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Social (and anti-social) media

4 August 2009

Over the last few months, I have had an opportunity to discover social (and anti-social) media – or more accurately, it has discovered me. I increasingly am convinced that it truly is changing the world. Some observations about the various media that have discovered me:

Blogs. Not too many years ago, I remember someone informing me that a former co-worker (HippieKiller) had a blog and my asking what exactly a blog was. Today, I write this blog and read seven blogs regularly via RSS feed. I had thought technology was going to make writing a dying art. The rise of blogging suggests otherwise. I like it that most bloggers, or at least the ones I read, do not disguise their opinions like traditional media often do. If they think something is BS, they call it BS. The world is a better place because of that. Plus you can incorporate video, pictures and audio – not that you would know that from reading my blog.
Facebook. I’m convinced Facebook, the main social networking site, has changed relationships and social networking forever. No longer will people lose contact with high school and college classmates or business and social acquaintances. Facebook allows us to stay just well enough informed about people we’d never pick up the phone to call. Additionally, Facebook is a wonderful tool for non-profit organizations. I love to read about the activities of the non-profits with which I am or have been involved, and I’m sure it makes me more likely to donate when I’m reminded regularly of the great work these groups do. Having said all that, I’ll never understand the attraction of Mafia Wars, Farmville, or quizzes; people with too much time on their hands, I guess.
LinkedIn. I’d never heard of LinkedIn, the main business networking site, before a friend invited me to join a few months ago. They have a tool that allows you to figure out how many of your address book contacts are LinkedIn members. I was blown away to discover that 194 were. Of course, I’ve never done anything other than sign up, which probably defeats the purpose.
MeetUp. Unless you’re interested in joining Kanawha Valley Hookers (a now-defunct group for crocheting, I quickly and sadly discovered) or becoming a charter member of the John Birch Society, don’t waste your time – yet.
RSS Feeds. How did I ever live without them? Now I can choose which news I want to check out regularly and it’s all brought to me in one place. I was just forced to make the move from NetNewsWire to GoogleReader. I think both are fabulous tools.
StumbleUpon. For those who love serendipity and voyages of discovery, there’s no place better than StumbleUpon, which learns what you like and helps you discover more of it, or one of its competitors. I think it’s the perfect accompaniment to an RSS Feed when you have some free time to look for interesting things.
iTunes. Now that I know the difference between an iPod, an iPhone, and iTunes, I’ve discovered I’m happiest with iTunes. I never watch regular television anymore. I buy a season of a TV show that I’ve heard is good through i-Tunes and watch episode after episode over nights and weeks. Good television is so much better when you watch episodes back to back – and without commercial interruption. The only problem: there’s no one with whom to discuss your latest episode of Battlestar Galactica or Mad Men – they either watched it six months ago or haven’t seen it.
Twitter. Ever trying to keep up with the latest, I established a Twitter account. I have not tweeted once. The only good use I can come up with for it: alerting someone to a good article or blog post, but who really wants to deal with tinyurl.com? (But isn’t it cool that someone thought of tinyurl to meet a need.) They say brevity is the soul of wit; I say it’s the soul of twits and twitterers.
YouTube and Flickr. Not places I visit regularly.
Websites. They’re coming to seem a bit old-fashioned (unless you call them portals and charge a lot for them). I do not understand why so many people spend so much money on them and then fail to keep them updated. (Note to self: Finish website.)

Regulating the oil speculators

3 August 2009

It is refreshing to read that Gary Gensler, new chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), says the CFTC needs to regulate speculative trading in oil and natural gas futures more strictly. As a reminder, the CFTC foolishly began granting exemptions from the speculative trades limits in 1991, and speculative trading in oil futures orchestrated by some of the large investment houses led to the dramatic increase in gas prices more than a year ago … and gas prices again are on their way up.

By the way, look for a new report from the CFTC this month that REVERSES a finding that the gas price hikes were caused by supply and demand issues, not speculators.

Chairman Gensler’s telephone number is 202.418.5050, and his fax number is 202.418.5533 if you want to weigh in on this important issue.

Of media chatter and fireside chats

3 August 2009

I’m not one of those Americans who wants to change the name of French fries to Freedom fries any time a foreigner offers an opinion of or says something critical of the United States. That is why I am a fan of the Economist.

