Is it Ok to Click Here?

Introducing Animoto as a Web 2.0 tool from a personal perspective. It is very easy and quick to create a video. The web interface is really intuitive. Congrats to the Animoto team! I really enjoyed it. It is a simple, 10-minute process but !

Did you ever wonder about the effort put into those amazing documentaries? Lucky for me, I know a very talented individual who works multimedia for a living. He will spend countless hours removing the sound made when someone inhales each time a new bite of narration is read. It’s one of those things where the absence of evidence is not noticed until someone inhales very loudly.

There are times I wished I was the one collecting the images. A good final product requires hours of research for rich image contents, sometimes exposing you to very interesting or, even dangerous environments. That very difficult part hinges on the creativity of the individual. Music selection also has a great part to play in the effectiveness of media delivery.

For me, this exercise reminded me of the TED video introduced by a classmate regarding "Optical illusions show how we see" In his presentation, Beau Lotto demonstrates that even at this very fundamental level, the brain's capacity to detect differences in light heavily depends on context. This Animoto project certainly has emphasized the reality of his assertion. Thanks for the experience Lyr Lobo. I think I found a new passion.

Here's my rendition of the "Good and Evil" of technology and the Wild WWW. Images are courtesy of Communications of the ACM via screen scraping. Got your membership yet? *grin*

Holographic Technology, Cell Phones and Holo-sexTing?

Being a Star Wars fan, I was pleasantly amused by the novel graphic montage I found on a classmate's blog. He posted comments about Infosys's prediction on holographic cell phones. You can see for yourself by clicking on the image.

I actually witnessed a live holographic imaging demo in the late 1980s, while visiting the Epcot center in Florida. I don't know how many people were lucky enough to see this but, at the time, they provided a behind-glass tour of the computer room which supported Disney’s entire inventory of attractions. The host was herself a holographic image who could jump from console to console while talking to us. VERY cool. I knew then I would forever be attached to technology at the hip. I wonder, now that security is such a big deal, if they still have that tour.

I don't fancy myself as a philosopher but, some news from MSNBC this morning has me believing that holographic imaging on cell phones is a bad idea anyway, never mind the extra boosting such devices would need to accomplish this task.

My heart goes out to a Florida family who lost their 13 years old daughter to suicide. The reason? Sexting.

If you don’t know the term, don’t feel bad. Until I read the news this morning, I had not registered what that was either. However, it has me asking myself what the breaking point will be. Kids are inherently born without wisdom. It's one of those primitive things we humans still do. We "Must Grow Up". How wise a person becomes has a lot to do with how one is raised. I’m finding this is not a proportionally direct mathematical relationship to the parents' life story. That topic in itself could be a very interesting notion to explore in Futuring. Could we/Should we genetically implant good morals into newborns? But that's for another blog, some other time.

When do we, as a society, take responsibility for the collateral damage caused by technology? The morals of society are clearly not evolving as quickly as cool toys. Technology is not only about augmented capabilities to find a lost child. It also translates to better tools for the criminals and increased impact from "Oups" moments. How responsible are we if we let kids use "Big people" tools? Traditionally, we directly supervise such usage, following gruesome coaching. How is this possible with devices such as cell phones?

Call me old school, but to me, there is No room for cell phones in the life of a teen ager. Not unless those kids begin to drive cars and are out in the evening, with a curfew I might add. Even then, carrying such a phone would be something occasional, not a day-to-day distraction in their lives. The issues with that are permeating schools as it is. There are just too many responsibilities attached to owning such a device, as demonstrated by this up-standing young student.

Remembering that laptop theft is one of the most common ways sensitive data is stolen, I am terrified by the prospects of such powerful and tiny devices, capable of storing intimate life details. Most people can't even choose a decent password. Can we conceivably and realistically expect teenagers to know how to be responsible with such technology? I don't believe so. I don't even want to extrapolate what this would translate to with holographic cell phones. Holo-sexTing?

OK, maybe I'm a border-line philosopher. The Elf has spoken.
I would like to thank my classmate for the opportunity to muse my thoughts on this.

You may find the article and video interview to this tragic story here:
‘Sexting’ bullying cited in teen’s suicide

Bleak Future Leads to Encyclopedia of Life

“As E.O. Wilson accepts his 2007 TED Prize, he makes a plea on behalf of all creatures that we learn more about our biosphere -- and build a networked encyclopedia of all the world's knowledge about life.” (ted.com – 29 October 2009)

I mentioned the honeybees as an endangered species in another blog but, this video on Ted talks really accentuates the gravity of the situation. Let there be no doubt that the human race is the most destructive force on earth, if not the universe.



E.O. describes us as human juggernauts, forever obliterating earth’s ancient biosphere. For those who are interested in the evolution of man kind, this video is a must-watch. He describes the force we have become with an acronym: HIPPO.

• H: Habitat destruction such as climate change
• I: Invasive species - pathogenic bacteria & viruses among others
• P: Pollution
• P: Population expansion
• O: Over harvesting of species - excessive fishing and hunting

Why are we doing this? Why is the pursuit of fortune and instant gratification driving us to destroy life at our own peril? If we were once encouraged to live for the moment, this is the extreme case where it might not be acceptable to do so.

Annihilation of the estimated million trillions of insects living on the planet would lead the entire biosphere to death within a few months. Perhaps the likelihood of this event is slim but, it leaves us to ponder about the notion that we need to respect our environment. It’s simple common sense when we stop and think about it.

Of special note, to me, is the notion that among the infinite microscopic species, there might be aliens from outer space, which have arrived in the earliest times of evolution. They have been doing what they do ever since they “landed”. However, no one knows exactly what it is they do, how they do it, and what their purpose is. In some of our savage ways, the destruction of the environment is forever jeopardizing our capability to explain the marvel we have been blessed with – life on earth. Let there be no doubt of that.

The video is a bit over 22 minutes but, the vision of this man, accompanied by his passion and humor make it a very compelling plea for humanity. One blogger states that “the concept of humans killing off 'nature' as some Greens want to portray it is simply not true.” Here is the link to his Ted talk:

"Why we're storing billions of seeds"

It’s evident to me that, overall, some have put forth the effort to help preserve what Wilson says we are destroying. The problem is, it isn’t a global effort, yet.