Social Media and Public Opinion

I have heard people say that social media - like Twitter and  Facebook - actually has the power to shape public opinion. I think of these apps as toys -- a mere distraction for people with a smartphone and too much time on their hands.   

I believe there is a huge difference between being entertained and being informed.  Social media is primarily designed to be entertaining.  I fully acknowledge that there are many posters on Facebook who think they are advancing an agenda by "sharing" information that they feel is vital.  But these folks are largely deluding themselves into believing that others are in fact  buying their point of view.

In Facebook and Twitter you really never know who is reading your stuff.  I am convinced that I am not the only one who quietly "hides" the posts of people who habitually abuse their "friends" by bombarding them with repetitious affirmations of zeal - whether it is constant blathering about Climate change, Biblical quotations, or political rants, they are all mere expressions of faith being preached to an agreeable choir of fellow believers.  

I am not decrying FB posts because they are empty, entertaining or ephemeral.  My charge is that they do not shape public opinion. When was the last time you learned something on Facebook that changed your beliefs ? 

Social media is a ME medium.  Because everyone needs to know what you are doing and thinking every minute.  Me. Me. Me. 

Where else can a person of average writing skills communicate such vital thoughts, as : 
"Boy, it is cold out there today." or  
"Took Dad to dinner yesterday.  He ordered meatloaf.  It was a hoot."
 "Hey everybody, just got back from vacation! Here are 120 great photos of our trip to Dayton, Ohio."

Rather than impacting public opinion, these applications enable people to feel that they are connected to others.  By boasting oops I mean posting my vacation pics, it says look at me --I'm somebody.  I have "friends." I go places.  I'm cool.  

Facebook is a perfect medium for this type of inane chatter.  Your family is potentially interested in every meal and bathroom break, but the rest of us might discreetly "hide" your posts  

Twitter is just another way for people to self-promote.  If you follow any sort of organization you will be bombarded with multiple posts daily which are no more than commercials for that organization.  News editors are the worst abusers of Twitter.  It is not uncommon to see dozens of posts by some local editor each with a link to a story in today's edition.  The police department posts inane announcements "On route to investigate report of barking dog on Elm St."   Twitter is just one big Tease, because you can never get any useful information in 150 characters.

How About Blogs?

Blogs can be a different animal.  Indeed, there are some pretty good writers who set out to inform you, nay to persuade you that you should believe what they believe.  The unlimited format of text and image allows for an in-depth treatment of topic, and hyperlinks to reference sources can serve as powerful supporting material. 
I acknowledge that some of these folks are capable of writing in such a way as to actually change the way others think.

But, most writers of blogs are like me -- frustrated, self-absorbed wannabee writers who can't help themselves from opining on a disappointing and imperfect world.  Writing is a recognized form of therapy.  But most of us would admit that it is mostly for our own entertainment.  Unlike the Political and Religious bloggers we do not expect to shape your thoughts or beliefs.   

Like other free social media, blogs tend to be followed and read by the same agreeable choir for that particular denomination: pro-Obama, anti-big government, dog lovers, foodies, and such.  Folks publish their list of "favorite links" which invariably consist of like-minded bloggers.  So in the end, 90% of blogs are indistinguishable from the Twitter or Facebook except they are longer.  In the end, nobody ever almost nobody ever changes their beliefs.

Women on the Sideline

Last night, I tuned in to watch the Cotton Bowl on Fox.  I did not  have a favorite team in the Texas A&M vs Oklahoma contest, I just like to watch top college teams play football.  Many of them will be future pro players, and it is fun to watch them while they are still playing for the fun and glory of the game, and not a big paycheck.

I have previously commented on my feeling that most of the women sideline announcers are annoying.  The announcer babes nearly always ask some dumb-assed question.

Last night the chick asks the coach "How did you prepare for this game..?"  A typical vapid question.  Almost as pithy as "How great is it to be in the Cotton Bowl?"   

The problem was that the teams were lined-up for the kickoff.  The viewers never got to see it.  Not even a replay.  The guys in the booth are stunned into silence.  It was reminiscent of a high school presentation on local access TV, except the sound was better.

Check out the video [here]  to see what I mean.  The sideline announcer chick is clueless that the game has started -- and so, apparently, is the FOX control room director.   After that shaky start, , the guys in the booth yakked mindlessly, and at times idiotically.  They never mentioned the snafu, apparently assuming that most of the audience was in the bathroom when the game started.  

The actual game was pretty interesting for the first half.  Both teams use "hurry-up" offense so there was a minimum of huddling and standing around and quite a bit of action.  At the Half, Texas was leading by only one point.    As usual, viewers were inundated by ads ever time there was a break in the action. During one of these commercial breaks, I tuned into another show, and watched it until it had a commercial, then switched back to the game. This is how I spent the next hour or so, switching the channel at every commercial interruption.

