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Monday, May 28, 2012

Pre-K Play: The Script, Props, And Sets

Yesterday I shared about the 5 month process that lead to this year's Pre-K play. Today I present you with the script in its final form, illustrated with photos of the props and set pieces we created as we went.

In the script, I've tried to honor the children's exact words and phraseology, although I've also added the stage directions as well. This way, serving as the play's narrator, I can tell them, "If you listen to me, you'll always know what to do."

The Mysterious, Haunted, Spooky House Full of Hearts

Sylvia -- Rainbow Butterfly Sylvia
Siena -- Fairy Princess
Sasha -- Leopard
Addison -- Harry Potter
Archie -- Bumble Bee
Sena -- Rainbow Butterfly Sena
Sadie -- Rainbow Butterfly Sadie
Violet -- Rainbow Butterfly Violet
Jody -- Panther

Harry Potter goes to Hogwarts.

This is our Hogwarts. You might recognize the box from this post. We'd rescued it from
getting "all used up," even before we knew what we wanted to use it for, knowing that
 we could use it in the play somehow. Each side is painted in a different color in the
preschool tradition of compromise that almost always results in "rainbow."
 The audience, however, only only saw the pink.

The Rainbow Butterflies go fluttering around. And a Fairy Princess showed up and she looked beautiful. The Rainbow Butterflies fluttered around her. Then they all sat by the flowers.

Leopard came. Then the Leopard sat in the desert. Then Panther came. Panther sat in the desert.

When we sat down to discuss how we were going to make the desert, I'd
expected we would need to create a backdrop, but the kids wanted to make
a cactus with "lots of pokey parts." We wrapped a traffic pylon with
 construction paper, then stuck small bits of tape all over it to represent thorns.

Then Bumble Bee comes. Harry comes out of Hogwarts. Bumble Bee takes Harry to a place with lots of things and a magic bridge that turns to a butterfly one. They got to Hogwarts.

We built our magic bridge from cardboard boxes on a base of "roller boards"
(small platforms with casters) using a glue gun, then painted it
(you guessed it) rainbow, making each box a different color.

The whole thing needed to be on wheels so we could turn it around to
reveal that it had magically turned into a "butterfly one." We made our
butterflies by making a "sandwich" with wax paper as the bread and tissue
paper and liquid starch serving as the filler. Once it dried, we cut out wing
shapes and added black rectangular bodies.

Then the Rainbow Butterflies come and the Fairy Princess. She looked at the Rainbow Butterflies and the Rainbow Butterflies stared at the Fairy. Then the Rainbow Butterflies looked in the water and the Rainbow Butterflies started swimming.

As we painted our box blue to represent water, we discussed the audience's
perspective. What part of this would they see? What parts needed to be blue
to create the illusion and which parts were we painting "just for ourselves?"

Then the Rainbow Butterflies looked all over and saw something that looked like a bad guy in the water.

The Butterflies and Fairy run and sit by the flowers.

These two 5-foot tall fabric flowers were the first set pieces we chose
for the play. I made them several years ago for the Fremont Summer
Solstice Parade and they've lived in our classroom ever since.

The Fairy Princess comes. The Leopard saw the Fairy Princess. Then they sat together in the desert.

Harry comes out of Hogwarts. A big, giant paint ball came falling out of the sky and bonked Harry on the head.

We made this months before we'd even begun talking about a play.
averse." At one point they really wanted to make a paper mache planet
to add to the collection we already have hanging from our ceiling, but
the moment they were confronted with actual paper mache paste, most
of them cringed. The few who did participate only lasted a few minutes.
Violet's dad Eric wound up doing most of the work, but the kids became
attached to it nevertheless. They didn't even want to paint it for the play.

The Rainbow Butterflies come fluttering across the sidewalk and Harry trips on the Butterflies.

Harry stands up.

The Rainbow Butterflies sit by the flowers.

Harry discovers that Hogwarts is dark. (Note: There is a light switch on the stage. I had assumed an adult helper would be responsible for turning the lights off and back on, but in every run-through including the performance itself, one of the cast members would break character to handle it.)

And the Fairy Princess comes and falls in love with Harry. They go into Hogwarts.

The Rainbow Butterflies dive into the water and flutter back.

Then the Rainbow Butterflies look inside Hogwarts. Then they go around Hogwarts. Then they go back to their flowers.

Then Panther pops out of the desert. Harry comes out of Hogwarts and asks for a fight with it. And everyone cheers for Harry.

Then Panther sits in the desert.

Harry discovers there are tons and tons of passageways and discovers he is in the Chamber of Secrets. (Note: To represent the Chamber of Secrets a parent unfurled one of our collapsable tunnels from backstage through which Harry Potter crawled.)

Then Harry goes to Hogwarts.

The Rainbow Butterflies are fluttering and eating.

And the Rainbow Butterflies have a race around the audience! Everybody goes with them. Then they all sit on the stairs. (Note: Racing around the audience has become a Pre-K play tradition, with each year's class recreating these exciting moments from their memories of what happened the year before.)

Panther comes and shoots a web on the ceiling and swings to another web and another and catches a good guy.

Here's our good guy puppet. We made tissue paper and pipe cleaner flowers,
then stuck them into a styrofoam head.

Panther sits on the stairs.

The Leopard lived in the desert. The Leopard goes to the desert.

Harry jumps on stage and pulls a sword out of the sorting hat. Harry goes into Hogwarts.

Panther goes into fire. Then he goes to the desert.

To create our fire, we painted a couple large sheets of paper with red and yellow
paint. When it dried, we cut it into triangles, then glued it on a piece of

The Fairy Princess comes. She discovers the desert and the Leopard almost bites her! She runs away to Hogwarts.

