A friend sent me a link to a USA Today article about a decline in trust
Of course, people say one thing to survey questions and do another. Just using the internet requires a lot of trust, whether it is to make transactions, or to share stuff with people that we barely know.
Here's a quote from the article:
The best-known analysis comes from Bowling Alone author Robert Putnam's nearly two decades of studying the United States' declining "social capital," including trust.
Putnam says Americans have abandoned their bowling leagues and Elks lodges to stay home and watch TV. Less socializing and fewer community meetings make people less trustful than the "long civic generation" that came of age during the Great Depression and World War II.
I disagree. People stay at home more because there is a greater entertainment choice at home now than there used to be. When we were growing up, there was little to see on TV. Now people are using the internet. The TV has become a medium for broadcast and cable channels, for YouTube videos, videos on demand (for free), games, etc. My grandson plays video games live with his friends yet they are all in separate houses. This is all possible because of the internet, sophisticated software and powerful hardware.
People are socializing more than ever - thru Facebook, gaming sites, interactive gaming platforms, email, text messaging, live photo sharing sites, etc. Authors like Putnam may be stuck in an old way of looking at things, in a world that doesn't exist anymore. That is the problem. Most people old enough to have the discipline to write a book are too old to be aware of what younger people are doing with the available technology.
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même choses - Understanding that underneath the myriad motions of change, the core nature of people remains the same, enables insightful innovators to make a lot of money.
On the subject of trust is another interesting link to a Gallup article on the changing trends of people's trust in politicians and government institutions.
Monday, December 16, 2013
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Age Of Discovery
December 15th, 2013
As a kid, my brother Tom got a boogie board that he used to ride along the beach as the outgoing waves leave a film of water on the sand at the ocean's edge. Now if there was some way to magnetize the board, he once theorized, and the ocean was magnetic, and one was positive and the other was negative, then he could boogie board all the way across the Atlantic Ocean, from Jones Beach to Europe.
Being the older and wiser kid, I immediately saw the problem in this hare brained scheme. What are you going to do about the sharks in the middle of the ocean, I asked?
I don't think sharks can eat you when you're magnetized, he answered.
Yeh, but they could bite you, I answered.
No, he replied, the shark is the same polarity as the water so as his teeth started to close on my leg, the different polarities would repel and the shark's teeth couldn't clamp down.
I had to admit this was true. How would you magnetize the whole ocean, I asked?
Well, you wouldn't need to magnetize the whole ocean, just sections of it, he answered. Run a cable like the Transatlantic Cable across the ocean except that it would have to be a lot bigger. The magnetic field around the cables would then magnetize the ocean above the cable and it would be like a highway across the ocean.
The late 1950s and the decade of the 1960s was a time when people thought that almost anything was possible. A trip to the moon was feasible. So too was the idea that people could one day fly to work in their own personal plane. I wanted to say that I miss the days when we had grand schemes and big dreams but I realized that I am typing on a computer that is connected wirelessly to a global network called the internet. This year physicists confirmed the discovery in 2012 of the theorized Higgs boson, the "God" particle that gives matter in the universe its mass. My smart phone is far more capable than the wristwatch communications device that Dick Tracey wore.
Still, we have not solved the problem of traffic congestion during rush hour. We have not cured cancer, poverty, death or the debility of old age. These were the "holy grail" discoveries that we thought possible a half century ago after the discovery of DNA and the invention of jet engines.
As a kid, my brother Tom got a boogie board that he used to ride along the beach as the outgoing waves leave a film of water on the sand at the ocean's edge. Now if there was some way to magnetize the board, he once theorized, and the ocean was magnetic, and one was positive and the other was negative, then he could boogie board all the way across the Atlantic Ocean, from Jones Beach to Europe.
Being the older and wiser kid, I immediately saw the problem in this hare brained scheme. What are you going to do about the sharks in the middle of the ocean, I asked?
I don't think sharks can eat you when you're magnetized, he answered.
Yeh, but they could bite you, I answered.
No, he replied, the shark is the same polarity as the water so as his teeth started to close on my leg, the different polarities would repel and the shark's teeth couldn't clamp down.
I had to admit this was true. How would you magnetize the whole ocean, I asked?
Well, you wouldn't need to magnetize the whole ocean, just sections of it, he answered. Run a cable like the Transatlantic Cable across the ocean except that it would have to be a lot bigger. The magnetic field around the cables would then magnetize the ocean above the cable and it would be like a highway across the ocean.
The late 1950s and the decade of the 1960s was a time when people thought that almost anything was possible. A trip to the moon was feasible. So too was the idea that people could one day fly to work in their own personal plane. I wanted to say that I miss the days when we had grand schemes and big dreams but I realized that I am typing on a computer that is connected wirelessly to a global network called the internet. This year physicists confirmed the discovery in 2012 of the theorized Higgs boson, the "God" particle that gives matter in the universe its mass. My smart phone is far more capable than the wristwatch communications device that Dick Tracey wore.
Still, we have not solved the problem of traffic congestion during rush hour. We have not cured cancer, poverty, death or the debility of old age. These were the "holy grail" discoveries that we thought possible a half century ago after the discovery of DNA and the invention of jet engines.
Fixing Spelling Problems
December 14, 2013
It could happen some day. *****************
As many native and fluent English speakers know, the language contains many irregular pronunciations which makes it difficult to develop speech synthesis programs for those with reading or speech impairments. A new Aural Standard is being formulated to aid developers of such programs. Examples under review with the International Standards Committee on Speech Synthesis include the following:
Enough will be pronounced "enowf"
Thought will be pronounced "thowt"
Bough will be pronounced "bow" (no change)
Brougham will be pronounced "browam"
Dough will be pronounced "dow"
In the example above, English speakers from the southern United States will have little difficulty making the transition because the new pronunciations closely resemble how they have always pronounced these words. However, it is not the Committee's intent to validate the pronunciations of any regional group.
Those English speakers with an instinctual familiarity with the customary pronunciation of these words may experience some slight difficulty in making the transition to the revised pronunciations but the Committee is confident that the context in which words are spoken will help clarify the meaning of the word.
The period for word submissions, as well as rule codifications to be included in the Aural Standard, will be open for 90 days from the publication date of this notice.
It could happen some day. *****************
As many native and fluent English speakers know, the language contains many irregular pronunciations which makes it difficult to develop speech synthesis programs for those with reading or speech impairments. A new Aural Standard is being formulated to aid developers of such programs. Examples under review with the International Standards Committee on Speech Synthesis include the following:
Enough will be pronounced "enowf"
Thought will be pronounced "thowt"
Bough will be pronounced "bow" (no change)
Brougham will be pronounced "browam"
Dough will be pronounced "dow"
In the example above, English speakers from the southern United States will have little difficulty making the transition because the new pronunciations closely resemble how they have always pronounced these words. However, it is not the Committee's intent to validate the pronunciations of any regional group.
Those English speakers with an instinctual familiarity with the customary pronunciation of these words may experience some slight difficulty in making the transition to the revised pronunciations but the Committee is confident that the context in which words are spoken will help clarify the meaning of the word.
The period for word submissions, as well as rule codifications to be included in the Aural Standard, will be open for 90 days from the publication date of this notice.
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