts like hulu.com and other such sites are showing new shows a day or two after, they aren't really making large amounts of money for the studios...and far less for cable companies.  And with the cable companies begin the largest customers of content, studios are less inclined to move towards working with start-ups that are competitors to their big money clients - time warner , comcast, verizon, and directTv.

The race has begun before we've even started.  Last year, Comcast began testing out Fancast XFinity TV, which follows the TV everywhere model.  Only subscribers to who pay for digital cable and broadband service from Comcast are eligible. Says the article, "Subscribers can tune into two dozen channels, from CBS to Animal Planet, and view 19,000 full-length TV shows and movies. They can use it on as many as three PCs and get most episodes 24 hours after they first air on TV. Much of that was available on Comcast's free site, but now shows on HBO and the Discovery channel have been added to the lineup."

So what does this mean for us as internet TV viewers?  Well, the countdown clock is ticking.  With the cable companies intent on keeping their cable subscription profits intact, and the tv studios and industry eager to please their largest paying customers, it looks like an unholy marriage is forming that will one day wipe out the hulu.com's on the online world. If all the content is funneled into one online source that you can only get access to by having a cable subscription already, what will this due to the rapidly shrinking TV audience, and the notion of "free online content".  Is it really "Free" if we are paying for Time Warner's internet service?

In the end, I feel that TV needs to become MORE like the internet in order to survive.  Already, Verizon Fios is going that route, making their digital cable service more like that internet in that you can watch TV, use Facebook, check weather, and Twitter on your TV without changing the channel.  Also, cable television should become more customizable.  Do we really need 700 channels?  I personally only watched about 10 or so, and would happily pay about $10 a month to get only those.

Read the whole article at Businessweek

Ford's MyTouch system - Driving dream, or dangerous distraction?

I recently read about the Ford MyTouch system, which seems to be the first well-thought out, visually appealing control system for a new generation of tweeting, mp3ing, and well-connected drivers.  While cars have been adding in ipod inputs, in-car phone systems, and other piece-meal navigational accessories over the past few years, Ford (in partnership with Microsoft) have launch the first 2.0, all-encompassing salvo into the arena.  And with safety as the number one issue when surrounded by all of this in-car gadgetry, the MyTouch is making its best attempt to solve the problems.

The Mytouch system consists of 3 LCD screens, a left hand wheel controller much like an ipod's interface, and a visual system that relies on mainly colors, rather than hard to read text commands.  The main touchscreen will have a full tabbed internet browser, a USB to connect a keyboard, and text-to-voice readers - all while in park.

As I driver, I would welcome many of these items...not even for myself, but for a passenger who may be able to interact with a browser to find something we are looking for without a smartphone.  But I wonder, how much is too much?  How easy will it be to use while driving, and even more importantly, how safe would it be to use while driving?

Read the rest of the article at Popular Mechanics

The Ubiquitous Marketing of the Ipad...and the next phase of Television marketing.

Well, the Ipad is here...and if you didn't know it yet, you may have to crawl out from under that rock you are under.  From tech blogs, to newspapers, and to possibly every magazine coming out this week, the Ipad has either graced the cover, been a featured article, or gotten some sort of mention.

But it hasn't stopped there, and I can't tell who is pulling the strings...is it Apple, who has the clout and money to put their product into every media nook-and-cranny they can find?  Or is it media itself, that can't get enough of touting Apple's products, featuring them in cameos and leading roles, and gushing all over themselves anytime they get a chance to pay homage?  Or is this really a cultural phenomenon, worthy of all of the attention it's getting?

My personal magazine subscriptions have featured Steve Jobs on the cover of Time this week, the ipad on the cover of Wired, and even Businessweek hoisting up the tagline, "Yet another iPad article? Oh Yes".

But the most egregious iPad "iPandering" was reserved for television, where product placement has morphed slowly over the years into Product Synergy, and where companies and products have turned into integral parts, or even characters, in episode plots.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Stephen Gets a Free iPad
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Fox News

And while I fully expect this type of Apple-love from the likes of Stephen Colbert (who has been begging Apple for one for weeks to get an ipod),  it was ABC's Modern Family that really tipped the scales.

