Rupert Murdoch speech to newspaper editors
Some actual insight from Murdoch on the many problems plaguing newspapers and “old media” generally. So, he acknowledges there’s a problem and he actually sees where some things are going. The first step to recovery is to acknowledge you have a problem.

Yet, Murdoch launches into this:

And we in this room – newspaper editors and journalists – are uniquely positioned to deliver that news. We have the experience, the brands, the resources, and the know-how to get it done. We have unique content to differentiate ourselves in a world where news is becoming increasingly commoditized. And most importantly, we have a great new partner to help us reach this new consumer – the internet.

And later says that:

Our job now is to bring this content profitably into the broadband world – to marry our video to our publishing assets, and to garner our fair share – hopefully more than our fair share — of the advertising dollars that will come from successfully converging these media.

Myopia caused by greed? Pretty common these days as people seek short-term gains (“Make Money Quick!”) rather than riding the wave in major social changes (at a time when technological and scientific breakthroughs are rare).

Similarly, the “recording industry” is ready to acknowledge that the world is changing but is reluctant to do anything about it. Contrary to Murdoch, who apparently understands that embracing change is the most appropriate solution, they seem to see change as a problem they are committed to fight. The “recording industry” just wants things to stay the same. And they keep on dismissing music lovers as “petty thieves” because they can’t gouge consumers in the same way anymore. Even when told that music lovers want to pay for the privilege of easy access to music, record industry executives raise “the stick.”

So, the “big corporations” that are being hit by social changes might say things that range from somewhat insightful to utterly clueless. Not surprising but still. Why don’t they understand? Maybe it’s because they’re unwilling to take risks. Successes in many domains such as art, science, and technology often come out of experimentation. Trial and error. These corporations “can’t afford” to err, according to their investors? So they will fail, eventually. Not because the world is changing so much. The changes have been minute so far. But because they fail to see the big picture and “go with the flow” without knowing where the flow is leading.
«Qui n’essaie rien n’a rien», as we say. “They” will be left with nothing.

The beautiful ones are not yet born. And this revolution will not be televised.

Playlist: Interview: KGO radio’s Karel
At least, it’s not condescending. Like the part about looking at what younger people are doing and following those trends. Some interesting things are happening with younger generations.
The world’s changing, as always.

Les étudiants africains dans le doute
Le mouvement de grève des étudiants québécois trouve sa place dans une publication camerounaise… Intéressant, comme concept.
Et dommage pour les étudiants africains, victimes, comme les autres d’une situation de tension sociale.

D’ailleurs, puisque les blogues sont souvent bourrés d’opinion… Comme beaucoup d’autres, je suis en faveur des étudiants grévistes. Pas que j’aie l’impression que la grève soit le meilleur moyen d’obtenir un changement politique important. Mais les étudiants ont le droit de s’indigner du fait qu’ils se sont fait flouer.
En fait, j’ai grand espoir en ces étudiants. Pas nécessairement parce qu’ils risquent de faire bouger le gouvernement. Mais parce qu’ils sont réveillés, «conscientisés». Et solidaires. Rien de plus important, pour moi. En tant qu’étudiant québécois (vivant à l’étranger), «j’ai jamais été aussi fier d’être Québécois». Bon, c’est peut-être un peu exagéré et j’ai pas toutes les données en main. Mais je vois les choses d’un bon œil.

Pour les Africains, eh bien, c’est bien entendu une situation difficile. L’Université de Bamako et d’autres ont longtemps été en grève, ce qui a nui à beaucoup de Maliens. Mais, bon, [voix personnage=”Caliméro”]la vie est injuste[/voix]…

Excellent principe. Ça aide, pour attendre. Par exemple, des réponses à des demandes d’emploi, de bourse, etc.
Ça va venir!

Pour les Francophones qui lisent ce blogue (on sait jamais, il peut y en avoir), excusez-moi d’y mettre tant de choses en anglais. Je
travaille et écrit en anglais ces temps-ci alors ça marche mieux comme ça.
Désolé!

Was talking about the social effects of multilinked nodes with a friend last night. Followed it up today in a private email. Had to blog it.

Simply put, someone who has links with many people is likely to get some wheels moving, socially. Especially if that person’s network is sparse (people in it don’t know each other directly) and not too multiplex (not having many nodes with multiple links between them, like two people doing many things together). Simple enough.
The spark/trigger action on the wheel-moving/domino effect is not oriented (the person doesn’t have an agenda). If there are many such individuals connecting so many links (commonly known as “social butterflies” as they go from one flower to the next), the effect is pseudo-chaotic. To play on a silly pun, let’s call it the “social butterfly effect.” As things go, it’s quite likely that somebody else has had the exact same idea for the phrase (too lazy to google the phrase, though). It’s certainly a well-known effect. And there’s probably a less cheesy name for it somewhere in sociology textbooks. Too lazy to look it up.