I stopped watching the game in the 4th quarter when Texas had more than 40 points to Oklahoma's 13.  The Heisman Trophy winner, Johnny Manziel played a great game for Texas.  We are sure to see more of him in the NFL in coming years.

Cheerleaders -The only chicks we want to see on the sidelines :-)

For the record, the only women I want to see or hear when I'm watching football are the half-naked cheerleaders.

In fact, I am really not interested in ANY interviews with athletes or coaches.  We typically get zero useful or interesting information  into anything from such dialogue.  It's like watching interviews with politicians - you never get the honest truth.

Annoyance Therapy

Memory device

Like many others who fancy themselves as Writers, I usually carry around a small pocket sized notepad for recording great thoughts, pithy observations, and random notes.  It is a great relief for aging memory banks to simply jot down a recommended book title, or a website URL.  ( The chief drawback with this device is that I often forget to read the notes that were so carefully recorded.  I have dozens of ragged notebooks full of unread scribblings)*

One section of the notebook is reserved for my list of annoyances. As you may have gathered,  I find that I am annoyed by nearly everything - weather, barking dogs,horns honking, wet mail, rap music, traffic, insects, soggy pizza, anyone with a smartphone, people in audiences, dreadlocks, commercials...  --the list is endless; I think you get the idea.

But, my genius is this: rather than letting annoying people and things drive me into grumpy irrelevance, I try to use annoyance as a creative force.  I recognize that annoyance is merely a mild form of anger.  Thus when something annoys me I do not let it control me. I do not shout and wave my arms.  I write a poem, post a blog entry, or regale the person behind me in the line at Starbucks with my latest cynical observation**.  By sharing these annoyances with others, I joyfully let them go.  They do not own me. I am free of their evil spell.

My audience often rewards me with reinforcing affirmations of legitimacy. Sure, there are those few humorless, self important, smiley-faced, lemonade-making optimists who regard my complaints as the feeble protestations of an aged goat. (Get over it, Dude. Stuff happens.)   I just add those people to my 'Annoying persons' list, where they are subjected to universal mockery and derision.

Some word usages that I think are annoying (Copied from Notepad notes):

Shocking - this word has become so over-used, especially in internet ads,  as to render it meaningless.  Apparently, the attention of a skimming reader is drawn to any sentence that has the word "shocking" in it.
The most absurd headline:  "Shocking facts about weight loss!" takes you to the URL of a company that sells pills that are guaranteed to help you shed hundreds of milligrams.

Grab - "Let me grab you something to drink,"  says my waitress.  Grab?  What happened to "Can I bring you something?"  Even Budweiser commercials have adopted the slogan "Grab some Buds."  Maybe it's just me but grab has a slightly larcenous connotation.

Momentarily - "The doctor will be with you momentarily." Gee you mean he will step into the room for a split-second and then disappear?  I know this one has been annoying pure English speakers for decades, but I still hear it often.


Ok that's enough for today.   There is risk of self-analysis morphing into mere self-absorption.  Especially on a cold day when you have no lunch plans.

============================================

Notes:
 *Before I came upon the idea of the notebook I would jot  notes on napkins, odd bits of paper, 3X5 cards, envelopes, etc.  And I still have shoeboxes filled with the golden wisdom, hoarded in the basement.  I really must check them out someday and copy the good ones into a notebook.

** Three bucks for a cup of coffee --Really?

New Year Journal

I'm starting out the new year with good intentions:
 1) to exercise,
 2) to eat healthier foods, and
 3) to be nicer to people who annoy me.


This year I am feeling more open to a new experiences. I signed-up for a Tai Chi class starting next week at the Council on Aging. I'm  hoping that the ancient exercises will promote flexibility in the muscles and increase my sense of  inner peace.

I sure hope this works-out better than the Yoga class I took last year.  It was billed as "Beginner Yoga for Seniors."   I was the only male in the class.  I think I was younger than most of the ladies, but you never know with women over 50.  None of us was "in shape."  Clearly, we had all signed up expecting some magic to turn us back into the sleek slender sturdiness of our youth.

My own goal in taking last year's Yoga class was to achieve enough flexibility to be able to get-in and -out of the kayak that I bought on Craig's List the previous summer.  To imagine the difficulty, sit on the floor and try to rise to your feet without using your hands.  It is hard to do on land and virtually impossible to do in the water, when you are 70 lbs overweight.  So I thought the Yoga would be a positive step towards stretching my stiffened joints and atrophied muscles back into some semblance of  what the French would call souplesse.    