A quite funny show in its own right, Modern Family stooped (or rose) to a strange, new marketing level by making the iPad a central part of the latest episode's plot.  And while it's one thing to have an "Apple laptop here, or an iPod there"in a shot, the entire show revolved around the main character's desire to acquire an iPad on his birthday.  The comedic situations were tied to searching out an iPad, waiting in line for it, and finally getting one...and blowing out a virtual "birthday cake" on it.






To be fair, the shows' father has been cast already as a "tech geek" and a character whose written arch would warrant that he would want an iPad.  But by using him in a comedic way, and having him saying catch phrases like, "Get ready to begin the first day of the rest of your life", are we really laughing with this...or is Apple laughing at us.

One of the first examples I saw of this type of marketing was on a cartoon series called Aqua Teen Hunger Force...in which they created a whole episode around the company Boost Mobile, which is a cell phone provider.  While the cartoon is irreverent and borders on actually making fun of the product, the message and the brand gets across...and even gets some "hip points" for being on a cool, adult cartoon show.  In this early incarnation, the product has to be ready to get skewered by the show...is it worth it?  Probably!


Aqua Teen Hunger Force / Boost Mobile from NX STUDIOS on Vimeo.

Another cartoon series to take this marketing style was Frisky Dingo, in a hilarious spoof of Regis and Kathy Lee, promoting the new Scion car...and continually interrupting the main antagonist with their shameless promotion.  Scion was involved in this and greenlit everything that came with being a part of the Frisky Dingo style of comedy:



They even acknowledged it themselves on the cartoon:

Stop-Motion Movie #1

First stop-motion video for Digital Design Project.

Storyboard03 Revised

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Storyboard03 Revised

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Are you Bot or Not? Sveda Vodka's creepy new create-your-own robot site.

Stumbled across this new viral site today for Sveda vodka, which had been previously promoting it's Vodka with a highly-sexualized female robot...now, you can make yourself one!

http://www.areyoubotornot.com

Well, you can make a male version...but I went with the sexy female version in the french maid costume. I think black leather with some ruffles looks good on me, right?

These types of sites have become very popular over the years, from R/GA's extensive but short-lived Verizon Action Hero site, to the amazingly popular "Elf yourself" that pops up every holiday season.

Storyboard02

Storyboard #2 - Robot-Free Vacation Resort

Storyboard02

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Storyboard01

Story Board #1 for Future Counselors.

Storyboard01

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Digital Design Powerpoint

My latest powerpoint file for Digital Design.

Digital Design Powerpoint

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Top Baffling Commercial Lies

Well, it's not the most hard-hitting news piece to come across the internet, but I found this rather amusing and quite truthful.  We are bombarded by commercials and advertisements every day, and many times, we take what we see and hear with a truthfulness that we wouldn't apply anywhere else. But we really, REALLY should be questioning our commercials more.

A recent post on Cracked.com takes the top 6 "accepted truths from commercials" and breaks them down in quite a humorous way...here's the 6 with my little thoughts:

6. Only Women Eat Yogurt
No men were available for these commercials? Or does yogurt really not effect us?

5. One Car on the Road Per Night:
Is there really only one, amazing high-end car driving around at night, showing off it's sleek aerodynamic styling and anti-lock brakes?

4. Dog and Cat Food Is Delicious:
After watching many commercials, I have a hard time not being tempted to grab some Fancy Feast and a tall drink, and dig into that tasty cat food!

3. Cosmetics and Candy Are the Same:
Both look good enough to eat, right?

2. Your Feet Are Haunted
How many commercials do we need with feet that catch on fire, smoke, look green, or just evoke general disgust from the rest of society?

1. Your Body Is Filled With Windshield Wiper Fluid:
From diapers to tampons, why is the "liquid" always light blue?

Read the article at Cracked.com

Dangerous Flash-mobs...the ugly side of connectivity.

