View from the Tower
Teaching and learning has not changed much at all, but the tools used to do so have been installed, upgraded, patched and begun to evolve. Where Aristotle might use a stick to draw in the sand, now a teacher draws on a digital blackboard for one hundred grand. Where face-to-face conversations were once needed, online […]
Measuring the New
Put it under a microscope and watch it grow. What is the view? Does the single-celled organism multiply and divide? Does it become a network we can use to communicate the politics we often despise. Can we watch it from another height? Wait ten years and see if it has become more. Will a survey […]
We Existed
No study is perfect. It casts a net on what it must. Its narrow vision is part of its crutch. To show what it wants. Illuminate what it chooses to. More research is always needed. Pointed out because it is deserved. The net is too shallow to serve. I think of Twitter as a device. […]
An Open Society
There are savages among us. They live next door. Waiting to know more. They are in your friend list. They are in our politics. Bending laws to rule us. We fear Stalin. We curse communism. Now the iron fist of data exists. We fear our information Being taken from us. But we want bliss. To […]
Their Human Race
There are two ways through life. The way of nature and the way of grace. Grace is forgiveness and love. Nature seeks to put you in your place. How we wandered. How we ran through the woods. Walking sticks in hand. Defending our imagined land. The trees we climbed. The forts we destroyed and […]
I Tweet Therefore I Am
Is this how it ends or how it begins? Millions of people networked online through social media ready to take a stand. To take to the streets. To live in tents through the winter and rain. To send a message. That revolution is among us if things don’t change. That good people have done their […]
The Silver Bullet
Is not round. There is no way to understand what is going on. No theory of connecting these new media dots that will fit. That will make it all make sense. That will create a new model for dead paradigms. It is alive. It is thriving. It is how you put your ear to the […]
There is No Try
Out of a vacuum it swells. The mantra of trillions and trillions of cells. Begin to whisper. Begin to speak, the story of the overlapping media we seek. So many stories. Too many to tell. From the prophets of past to the stories reshaped to sell. Old ideas wrapped up in new packages. Put under […]
News Droplets
I report. Media collides. All voices compete to be heard. From the lips of few to the ears of many. Top down or bottom up. Now all words spoken can be searched. Corporate or public. Citizens or professionals. Hyperlocal or through the wire. Houses will always be on fire. But where. Big media now needs […]
David Simon is God
Hi there, I’m David Simon. You worship me. I know. You and your wife sat on your couch and watched all five seasons of The Wire in a few weeks. I know you were addicted. I could see your tongues drooling till 2 a.m. as you realized how brilliant I am. And you know how […]
Anxiety Reflux
A red fire. Caught in my stomach. Stuck in my throat. Making me choke. Making my mind bloat. Rotating lights of super sharp flat screens. A smart phone. A laptop. A tablet. This ball rotates and shows headlines. What is going on in this world? How quickly we are on the decline. Showcasing partisan bickering […]
Our Digital Reflection
As a young man in the Dot-com boom and bust I remember how easy we all lost trust How the Internet was said to be a fad Leaving for winter break from a digital agency Coming back to a pink slip and a bloody lip The creative department’s skills no longer needed How we were […]
