xarkGirl

What does the LoCo need?

i would like to get some input from you guys on what we could do --- what YOU would do --- with a building that could have shared infrastructure in terms of both space and tech. I'm talking about a really spacious spot, with room for cooperative workspace, offices, artist studios, classroom space, editing bays, event venue, commercial kitchen, even conference and workshop space. Maybe a gallery. The concept I'm in love with is downtown. It is HUGE, though, and mostly ready to go. 

What does downtown Charleston/rest of Lowcountry need? What courses could be taught? Photoshop? Premiere? Flash? Maya? Acting classes? Cooking? Writing workshops? Social media? Biz-oriented classes? Final Cut? Videography? Photography? Is there a need for a co-op work building? What would it need to offer? WiFi, office machines, receptionist? Could we build a think-tank around it? Podcasting and video studios that could be rented? Rental equipment like HD cameras? Post-production facilities? Server farm? News cafe? Coffee shop/hangout? What else?

Go wild. Don't worry about cost just yet, although any ideas for generating revenue are most welcome. Just riff on what would help support a creative, artistic, tech-savvy community in the Lowcountry.

Sex and clubs

Good lord, the Belizean Grove stuff has made the hairs on my neck stand up.

You don't have to Google much more than "single-sex organizations" to find a plethora of rants, scholarly articles and research projects on whether they are good or bad. There are more single-gender groups than Britney Spears cover shots. Let's see: the Alibi Club, the Alfalfa Club, the Bohemian Club and Skull and Bones. Fraternities. Sororities. Women's auxiliaries. Girl Scouts. Boy Scouts. Golf clubs. Sex clubs. Book clubs. There's even scholarly debate now about whether single-sex classrooms are better for actually educating children.

I don't care to argue about that at all. I'm no expert on social ramifications and psychological dynamics of groups. I do find the hypocrisy ludicrous.

We keep bringing up these proxy issues and pontificating on the symptoms whilst completely ignoring core issues such as pay disparity, promotion discrimination, domestic violence, social stigma on sexual activity, and other inequities that actually matter. The real argument about mono-gender clubs is whether the included get disproportionate access to power and information.

Twitter, Google and other life-altering cuteness

So Peggy Noonan has an interesting piece on the Iranian election sitch, touching on the role of technology in a revolution. She, rightly so, notes that technology such as Twitter and YouTube only intensify and encourage the sentiments of people, they don't create them.

Well, gee. Information still plays the role of information no matter what delivery system it's in.  Remember how the printing press made something of a stir?  We humans are social creatures. It's why we are the dominant species. Better delivery systems just widen that society. We expand ourselves.

I do take exception to her closing call for more serious names for technology inventions, as she complains that Google, Twitter and Facebook are "baby talk." I call bullshit on that. We geeks don't need -- as xarker put it -- "borrowed gravitas." We don't make the same distinctions that the generations before us did between what we're told is serious and what we see as serious. More like what is useful and what is not useful. Need to be aware of and need to act on.

What's the value to me of video from Iranian protesters versus knowing that traffic is backed up on I-26 and I'll never make it to my job interview on time if I go that way? Arguably Iran is more "serious" in terms of global politics and the meaning of life, but I need that f'n job. The two pieces of information are not comparable, yet the delivery system is. I get both in real time. Does it matter that "Twitter" sounds kinda cute?

Sex discrimination quiz

I about had a stroke (which is really not funny) when I read comments on the story about Susan Inhe, a  former editor of the Asheville Citizen-Times who filed a $15 million wrongful termination suit. Sadly, they seem to have been removed, thus you will have to take my word for it.

In the interest of education, here's a little quiz about why a woman who worked for a company for 27 years only to be fired by a man who'd been there half a minute deserves to be innocent until proven idiotic. In addition to any personal desire to, say, not be a sexist jerk. There is no prize except the knowledge that you don't need two hands to find your ass.

True or false.

1.  The day after you get mad (or get fired), you can hire an attorney and file a $15 million suit. Uh, no. False.  The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, EEOC to its friends, is a federal agency charged with investigating discrimination claims, primarily with an eye toward reducing the burden on the courts and protecting companies from false claims by people confused about their rights in the workplace or in some cases, money-grubbing liars.

Therefore, anyone making a complaint must file paperwork with the agency, which then has 180 days to conduct an inquiry. Six months in which the complainant must wait - without her job or working in the situation that prompted the charge in the first place. Granted, the EEOC could comb through documents, conduct interviews, file paperwork and issue a ruling much more quickly. (see #2)

Or the problem could be resolved via mediation. Even before beginning an investigation, the agency will try to get both parties in a room with an impartial, specially trained referee.

Wake up and smell the napalm

I am so over newspaper executives, industry experts, et al talking about the solutions to the burning-tail nosedive that we are in. My ire was rekindled by a piece from Steve Outing called Do Newspaper Have 6 Months? where he talks about the recent API (American Press Institute) meeting of newspaper CEOs and other Important People to address The Problems.

