BLOG #1: Isolating Voice In A Lead

Lead #1. Driving and Drugging:

This story is told by the author in the first person as an objective observer.

The audience is envisioned as a passive observer that will be entertained and amused at the drug-induced antics of the narrator.

The only time or historical constraints of the lead are hinted at by the fact that the lead takes place in an automobile in the Barstow desert. No other setting details are given.

The tone starts out placidly on a desert drive. The narrator, however, develops a spontaneous, shocked tone of voice as the drugs take effect on him or her while driving. The narrator has a great sense of urgency, and ends up sounding comical due to viewing the hallucinations. It is amplified when the narrator screams “Holy Jesus! What are these goddamn animals?”.

The author is able to look back on the wild experience and arrange it in an organized and entertaining manner.

But the author and the narrator sound like very similar voices to me.

Lead #2: Celebration in New York Harbor:

This is a third person lead told from the viewpoint of an omniscient observer.

The envisioned audience is one which is expected to be awed by “the greatest pyrotechnic extravaganza ever mounted” (as the author puts it). It’s clear that it takes place on the bicentennial, approximately 1976, on the 200^th Anniversary of America in New York Harbor.

The tone is one of built up excitement and festivity.

I hear a great amount of fascination and wonder in the author’s voice, as he/ she describes vividly the visual scenes of fifty-five nations bringing a myriad of sailors and ships to such a world-renowned extravaganza.

In this lead I feel that the voices of the author and narrator are one and the same.

Lead #4: Satire on the Human Race:

This lead is told by the narrator from a third person’s point of view, with a mock serious tone. It is written in a manner similar to the telling of a fairytale.

The author envisioned an audience that was open to satire and cynicism about the human race. The author writes using an all-encompassing timeline with regard to human history. He/ she paints with a broad brush regarding the entire human experience.

The tone is almost like a children’s tale that humorously shows the immaturity of humanity.

I can “hear” the author trying hard to set a tone about people in general in a sarcastic frame of mind.

The author’s voice seems to be one of intense, confused contemplation on the human condition. The narrator on the other hand, comes across as very funny and natural in ridiculing people as a whole.

Lead #7: Wife Dies:

In this lead the narrator explains everything from a first person point of view, like a passive observer.

The audience is envisioned as one that would be emotionally moved by a strange twist to an ordinary, everyday lifestyle.

The historical setting of the lead is a hot summer day in August, 1994. The tone set is a bland one at first, with the husband relenting to his wife getting her own prescription because she wants to also buy groceries. But the tone suddenly turns horribly dramatic as the reader learns the wife has somehow died, and the husband must identify her body.

I hear the author’s voice lulling the readers into a mild complacency in order to jolt them into the shock of realizing that this is anything but a boring story.

The voice of the author is starkly different from that of the narrator. The narrator seems calm, almost to the point of total complacency. On the other hand, the author is very clever in assembling the story so that it packs a huge wallop on the readers when they find out the wife has died.

Print Will Never Die

No, print is not dead. It has definitely gone downhill fast. But there will always be a core audience, as long as we have the digital divide: those that have access to the Internet versus those who do not.

Those who do not can include the many, both young and old, who cannot use the Web due to lack of know-how or lack of money to buy a computer or pay the monthly access fees. But the have-nots are also made up of a sizeable part of society who can use the Internet, but simply CHOOSE NOT TO.

 A good analogy would be bike riders versus car drivers. There will always be a market for those who like peddling to get around. I’m in that group. Reasons to  ride a bike are; exercise, to save money, help keep the air clean or not to contribute to ‘Big Oil’.

Granted, many non-Web users are older folks, say 60 years old and older, who grew up without the Web, reading only printed newspapers, magazines and books. But there are also plenty of younger people who pretty much refuse to use the Web. They like the simplicity of print. It’s far more portable than a computer. Plus, to them, books, magazines and such are more ‘real’ in their hands.

 

            Then there’s the even bigger slice of society who are Web users, but who also occasionally enjoy the benefits of printed materials. Glossy, color, soft core men’s magazines like “Maxim” and “FHM” were born and became huge during the Web’s heyday. Celebrity and women’s magazines like “People” and “Cosmopolitan” still pack grocery stores and newsstands everywhere.

            Until the Web becomes really portable and easily viewable anywhere, more so than with a clunky laptop or a cell-phone with a 2-inch screen, print will have a demanding audience.

More Sci-Fi/ Web Connections

The Semantic Web is a futuristic vision for what the Web should become, as put forth by the inventor of the Web, Tim Berners-Lee in 1998. His concepts about the use of computers and his ability to put them into action had so much energy and staying power that I’ve nicknamed him, Tim “after-Berners”-Lee. (Sorry about the bad pun.)

 

The Semantic Web refers to the ability of computers to ‘talk’ to each other and understand the specific meanings and intuitive desires of all people using the Web. Very much like many science fiction stories where computers “know” the thoughts and desires of their human inventors. A classic example is the story, “2001: A Space Odyssey,” where “Hal” the computer goes out of control and attacks the story’s astronauts. (A hilarious parody of “2001:” and “Hal” is the movie “Airplane II, The Sequel.”)

 “After-Berners”-Lee wrote about the Semantic Web in 1998, and even mentioned a connection with the “2001:” story when he co-wrote an article in 2001 for “Scientific American”. This was when the Semantic Web was still in its infancy. Now, in 2008 it is still in its childhood, but growing by leaps and bounds.

Probably the most obvious example of the Semantic Web would be the search engine, Google (or as lame-duck President Bush calls it, “The Google”). Looking up something on Google searches virtually everything related to what you wanted on the Web. It even tells you if it thinks you misspelled your search words and recommends what it thinks you meant. This act of the computer correcting the human user is usually accurate and a perfect example of the Web becoming intuitive.

