About This Change Stuff

So 1945 sounds like a real long time ago. That’s like 60 years right?

Because I’m just a little impressed by the accuracy of the article, “As We May Think,” by Vannevar Bush.

Honestly, I didn’t realize until about midway through the second page that it was even written way back then. Most likely that was just me being absentminded, but still. I was reading and following it as if it was only written a few years ago.

To make this sound slightly more intellectual, I will note this:

It doesn’t take scientific brilliance to realize that the world is transforming. That’s basically the gist I got from the article. As Bush puts it in a roundabout way, logical processes are constantly being developed and innovations are forming to fit the world around us. They just haven’t quite materialized yet. But they will. And when they do, problems will be solved.

Like that problem about the department store cash register and that issue with punch cards. Because I believe that one has been solved. And it’s called a…computer.

And there it is.

That one word is what the whole article is trying to reach. That computers are the future. That one day, oh maybe around August 1994*, the World-Wide Web will take over. And all this gibberish about evolving instruments, advancing logic, and some stuff about mathmatical calculations can all be solved with just one box of cords and wires.

It may only have been 1945, but they truly were on the verge of predicting the future.

That’s cool stuff.

-Ryan

*Date taken from the publication of “The World Wide Web,” by Berners-Lee. Not sure how exact it is, but it’s an estimation.

How Real Americans Run Things

Check out The Daily Show’s interview with the current mayor of Wasilla.

Consult Wikipedia:
Palin was super busy in office, you betcha. Banning books and my favorite (because for some reason I can just picture her sitting where mayor Dianne Keller was)

She kept a jar with the names of Wasilla residents. Once a week she pulled a name from it and picked up the phone. How’s the city doing? she’d ask.

I wonder if anyone ever answered…”well the METH is a bit out of control.”

http://merrimusings.mu.nu/

Sports Writing is Dead

Or so says Jay Mariotti, former sports columnist for the Chicago Sun Times.  To be fair, he did not say that all sports writing is dead, only that its future is not in newspapers.  With stories of how newspaper circulation is dwindling, the move was not unprecedented.  The method behind this madness lies within Mariotti’s belief that the future of sports journalism exists online.  This is an interesting perspective with blogging sites such as The Fanhouse being able to update sports information at a moments notice.  The trend can also be even be seen at sports juggernaut ESPN, who’ve now started integrating more blog type writing into their site, along with live blogging of sports events. 

This could be seen as an alarming trend as it expands beyond just sports.  For instance, why would you choose to read the New York Times to get news everyday when you can just read the Drudge Report to get up to the minute news.  Granted, I’m a result of our new electronic age.  Instead of reading the paper or even watching news networks such as CNN, I fall back on Google News and the Drudge Report to get all of my current information.   Current journalists are finding that to survive in today’s electronic environment they have to adapt to web writing.  This could not be stressed enough in the short time that I spent in the field of Journalism.  There was an underlying fear that the old guard could be replaced by those more technologically savvy and ultimately younger.  Although not all hope is gone for newspaper writing. 

Just ask this guy.

Censorship sparks Entertainment

Politics it seems are inescapable these days as it permeates everything, including what is fit to be read.  Censorship is a serious issue, as most people would argue that freedom of speech is perhaps the most important right that we have.  So why would Vice President Nominee Sarah Palin be interested in banning books from libraries?  Granted, this incident happened back when she was the mayor of a small Alaskan town.  However, time does not heal all wounds as even those in the entertainment industry are striking back at this. 

Sarah Palin criticism

It might seem unusual to see such a small area of writing be focused on the election, but comic books are even getting into the act this time around.  When it comes to censorship, it seems that all writers come together to fight those who want to control their words, or tell them they are unable to write something.  While this issue may seem humorous or satirical, the implications behind it need to be remembered.  Censorship, even the idea of it, will not be tolerated.

Writing on the Election

Just about running on two weeks before the election, the buzz for both canidates could not be higher.   Although, when you look at the world of writing and newspapers, one candidate has garnered more support than the other.

But why is Barack Obama so overwhelmingly popular with the US newspapers?  To defend their support and position, some papers like the Salt Lake Tribune have written full page editorials about their candidate of choice.  This is prolific as the paper is situated in Utah, a state which Republicans had dominated in the last election.  To now support a different party with such an enthusiastic editorial could have dire impact in swaying the vote in that state (or at the very least getting a higher percentage of the votes this time around).

To be fair, this could also be a pipe dream to say that newspapers decide the election, or have some impact.  After all, in 2004 – John Kerry had more newspaper endorsements than Bush in the number of 213-205.  However, gauging the political atmosphere of the time, neither canidiate was a strong favorite as the election came out pretty close.  It is interesting as the newspaper writings had reflected this.  Now with this election, Obama enjoys something close to three times as many newspaper endorsements than his competetor.  Could it be that it is a signal of what the American people are thinking?  Will these endorsements make a difference?  Or merely just be a predictor of the result?  After all, newspapers collectively serve the interests of their communities and readers, which could show how they will vote as well.