This week the Economist includes an opinion piece about President Barack Obama. My favorite quotation: ”He has been curiously ill-served by a press short of useful criticism, with liberal America prepared only to debate what sort of water he walks on best, while conservative radio hosts argue over when exactly he became a communist.” I can come up with no sentence that better captures the left-right media divide – and the utter uselessness of their chatter – better.

Meanwhile, notes the Economist, President Obama is losing the support of independent voters, who are concerned about federal spending, and needs to show leadership on important issues like health care and environmental reform. ”Back in the honeymoon days,” says the Economist, “Mr. Obama was constantly compared to Roosevelt. No longer.”

I recently had an opportunity to read FDR’s fireside chats. FDR would talk directly to the American people about important issues in plain, easy to understand, but not condescending, language. I think President Obama needs to do more of this. It’s harder now, with so many media competing for our limited attentions, but he needs to make a conscientious effort to reach us.

In closing, some interesting words from FDR to ponder:

On stimulus spending: “It is going to cost something to get out of this recession this way but the profit of getting out of it will pay for the cost several times over. Lost working time is lost money. Every day that a workman is unemployed, or a machine is unused, or a business organization is marking time, it is a loss to the Nation.” 14 April 1938.
On health care: “Whether we come to this form of insurance soon or later on, I am confident that we can devise a system which will enhance and not hinder the remarkable progress which has been made and is being made in practice of the professions of medicine and surgery in the United States.” 14 November 1936.
On the environment: “If, for example, in some local area the water table continues to drop and the topsoil to blow away, the land values will disappear with the water and the soil. People on the farms will drift into the nearby cities; the cities will have no farm trade and the workers in the city factories and stores will have no jobs. Property values in the cities will decline. If, on the other hand, the farms within that area remain as farms with better water supply and no erosion, the farm population will stay on the land and prosper and the nearby cities will prosper too. Property values will increase instead of disappearing.” 6 September 1936.

Revenge of HAL and the cylons

2 August 2009

I wonder if I and others have been watching too many episodes of Battlestar Galactica and sci-fi channel re-runs of 2001: A Space Odyssey?

The New York Times reported last week that our machines are becoming smarter than we, and scientists are debating whether there should be limits on research that might lead to loss of human control over computer-based systems. A threat? Not for a while, I would hope.

The New York Times also reported last week that traders like Goldman Sachs – the bad guys in case you don’t know about the internet bubble, housing bubble and oil bubble – are beginning to make a lot of money by subtly manipulating share prices with high-speed, high-frequency trading. The issue came to light when a former Goldman Sachs computer programmer left with secret computer codes, which a federal prosecutor now claims could be used to “manipulate markets in unfair ways.” Hhhmmm?!? If the programmer could use them to manipulate markets in unfair ways, how was Goldman Sachs using them? A threat? Yes, and now.

A new approach for HBCUs

1 August 2009

Several weeks ago, I wrote about how President Barack Obama’s new drug czar Gil Kerlikowske was attempting to change the dialogue surrounding illegal drug use. He is not alone among President Obama’s new appointees.

President Barack Obama recently selected John Silvanus Wilson, Jr. as his point person for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). In the Higher Education Act of 1965, Congress provided for funding for HBCUs to remedy the historic effects of racism and discrimination. The funding continues to this day.

According to Inside Higher Ed, Dr. Wilson wants HBCUs to move away from the “against great odds” and “survival and maybe victimization” narrative and toward a focus on “thriving not merely surviving.” While this theoretically weakens the overall justification for HBCU funding, I appreciate Dr. Wilson’s effort. No institution, whether historically black or historically white, is going to thrive if it wallows in self-pity and always has a ready excuse for failure.

West Virginia has two HBCUs – West Virginia State University and Bluefield State College. Both are on the surviving side of the surviving/thriving continuum with low graduation rates and serious financial challenges. They need to figure out how to make the transition that Dr. Wilson is advocating.

Social (and anti-social) media

Regulating the oil speculators

Of media chatter and fireside chats

Revenge of HAL and the cylons

A new approach for HBCUs

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