Everything I need to know in 8 min and 15 sec.  I love "Lost" and am really looking forward to when it comes back.  I looked it up online and watched this really simplified plot line.  I noticed that ABC is really forward thinking with posting their content online for view.  They were the first of the major networks to do this.  I know this is not the best viewing experience but it has fewer commercials.  What will happen in the future with TV and the Internet is yet to be seen.  I personally think TV and the Internet will become one.  This will happen when we get tired of having a computer and a TV and a phone and an Ipod.  I am sitting at a computer right now and there is a TV on my right side and a laptop on the left and in the corner of the room another TV with ESPN constantly running.  Until they find the way to combine all these devices I will just have to watch "Lost" on Thursday.

Larry Lessig Podcast from TED.com

The Link To The Viewing Requirement

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/187

This is required viewing in my opinion. I have watched this presentation eight times this week. I have shown it to my students and it started a really good conversation about copyright laws. I find that I agree with Larry Lessig when it comes to copyright law and our culture. He tells the history of our culture moving from a Read-Write culture to a passive Read-Only culture as certain technologies were introduced. Now technology has opened doors for the average person to become a creator and we are shifting back to the Read-Write culture, but our laws are making criminals out of all of us, especially young people. My class discussed his last point at length this week, what is the effect on us if we live everyday knowing that we are breaking the law by posting copyrighted material on Youtube or using pictures from the internet on Powerpoint presentations. EVERYONE in all six of my classes said they have downloaded copyrighted music from a file sharing website or taken music from friends’ CDs. We need to find middle ground between paying creators and sharing ideas.

The Joy of Podcasting

TED. I love it. I discovered it by accident a long time ago when podcasting was new to me. I quickly fell in love with podcasting and this TED Talks video Podcast. Go to Apple ITunes podcast directory and search TED Talks (or go to TED.com). Subscribe to this free podcast and download all podcasts. There are many different kind of them, some that are more boring than sitting in traffic. Because they are podcasts, you can skip and delete them if you get bored. Some of my favorite deal with people who invent things like the Segway or who have a plan to colonize Mars. Other people are there to inspire or entertain and one guy talks about “Inconvenient Truth”. I really love the idea that media and this culture of media consumption and creation helps spread ideas for free.

Ahh H#@#

There is one thing that keeps coming back to my mind when I think about this movie. I hate when filmmakers rely too much on computer generated material. There is one scene in the movie where our “heroes” are sitting on top of the Pyramids in Egypt. It is obvious that they are sitting on some props no more than two feet off the ground in a really big green room. The background is placed in later and it just doesn’t quite match. This is not new technology and we are used to it, it is becoming part of “the code”. Where they make the mistake is having long sets of dialog while sitting there. The dialog is important to the story and it reveals some issues that our “heroes” will have to confront later in the movie. I just was getting mad that they did it in front of a computer generated background. It felt amateurish. But overall it was fun watching the two old men swear. I don’t know if it is fun for everyone but having grown up around a bunch of old farmers who loved profanity, I like hearing seasoned people drop bombs like they have earned the right to do so.

Selling Cool, Sells.

Steve Jobs and Mac World. It was just like all of his Mac World Keynotes, cool. Steve Jobs is polar opposite of Bill Gates. They share talent and vision, not personalities. Steve Jobs is getting old, he has a rough history in the computer world, he runs a company that has about a 5-7% market share in the world of computers, but Steve Jobs stands in front of a crowd like a superstar. He knows he can’t pull off a snowboard demonstration so instead he exposes his inner flower child and listens to Beatles music. His style can be mesmerizing. He takes the opportunity to poke fun at competitors while recognizing his success depends on others succeeding too (kind of like the “I’m a Mac” commercial). Steve Jobs sets up his video clips with just the right amount of tease. He outlines his presentation to celebrate success and then introduce the new products that people are waiting to see. One drawback to the Steve Jobs presentation vs. the Bill Gates presentation is that Jobs is at times quick to seek praise about their products when they might be unnecessary. The new product “Mac Book Air” is not really a practical laptop for most users. Jobs treats this like it is the best thing in the world. This is his job and he looks good doing it.

Bill puts down the pocket protector.

Bill Gates last official Keynote address as chair of Microsoft. The Guy is a nerd. I understand that his vision of software has changed the world in a way that few people ever have, but he still can’t look cool. He has more money than anyone and yet he still manages to look like a geek. In one example he introduces a multi-touch interface and demonstrates how this could be used to customize a snowboard. Bill Gates knows nothing about snowboard culture. It was evident that he had been coached on what words to use. It was like listening to someone who has never used profanity swear to look cool. He just didn’t have what it takes to talk about or design a custom snowboard. This might not matter because he was in front of people just like him at the CES show in Vegas. At the beginning of the keynote Bill sets up a video clip about what his last day at the office might be like. The movie was actually about what Bill might do after he retires. The movie was kind of random and Bill looked foolish not funny. Bill made the mistake of telling too much about the joke before he told it, just like the clown fish makes in “Finding Nemo” with the joke about a sea cucumber. The technology at the conference was really interesting because it seemed to focus on how we will interact with computers in the future. I can’t wait to get rid of my mouse and just grab what I want off the screen, who know maybe I will design my own custom snowboard and send a picture of it to Bill, (If he is not to busy, Good Luck Bill with putting that money to good use.)

Mr. Mom

Our household is in the middle of a transition. I now work full time and my wife is now working only part-time. For three years I have been at home with my kids being Mr. Mom. It has been an amazing experience and I miss it more than I thought I would. I started taking pictures of things I don't miss like laundry and dirty faces but chose the pictures that remind me of what I loved about the time I had being a part-time teacher and a full time dad. I realized while taking these photos that having a family not only takes up my time and energy but dominates my table, floor, and tub. I rotated and desaturated the photos. I wanted them in black and white to focus on the items and not all the color in kids toys.

Welcome to SilkyTown. I almost called this blog 'Diamondville', (I love Neil Diamond) but because of Brett I went with the Silky theme. (Neil Diamond will always be welcome in SilkyTown)