The Future of Thinking:Revised

Well, now that the school term is over, I have a few decisions to make and a few less restrictions. Thinking:Revised will continue, but I'm still not sure about the details of what it look like. Well, there was a code of conduct I was mandated to follow when I started this blog for a course. While I will continue to follow the vast majority of it in order to build the integrity of this blog, there will be a few exceptions...

The two points I won't follow so closely are:

• Keeping the language sparkle clean
• Being nice to everyone

I need to convey how hard it was to talk about the antics of certain Fox News anchors or politicians without using any foul language. No, this won't become a blog comparable to Jerry Springer: Uncensored, but I don't see what's wrong with calling Rush Limbaugh an asshole. I'm sure Rush would admit that he's an asshole. Jerk, bigot and half-wit doesn't describe Rush as well.

Like-wise, it never hurts to be clear when you disagree with something. Being nice only takes you so far. Actually, there's nothing wrong with being nice, but there's no reason to be nice if you're dealing with someone who has no intention of returning the favour.

This blog will indeed continue. When I get some free-time, I'll start with some improvements. Maybe it's time to move away from Blogger and to WordPress. We'll see what happens.
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CBC Mini-Series Blames Death of Old Media on Internet

Well, as big of a role as the Internet may have on the death of traditional media, there’s more to it. Newspaper, Radio, and Television coexisted for nearly a century despite being introduced as replacements. (Image: CBC) So why is it that the Internet is suddenly destroying the traditional media? Why are publishers stopping the presses or radio stations consolidating? It is the promise of the Internet that caused these things, not the medium itself.

The promise of the Internet is interactivity; we have control as users. We’ve made the shift from passive consumers to active creators. Something newspaper, radio, and television cannot provide at the same level as the Internet. Below are responses to each segment in the series:

The End of Radio

Click Here To View This Episode

The focus of this episode is on the ability of a user to pick what they want to hear. User selection is an important shift enabled by the Internet, but it is not a shift in the industry. More content is exposed, but profitability is still key. Podcasts let people share their thoughts to many, listen when and how you want, and reach more people, but it’s still the same model. Satellite or Internet broadcasting is growing, staying, but is not a revolution.

The End of Television

Click Here To View This Episode

Television continuing in a new form is what CBC should hope for as a broadcaster. TV was linear, but is now showing up on more and more devices however and whenever you want. Video blogs do not replace this medium; for them to match the production and content creation levels of television, the same bureaucracy would need to be recreated.

Portable devices can show both professional content and amateur content. The Internet enables this equality and opportunity; it doesn’t mean the end of big media. There's a shift in delivery, not in the inevitability of big players coming into existence.

The End of Print

Click Here To View This Episode

Print is dying, CBC would have us understand, because of blogging growth. Regular people’s blogs are becoming self-sustained small-businesses -- that is definitely a fact. The consensus of the interviews is that the gatekeeper is removed, resulting in a more active democracy. CBC’s failure to focus on this interactivity damages the overall discussion.

Journalists interviewed in the episode reject the power of bloggers; claiming they lack credibility. What they have that these journalists don’t is the collective intelligence. Margaret Atwood claims there is a physical connection to books; they are convenient and real. These are the sentiments of past generations. The Internet may only access 5% of the world’s knowledge, but how much does a book access? How much does a library? The Internet is growing and expanding; it is ahead now and will always be ahead.

Audio, Video, and Text are here to stay. Devices change and evolve. Technological advances consolidate many access methods into few, but that doesn’t change the structure of the system. Big media exists because popularity happens; because there is money to be made. CBC may be right that paper, television sets, and radio receivers are on their way out, but the industry isn’t. Integration and consolidation is the future.
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Join Thinking:Revised on Facebook!

As you may have noticed over the past few days, Thinking:Revised now has a Facebook presence. What's this all about? Why Facebook? (Image: Facebook) Simply put, the Facebook page for Thinking:Revised is a way to spread word about the blog. It's also a way for all of you to show your support for the site and get an advanced heads-up about posts. That said, why Facebook? What are the goals of this little venture into social networking?

Facebook is simple and few people don't have it. The page lets you share Thinking:Revised with any of your friends you think might be interested in the blog. The networking potential of a simple page like this is huge. To help me gain some new followers, click on the link earlier in this post or in the blog sidebar and become a fan of the page on Facebook. If you think you know anyone who would like Thinking:Revised, pass the link along to them or use the "Share" button on the Facebook page.

Thanks to all of you who visit daily; and, of course, thanks to those of you who join or share the Facebook page. Rest assured, I've got some good content lined up for tomorrow.
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And the winner is...