A fascinating, and scary, article on the current state of flash mobs.  This term once stood for harmless, instantly-formed groups, notified by text messages and email blasts, that showed up a specified spots and danced, had playful snow ball battles, and confused and amused everyone else.

But now, these Flashmobs have turned violent, with a major focal point being Philadelphia.  Four incidents of 100+ youths forming spontaneously, running through shopping malls and the city, and attacking each, pedestrians, and vandalizing property.  Also of note is that many of the teens participating in it are of African-American descent, with many of the areas of the city hit being primarily white.

In my opinion, this is alarming.  There is always power in large groups, and many times, large numbers of youth will become emboldened beyond their normal parameters.  I can easily see how this would be a wild and exciting proposition when I was a teenager...just to take part in something, especially if all of your other friends are going to as well.  It's purely with the invention of text messaging, social-networks, and instant communication between large groups of people that this is possible.  It will also take an innovative solution to bring it under control again.

Read the New York Times link...

Image courtesy of Laurence Kesterson/The Philadephia Inquirer

My convoluted thoughts on violence in video games

My classmate Jooh recently posed this question to us on his blog:

"We have been watched super-realistic virtual worlds through various medias, such as movie, TV, youtube, and etc. and it deems that there is no limitation in virtual world. People can fly, can become an animal.  I recently watched a demo play of "God of War 3." It was filled with blood and cruelty. However, is it appropriate? Even though there is no limitation of expression in Virtual Reality, why do we need this?  I want to hear from you.  Please share your thought about the cruelty that seems across the line of freedom of expression."

I decided to weigh in...and below is my convoluted thought patten.  I struggle to find a place to stand on this issue, but I thought I'd share.  My response:

This is a very complex issue to discuss...and as a US citizen, I find myself quite confused about where exactly I stand on this.  On one hand, my country is a violent place, with relaxed gun laws, domestic abuse, violent criminal behavior, and nightly news reports filled with fear and danger.  On the other hand, the United States seems to have a love affair with violence, so much so that many of our most famous heroes in games, film, and television, are ultra-violent types.  Kratos in God of War.  Scarface in the movies.  Jack Bauer on 24.

Amazingly enough, the US, in contrast to, say, Europe, has a much bigger hang up with nudity, sexuality, and any expression of sex in media .  Violence is accepted and showcased far more than anything related to sex, in my opinion.

So, what am I saying here?  I'm saying that violence sells in this country, and because of that, violence is showcased across all of our media.  Games such as Mortal Kombat, God of War, and Modern Warfare tap into a primal need in many people to see and feel the exhilarating rush that comes from watching violence, and that need is stoked by the fact that violence is glorified in so many ways here.   Why are so many video games about killing other people, or killing aliens, or fighting people?  There is something there, something that humans have a primal urge to see, and possibly experience themselves.  But I have to believe it also is caused by the society and culture we live in.

On the other hand, I grew up with semi-violent videogames, albeit in the Nintendo 8-bit era...where the violence was much more "pixelly" and less realistic.  And I was able to understand that it wasn't real...but nowadays, as the lines blur and graphics like God of War get more disturbing and realistic, will kids be able to understand it?  And video games offer much more than a television show or a film, because in a video game, you are able to actually produce the violent act...to take a life...or to shoot "someone" dead without a real thought as to the consequences.

(thanks to gamesradar.com for the image)

Jetblue Airlines Terminal, and the future of ordering?

My wife and I were recently at the new Jetblue Airlines Terminal at JFK Airport in Queens, NY.  We were taking a flight to California, but had some time to eat dinner before boarding...and decided that eating at the airport would be the best option considering our timing.

While the new Jetblue terminal is quite impressive, I was most impressive by a small Boar's Head sandwich shop with the larger JetBlue Food Court.  The shop seemed to be operating in an efficient fashion without a human taking the order!  My initial reaction was to look for some other area where you order, but what I found was pleasantly surprising.

Instead of a human being, there was a touch-screen interface, which customers were using to place a quite elaborate sandwich order.   Everything from picking the bread, to the sandwich "insides" (meat, cheese, etc), to the toppings (and amounts) was chosen in a step-by-step visual interface.  Even the price was instantly updated, and items were easily added and undone.