After loyally attending 8 sessions, I concluded that Yoga isn't the right exercise for fat guys.
The exercises - even as modified for seniors - were more painful than invigorating.  My chronic tendinitis of the left wrist returned and barked with agony whenever I put weight on it.  Most of my joints just felt sore for several days after a session.  By the eight week, I felt no better than I did when I started, so I skipped the last 2 sessions, and instead went to the pub for a couple of relaxing frosty pints.  Looking back with honesty, I should admit that I never did the exercises between classes.  It always seemed like too much trouble to get down on the floor because getting back up was painful.  I am sure that daily practice would have been beneficial, and I have not discounted trying it again at some future time -- after I have lost 40 or 50 pounds.
(For the record I did get out in the kayak a few times this past summer. The outings were enjoyable, but I am still resolved to develop the ability to enter and exit the craft without getting drenched.)
  Despite the earnest hope for a magical transformation that will restore the vitality and strength of my youth, my practical expectations for the Tai Chi class are modest.

As for my resolution to eat healthier foods, I have already begun to cut back or eliminate certain unhelpful foods from my diet.  I have not eaten a french fry (or as the French would say pomme frite ) in three months. Bread, rice, pizza and pasta are rarely served at the evening meal.  We have eliminated nearly all packaged processed foods.  Portion sizes of meat have been halved, and servings of vegetables have been doubled.   This is about all I have to say about the diet right now; I generally find the dietary musings of fat people to be boring and frankly, annoying.  I'm sure you feel the same way.  (Perhaps the details of my diet will be more interesting after I have lost 50 pounds.)

The last of my resolutions is to be nicer to people who annoy me.  This will be a hard one to keep, since I find myself constantly annoyed by companies and organizations and the people who work for them.  I am annoyed at the newspaper delivery guy for multiple crimes: Being late, letting my paper get wet, delivering when I'm on vacation hold, etc.  The publishers of the Globe annoy me by printing on cheap curly paper, being unable to conceal a progressive bias, and constantly increasing the price of each edition, despite the lack of original news content.  Airlines, phone companies, theaters, restaurants, HMO's - you get the idea:  I find daily annoyances in my dealings with these institutions and the minions who face the public (ie, me).

Yet I have lately come to the realization that the annoyance is within me, and not in the intent of the annoying party.    I now see that is the unrealistic expectation of perfection that causes annoyance.  Annoying people are not trying to be annoying - they can't help it.  They toss their papers on your wet lawn, nobly  thinking, "I'm delivering the news."   Dog walkers didn't pick-up that poop because they didn't realize that stepping in dogshit bothered you. The girl behind the counter at Dunkin Donuts didn't overfill your cup intentionally, she just doesn't understand English, so the words "Not too full." sound like "Fill that sucker to the brim!"

This year, none of this stuff will bother me.  See, the inner peace thing is already working!

Is the NRA a Terrorist Organization?

What force or reason would impel a person to take a gun and deliberately shoot helpless young children?

I suppose if you are God-fearing the answer is simpler - we didn't pray enough, so God stood aside while  Evil caused the shooter to execute 26 innocent humans.   It's ironic to hear the survivors' parents thanking God that their child was spared.  How heartless that must sound to the relatives of the dead children that God did not protect.  

The secular among us cannot be consoled by the simplistic explanations by religion.  We don't believe that the  shooter will burn for eternity in hell (much as that would be comforting to us), nor do we imagine 26 angel wings rising to spend eternity in paradise.   It is pretty clear that the churches and temples of humans are empty and useless.  No one is there to hear the supplications, songs and glory.  Probably never has been.
Events like the shootings in Connecticut are proof that there is no divine intervention in the affairs of men.

It is pretty obvious that the deus ex machina allowing these mass killings is the access to weapons that are designed to shoot many rounds in a brief period of time.  Call them semi-automatic or assault weapons - it is the same concept.  These are not guns that are designed to shoot game or targets.  They are weapons of warfare.

We have a gun problem in this country.  The easy availability of guns and large quantities of ammunition is obviously a factor in the number of deaths. The idiotic interpretation of the 2nd amendment to the Constitution is that everyone is entitled to have guns period.  Even if the congress mean't that everyone should have a rifle, it is doubtful that they envisioned a weapons technology more complex that a single shot musket.     

Times have changed and so must the government's power to regulate weapons access in the name of public safety.  I would support a repeal of the second amendment.  I do not support a total ban on gun ownership.
Legitimate hunters and sportsmen would be licensed and permitted, but the weapons and ammo they could use would be highly controlled. Steel jacket, armor piercing, soft nose bullets, designed for killing people would be banned out side of military use. All semiautomatic pistols and rifles should be banned except for Military and Law Enforcement use.

Enforcement of such controls will not be popular with the gun-toting public.  But I do not see another way to stem the frequency and brutality of murderous/suicidal crazoids armed with a gun that they should not have had access to.    NRA fans have always been vigorously opposed to any restrictions on access to weapons less destructive than a bazooka.  With over 10,000 gun deaths in the USA last year, we should probably label the enabling NRA as a terrorist organization.