Now, as it turns out, I see myself as that kind of social butterfly who does have an effect on some wheels starting to turn. But it’s really not presumptuous on my part. I’m not saying that I’m such a cool guy because I know so many people or that I have such an influence on people. In fact, it’s kind of the opposite of charisma and attraction. I’m the kind of guy who’s relatively insignificant to enough people that what I do or say may just activate the right process at the right moment. And nobody in their right mind would credit me with having done anything in the process. Yeah! Power!

The example I used in communication with my friend was coffee. More on that later. But it does depend on not having a specific agenda. And an incredibly large number of “failures” or errors (in the sense of “trial and error”).
If I mention homeroasting coffee beans to 200 people, chances are that at least 195 of them will be utterly disinterested with the notion, three might be mildly interested, one might think about taking up the “hobby,” and one might get an idea for something completely unrelated to homeroasting but nonetheless incredibly cool. If I did that transmission by “reaching out and touching” all of these people, that’d be an abysmally depressing success rate. (Especially if the measure is new converts to homeroasting.) But if I do it with minimal effort like by mentioning it in passing during a public discussion (say, in class, on a mailing-listl, or, well, on a “buh-lawg”), my effort to success ratio is quite good. The first thing to notice is that the most important effect here isn’t to have turned one person to homeroasting. It might be cool to interact with this person based on our newly shared interest. We might even start exchanging tips and samples. Maybe it’ll develop into some type of genuine friendship. Which might in turn lead to a new network.
All great. But what I appreciate the most here is there might be one person who heard about homeroasting and started to let her mind wonder about coffee prices, World System Theory, the effects of Globalisation, and student strikes. She might end up as a “mover and shaker” character in a grassroots movement to link students internationally. Who knows? I’m not one to spoon-feed conceptual links to people…

So, I see my role (whether or not I’m good at it) as a social butterfly getting things moving by being just “a guy in the crowd.” Fair enough.

The problem with that role is that because it’s based on lack of recognition, it runs counter to a few things which are socially important. The two social measures I think about most directly are “Intellectual Property” and job prospects. The first is definitional, in a way: I want many of my ideas to be “stolen” by those who receive them. Academia is based on that type of generalized exchange where we give it all to everyone else and we receive everything from everybody else. Those who are trying to restrict IP too much are hindering “innovation.” Which might in fact be the effect the want to achieve. In the social “tug o’ war” giving us balance, they have their own rope to pull on.

Job prospects are more problematic for me, personally. At least, I see them as more problematic. I happen to think that my own prospects aren’t too bad but, sadly, academic appointments (as opposed to academic work) are based on recognition and exclusive expertise. I make a point of not being recognized too often and I derive great joy from helping someone achieve a pleasurable state without being credited. Being a pawn is cool. [Just realized that “peon” had another denotation. “Pion” means pawn in French] But academic hiring committees don’t really like pawns. As for expertise, I do have some but it’s disparate enough that it doesn’t play so well in the mono-disciplinary thing. Too bad!
Some of it is a huge cult of personality in Academia. And the whole (ugh!) “Publish or Perish” game. But it’ll all change. It has to. Hopefully, it’ll change soon enough to edge me in.

Always sad that a great one would pass away.
He apparently collapsed while teaching. There’s something strong about this. Lasting legacy.

Ya know how I said that the lack of categories in Blogger was a deal breaker? Well, apparently, it hasn’t prevented me from going wild, now, has it?
Thing is, I rather like the lack of categories at this point! Weird, ain’t it?
Well, I like structured stuff. Outlines and such. Apart from Mail.app, OmniOutliner is the main app I use for writing (good thing both work with Cocoa Services). In this case, I’d like to classify things I write. Especially since I think they’re pretty diverse and “disparate” (hence the blog title). But, as it turns out, the lack of categories makes it even more disparate and crazy. I’ll probably hate it soon (after all, I have only blog for a limited number of hours) but at this
point, Life’s Still Good.
[Remember, “That Which Is Said In Title Case Sounds Profound” although, as Vuarra says on the Mead Lover Digest, it’s “Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur.” (“That which is said in Latin sounds profound.”)]
At any rate, I might as well stay with Blogger for a while. Convenient.
No need for outside hosting.
Hopefully, I’ll be able to migrate to some other system once I get my very own server space.
Still, I wish Blogger had obvious support for keywords, at the very least. From Google, one would expect…
And this isn’t about getting hits, attracting readers, viewers, eyeballs… I genuinely don’t care. It’s a release thing.
Not that I don’t care about “you” (so far, pretty much my own self) but it’s not my reason to blog, I’m sure…
Already at this point, it’s more of an exercise for my “writing muscles,” so to speak. If you will. In a way. 😉
Speaking of carpal tunnel, shouldn’t blogs be spoken?
[Yeah, yeah, it can be done… Everything can be done. But, remember: convenience!]
[[This thing, blogging, really encourages soliloquy! And weird writing habits…]]
Things to think about, add to this beulogue: some keywordish metadata/tagging, WikiEdit-like syntax, smilies, outline to blog, keyboard shortcuts outside browser…
Now, let’s go and teach!