The TrueTalk Blog

Still Another Boomer Journey

Stuart Elliot reports on another fallen advertising taboo in his article about Estroven's new Menopauseland campaign.

It's only fair that all those ED commercials showing older men with younger women will now be countered by their mirror image. Some will find this in poor taste, but it's really just the next stop on a very long ride.

It's fascinating how my generation continues to change the meaning of every developmental, social, economic, medical milestone. From adolescence through senility, we're going to transform everything. Or, at least marketers are going to make it sound that way. And, as a generation, we love it.

What are we going to do when it becomes clear that we've already had our last boomer president, and that it was George W. Bush, to boot?

Singularly Freaked

Susan Greenfield, an Oxford neuroscientist, is pretty freaked by the prospect of carbon-silicon convergence. Guess she's not much of a Battlestar Galactica fan, eh?

As Ray Kurzweil pointed out in this 2006 TEDTalk, Moore's Law has long made it  evident that silicon-based computing power would soon match that of the human brain. Add to that our increasingly sophisticated prosthetic design and implantation technology, and it's pretty clear that by mid-century, at the latest, hybrid human-machine life forms will be theoretically possible. Kurzweil called this moment, "the singularity."

At this year's TED, memologist Susan Blackmore  suggested that technology is already replicating itself via humans, a highly radical notion if you stop to think of it.

Point is, these ideas always frighten us. Visions of scenes of villagers with torches come to mind as Dr. Frankenstein's monster terrorizes the countryside.

I wonder when we're going to be able to have straightforward conversations about this inevitability. Probably not for a while, huh? Especially with Oxford neuroscientists raising the specter of lost individuality as the inevitable outcome of our continued use/dependency on technology.

Ordinary and Extra-ordinary

Titrating in an age of unprecedented opportunity for public expression.

Twittering Pangea Day

I'll be Twittering Pangea Day for the next four hours. If you're interested in following along, go here and hit the Follow button.

Pangea Day In The Cosmos

Well, one thing you can say for the TED community: we sure do know how to do a launch!

What do I mean?

Well, last night, I received an email from Carolyn Porco. Now, Carolyn is not someone who you'd think of as given to PR bullshit. This girl's a scientist. Get me?

So, when the Subject: of the email is NASA'S COSMIC PERSPECTIVE KICKS OFF PANGEA DAY, MAY 10, I was very impressed. Carolyn, a terrific TED presenter (2007 presentation here, caution: autoplay), will be kicking off the worldwide Pangea Day activities.

What's Pangea Day? Well, it's the 2006 TED Prize wish of Jehane Noujaim. That wish was at once simple and grand: what if the whole world could watch a films together and discuss their implications? Could such an event change the world?

We'll see the results tomorrow, as millions around the world gather for four hours to watch 24 short films and share our reactions. Check out the Pangea Day site and find a location near you to gather with others and watch Jehane Noujaim's TED wish come true.

Will Hillary Retain Her Dignity?

Now that the issue of the Democratic nomination for president has been settled by the voters in North Carolina and Indiana, the lone remaining question pertains to Hillary Clinton's desire to retain her dignity.

As presumptive nominee Barack Obama graciously pointed out last evening, Sen. Clinton has been a spirited campaigner. Her supporters have seen her as an intelligent, well-informed, hard working public servant, as well as the best hope yet for becoming the first woman to hold the nation's highest office.

Her effort has failed.

The key question now is whether or not Sen. Clinton  will demonstrate the poise and maturity her followers and the rest of the nation would expect from someone aspiring to be our leader. Personal ambition is a large part of the motivation for anyone to become president. But personal ambition must give way to the common good of the electorate, lest it be seen simply as hubris. Sen. Clinton's behavior at this crucial time will determine whether she will be seen as a committed, dignified representative of the people or a blindly ambitious politician. Dignity, once lost, is difficult to regain.

I have supported Sen. Obama for some time but have respected Sen. Clinton's efforts in this difficult race. That respect stands in the balance for me, and I believe others as well.

The time has come for Sen. Clinton to acknowledge a difficult reality: she will not become president of the United States on January 20, 2009

Broken Ankles & DNA

Watching Eight Belles finish second in the Kentucky Derby and then be euthanized was tragic. The current outcry over racing's safety is very healthy; Thoroughbred racing must do a better job of training and protecting these majestic animals.

But watching 60 Minutes last night was much more disturbing. The segment about the Dallas County prosecutor's record of erroneous convictions was heartbreaking. James Woodward was the focus. Woodward is a 55 year-old man who spent 27 years in a Texas prison for a rape he always contended he did not commit. Last week, DNA evidence proved he was right.

Here are my thoughts about reactions to these two things.

Bareback Riders

Annie Lebovitz's "topless" Miley Cyrus photos have driven 17 million unique page views to Vanity Fair's website, according to Silicon Alley Insider.

And, oh, the hubbub!

Does anybody else think that calling these wrapped-up photos anything other than "topless" would have generated WAY fewer views? Don't you see more of Miley in a bikini than in these shots?

Zappos Zappy Hour

Lots of companies are blogging. But I haven't seen one like online shoe store, Zappos.com. 