The Government Should be Dissolved

All this posturing and drama over the threat of a government shutdown is just plain silly.  Didn't voters think they were sending representatives to go down to Washington to keep things running, not to act like a bunch of schoolyard jerks arguing over who is more righteous.

The major parties are so polarized in their positions that they are unable to have a civil discussion. Call me cynical but it seems to me that the best explanation for this intransigence lies in the power of powerful lobbies that have pols in their pockets.  Money elects politicians, citizens are just convenient tools, easily manipulated.

Think about it, why doesn't any administration republican or democrat do something about eliminating poverty? Why are our troops in Iraq when we have drug cartels on the border running drugs and poisoning our citizens, ruining people's lives, fostering robberies, kidnapping and general mayhem in our country.
How come banker crooks are allowed to virtually steal  money in the form of exhorbitant fees using fine print instead of a gun..
We are headed towards the "Idiocracy" of Mike Judge's nightmare film.

While our leaders bicker over the tax rates of the top two percent of wage earners, the rest of the taxpayers are held hostage.

Simple Solutions

 Now that the election is over and no one is really happy with the prospects of the next term, I am inspired to revive my campaign to be elected as Emperor of the USA --  a lifetime job.  So here is my platform:

The Top 5 Things I would do if I was Emperor

#1  I would decree a change to the method of calculating interest on a loan.  Use the same method banks use to pay interest on savings, instead of loading all the interest charges up front.  Banks still make money and people can afford to borrow. 

#2 I would get the Mafia to help run the Credit Card companies.  The practical way that loan sharks handle collections is efficient and effective.  Knowing that they would be getting a personal visit from one of the Corleone agents would quickly reduce the number of deadbeats and ID thieves.  This would lower the costs for those of you subjects who buy what you can afford and pay your bills on a regular basis.

#3 How come it is called “price gouging” when gas stations inflate prices to take advantage of demand, yet airlines are allowed to screw the ticket buyers to a fare thee well?  Why is it called “torture” when suspects are detained and interrogated inhumanely, yet airlines can force you to sit in a stalled plane for 8 hours?

 It is time to nationalize all airlines and institute a flat rate and eliminate traveler class preference.  All airline executives would be forced to ride in the middle seat, with some un-bathed dude, sporting dreadlocks, sitting in the seat front of them with the seat back tilted into their confined space.  

#4 Homeland security.  I would close all foreign bases and bring the troops home to guard our borders, airports and inner cities.  All privately owned assault weapons will be confiscated and banned.  Personal protection handguns would be allowed for sane, upstanding citizens over the age of 55.  

#5 Legalize Cell Phone Jamming devices.  Public places and transportation vehicles will install these devices, which breaks off any cell phone voice activity.  Special waiting places will be assigned for cell-phone talkers, smokers and also people who disdain normal standards of personal hygiene.   Bars and restaurants must install Cell-Phone Booths to sequester the inconsiderate yakkers.   The penalty for shooting cell phone abusers will be reduced to a misdemeanor.

You have to admit that these policies would be a great start to a better society.  I am open to other ideas.  What are you thinking?

Why the General Resigned

Some men are bearers

Of a yawning need

That mere success

Cannot fulfill.

A silent yearning in the mind waits

Like a virus until that day

When he hears like a siren

Her, calling his name.

She of smooth cheek,

A scent of bread and spice,

A curl of hair around a perfect lobe

A lilt in a dusky voice,

Her eyes wide with promise.

Utterly succumbed,

He thinks only of stroking

That smooth cheek.

Others may think him crazy

To forfeit everything for those brief,

Eternal moments of madness.

He appears contrite

But he does not feel sorry.

He had no choice.

Yesterday the ex-General and ex-CIA chief  David Petraeus testified in closed session about the attack on the US ambassador in Libya last September 11th,  which killed 4 Americans.

Conservative Republicans have been trying to make a big stinking issue out of the Benghazi  attack and subsequent misinformation which was reported to the public.  

McCain and others have suggested that the story that was presented to US mainstream media -- that the attacks grew spontaneously out of protests against an anti-Muslim video -- was a politically motivated plot to hide the truth.  Talk show pundits allege that the government wanted to suppress any data that might suggest Al Qaeda was behind the attack.  The purpose was to fluff-up Obama's reputation as a successful warrior against terrorism.   

The foolishness of this accusation is obvious. It assumes that the Obama administration would rather be seen as ineptly under-staffing the embassy with protection from a rabble of random protesters than to acknowledge that Al Qaeda was behind the Sept 11 attack.  But seizing on any opportunity to embarrass Obama, critics -- including Mitt Romney -- could not wait to make it seem like a dastardly plot to insulate  Obama from blame in an evil plan to mis-inform the citizens.  They irresponsibly leaked details of the attack, which would only serve to compromise intelligence sources and hinder the subsequent investigation.  