I can’t wait to see what other forms and powers the Semantic Web takes.

The Web As Vulcan IDIC

IDIC

“If it isn’t on the Web, it doesn’t exist.”

A famous saying by the guy who invented the World Wide Web.

Wow.

 “Invented the Web.” It doesn’t get any bigger than that.

He da’ man. Tim Berners-Lee. Not Al Gore, as some would joke. Anyway, Berners-Lee coined this phrase in his book, “Weaving The Web” (excerpted here, about halfway down this page) to promote the idea that every document discussed by his company, the World Wide Web Consortium, should be on the Web.

I think he was trying to further a view that humanity should have all of its knowledge and documents posted on the Web for all to access. He rightly felt that this would lead to a better future for everyone. I can’t prove it, but I believe Bernes-Lee was a big fan of, and maybe inspired by, the Vulcan IDIC. That is a term taken from the original Star Trek television series. It was explained by the pointy-eared Mr. Spock as a philosophy standing for Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations It meant that the universe was made rich and fascinating because of the endless variety of differences, and the intertwining that goes on between them. The Vulcans even symbolized it in pendants they wore around their necks. See photo above.

Tim Berners-Lee also wanted to add to this vast array of shared diversity. But even more than that, he wanted to make it easier for every human to do so. And with the blossoming of Web 2.0 as we speak, it sure looks like he succeeded.

 

From Scary Start To A Great Finish

I consider the Web a real life miracle. It’s a source of never-ending knowledge and entertainment. Plus it is a massive help in accomplishing things in the “real world” like work, school, romance and friendships. For those of us who grew up without it but now have it, the Internet is all that much more amazing.

But I have to admit that each time I am approaching a new level of Web learning, I am absolutely terrified. It’s like one of those nightmares where you’re in terror, but unable to move. Five thousand new variables to learn. New terms, new procedures and concepts I never even conceived of before. And I’m the lone dumbell who ‘doesn’t get it’.

I started out using WebTV. It was a big, scary step at the time. Ah yes, it was slow as molasses, but gorgeous for a beginner to look at on a full size, 32-inch color TV screen. Even though it was extremely primitive, I grew to absolutely love it and couldn’t get enough of it.

So it is with each new step I take on the Web learning path. Whether it be getting my first PC or leaning to navigate a message board.

It starts out with the total paranoia of being thrown into a spooky Land Of Oz, where the cyber equivalent of lions and tigers and bears can and do spring out at any time to short-circuit my trip. And it’s torture when that happens. But eventually, through hard work, patience and maybe a little 5-HOUR TECH SUPPORT SESSION with the Philippines, I find my way through. Then I practically adapt it as a part of my own body that I can’t live without.

How To Save Local Newspapers

In my last blog, “Bloggers To ‘Journalists’…” I wrote that the most important thing that local newspapers can do to keep their audience is to reproduce an exact copy of their paper (ads, layouts and all) in an online edition that is easy to navigate. The perfect example of this is the local Chico-Enterprise Record. Click on “E-R e-Edition.” and then on DEMO.

The next most valuable concept they can foster to maintain and really grow their customers (and their own jobs!) is to improve the practical portability of the web. Specifically, a web-usable device that allows users to read their local news comfortably at the breakfast table, in a waiting room, while riding in a car or bus, in the bathroom, in bed or even in your favorite easy chair. Laptops can do this, but are far less convenient than a newspaper. Cell phones too, but their relatively tiny screens make them impractical for reading news articles.

Here’s my Leonardo da Vinci-style idea: A wristwatch with an expandable screen that can accommodate the web (plus a cell phone and music). I envision the screen to be a retractable, spring-loaded, pull-out mechanism kind of like those, pull-down window shades. It would be thinner and shorter than a pencil, so you can carry it in your pocket. It attaches to the watch and increases the screen size to twice that of an iPhone’s. You would only attach it to the watch when you need to view it. Otherwise the watch is the same size as a regular watch.

Then anyone would be able to view “official” local news, whether, sports, etc. for their area on a daily basis anytime and anywhere they want.

I see we are getting close. This is a Cool cell phone watch

 that has a phone with music and video (sorry about the raspy music).

And here’s another one that has all the above, PLUS a 1.3 megapixel camera.

But the two major components still missing are the web and that expandable screen.

Once we get those going, we are off to the races.

Bloggers to “Journalists”: Watch & Learn

            I believe that journalists could improve their profession by adopting the more informal tone of bloggers. Though using proper journalistic wording and AP Style is a long-established tradition, it may not be the best method of attracting and keeping today’s web-savvy ‘audience of one.’ It’s too stuffy and stilted for the general public. Much of the popularity of blogs comes from their casual way of communicating to individual readers.

I think traditional media would also benefit by incorporating the subject-specific aspect of blogs. Many blogs concentrate on one particular subject area, which attracts a loyal audience. It can be anything from hard news to frivolous topics. The public knows that blogs are often limited in scope, and this is often holds such a strong appeal.

            Traditional media does cover different news categories, but they too often employ the ‘shotgun approach’. That is, within a particular category, such as news, sports or business, traditional journalism tries to publish stories on all aspects of that theme. I believe with the advent of Web 2.0, audiences are rightly expecting more of the BB gun approach, which customizes news to very specific tastes.

            The most important thing that traditional media can do to retain and grow its audience is to enthusiastically embrace the Internet. For daily newspapers, this includes posting an exact copy of the paper online, in an easily navigable format. A good example of this has been accomplished by the Chico Enterprise-Record.