Clay Shirky---WOW!

Somehow, I had not heard of Clay Shirky until today. He studies cultural changes and identifies sometimes positive, sometimes unsettling trends that we have already begun to experience. Below are links to two knock-your-socks-off lectures in which Shirky expounds upon his findings.

In the first one, Shirky discusses what he calls cognitive surplus. He suggests among other things, that a tiny decrease in the amount of time Americans watch television would free up enough free time for us to create a couple thousand Wikipedias a year.

In the second video from TED.com Shirky explores changes coming about due to technology and predicts that these transformations will shake many established institutions to the core in the coming years. Shirky says that this will have ramifications that we can’t imagine today. Fascinating stuff.

Shirky’s online writings can be found at http://www.shirky.com/.

Striking Back

Tired of spammers and telemarketers? It’s time to do something. But what? Below are links to items by 2 culture heroes who have already struck back.

The first of these shows one method of dealing those maddening calls that often come at mealtimes.

The second is an admittedly lengthy exchange of emails that resulted from a guy responding to one of those spams promising thousands of dollars if the spamee will only come to the assistance of a persecuted Nigerian family. This sometimes verges on the absurd.

If these sound too good to be true, you may be right. Still, they are laugh-out-loud funny.

The End Is Near!

I am not usually a prophet of doom sort, but about a month ago I read an article in the Atlantic magazine called “Is Google Making Us Stupid?." In it, the author suggests that frequent use of the Internet is having negative effects on our brains, one of which is the inability to read extensive pieces of text ( e.g. books).

Then, today I came across some sites that indicate we are nearing the end—at least the end of something, perhaps civilization as we know it.

First, is the narcissistically appealing How Many of Me, which tells a person how many people with his or her first and last names were recorded in the last U.S. Census. Of course, I checked my name. Surprisingly, there are supposed to be six people with my moniker.

A step down from that-- or perhaps up, depending on your point of view is Bubble Wrap Heaven. At this site one can burst a virtual sheet of bubble wrap bubbles and then request another, and another, and another…. paging Mr. Monk.

Finally, we come to the End of the Internet. Another page calls itself The Last Page on the Intenet. As the site says, “You have reached the last page of the internet. Now you can turn off you computer, go outside and play.” If you head back in the other direction, you might come to the Exact Center of the Internet.

As I say, the end is near.

The Fly Guy

If you are running low on whimsy and would like a refill, try the FlyGuy site. By just touching the arrow buttons on your keyboard you'll be flying into the air past birds, airplanes, and some stranger flying objects. Don't be afraid to let the strongman launch you into outer space. This site is good for at least five minutes of mindless fun.

Judy Henske

Most of you probably never heard of Judy Henske. She had some popularity as a singer in the 1960s and might be considered sort of a cult figure today. She sings a mixture of blues, folk, jazz, and pop music. I came to be a fan sort through the back door. In the early 60s I was a devotee of the Kingston Trio, and when Dave Guard left the trio, I was interested in what he would do next. Well, he formed a group called Dave Guard and the Whiskeyhill Singers, which produced one album. Among the songs in this collection was the best version of “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out” I have ever heard-- Judy Henske does a solo, with some tasteful 12 string guitar for accompaniment. The Whiskeyhill Singers soon broke up, and Judy pursued a solo career. I bought at least three of her albums. One of these contained a terrific version of “High Flyin’ Bird” written by Billy Ed Wheeler. Judy Henske's website can be found at http://www.judyhenske.com/

Street View on Google Maps

If you haven’t visited the Google Maps site recently, check it out. They’ve made a startling—at least according to some people I’ve shown it to—addition. For many an address in larger cities, Google now provides a “street view,” a 360 degree panoramic photographic view of the street. One can then do a virtual walk down the street, and turn corners on to neighboring avenues. It doesn’t appear that they’ve gotten to North Dakota or South Dakota yet, but if you live in the New York City area, as I do, people from Google have likely driven down your street. While some people say “Oh, Wow,” others see this as an invasion of privacy. I’m with the “Oh, Wow” crowd, but I do understand the concern for privacy. What do you think?

20 Questions

Most of us played the game 20 questions when we were kids. It helped pass the time during a long automobile ride—this was before the era when we began amusing ourselves to death by putting televisions and DVD players in cars and SUVs. Yesterday, I came across a free online version of the game that uses Artificial Intelligence to figure out who (actors, sports figures, other notables) or what the player has in mind.

20Q asks a series of yes or no type questions, and often within twenty questions comes up with the correct answer. Sometimes, these answers seem to come out of nowhere. For instance, below are the sixteen questions I was asked before 20Q guessed correctly guessed that I was thinking of Hilary Clinton. My answers are included.