Now, we hear that the general has testified that the CIA knew it was a terrorist attack within a day or so after the killings, but withheld the info to protect their informational assets, and not to tip-off Al Qaeda that they were watching them.  This seems credible to me.    

I have often heard that "The simpler explanation is more likely to be true than a complex one."

In this case, we see that the State Department decision to understaff the Embassy resulted in an un-necessary loss of life and destruction of property. The simplest explanation: government bureaucracy and ineptitude allowed the situation to get out of control.

The subsequent politicizing of the event by conservatives is unworthy of people who call themselves patriots.

Losing Focus

Is it just me, or does anyone else think football players wearing pink shoes is the silliest expression of "support" imaginable?

What has football got to do with any disease?  And why does breast cancer evoke more visible support than lung cancer or colon cancer?  Or dementia, which is the disease of aging football players?
The whole Breast Cancer Awareness theme thing just strikes me as absurd.  Is anyone NOT aware of breast cancer?  Has anyone been helped by all this awareness?

If the money that has been spent on pink apparel went into research, instead of spent on all all this feelgood "awareness" stuff, a cure might be closer to reality.

The Zen of Grill Assembly

"How hard can it be?" may seem at first like a Buddhist koan, and I know from experience that the gods who like to smack down the dreams of prideful mortals  often have a way of answering that query with a resounding "very."


Still, you think to yourself, they sell millions of gas grills online and other people seem to be able put them together, it must be easy enough that  a guy of average intelligence and pluck can be successful.

Well, I was right about that.   But first lets recap.

I had decided on the Weber 3 burner Spirit E-310

I bought it online at Home Depot for $499 plus tax, free shipping.

I figured it would be a challenge; but, what the hell, I have plenty of time.  It might even be fun.

When it arrived via UPS, I apologized to the driver as she wrangled the large (135 lb)  box off the truck onto a two wheeler.  I unpacked the parts and instructions and set everything out on the screen porch.  

Because I always read the manual first, the next thing I did was to read the manual.






The tool list was simple, but I added an essential item that the engineers had omitted: a beer bottle opener.

I was impressed with the clarity of instructions and the organized and labelled packets of screws and washers.  All the parts needed to assemble the "A" process were in a bag labelled "A"

Letsee now, 

The instructions were mostly graphic illustrations, probably designed for verbally challenged individuals.  What about those of us that are graphically challenged?

Starting to look like a grill

After a while, things start to take shape.  I am impressed with the solid engineering. I still need to get it outside, so I save the cover and grills for last so it will be easier to take down the step to the patio.

Ready to take outside to add heavy parts

Ta Da!

Honey, get the steaks out!

So it took a few hours, but I am very pleased with the results.  If I can do it, so can you!


Simple Rules
1. Read the manual.
2. Get the right tools.
3. Have at least 2 beers in fridge, preferably a six-pack.
4. Put the mother together
5 Grill something.

Seasonal Thoughts

Autumn


Today is typical of the interval
the period between summer and winter
In the northeast
Sun slanting from the south
Illuminating falling pine needles 
Cloudless blue and gusty skies 
Rattling shoals of maple leaves that can't
 make up their minds which way to scatter
Now swirling down the driveway 
and then darting up the street
a school of fish fleeing a predator

I survey the remains of the garden:
The recent rains and winds have
bent the stalks of tall marigolds into submission,
orange and yellow blossoms shriveled and dead in the slanted sun
Frost blackened stems of basil beg to be pulled-up and
thrown on the heap  

My gaze turns to that brown patch of earth
looking like  a newly dug grave  
because of some unknown rot
that turned the fruits gray and mooshy
I had to yank the tomato vines last week
in frustration and throw them in the trash 
-- not the compost heap so as not 
to contaminate next year's crop

I sit for a long time on the teak bench,
unwarmed by the weak sun
Hoping to gather the  strength
 to face another winter
How many has it been? How many yet to be?

I try to envision another hopeful spring
but the image is blurry and lacking in color.

Why I am Giving-Up Sunday Night Football

It's not just that The Patriots lost the game to Baltimore on a last-minute field goal.  It's not because of replacement referees calling phantom penalties.  And since I am retired, I do not have to get up for work on a Monday morning, so it isn't because the game - which takes 3 plus hours -  requires viewers to stay up until midnight or later.

No, gentle readers, the reason I am giving-up Sunday Night Football is because the games are no longer interesting enough to justify the time spent watching them.  Granted there are often moments when the contests are exciting, even thrilling to football fans, but these moments are few.

