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The power of parody: Fotoshop by Adobé

Amy Gahran — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:57:27 +0000

There are few things I love more than a brilliant parody. This spoof commercial, by commercial director Jesse Rosten, shows exactly why plastering media with unachievable ideals of feminine beauty hurt women. Which sounds like a really heavy point to make. But this is fun. That’s the art of really making a point.

Fotoshop by Adobé from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

Cheer from Christmas Past, by Terry Gilliam

Amy Gahran — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 18:28:51 +0000

Thought you were going to escape the holidays unscathed? Think again! I’m actually in the holiday mood this year, and I’m not afraid to inflict it on others…. Muahaha…

This is an early animation by Terry Gilliam, from Christmas 1968. Laughing Squid posted it to Tumblr this morning.

Every since my brother introduced me to Monty Python when I was about eight, I’ve been enamored with highly visual absurdist humor. And I especially adore Terry Gilliam’s ability to upend our assumptions of space, time, place, scale, and intention.

This was also why I loved the original Pink Panther cartoons, Ren & Stimpy, and Ralph Bakshi’s Mighty Mouse. And, of course, my all-time favorite film, Brazil (by Terry Gilliam, of course).

We live in an unpredictable world, where meaning shifts drastically as context changes. We’re forever falling into a new picture frame, and parts of other pictures intrude rudely upon ours. Laughter is the best way to stay afloat amidst chaos. And there is always, always chaos.

And with that, happy holidays, all!

Facebook: How to change your default news feed setting to “most recent”

Amy Gahran — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 22:57:27 +0000

UPDATE JUNE 30: Unfortunately, this fix doesn’t seem to be persisten. Today, my Facebook news feed default reverted to “Top News” — without me changing that setting. I asked Vadim Lavrusik of Facebook about it, and the bottom line is: it is not currently possible to opt to persistently see “Most Recent.” They’ll change you back to “Top News” when you’re not looking, like it or not. Seriously. Read more…

I use Facebook strictly as a casual way to communicate with people I know. I’m not a heavy Facebook user because their interface sucks, and it keeps on sucking. But there’s one thing about Facebook that was really bugging me, and I finally just figured out how to fix it.

The Problem: The default setting for your Facebook news feed (list of recent updates) is “Top News” — which is somewhat misleadingly named, since it’s really only updates from the friends and pages that Facebook’s algorithm, in its infinite and inscrutable wisdom, believes you interact with the most.

In order to see in your news feed updates from ALL the people and pages you’ve chosen to connect with on Facebook, you need to select the “most recent” option. Totally unintuitive, but that’s par for the course with the Facebook interface.

BUT: In order to routinely see updates from all your Facebook friends and pages, you must change that default setting. Facebook doesn’t make this easy — again, par for the course for Facebook.

I figured out how to do it. Below is my quick video tutorial.

WATCH VIDEO TUTORIAL: Facebook News Feed settings

…You’d think that with all the money they’re making, Facebook could afford to hire some good UI designers and do some usability testing! I think I might mail them a copy of Don’t Make Me Think (old by internet standards, but the principles are timeless).

Speaking of cognitive dissonance: How LeBron James Broke the Golden Rule of Sports

Amy Gahran — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 21:30:41 +0000

Following on my earlier post, Why facts will never be enough to make people believe, a friend showed my this amazingly witty and incisive video rant by Jay Smooth, founder of the New York hip-hop radio show, WBAI’s Underground Railroad.

It’s on a similar theme, with a twist: The collective, self-reinforcing cognitive dissonance and fervent but meaningless arguments that keeps sports fandom and the pro sports industry rolling — and why the people involved in pro sports probably shouldn’t draw attention to that fact. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, and all that.

I think you might be able to search-and-replace the sports references here with references to politics, religion, smartphone platforms, or news/media brands, and it would still work.

Brilliant.

via YouTube – How LeBron James Broke the Golden Rule of Sports.

Hat tip: George Kelly

Mobile in low-income communities: My March 2011 talk at USC Annenberg

Amy Gahran — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 18:21:36 +0000

Earlier this year I spoke at several events during Mobile News Week at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. This is the video from that event — a Director’s Forum session for USC Annenberg faculty and students.

First, my colleague Jason Da Ponte gives an excellent overview of the current and evolving mobile landscape, and the role of journalism in an increasingly mobile media environment.

My part starts around 21 minutes in. Afterward, Jason & I answered questions.

And now for some first-class genre-bending

Amy Gahran — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 21:39:22 +0000

I’ve been working really hard lately and not sleeping well. I needed a good belly laugh. So a friend sent me this. It totally worked. Watch it all the way to the end…

When Harry Met Sally 2 with Billy Crystal & Helen Mirren from Billy Crystal

Video will dominate mobile data traffic by 2015, and why that will probably cost you more

Amy Gahran — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 23:53:36 +0000

My new CNN Tech mobile blog post is about Cisco’s prediction that video will comprise 2/3 of mobile data traffic by 2015.

See: Video will dominate mobile data traffic by 2015, forecast says

The catch: Thank to lax net neutrality rules passed by the FCC last December, wireless carriers are free to charge users extra for any kind of mobile content they choose — even if it’s available for free via wired connections.

The perils of auto-transcription (too freaking funny!)

Amy Gahran — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 00:19:36 +0000

If you’re ever tempted to rely on speech-to-text software to do your audio transcription, think again. This is a hilarious illustration of how things can go wrong. YouTube – Ultimate Caption FAIL, FAIL.

Best Ignite presentation ever: How to be a refugee

Amy Gahran — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 06:47:23 +0000

By Tara Horn of the Burma Action Committee, from a Portland, OR Ignite event. Despite her nervousness speaking in front of a large crowd, I think this is the most effective Ignite presentation I’ve ever seen.

Google Wave: I want it because I hate e-mail

Amy Gahran — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:55:05 +0000

I have come to loathe e-mail. Well, at least for coordination (like setting meetings) or collaboration (like working together on projects) or tasks (like answering people’s questions) or ongoing conversations (like discussion groups). I quickly get overwhelmed by all those separate messages, each of which requires a surprising amount of thought to place it in context and figure out what I’m supposed to DO with it.

It makes my brain hurt.

This video from EpipheoStudios.com nails exactly why I hate e-mail, and how Google Wave is trying to solve the problems of e-mail.

YouTube – What is Google Wave?.

I don’t know whether Google Wave will actually solve these problems. But dammit, at least they’re trying to tackle the problem. And they have the development power and user base to stand a chance of pulling it off.

A friend has sent me an invite. I haven’t received it yet. But when I do, I’ll give it a try. UPDATE: I just got my Google Wave invitation today! I’ll get a chance to play with it over the weekend. I expect it to be rough. (OK, everyone who’s whining about it: rough is what “alpha testing” is all about!) And hopefully I’ll start to glimpse an end to the e-mail madness.