Once entered, the order was instantly sent to one of 5 workers who were preparing sandwiches behind a deli counter to the left of the touchscreen.  There were two touchscreens, and customers waited in two lines to use each one.  Once a worker called out the appropriate number, the customer took their sandwich and went to pay at the cashier nearby in the Jetblue Food Court.

Now, while the cashier area for this Food Court serviced all of the shops (to allow customers to pick and choose from various eateries and snacks before paying), the fact that the sandwich shop was working well by eliminating a front-register human being spoke volumes about a possible future for fast food, and food ordering in general.  Just the fact that:

a) the orders were being put in by customers themselves and transmitted to those who were actually making the sandwiches

b) the customers seemed to have no problem with the interface, or the fact that they were entering orders in on a touchscreen

really speaks to how far we've come, and have adapted to the use of visual interfaces and computers to enter, interpret, and transmit our needs to the actual people doing the service.  I could not see this possible years ago without the ubiquitous takeover of the internet, and the visual interfaces and cues that come with it.  And I expect to see more of it soon...

New York's Tech Scene

New York's Tech Scene gets a big write-up in the New York Times.  It's a good sign that the dot-com's and internet start-ups are starting to come back.  One of our clients is a recent internet start-up that attended a few of these Tech Meetups, and had even asked us to go (which we plan to at some point).

The article states that mobile services and computing, which finally have a lot of infrastructure in place in the NY area, are driving a lot of the new innovation and development.  I can attest to this as well, as my clients are getting into the act and starting to request Iphone apps, and sites/applications that offer more community functionality. 

The smartphone has caused many clients and companies to rethink the way they are communicating with their users and customers, and I think it's something that has real relevance here in NYC.  This city, more than any, typifies the "on-the-go", "get me everything instantly" mentality, and whether you find fault in that or not, it's an attitude that will prevail and drive the tech industry for the foreseeable future.

So, it's a good sign, and makes a lot of what I am learning at school, and applying to my company, seem all the more relevant.

Read the Full Story here

Clicker.com...or, the last in a long list of reasons that I am getting rid of cable tv.

Well, I've done it.  Given up cable tv...for how long, we'll see.  But as of today, it's done.  One call to Time Warner was all it took.

Will I miss it?  Not sure yet.  But the reality is that I've been watching about 80% of what I want to see via the internet.  Sites like Hulu.com, youtube (to some extent), and the individual channel sites have given me on-demand access to the shows I love...when I want them.  If I miss the Daily Show at 11 the night before...well, it's on Hulu.com the next day.  Anytime.

And now comes Clicker.com.  It claims to be an aggregator for ALL of the online television portals and shows, and claims to be the TV guide for the online viewer.  I have yet to explore it fully, but it looks like I'll have more time to...now that I've gotten rid of the old tv.

theGlueproject.com Article - To Gate/Cull or not to Gate/Cull?

Gating is the act of closing off a community to only a certain group or amount of people.  Culling is the act of going into a community and weeding out those who may not belong do to a myriad of reasons.  And explaining why in a transparent way to everyone else.

Eight Points:

1. Use your Mission/Worldview/Creed/Ideology/Purpose/Values…whatever you call your founding idea and values.
2. Have Rules and use them consistently and fairly
3. Approve Membership
4. Use a ‘Cultural Sieve’
5. Have a Like-get-Like Strategy
6. Accountability. Self-Policing. Transparency
7. Charge a Fee.
8. Have Courage and Be Kind…and don’t let it get you down.

The many faces of Chiquita Bananas

It's amazing where branding and brand identity can be played with, as seen in these great stickers for Chiquita Bananas.  Chiquita's branding, as with most banana branding, has been the small sticker that is found on each banana. 

By taking this well-known sticker and replacing it with a large series stylized faces, designer's Neff Ink have given a subtle sticker a very cool spin.  I love how the faces retain the Chiquita colors, but take immense liberties with the expressions, characteristics, and look of each face. 

Read full article here.

Computer composers and the humans who loathe them...

