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?