16. Were you born between 1900-1950? Yes.
15. Are you still on the air? Sometimes.
14. Have you won awards? Yes.
Are you the middle child? Unknown.
Are you the youngest child? Unknown.
13. Are you on a hit TV show? No.
12. Were you involved in a scandal? Yes.
11. Are you a news reporter? No.
10. Do you have long hair? No.
9. Are you young? No.
8. Are you over the age of 30? Yes.
Have you ever been on MTV? Unknown.
7. Have you made more than 10 albums? No.
6. Are you from Brazil? No.
5. Are you known for your live performances? Sometimes.
4. Do you have children? Yes.
3. Are you in movies? No.
2. Do you have blond hair? Sometimes.
1. Are you male? No.

Now it doesn’t always guess correctly. This is sometimes because the site bases its guesses partially on the answers supplied previously by other people. For instance, question 5 above, “Are you known for your live performances?” is a matter of opinion. In playing on the 20Q site, I often find that other people’s opinions and sometimes even matters of fact are at odds with the answers I supplied. I know this because if 20Q does not guess correctly it pursues the matter and shows where the information the player supplied differs from information already in its database.

If you have a few minutes, take a look at this intriguing site.

The Old Scout

I've written about Garrison Keillor in earlier entries here. Last evening I was reading his blog called the Old Scout and found a number of intriguing posts.

A strong sense of independence tempers Keillor's political liberalism. This is notable when he writes about education. But what I especially relate to are his posts about religion. One of these about his feelings while going to church at Easter time, I thought he wrote for me.

Take a look at the Old Scout and as Keillor always says on the Writer's Almanac, "Do good work and keep in touch."

Free Rice

I came across the Free Rice site on two different services that recommend websites, and it's certainly worth a visit. The deal is that the site will donate 20 grains of rice for every vocabulary word you get right. It's multiple choice. Now 20 grains of rice doesn't sound like much, but with all their visitors, Free Rice has donated 32,924,953,370 grains of rice so far. If you miss a word, they'll ask you again after a while.

Reaching Level 7 on Yahoo Answers

I have mentioned Yahoo Answers earlier in this blog. I've been active on the site on and off for almost two years, progressing though the various levels one can achieve. Today, I reached Level 7 --Yahoo Answers top category . So, big deal, you say. For anyone not impressed with this accomplishment, let me run through how one earns the points needed to reach this exalted status. The main ways are by answering questions (2 points each) and by having your answers selected as best answers (10 points each). One can also get points by voting for best answers on questions (1 point for each vote and only one vote per question). To get to level 7, one must amass 25,000 points. Up until recently, I never thought I reach Yahoo Answers highest level, but with a final push over the last two months, I made it. So, do I win a prize and get some other tangible reward for my efforts? The answer, unfortunately, is no. Why then would anyone bother making the effort? I'm not sure, but I do know that there is a certain addictive quality to the site. I should also admit that my point total is kind of paltry compared with those at the top of the leader board. The current leader, who goes by the name Judas Rabbi, has earned more than 419,000 points. To give a little more context, there are 1230 more people who have garnered more points that I have. It makes one feel kind of insignificant. On the other hand, according to YA's FAQs, "With more than 21 million unique users in the U.S. and 90 million worldwide, Yahoo! Answers is the largest knowledge-sharing community on the Web." I'll write more about YA later on, but now I have to get back there and see what questions have come in.

A Homerun to Savor--Again and Again

I’m a lifelong Dodger fan—before and after their move to Los Angeles. People like me cringe when they have to watch (yet again) a replay of Bobby Thompson’s homerun in the 1951 pennant game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants. We also experienced ennui when Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron’s homerun record some days ago.

What we never mind watching, however, is Kirk Gibson’s homer that ended the first game of the 1988 World Series between the L.A. Dodgers and the favored Oakland Athletics. As the fabled story goes, the Dodgers were behind 4 to 3 when they came to bat in the ninth inning. With one runner on base, Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda sent in Kirk Gibson as a pinch hitter. Gibson had been sitting out the game because of a knee injury. It was said that if Gibson had not hit a homerun, he would likely have been thrown out at first because he could hardly run. After taking two pitches, the slugger stepped out of the batter’s box briefly and then hit the next pitch into the right field stands to win the game. He did not the play again the rest of the series, but the Dodgers had momentum and beat the Athletics four games to one. Gibson went on to win the National League Most Valuable Player award for 1988.

If you missed the homerun, here it is again.