This week I was given the responsibility of passing along the MIT 2412 Best Blogging Week Award. I really watched the blogs closely and came to a conclusion that I believe answers the call of the Best Blogging Week. To me, the award is asking for the blog that put forward a great effort this week, but I believe the history of the blog factors in. When nominating three blogs on Friday, I made my decisions based on some strong weeks along with some good history. This week my selection really stood out, but it also has a really strong history...

I have decided to pass along the MIT 2412 Best Blogging Week Award to Single Betty. This blog has a really unique style that is great and expressive of Danielle's (the blogger behind the site) opinions and feelings. Through various font sizes, styles, and colours alongside many images, there's something really unique about the style that communicates more than just plain text.

Single Betty had a great week -- some posts really stood out in my news feed. The blog has a really solid concept and has been good throughout the entire term. I hope that you all agree with this pick and hope Single Betty can keep this blogging award rolling. For a recap of the rules, and to get the images, check out the post on Chef Nick's Flavour Fiasco that started it all.
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Palin Annoyed With Facts

Sarah Palin, the Governor of Alaska, dispatched her top communication aide to confront ABC News over their factual reporting. What did they report that had Governor Palin feeling "injured" -- as her communication director insisted? (Image: Huffington Post) Well, as I explained in my recent post on the top 5 earmarkers, the earmark debacle is not a purely Democratic or Republican problem. Palin is among the many Republicans who seek earmarks; ABC's report on her earmarking ways left her very concerned.

It's really something how aggressively ABC's Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper was in responding to the concerns of Palin's camp. In his article, Tapper chronicles his communication with the Governor of Alaska's director of communication, Bill McAllister. Tapper's blog-style entry discusses the defense offered by the Palin camp, claiming that the Governor had reduced earmarks between 2008 and 2009 from $256 million to $197 million.

Tapper spares no chance to take jabs at Palin throughout the post, making fun of many of her comments on the campaign trail. He claims that regardless of her supposed fisca conservatism l -- since she's reduced earmarks -- she is not. The fact that she takes any, Tapper insists, opposed to Senator McCain who requests none, makes it clear that she is hardly a real fiscal conservative.

The push-back from a media outlet is nice to see. Check out the entry and let me know what you think.
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MIT 2412 Best Blogging Week Award (Week 2)

Sorry for being a bit late posting this, I was a bit under the weather today -- though that expression doesn't work with such clear skies. I've been scouring the news feeds this week to pick out three blogs to nominate for this unique distinction. I must say, there really are a lot of great blogs coming out of this class. Over the past few weeks I've only been able to follow so many of them consistently, but looking at them all this week has been amazing. Without further ado, here are the nominees....

• Learning It All
• The Post Script
• Single Betty

So why have I selected these three? Learning It All really delivers consistently high-caliber observations and tips with a sense of humour that I can appreciate. It's hard not to find the stories interesting, though I may be a bit biased (as I am a technology writer, as well).

The Post Script has had a quiet week, but the posts have been really interesting. I have really liked the blog over the past few weeks and hopefully by the end of the weekend there will be some more content to give it a boost.

The last nominee, Single Betty, may seem a bit out of place given my other two selections, but I couldn't overlook its entertainment value. Single Betty has been a highlight of the week, especially the post on Will Smith's outlook on relationships and the discussion it sparked.

So, what do you all think?
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Accessible Politics

For a while I've been thinking how hard it is to truly make politics accessible. I mean, unless you take the road of satire that is. (Image: Rickwrites) The fact of the matter is that some people just aren't interested in politics, but those people aren't who I'm taking about. My concern is for people who want to be involved in politics, but just can't understand the complex roles or petty squabbling. So how can I overcome this problem here at Thinking:Revised?

I think the best route I can take to make politics more accessible is to stay away from political jargon unless I explain it beforehand. For example, I'm sure a fair number of my readers know what an "earmark" is, but many don't. What is an earmark? It's jargon for the act of attaching a request for state project (schools, bridges, parks, entertainment, etc.) funding to an unrelated bill.

Then there's the issue of petty squabbling. The squabbling in politics is usually petty, but the underlying issues are big. Why is it petty then? Well, the problem with politics is that most issues are not fresh. Since they have already been debated on merit for generations, or even just a few decades, political commentators don't have anything new to say.

So, what can I do? To be honest, though I think it is blatantly obvious, I'm not exactly offering an unbiased viewpoint here. For me, I have taken the approach of satire for the most part. I think this can be effective when writing a biased style because if the satire is good everyone gets it. Petty squabbling should be made light of. The big issues are what deserve to be discussed seriously. Today I'll post the first of two post on the need-to-knows of politics. The first will focus on Canada, the second on the United States.
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