The typewriter has  been reported to be put out of production.  The last company to produce the typewriter is Godrej and Boyce it has shut-down its production in its plant in Mumbai, India.  Gawker reports that the typewriter is still being produced in China, Japan and Indonesia.  Whichever the real story is, it’s apparent that the typewriter will eventually become obsolete, which is a shame. The typewriter used to be a mandatory device in the office. Now, it has been replaced by the modern keyboard.

However there is nothing like the experience one gains by writing on a  typewriter, it’s iconic!

As a writer, the notion that the typewriter may not be around much longer is unsettling. As I have aged, the typewriter has always been the object a writer could never let go of. It reminds me of Cronenberg’s visual interpretation of William S. Burroughs ”Naked Lunch.”   William Lee, has nothing but his typewriter, as he goes through fits of hallucinations, hysteria, he returns to the typewriter to outline what he has been experiencing. At one point in the film, the typewriter comes to life.  It is depicted a s a breathing, living entity Therefore, it is an extension of the writer. So with the death of the typewriter indirectly causes the death of the writer. However, we know that is not true, but is a huge blow to traditional writers.

Typewriters may becoming obsolete, lets just not allow written word to become nonexistent as well.

This term was coined by Jeffrey Howe, it established that the concept of crowdsourcing depends essentially on the fact that because it is an open call to an undefined group of people, it gathers those who are most fit to perform tasks, solve complex problems and contribute with the most relevant and fresh ideas.

It has diminished the gap between the professional and the amateur, by doing so, a new collective consciousness is formed. By outsourcing an idea via the web, a community can embrace the idea and thus the creative process begins.

My crowd-sourcing idea would be for the traveler on the road, especially if doing a cross-country trip. It would link with google navigation and provide the address to cheap places to stay the night (motels, campgrounds, etc.) It would rank them according to their quality based on reviews by others who have stayed there. It would also provide the traveler where to eat according to affordability and quality. Additionally it would describe sights along the way, depending on the route you are taking.  It would also warn you of places to avoid.  I believe this application would be very helpful to those who are planning a long voyage and who are basically traveling blind. I know from experience that many will just choose the first thing they see and are most likely bypassing an excellent place to stay or eat.

Ethics?

Do most of you know what this consists of in the journalistic profession? According to who you talk to, ethics could mean entirely different things.  Michael Huber for example, will not discuss his car troubles with Randy, a man who could easily aide in his dilemma. But his ethical conscious disallows him to ask for this hand-out; it could be perceived the wrong way.  On the other side of the spectrum, you have a rolling stones reporter, who will willingly smoke weed and drink beer on Lil Wayne’s tab.

Is this ethical?

In my opinion, ethics is a slippery slope.  On one hand, you can’t sacrifice your professionalism, but in another hand, you have to maintain some sense of sustainability. In regards to Michael Huber’s situation, I would have asked Randy, it should not matter, if he works with him. If you have established a relationship, you should be able to take advantage of it. It is simple networking. No one in their right mind will see that as an act of diminished ethical integrity.

The reporter at Rolling Stone should be able to take advantage of the high life. No pun intended. As long as it doesn’t persuade his article about the artist, it shouldn’t matter if he parties with Lil Wayne for free.

In summary, as long as these advantages do not persuade you to tweak an article in their favor, you still have maintained an ethical conscience.

Newspapers have transcended their marketing strategies from the traditional” paper boy” format to a pay-wall, established online. New York Times recently put up a pay-wall much to the dismay of its’ online subscribers.  Will it work? Will they still get the same number of readers? We don’t know. If any newspaper can make headway with this strategy it might as well be the prestigious New York Times.

But let’s be realistic, the online community is fundamentally built on the principle of getting information and media for free. Ever since burning cd’s I have not paid a single cent for music. And that was in 1999. Music programs get shut down, but new ones emerge. For example, Napster became popular, it was shut down, so the music pirates and myself alike migrated to Scour Exchange. Once that was shut-down, Audio galaxy was the next option. While many, virus vulnerable programs came to being, Limewire, Frostwore, Bear Exchange, etc. I didn’t touch them.  Instead I would get audio tracks from dogpile.com. But now there are torrents, a safer way to download software, music, movies, television shows, e-books.

My point is: if you prevent the online community to get free media, they will find a way around it, just as I did.

However, there will be those who fall victim to the pay wall, I suspect the majority of them will be older. The older generations aren’t fully on board with getting information free, they are still hung up on the idea that everything must be paid for.

But do they make up the majority of the online community; NO.

A good example is the attempted establishment of the NYT tweet. However, this was shut down, but that is just the beginning.  A more secure way of re-sending this information must be established, perhaps a forum, where all the New York Times articles will be available.

In addition, to the prospect of establishing a forum to retrieve articles for free.There still are other new sources exporting the same news as the New York Times. Will the articles be written as eloquently? It’s debatable. But will you receive the same information, YES.  That gets to my second point: as long as there are other news agencies exporting news for free, there is no immediate need to pay.