I blame it on the greed of networks and players and management, which have combined to deliver to TV viewers an empty spectacle of hype and players and coaches mainly standing around or lying on the ground.  These scenes of inactivity are punctuated by an astounding number of commercial breaks, or sideline interviews with know-nothing announcer chicks asking empty-headed questions to bored coaches and players.  In my humble opinion the games would be much more interesting if the showed more close-ups on the agreeably buxom, scantily-clad cheerleaders, instead of shots of Al Michaels and the other guy in the booth.

Big money has turned what once was an enjoyable past-time into a hard slog.  Money driven  disputes over contracts have given us inexperienced officials, which has contributed to a general lack of confidence in the fairness of  penalty flags.  Both Patriot losses came directly from bogus penalty calls, which clearly affected the outcome of the games.  And last night's winning field goal did not look "in" to almost everyone who watched it.  But the NFL has warned coaches and announcers not to remark on the ineptness of referees.  We might as well be living in Russia.   Clearly, no one who is getting paid gives a crap about the integrity of sport or fairness.

You already know how I feel about commercial interruptions, which destroy the sense of flow in a sporting event on TV.  It is not enough for them to make us look at advertising all over the walls and playing fields and in the skies, we are assailed by advertising messages it seems every other play, sometimes they will call a referee's time-out forcing a commercial break in the game.

I have had enough.  Sunday nights, from now on, I'll be clicking over to Masterpiece Theater on PBS.

Notes from the Lagging Edge

God help me. Now the cat has a new smartphone.  I told him that he couldn't afford it, but he went and got one anyhow. He says, "All the other cats have one. Why can't I have one.  I want to be cool, too."

He says he got a good deal on an iPhone 4. He's already downloaded an ringtone that sounds like a small rodent trying to escape.

He's already staring to behave like the other addicted smartphone users you know.  Whenever he enters a room, he puts it on the floor in front of him so he wont - god forbid -  miss an incoming email message or tweet.  If you say something like "I wonder if I should go fishing tomorrow..." he is tapping away, checking the weather and tide tables for you, making you look at the display.

This is the thing about people with new gadgets: they make you to look at them. Those of us who are un-enamored by technology toys cannot understand why squinting at a tiny screen is so enchanting.  "I feel so connected, now," he purrs, after entering the password for our wireless router.  "I don't need the computer anymore.  Did you know I can deposit checks with this thing?"  I decided not to remind him that he does not have a bank account, nor does he receive any checks.  "Who gets checks these days?" I mumble.

But the point is lost on him, enthralled as he is - because his gadget has empowered him beyond all reason.  He can now do stuff that he would never even think of doing.  How did he exist before angry birds? Who even dreamed of playing solitaire on their phone?  I despair over the irony: he is more connected to the cloud, and more dis-connected from the household.  He is spared the awkwardness of polite conversation.  His ego is defined my the newness of his device.  I taunt him by speculating that the reason that he got a good deal is  because everyone else is waiting for the iPhone5 to come out.  Cruel, but fun.

OK kitty, I am happy that you can look up all the local restaurants within three blocks.  Yes, it is truly impressive that your smartphone can be used as a compass or a flash light or a magnifying glass --stuff we all need everyday, I'm sure.

Ok, now put it away and let's talk.

Bring 'Em Home

The two parties are engaged in a furious battle for undecided so-called independent voters in November.  Both are accusing the other's plan as bad for America.

The Republicans are claiming that Obama care will cut billions from medicare, implying that the cuts would be chopping services to elders.  The intent as I understand it is to reduce the administrative costs.  So this is intentionally misleading.

 I have no doubts about the costs hidden in the thousands of pages of gobbledygook that was declared law through a loophole and not via a majority vote (which I find outrageous).  I just wish there was an unbiased source that could be consulted to tell the truth about each side's programs, benefits vs costs.

The Ryan budget will cut spending in social programs but would INCREASE the military spending at a time when most Americans want to REDUCE military costs.   I think most voters, even seniors realize that the medicare and other "entitlements" need to be controlled, lest the US go the way of Greece, California et al.

Seniors could favor a proposal that does not directly affect them, but not if it does not require equal cuts in the military budget, which most people believe is bloated and wasteful.  Ron Paul was right on this issue, and anyone who claims to be a constitutionalist would have to agree with him.  Lord knows we could use a bit more domestic security on those borders and inner city neighborhoods. Bring em all home.

Testing Geezers

My observation: the quality of driving has decreased in recent years correlating to the increase of gadgets in the car - especially phones, GPS, and visual data centers - all these distractions at 70 mph escalates the probability of mayhem.