As a musician myself, who plays piano, sings in a band, and composes music, I found that my gut instinct was to view this article with immediate apprehension and disdain.  What is more human than the act of creating music, with all of the emotion, creativity, and inspiration associated with?

David Cope, a professor, music composer, and computer genius at University of California, Santa Cruz, had created a computer program called Emmy that literally wrote classical music...on "her" own. 

From the article on www.miller-mccune.com:
"Emmy was once the world’s most advanced artificially intelligent composer, and because he’d managed to breathe a sort of life into her, he became a modern-day musical Dr. Frankenstein. She produced thousands of scores in the style of classical heavyweights, scores so impressive that classical music scholars failed to identify them as computer-created. Cope attracted praise from musicians and computer scientists, but his creation raised troubling questions: If a machine could write a Mozart sonata every bit as good as the originals, then what was so special about Mozart? And was there really any soul behind the great works, or were Beethoven and his ilk just clever mathematical manipulators of notes?"

Cope answers those questions with, amazingly enough, "not much" and "yes".  And predictably, he was criticized and ostracized by the music community at large...but only when he revealed the "creative process" behind the compositions.  Before Emmy was unveiled, the works were thought of as "superb" and could not be distinguished from the human composers.

For me, I am torn.  I cling to my human body and mind and initially am aghast at this.  As a lover of music, especially classical music, I am surprised that a computer could capture the inspiration, emotion, and dynamics of a classical piece.  In my opinion, Mozart and Beethoven (to take two composers) were geniuses.  Beethoven composed while deaf! 

But upon further thought, I begin to think of my own experiences with piano, music theory, and notation...with classical music, one music not always have inspiration, but a solid knowledge of music theory...the placement of notes, what notes and chords work well together, and the common transitions between notes and sections.  In the end, much of it does come down to having a genius grasp on what goes with what, and I can see how these relationships can be mathematically programmed.  So in the end, is writing music just an exercise in basic structures and common themes that can easily be programmed, taught, and manipulated to create something entirely new? 

The question isn't that easy to answer now.

Photo courtesy of Catherine Karnow.

READ MORE HERE

Chatroulette - The Party Game...and a strong case for more internet anonymity?

Chatroulette, the niche internet phenomenon that is sweeping the universe (or, at least certain areas in NYC), has become a re-occurring theme these past few weeks for me.  It's been popping up in class, in my social circles, and most recently at a birthday party.

So, I am happy to report that I was witness to, and participated in, a grand social experiment last night.  At a birthday party for a friend, I saw the community powers of Chatroulette on full display.  Apparently, with a willing group of people that were all willing to forgo common decency and etiquette, Chatroulette becomes the party event of the year.

My wife and I were invited to a birthday party for a friend of ours, who happens to be gay.  He was the one who originally introduced us to Chatroulette weeks before, and upon arriving at his party, we found about 6 of his friends (also gay) looking at Chatroulette on a large screen tv.  One person would be on it at a time, egged on by the others.   I mention "gay" not to categorize these individuals in a certain way, but to detail how their sexual orientation played off against some of the people we "met" online.  It's not often that you get a control group that is 10-12 gay men, myself, and my wife!

Chatroulette was not a passive movie or tv show, but something that was live and interactive...each person would get about 10 minutes to use it, while we all watched, commented, and yelled out actions or commands.  This being a party with already liberal-minded guests, it quickly devolved into how far you could push the Chatroulette strangers.  It was immensely entertaining, as interesting social situations were played out right before me:

1. Straight high school or college boys who performed strange, homo-erotic acts towards us...showing their asses and slapping each other's chests, not assuming that the guys they were looking at were indeed gay and getting quite a kick out of it.  Once they found out, well...it got awkward for them.
2. Younger girls who wanted to talk to the cute older guys (my friends at the party) until they realized they were gay.  At that point, they became kind of amazed by it...or lost interest.
3. The fact that many people are willing to expose themselves sexually within the cloak of anonymity.
4. In the end, it's still a straight, heterosexual male world...and their usual defense mechanism is to call "gay" on anyone who might make them feel the least bit threatened.  Ironic when actually confronted with gay individuals.