What do you think?

With all kidding aside, the movements in the middle east to transfer governmental control to the people is phenomenal. It will greatly impact the world stage, these countries have been considered the non-integrated core for so long. In due time, they may become a part of the global economy and offer the world more than just worry.

A spokesman for Abdullah says that he will step down later this year, but protestors want him to resign immediately. His spokesman responded by saying that an immediate transfer of power is unacceptable.

Unacceptable?

It;s unacceptable to want freedom? But instead just bear with the president for a few months and then you may be happy. Either way, the transfer of power is going to take some time, even “later in the year” the transfer will not be immediate and the protestors either have to accept that or pick their game up. It will be interesting to see what will transpire in Yemen and the rest of the middle east in the months to come.

As it currently stands the death toll from the quake and tsunami has passed  10,000  and 17,000 people are missing.

The levels in puddles around the reactor were reported to be so high that the emergency workers would have received four times their maximum annual dose of radiation in just one hour.

Amidst all this confusion,  anti-nuclear protestors held a large rally in Tokyo, calling for a change in Japan’s nuclear industry.

Efforts have been made to locate the source of the leak of radiation pouring into the water supply surrounding the reactor. They have also been pouring freshwater onto the reactor opposed to using sea water, the concern is that the salt will corrode the machinery, this is being done in order to prevent a meltdown and to extract the radioactive water in the process.

The UN’s nuclear agency International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has warned the crisis could go on for months.

However the Tokyo Government, has stated the airborne radiation around the plant is decreasing, so there is no need to extend the evacuation zone.

Whichever agency is correct, we can all agree that this will be a long process and will take years for Japan to fully recover from this disaster.

The emergence of the internet has changed the way we socially interact in a monumental fashion, and with social interaction inevitably comes negativity. Just as you would interact in the playground, there would always be a bully. But now the playground is either an instant message, a forum, or blog and now the bully is no longer in plain view or recognizable. The bully can be masked in anonymousity, no longer afraid of being recognized and is more apt to say hurtful things.  He is conveniently hidden behind a cyber-wall and believes that their words have no affect on their victim.

However, they’re mistaken, words hurt whether or not they are directly stated at the person. It’s a shame that these kids believe they can just get away with saying nasty statements to each other, without their being any consequences. Adolescents have enough problems with their self-esteem, they don’t need an external factor to further their insecurities.

As our desire to multi-task increases, our attentiveness to read lengthy texts decreases. As someone who falls into this category, I constantly find myself checking my virtual life while I should be focusing on my reading. But due to the constant need to check either, e-mail, Facebook, twitter, etc., I can’t solely focus on one thing for an extended period of time. This is a fair representation of my peers, collectively my generation is easily distracted and is unable to engage in in-depth thought.  Our attention spans do not allow us to take the time to configure the complexities of our world.  Even Socrates expressed his fear that the emerging technology of writing would destroy the rich oral literacy that was central to his culture.

I’d be interested to know if these distractions existed during Einstein’s time, if he would be able to find the time to discover the theory of relativity.  He potentially could have been consumed by the redundancies of online media and lost all motivation. Imagine, what the world would be like without the mind of Albert. Now, apply that to today’s population, there could likely be another Einstein out there amongst the Internet consumers, but we may never know,

However, contrary to the bashing I just laid down on the media today, the world isn’t plummeting to a state of dystopia. Due to the formation of new media, our brains have evolved. But to have such a bleak outlook, is preemptive. The formation of the printing press in 1843 transfixed the eye of the population through a print lens.  While this evolution of media transpired, there were no concerns of the current population being inadequate to its predecessors.  However today, my generation is pre-judged to be less efficient solely because of the emergence of new technologies during our pre-pubescent years.  It is unfortunate that we’re perceived this way.

It will be interesting to see how the human brain receives information in the next century, considering the advances that have already came to fruition within our lifetime.

Although we concede to distracted thought, most of the potential lies with the individual. Those who are motivated will not let their minds go array and will propel the world forward.

It’s a simple click-and-point game, where it navigates multiple choice questions about your livelihood. It then tragically informs you that you no longer have any assets and asks, “can you make it through the month?”

You’re given simple consequences due to the location of where you choose to live. If you choose to live in a city, the price of living is more expensive. But if you plan on living outside the city, you must pay more for gas and transportation.

The game does a great job of integrating with Facebook, as it informs you that your rent has been raised, it asks you if you want to ignore the claim or ask a friend for help. It then brings you to a friends page, where you must ask them for help. Just to show the level of desperation that you would have to face during this time of turmoil.

HOwever, because it is a non-profit, as expected, they give a bunch of menial facts about homelessness and how many americans have to access internets via public libraries.  Although I am being cynical about the game, it is definitely worth checking out.