I recently participated in a test at a prestigious local university, to examine the effect of distractions by voice- activated gadgets on senior drivers while behind the wheel.  The target age group was 60-69.  I was given a series of tests by a pretty young scientist wearing a low cut blouse that emphasized the perkiness of her ample bosom. I guess this is standard office (and lab) garb for young folks these days.  She explained that the extensive questions and problems were designed to establish a base line for emotional and physical state, and to assess cognitive ability.  There were the usual questions about health and wellness, and some easy problems like drawing a clock face with the time set to ten past two.  The there were some tougher cognitive tests such as recalling a series of random words in a list, or a sequence of numbers.  Despite the (admittedly pleasant) distractions of my interrogator's cleavage, I did pretty well on these tests.

The second part of the test was actually on the highway in a specially outfitted car that recorded everything from my blood pressure and heartbeat to the movement of my eyes.  Cameras and sensors could detect whether I was looking straight ahead, at the console or the mirrors.  They also recorded everything I said in answer to questions.  A human being, a nice young fellow, sat in the back seat. The driving part took about 2 hours with me driving from Cambridge to Milford and back via main highways (I93, I495).  During the two hour drive I was presented with challenges such as programming the GPS to a specific address via voice commands, and finding a specific station on the radio, also via voice commands.  Also I made a few test phone calls with  hands free mobile phone.  Every now and then the recorded voice instructions would present me with a cognitive challenge, similar to the test above, where the voice would say a series of random  numbers and I was to recall the number one or two places back in the list.  This is hard to do sitting at a desk across from an attractive scientist; it is really hard when you are in thick traffic driving 70 miles per hour.   Needless to say I did not do so well under real rush hour driving conditions.

Brad, the monitor who was riding with me was not allowed to talk to me except to clarify instructions or test related topics.  He resisted my urge to engage in small talk. ( I can't help it; if someone else is in the car with me, it is natural to want to chit chat. Do you live around here? How do you like your job?  How did you get into this line of work? ) The only thing I found out was that he was a mechanical engineer.

At the end, they thanked me, and paid me a small honorarium for my time and willingness to be a lab animal.
I very much hope the results of such tests are helpful to the design of cars and devices for future drivers.  The chief problem that I experienced is that even though you can input search values with a voice command  (eg "Find previous address"), the device responds with a list of possible hits via a screen, so you are still forced to look away from the road for a second.

At 60 MPH a lot of things can happen during the brief time you are not looking at the road.  One of the losses we experience as we age is the ability to multi-task (which really means switching the focus of attention very rapidly).  This places geezers at increased risk correlating to the level of distractions in the car.

Clearly, distractions for drivers are nothing new, nor are they the exclusive province of older drivers.  About 15 years ago,  I rear-ended a Subaru that had stopped for a traffic light. We were crawling along in rush hour traffic.  I had heard  a joke on the radio and was jotting down the punch line on a pad on paper on my knee, when the Subaru stopped for the changing light.  It was a small accident, but I learned how even a moment of distraction can make a costly difference, even at 10mph.  Ironically, I can't remember that joke.

My experience confirms my belief that after age  65, drivers who have had several accidents and ALL drivers over 70 should be re-tested on the road every four years.  I would also support adding a cognitive test to all drivers being retested.  There also needs to be tighter monitoring of people with medical conditions that might impair their ability to drive safely.

The incorporation of ever more sophisticated gadgets into autos is inevitable.  It will be a huge design challenge to make them safe for the aging driver population.

"You Didn't Win That"

The Olympic coverage reminds us how politicized everything in our lives has become.  We do not celebrate the achievements of foreign athletes or teams. Medal tallies by country are fodder for bar room and coffee shop discussions.  Everyone wants the US to be "Number One" even though the other athletes might have  performed better.

Peggy Noonan in WSJ Op-Ed  recounts the remark of a friend, watching Michael Phelps winning another gold medal.

"How about that Michael Phelps? But let's remember he didn't win all those medals, someone else did. After all, he and I swam in public pools, built by state employees using tax dollars. He got training from the USOC, and ate food grown by the Department of Agriculture. He should play fair and share his medals with people like me, who can barely keep my head above water, let alone swim." 

At first it seems a clever riposte to the oft-repeated Obama sound-bite that has had conservative pundits all in a twitter ("You didn't build that.").   But after some consideration, I think this is, ironically,  illustrative of the truth behind Obama's un-cropped remarks.  He was not saying that successful businessmen did not earn their success, rather, he stressed that no one accomplishes anything entirely on their own.  If you accomplished something you benefited from an education, a supportive infrastructure, previous research...much of which were funded by your fellow taxpayers. The sentiment is unpopular with ego-maniacal CEO's who think they are gods who deserve 50 times more pie than any of the other team members.

