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den4's comments:
on Complaining on FB
Seems to me that if you have a complaint on your company, then don't put it on social media if that is gonna get you canned..there are other forms of communication that is just as easily available to get your hot air out on...a lot of folks just won't take a moment to think of the consequences of their actions...but then when you take freedom of speech for granted, people do stupid things...
There was that old proverb I know not where it came from, but it went:
"It is better to be thought of a fool in silence than to speak and remove all doubt..."
I like Tom D Ford's earlier comments on Fools names in Public places....
Technological advances in social media is wonderful...too bad many of the humans using it are still stuck in the dark ages...
posted 2 years, 3 months ago
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on Northwest Passages: William Gibson
Future tech is always a balance of good uses and not so good ones. I have friends and relatives in Japan tell me that they use cell phones in a variety of ways, like locating each other in a busy, crowded department store (which is a positive use, I think) to a not so good one, where entire families are only able to talk with each other by using their cell phones (even if they are all present in the same household), meaning they are no longer able to talk to each other face to face....
I think science fiction is able to show us what can be possible or reflect what is currently going on in our own reality, but shifted slightly to show what might happen if things were a bit different, and perhaps show what may happen if we are not careful.
posted 2 years, 8 months ago
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on Northwest Passages: Ursula K. Le Guin
Back in the '80's, I watched the PBS version of the televised "The Lathe of Heaven." Way before 9-11 and the aftermath, the tale talked about the reality shifting nature of George Orr's "talent." The story had a big impact on me, and showed me how our views of reality is ever shifting, and we may be utterly clueless that what we view as "reality" may be created by others. And how controlling "reality" may lead to madness and unintended consequences.
My question would be how did Ms. Le Guin come up with this story?
posted 3 years ago
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on The Big One
Lots of great Info!
I used to live in Japan, and lots of people assumed they were prepared. I believe they are better prepared than folks in Oregon, but when the big Kobe earthquake struck in '95, it showed the government and local folks and emergency crews were not as prepared as they had thought. From this, I take the lesson that you just can't predict Mother Nature. There are lots of great innovations to building code done in Japan, but nothing is perfect. Every person just needs to be ready and expect that help may not be available to you when it hits.
Another mistake the Kobe area made was not accept outside help immediately after the devastation. It took the government a bit of time to get that outside help, and that cost lives. In Oregon, when it hits, the city and state crews should accept any help they can get and not try to do everything themselves, alone....that is the one big lesson learned from the Kobe earthquake in Japan...just my two yen's worth....
posted 3 years ago
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on How Much Media is Too Much?
When I was living in Japan back in the '90's, news programs and tv dramas were already hinting at problems with kids (and adults) that couldn't communicate with each other well. They figured it was becoming a social problem back then, and it is still considered a problem now, though not much has been done about it so far that I have seen.
A friend, and former Portlander, now living in Sapporo, Japan, once told me that everybody there has a Keitai (cell phone). And for some families, they call to their family members (within their own house/apartment) to tell them dinner is ready or for any thing that needs to get mentioned, when just calling out to them in a loud voice would do just the same. I thought that was a bit funny, but kind of sad, that face to face communication was replaced by talking via cell phone.
Then there were the Otakus (nerds) in Japan that really have a hard time with interpersonal relationships. One story based on how an Otaku managed to get a beautiful girlfriend was portrayed in the TV series version of Densha Otoko (Train Man), done in a humorous fashion. Most of the counseling the protagonist of the true story was done via message boards on the internet. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Densha_Otoko
The reason I bring this up is that Densha Otoko epitomizes the somewhat stereotypes of what Otakus are like in Japan, and I'm afraid how the same Otakus are in the US, or even in the Northwest. However, having been to various anime shops and conventions in Japan and groups here in the US, a lot of the stereotypes aren't so far from the truth. But these kids and adults that are so stuck into their media and virtual worlds is the problem that Joshua Patterson is talking about. And they are deeply disturbing when kids that are so media/virtual reality focused grow up to become adults that cannot interact well on a face to face reality.
I'm not saying all otakus and all folks that are highly media/virtual reality focused are completely inept socially, but I believe an increasing number of folks are, as the trend continues. I hate to see the day when people are only able to communicate via telescreen, like the world imagined by the late Asimov for his Robot stories...
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on How Much Media is Too Much?
How much media is too much? Perhaps it is all relative. If kids are being baby-sat by their focus on the media, then that may be too much. Some kids adapt well to balance between media focused lives and interacting with real people lives, others, including many adults I have seen can relate to people only through virtual mediums, like emails, cell phones, Instant messaging and related virtual media (not face to face interaction). I think the question is not merely about how much media for kids, but for everybody. Media probably should be used for information and as a tool to inform, not for a substitute for real interaction between people, but then every person has their own take on issues like this. History will tell whether we have (had) too much media now or not....it's something to think about.
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on Turf Wars
There is this story on Sunday's Weekend Edition on NPR that talked about window farming:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125504307
There are links to different ideas there as well on hydroponics, for folks that do not have yards of their own....
I have nothing against lawns, but I just prefer growing something I can eat rather than for show. But that's just me.....
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on Turf Wars
We originally had lawns in the front and backyard at our place, but after trying to get decent lawns, and instead watching the moss and weeds take over, we decided to rip it all out (both front and back) and plant a garden instead. There is a lot more annual maintenance involved, including moving a lot of soil around to rotate the various crop we have grown over the past few years (including sun gold tomato, Japanese eggplants, beans, daikon, various peppers, potato, cucumbers etc.)...and some flowers...although with the prices of fruits and veggies these days, we've decided that we can enjoy fresh grown stuff a lot more than mowing the lawn that never stays green over the summer anyway.
We believe that we get a better value from the yard now than when the grass was growing greener in the neighbor's yard down the street....
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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