I'd like to mention point 3 again, because that is the most interesting for me.  In an internet populated with Facebook, Twitter, and all sorts of googling of people and their information, there seems to have a new appeal of having anonymity.  Chatroulette actually opens up our inhibitions again.  For many of us, who realize that our personal lives and thoughts are posted all through social media networks, our inhibitions are being slowly wrapped up even more.  As parents and grandparents enter these same worlds, we are shutting down and mellowing out.  Chatroulette seems to have opened that door again...

Photo Courtesy of New York Magazine

Community Tagline Ideas

Below are 5 tagline ideas for my Digital Design theme:

 

 

Ensuring your digital demise...with some help.

Death, at least physical death, has always been the great unknown.  Where do we go?  What will we feel? What will happen to us?

And while many of us have pondered these very questions, many of us have yet to ask ourselves another, equally valid question...what will happen to our digital selves when we die? 

Well, the answer (or a possible answer) has been found in a fascinating article this weekend in the new WIRED magazine called "Lifesavers", written by Scott Brown.  Brown brings up the question that should be on all of our minds...if something happened to us tomorrow, what would (or should) remain of our digital personas online and "in the cloud"?   From items such as bank account passwords and facebook identities, to videogame avatars and maybe even fake online personas, this information may live on long after our physical bodies have gone to rest.

In his article, Brown has found three companies that currently offer an individual the chance for "posthumous" management of their digital lives:

1. Legacylocker.com
2. Deathswitch.com
3. Assetlock.net

For a small fee, each of these companies organizes and stores your online life.  Every so often, they ask that you check in to remind them that you are still alive...if that fails, and is properly verified (one site even needs two living verifiers!), you account with the permissions you sent upon your death is "executed" (no pun intended).  Accounts are closed, video game avatars are given to friends, and messages are sent out.  Total control before you lose all control.

Aside from being incredibly depressing and sad to think about, there is some merit in the regulation of our online identities and all that goes with it.  Many of us barely manage them in our living lives now...signing up for random sites, creating multiple identities on social networking sites, and uploading thousands of photos to the web.  When we are gone...who will manage these?  Delete them?  Save them and create a legacy, in the way that many facebook and myspace pages for people that have passed away are becoming a shrine? 

Or maybe we can finally get to say that last word to someone.  Maybe it is not a bad thing after all.

But what about the other, more neferious sides of us that exist on the web, when paired with the opportunities these services offer?   Passwords and facebook accounts are one thing.  But sending out emails that tell off someone once and for all, that they can never reply to?  Or having triggered messages that admit things that maybe we just shouldn't to others.  Having grandiose visions of creating our digital life after we are gone, that may sound silly if we really think about it?

These services, I feel, are the first volley in a heated debate that will continue on - as our digital lives get larger, we will need to manage them, and ensure they stay the way we want them to...or are deleted when their time is up.  And as our physical lives get shorter, that time may be coming quickly.


 

Geo-Medicine...your health history based on where you live?

The TEDMED is medical technology and healthcare conference held every year around the end of October.  The event is put on by TED, a non-profit organization devoted to spreading ideas they feel are "worth it"...usually interesting speeches by remarkable or noteworthy people.

One such speech at TEDMED was given by speaker Bill Davenhall.  Davenhall leads the health and human services marketing team at ESRI, which is a world leader in GIS (geographic information systems) spatial modeling and mapping software. 

Davenhall spoke at length about a missing component in the health field, that would help doctor's to properly diagnose patients: Geo-Medicine, or environmental data, showing where patients lived and what those locations were like in terms of chemicals and toxic particles found in the air.  He offered an experiment that he did with his friend.

From the Article:
"A friend of Davenhall’s allowed his location to be tracked every day for two years via his cell phone. Davenhall compiled the data and mapped his friends locations against those location’s environmental data — much of which is tracked by the National Institutes of Health. Davenhall noted that the government is tracking this data already — why isn’t is finding its way into our health conversations? Davenhall also believes that the mobile phone is the best place to track and monitor location for patients. He showed off a demo smartphone app that included air quality information as it might appear in an electronic health record."