I'm thinking, "How about that Michael Phelps.  He's a fast swimmer.  Lucky for him that he got so much help from his parents who sacrificed time and money so he could get coaching and a place to swim every day during his youth. Most people with athletic promise aren't that fortunate. He personally worked hard and deserves the glory for his excellent performance; I'm sure he is thankful to those who supported him over the years.  He couldn't have done it without them "

Idiots in the Breakdown Lane

Here in Massachusetts, during "rush hours" it is perfectly legal to drive in the breakdown lane on certain (posted) roads.  This counter-intuitive use of the BREAKDOWN lane often mystifies out-of-state travelers who may find themselves experiencing a mechanical problem or flat tire.  It is not uncommon for some unfortunate family on a road trip to be wiped-out by a sleepy commuter who was anxious to get to work,barreling down the breakdown lane at 60 or 70 mph.

The state police do not like the use of Breakdown Lanes (BL) for travel. The initial case for opening-up the BL was to spread out the pressure of traffic to another lane, but any fool can see that you are just deferring the logjam to another location ahead where the traffic needs to merge again. unsurprisingly, it has proven ineffective as a deterrence to traffic tie-ups; we still have virtual gridlock on all major highways during rush hour.  Furthermore the use of the BL as a TL blocks the free access of emergency vehicles to get to accident sites.

A sensible implementation of this exception would be
1) The maximum speed limit in Breakdown Lanes is 30mph.  (The BL should not be used as a Passing Lane)
2) Vehicles stopped in breakdown lane are assumed to be unable to travel and you must go around them slowly.
3) Vehicles exiting from Travel Lane have right-of-way at exits. BL drivers must yield.

The idiots who typically drive 70 mph in the Breakdown lane probably cause more accidents and near misses than the statistics reveal.

Perfect Iced Tea

People are always asking me how I make such perfect Iced Tea.  It's really easy and quick, and I don't mind sharing the secret.  Here's what you do:

1. Bring 6 cups of water to a boil.  I use a saucepan.
2. Remove from heat and add 7 tea bags*
3. Steep for EXACTLY ten minutes, (Use a timer) stirring the bags around every few minutes to release flavor.
4. When timer dings remove tea bags.
5. Let sit on counter another 30 minutes or so to cool (do not put in fridge or add any ice yet)
6. Pour into container, using funnel  (I use a 59oz plastic juice container), and  add another cup of cold water. This makes a total of 7 cups of ice tea.
Now you can store in fridge until you need it, or leave on counter.
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* you can substitute one or two flavored tea bags (lemon, berry, mint, etc) for added zing.

Cloudy tea is caused by cooling the tea too quickly (eg putting it on ice while still hot)
If you have cloudy tea you can fix it by heating it up and then allowing it to cool slowly.  This is why "sun tea" is never cloudy.

For stronger tea, add another teabag or two to but 1 bag per cup seems strong enough to me.

This is so easy and it takes only a few minutes while you are doing other kitchen chores.

Your Welcome

Olympic Yawn

There seems to be a general positive buzz over the Summer Olympics being held in London.  The quadrennial congregation that supposedly pits the best athletes in the world against each other is a big deal.  I genuinely would love to be excited about the competition but I find the whole thing to be a way over-commercialized and over commented upon.  And the politicization of the results, focusing on medal counts by country sullies the air around the awards podium.  The commentators will just not shut-up.  In one race, Michael Phelps was lagging slightly in his lane, and the color commentator started wondering if Michael's career was over, finally out of steam, past his prime, tired and beaten.  A few laps later Phelps had made up the slack and won the race.  The yakker said, "I take back everything I just said."  So, exactly why did we need your "expert" bloviation?

I don't like watching swimming anyhow; it is about at uneventful as a competition can get: bang, splash, splash,splash, turn, splash, splash, splash, etc....  And the gold medal winner is a mere .34 seconds ahead of the silver.  I don't believe that a five minute swim should be decided by a fraction of a second; I think it should be considered a tie, since silver and bronze medal awardees are consoled as "losers".

In fact, I do not like watching gymnastics either, especially the pommel horse and the balance beam. These events just leave me cold.  The scoring of gymnastics is subjective.  The kids who go to Olympics spend their lives preparing these difficult stunts, and most of them go home in tears because of one stumble or mis-step.  I don't like watching their disappointment.  (One hopes they will eventually find a successful career working at Cirque du Soleil, because there is precious little use for these skills outside of unpaid athletic competition events)

Some "sports" clearly do not belong in the Olympics.  Beach Volleyball comes to mind, Badminton, synchronized swimming, Water Polo, and Ping Pong, to name a few.  I do not deny that some of these activities demand athletic skills and may even be fun to watch for some viewers, but to my mind they do not rise to the level of Olympic competition.

I prefer to watch team sports, where there is a discreet score, with points expressed in whole numbers.  A goal, a run, a basket, etc.  Or individual competition where points are measured by KO's or Bulls-eyes.

So, perhaps I am out of sync with the popular definition of sports/entertainment, again.  It's not all negative, I enjoy watching the events with the mute button clicked, and I usually fall into a sweet slumber by the third lap.  I do not care who wins.