Most corporate blogs are, well, boring. They're more like brochures than blogs.

Zappos is different. Theirs is a hoot.

Watch the first video and tell me that you wouldn't know immediately whether or not you'd want to work at Zappos, or, for that matter, buy shoes from them. It may not be your cup of tea but they're lettin' you know who they are and a lot about their approach to doin' business.

Then, watch the second and imagine your CEO as the video's star. Or, if you're the CEO, ask yourself whether yours is the kind of business that would benefit from you leading in this way? (Remember, these are people in a privately held footwear business. Fashion people. Merchants. Lot of logistics and  Web people. Young. Smart. Home office in metro Las Vegas. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? Take a look.)

If anybody asks you about what "authenticity" means in business, refer them to the Zappos blog.

A Mouse in Z-Time: Update

Clay Shirky's talk at last week's Web 2.0 Conference is up, here.

Wow.

We have come to accept the assumption that time is a  finite resource. Which, of course, it is, if you take status quo as baseline. So, if you continue to work X number of hours and sleep Y what's left is Z. And Z, of course, is already spoken for, or else you'd be sitting around doing nothing, which you're not.

Ah, but Z is the big opportunity. Why? Well, right now, you're reading the paper in Z-time. You're going to the movies in Z-time. Or, you're watching Lost.  Shirky calls Z-time our "cognitive surplus."

What we know, however, is that much of what used to happen in Z-time ain't happening anymore. Newspaper readership; down. Movie-going; down. TV viewership; down.

Well, what are we doing with our Z-time then?

Blogging. Making videos. Recording podcasts. Uploading photos to Flickr. Commenting. Twittering.

In short, we're creating stuff. Some of us more than others, for now, but all of us getting used to the idea that we, all of us, are creators and not simply "consumers" of material. All of us care enough about something to say something about it, write about it, take a picture of it or comment on somebody else's take on it.

And, to do that, we need, metaphorically, a mouse. So, Shirky says:

I was having dinner with a group of friends about a month ago, and one of them was talking about sitting with his four-year-old daughter watching a DVD.  And in the middle of the movie, apropos nothing, she jumps up off the couch and runs around behind the screen.  That seems like a cute moment.  Maybe she's going back there to see if Dora is really back there or whatever.  But that wasn't what she was doing. She started rooting around in the cables.  And her dad said, "What you doing?"  And she stuck her head out from behind the screen and said, "Looking for the mouse."

Here's something four-year-olds know:  A screen that ships without a mouse ships broken.  Here's something four-year-olds know: Media that's targeted at you but doesn't include you may not be worth sitting still for.

Read the piece. Hey, it's your Z-time, use it wisely.

UPDATE: Here's video of Shirky's talk.

Oh, Good. I'm Going To Podcamp!

Here's the morning kickoff video as I prepare to leave our apartment for Brooklyn. Stay tuned!

Writing "War and Peace" With Smoke Signals

Sometimes when I read the Twitterstream, I wonder what the great writers of the past would think. I mean, 140 characters at a time seriously limits what one can say, right? But, there is that elegant, haiku aspect that challenges some to be very eloquent. Others of us just drivel along!

A Very Smart Obama Supporter

I've followed Tom Barnett since seeing him at Pop!Tech several years ago. Sometimes I catch up with his blog in batches, so I missed this post when it appeared three weeks ago. Here's a snip, with a closing money quote:

And that's why I like Obama most.

Plus, as everyone I talk to about the candidates notes, he's got the smartest foreign policy crew around him in terms of innovative thinkers and raw talent. Too many retreads in other camps, promising too many reruns I fear.

I know, I know. For now, in this Dem fight with Clinton, Obama makes some unwise statements. All easily corrected by the intimidation of being sworn in.

But consider this: would it be easier for Clinton or--especially 70-plus--McCain to learn NOT to be who they already are--once in office (meaning, deconstruct their hard selves and adjust to a world very unlike the one they grew up in)? Or easier for Obama to find himself in office and "play up" to circumstances? Remember, Obama comes of age in 1970s, when this globalized world really begins.

I see zero chance in McCain growing and plenty of growth potential in Obama.

We need a listener right now, and an articulator--bad.

Yup, we sure do, Tom.

Taking The Gloves Off

Well, now! Twenty seconds into this video, Barack Obama lets Hillary Clinton know that he's infinitely hipper and more with it than she is by letting her know what he thinks of her utterly reprehensible approach to politics. Way to go, Barack! How many people in the US want to send Senator Clinton this exact message?

Run Straight Down? No.

Many of us decry the state of our world by using that phrase of mysterious origin: "we're going to hell in a handbasket." Kids beating kids on YouTube vids for the lulz, Olympic torches under attack everywhere, Iraq, Darfur...on and on.

But, that's not the whole story. I made the following video in response to a thoughtful one by an American living in Japan. In it, I lean heavily on Steve Pinker's terrific TED 2007 presentation, which is worth every minute to watch. Hope you enjoy it.

Oh, and by the way, bonus points for the people who can point out the relationship of the post's title to the video!