After watching his speech, I found it compelling to think about my present location, my past locations, and my future locations of living in reference to my health.  I live in Park Slope, Brooklyn, which is a beautiful area, but about a mile or so from the Gowanus Canal, a polluted waterway that has attracted the attention of the US government for possible clean-up due to its high levels of toxic substances.  Other Brooklyn areas, such as Greenpoint, have highly-toxic deposits of chemicals under the ground that are only being discovered and identified now.  How is living here affecting my health?

Many questions arise from Davenhall's ideas, and many intriguing ideas.  I feel it as important as he that our geographic location plays a part in our health diagnosis, and these records could be greatly important in avoiding potential or continued health risks.  His experiement with GPS and mapping (which is what he does, after all) would be great to see patterns of movement in patients. 

Yet, is his macrolevel enough?  Do we need to see the real micro-patterns of movement and location?  Restaurants? Specific streets?  And, of course, if it got to this level, is it something that infringes on privacy? 

What if insurance companies found out about our movements and where actually go?  Would they charge more?  Less?  Would cities that are viewed as health risks try to clean up their act?

I feel that this is a complex issue, but one that merits discussion. 

http://mobihealthnews.com/5112/tedmed-include-geo-medicine-in-ehrs/

Stuttering: A Genetic Mutation?

Stuttering is a speech disorder that involves involuntary hesitation, repetition ("ca-ca-ca-can"), or prolongations ("llllllike") while
speaking

As someone who has had a mild speech problem for most of his life, I have always wondered as to the cause of my affliction.  Is it something genetic?  Is it behavioral?  Is it my personality? I have grappled for many years, taking speech therapy from time to time, learning new tricks to help myself, and coming up with shortcuts and "cheats" to get through life.

Amazingly enough, it turns out that one of the causes of stuttering or speech impediments may be the brain itself. In this recent article on CNN.com, it turns out that the New England Journal of Medicine revealed that "three genetic mutations in the brain cells of people who stutter. The cells are located in the part of the brain that controls speech, which suggests that genes could play a big role in the disorder."

On one hand, I am fascinated by this finding, and where it obviously is leading to - a possible cure to speech problems?  A way to alter the genetic structure and fix this afflication once and for all?  The research is far away at this time, but the thought is an exciting one.

On the other hand...it's a bit saddening to me.  All of the years of therapy as a child and therapy I am starting again, just to get more of a handle on it...is it something that I just can't fix on my own?  I used to think it was psychological...which was found to not be true.   Yet I've always felt I could beat it and control it someday through behavioral changes and practice.  But maybe that day is too far away for me, and not something I can do alone.

Link to CNN.com article

Image courtesy of CNN.com

What is the affect of Avatar?

Upon seeing Avatar (the #1 all-time top box office film by James Cameron) for the second time last night, this time in all its 3-D Imax glory, I was left with many questions...questions that rise above the usual ones swirling around the film, such as....Is 3D filmaking the new trend?...has Cameron raised the bar for storytelling in hollywood blockbusters?...will studios stop remaking old movies and focus on more original visions?

No, the questions I was asking were...now that Avatar has grossed approx. 2.6 billion dollars worldwide, and millions and millions of people have seen it, how will Avatar affect our lives...if at all? 

Movies are very powerful when done right.  I've talked to many, many people of all ages, who were fascinated and moved by the story...a story which has many layers and messages just waiting for audiences to grasp.   I've talked to people who were amazed by the lush planet, the wonderful visuals, the amazing interaction between a people and their environment.  I've talked to people who rooted for the Na'vi, the indigenious people uprooted by a capitalistic corporation...but do they see the parallels, or contrasts, to their own lives and world?

1. With Avatar's emphasis on "being one with the environment", "respecting nature", and "learning to understand the planet", will people take away a new sense of eco-justice and desire to save our own planet Earth?  Or will it just be business as usual for us humans?

2. Will Avatar bring a question of capitalistic tendencies, especially ones that displace people and/or destroy natural parks and lands?