Outing, astutely, points out that the time for talking in broad strokes is somewhat past.  I love his graph on the Phases of a Crisis. But what follows in the comments and discussions is so more of same, I am physically uncomfortable. I have the same reaction to almost any site that is part of the Mainstream Media. Why?

Because the newspaper industry is just now waking up to ideas about media and the Internet and journalism that are almost old. Virus of the Mind (web site design is practically a fossil). The Long Tail. Cluetrain Manisfesto. Ambient Findability. Waiting for Your Cat to Bark. Anything by Seth Godin.

As happens so often, the blogosphere -- which newspapers STILL think is nothing but a collection of kitty photos and grammatically flawed rants  -- has been so far ahead of the curve, that I, for one, can't stand talking about it anymore. It's like a freshman who just discovered existentialism and makes a black-and-white film about death. 

More Motrin

I wasn't going to join in fray, but I have to now. I kinda missed the original incident, which was centered on this ad for Motrin that many women found insulting. I was Tweeted this morning with a link to a parody of the ad, which I finally watched.

The ad caused much controversy with "mommybloggers." Whatever the hell that means. (I mean , honestly, do we have "daddybloggers?" So cute, the little mommies!) But the reaction to the reaction has reeled me in. The aforementioned parody link to me took a post by one Steve Hall on a site called AdGabber.

Maybe these guys, the writer and the commenters, are not sexist jerks, but they sure are making it hard to think otherwise. Hall's opener:

This is one of those thing's that causes one to scream, "Oh for fuck's sake!" Or better yet, "Jesus, fucking Christ!" Why the harsh language? Because, yet again, America has lost its sense of humor and has gotten its underwear up its crack over an innocuous Motrin ad which pokes fun at babywearing.

Those damn women and their refusal to agree that an advertisement is funny! We did marketing studies!

Three pennies and creating reality

The question of coincidence has always intrigued me. I understand absolutely that we assign our own meaning to things. I believe the fabric of life is pattern recognition, from a biological perspective as well as a spiritual one. (One of my favorite early posts rambles on about patterns and art.)

It's a deliciously complex cycle. Things are there, we notice them, we assign meaning based on other, earlier inputs, which in turn reinforces what we will notice and call coincidence the next time. Things mean whatever we decide they mean, whether that's because we've been taught a meaning or come to our own through our exposure to ideas and experience.

Or maybe there really are no coincidences. Take this, which I lifted from Wikipedia:

Deepak Chopra and other proponents of ancient Vedic spiritual and other mystical teachings insist on the fact that there is absolutely no coincidence in the world. That everything that occurs can be related to a prior cause or association, no matter how vast or how minute and trivial. All is impacted by something related to it that is unseen or seen, cognized or not in the universe. He and many others worldwide also suggest that science, in particular mathematics, is rapidly moving towards this conclusion as well. Nonlocality theory of physics is just the latest example of phenomenon that seemed coincidental, but are in fact causal. The claim is that this and other science and mathematical conclusions can extend this to every aspect of existence.

It has also been suggested that coincidence is just the mind connecting two or more unique events; if the mind does not make the connection, then there is no coincidence.

When I find three pennies on the street in quick succession, I take it as a sign that it's time for a little I-Ching, (which, appropriately enough, is an entire system based on assigning meaning to coincidence.)

What do we do now?

The video below is funny, but it does touch on a fundamental questions about the Internet rEvolution. Will we translate our election involvement into participation in our government?

 So many of us, of all political stripes, were not only infovores, but prolific bloggers and commenters. Reading, dissecting, learning, changing. I've seen my own teenagers become informed on politicians' policy stances, histories and statements.  The snarky comment of an old white guy in my voting line wasn't only rude, it was just wrong. My kids -- and trust me, we aren't talking straight-A students interested in a future in politics -- knew the positions of the candidate they voted for. They argued  their cases, they volunteered, they voted, Lee even blogged about it.

 How will that passion and intensity be channeled now? Will we pay attention to what our policymakers are up to? We have an incredible array of new tools, of new voices, of new ways to do so, if we choose to use them.

This is hilarious

The Onion has a really funny segment on the consequences of the end of the election cycle:

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

Back in action

So, to the 5 people who read this blog, my apologies for the long-time-no-post. I returned to daytime work at my place of employment and spent a few feverish days covering the election in the Lowcountry. then I actually became feverish and had to seek medical attention.

The election blog was yet another step forward in integrating all the things my tech-head friends have taught me; trips to ConvergeSouth, and the marvelous Web instructor Stephan Krug at Trident Tech.

I helped incorporate Twitter updates from some of our reporters and from technically advanced people in the online community here (which is growing and absolutely FANDAMTASTIC.) I'm so fortunate to have so many resources to draw on.

Here's hoping we all get rich off using technology to meet our community's information needs and wants. Yay!