3. Will Avatar open up channels to a respect for other cultures, other people, who may not be like us in the modernized world, but who may have more to offer and rich histories to understand?

I don't have the answers, but am fascinated by what may come of this.  Sadly, I don't hold out much hope that many of the answers to these questions will be yes.

What's all this Buzz about Google Buzz?

Much to my surprise, Google suddenly launched a new application in my already oveflowing gmail account...Google Buzz.  Imagine my shock (and horror) that suddenly there is a yet another place to update my status on...and yes, find out what my other friends (or semi-friends, or non-friends) are up to.  AGAIN.  and AGAIN.

Jason Calacanis's Business Insider Write-up on Google Buzz

Jason Calacanis, the founder of Silicon Alley Reporter and CEO of Mahalo (a human-powered search engine), recently wrote that Google Buzz is a game-changer that will cut Facebook's value and traffic in half.  While his reasons are interesting, I am not sold on Google Buzz yet...seemingly for the opposite reasons he states.

Having Buzz appear in my inbox is already maddening, especially when I've never been comfortable with the large amount of emails I get there anyway, and my inability to ever organize them.  I understand we are becoming a search culture, but I've never found "Searching" for my emails a viable use of my time.  And Gmail's labels have been annoying to use as well.  I'd prefer the folders of my entourage, and the ability to delete individual messages instead of one large thread.

As for Buzz, I've been using it, but it's quickly become the random, ego-driven sounding board that Facebook is.  I think I am happy with that in only one place for now.

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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iPad or iFad?

As a lover of all things Apple, I must say that I'm not sure what to make of the iPad.  And while I love my iPhone, this new device seems to be nothing more than a strange "middle-man" between my iphone and my laptop. 

But without a phone, a camera, or a browser that can handle flash yet, I'm not really sure what the iPad will do that my laptop already can't...or that my iPhone can do better.  And once I saw that the iPad has a real keyboard accessory (huh?!), I'm not really sure if this isn't just a big-ticket vanity item for those who need more of what they already have.  I guess I'm waiting to be proved wrong.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/28/technology/companies/28apple.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60R5J620100128

Internet Freedom Is Not a Universal Value...REALLY?

While there is more to this article than what I will expound upon, I find a few parts quick alarming.  Bruce Nussbaum takes such a strangely conservative stance in this article...one that I cannot agree with.  He says that internet freedom is not a universal value, and that countries like China are fine without it, since many of their citizens have no problem with the censoring of pro-taiwan/pro-tibet articles.


Much like Mr. Nussbaum, I have recently visited China, too...and while I had many conversations with the Chinese people about how Tibet and Taiwan are a part of their country, I would in no way say that these topics should be restricted from their internet access, or that a majority opinion (due to lack of knowledge) should dictate what is and what isn't accessible.

I also find the last line about universal healthcare equally problematic... "European nations mandate universal health care as a "universal" right. How do Americans feel about that?"  I feel that more Americans would believe in universal healthcare if the truth about it was not filtered by our large media-controlling corporations and their multitude of fear-tactics.  If we are kept in the dark here, then just like the Chinese who are being "kept in the dark", I feel someone needs to turn the light on...and at least offer the other side up for consumption.

LINK

The Truth About Robots and the Uncanny Valley

A very interesting article about a theory called "the uncanny valley", which I had never heard of until this Popular Mechanics article.  It surmises that as robots and robotic technology move towards a shared likeness with humanity, the fact these robots will look and act nearly - but not exactly - like us will cause human feelings to move from fondness to revulsion towards the robot.

While the article seems to say that "the uncanny valley" is a very loose theory, and very hard to prove, I find it fascinating to think about.  I have always been a bit unnerved about the way our present-day robots try to be so life-like, yet obviously lack many characteristics that would make them human.  And while I don't think revulsion is the right emotion, there is something a bit "off" about it all.

Imagine one day - there may be classes or companies that will help us to better relate to our robots, whether they be guardians, friends, or helpers.  Counselors to help us deal with our fears of these life-like creatures, at their essence, will be so much like us.

Link