And Harry comes out of Hogwarts and jumps in front! And so the Leopard ate Harry instead of the Fairy Princess.

Harry goes back to Hogwarts. The Leopard stays in the desert.

Panther comes! Then he sits on the stairs.

Next Panther shoots a web out of his mouth and catches onto a building and sees a good guy and catches him. And he only catches good guys at night.

This is our "building," the creation of which I shared here.

Panther takes the good guy to the desert.

The Fairy Princess flies out of Hogwarts and Harry follows her. And everybody runs around the audience!

Then they all come back and sit on the stairs.

Then the Leopard comes and trips on something.

The Rainbow Butterflies flutter in to see if the Leopard is okay.

Then they take the Leopard to the desert.

The Fairy Princess comes and transforms into a Princess. She sparkles into the air and spins around while she is doing it.

Harry comes and falls in love with the Princess.

They go into Hogwarts.

Bumble Bee comes. He saw a bad guy train . . . And blasts it!

Bumble Bee sits on the stairs.

Harry and the Princess come out of Hogwarts. Harry tries to trick the Princess, but she says, “I’ll always be your princess forever.”

Then they go back into Hogwarts.

The Rainbow Butterflies flutter to Hogwarts to see if the Princess was fine.

Then they go back to the desert.

Panther comes. He opened his mouth and bats came strait out of it!

The children were quite proud of their paper airplane bats. In the actual performance
several of them ran off the stage and retrieved their bat rather than leave it in the
hands of the audience.

And everybody throws bats at the audience!

Then everyone sits on the stairs.

And then Panther comes again and transforms wings onto him. And flies around the audience! Everybody flies around the audience!

Then they come back and sit on the stairs.

So, the Princess and Rainbow Butterflies come on stage. The Princess said, “Oh, I’m fine.” And the Rainbow Butterflies said, “Well, okay. We guess we’ll be going.” And the Rainbow Butterflies sit by the flowers.

And then Panther comes and says, “Super mode!” and turns into a monster!

Then Panther sits in the desert.

Now the Princess comes again gets scared of the bats and starts to run away and the Rainbow Butterflies save her!

Then they go again and sit by the flowers.

Then Panther comes and transforms into his shape. Then he sits on the stairs.

The Rainbow Butterflies went into the desert to check on the Leopard, but the Leopard wasn’t noticing and the Rainbow Butterflies went home to the flowers.

The Princess comes. Well, since the Rainbow Butterflies and the Princess become friends, the Rainbow Butterflies say, “Let’s play a game! Let’s play hide and seek and the Princess hid first. The Butterflies find her.

Panther and Bumble Bee come. Panther blasts Bumble Bee! But then Panther didn’t mean it and said, “Are you OK?” And then he said he was, so Panther fixed him and they blasted bad guys together.

Our bad guy puppet uses toothpicks instead of flowers. We
worried some that it would be too scary for the "babies" in
our audience.

Panther and Bumble Bee make sure none of the bad guys are trying to trick them and some were so they blasted them . . . Yeah, we know. We like to blast.

Panther and Bumble Bee sit on the stairs.

The Princess came and found her carriage with a horse and just rided it. She found the Rainbow Butterflies and said, “Hi, Rainbow Butterflies!” and stopped and leapt out of the carriage. (Note: We just used one of our stick ponies to represent the carriage.)

Panther and Bumble Bee come and they transform into tanks.

Then they sit on the stairs.

Everything in the world becomes different, except the Princess.

Harry Potter comes. The Princess comes.

And they fall back in love.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What a model to demonstrate to parents and teachers what a creative and imaginative environment looks like for learning success.

I like the both the images and the text but I particularly like the generosity of spirit with which Teacher Tom shares this creativity.

What a great example of a growth mindset teacher. Clearly we need more collegiate teachers like him.

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Whiteboards and the Youngest Children

Screencapture, Five-Year-Olds Pilot Their Own Project Learning, May 9, 2007

This video, from the Auburn Early Education Center, AL, shows examples of using digital tools, such as whiteboards, to encourage very young students to develop their own projects and to weave the use of electronics and the internet in with "real world" classroom activities.

Though the video does not describe specific techniques for whiteboard use, it demonstrates whiteboards working effectively for all age levels when incorporated into active learning environments.

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13 July 2007

The Security of God's Will

by Phil Johnson

n Monday we looked in on Elijah beside Cherith as the brook slowly went dry. It is a tribute to Elijah's faith that he stayed and waited for the Lord's instructions until that stream was completely dried up. The stream turned to a trickle, and the trickle turned to little puddles, and the puddles turned to mud. Finally, "the brook dried up" (1 Kings 17:7). Verse 8 says, "then the word of the LORD came unto him."

Most of us would have begun to make alternative plans of our own about the time the stream showed signs of drying up. Obedience to the Lord might be our "Plan A," but the minute "Plan A" starts to get difficult, we start thinking about "Plan B." Not Elijah. I mentioned on Monday that Elijah obeyed the Lord one step at a time, even when all he could see was danger ahead, and he did not know what God would call him to do next. He was walking completely by faith, and he did not take one presumptuous step on his own.

When the Word of the Lord did finally come to him (v. 8), these were the instructions: "Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there." Zarephath was a town on the coast near Sidon, which was the home town of Jezebel herself. And in order to get there, Elijah's route would take him directly through the valley of Jezreel—where Jezebel and Ahab's palace was. He was walking right into the lion's den.

The carnal mind might observe Elijah's circumstances and conclude that the will of God is not a very secure place to be. What Elijah knew is that the will of God is the only secure place. He saw that by faith.

God had appointed a widow to care for Elijah in Zarephath, and therefore He would see him safely through the valley of Jezreel on his way there. Although that journey would take Elijah through the valley of death, he would fear no evil, because God was with him. In fact what looked like the valley of death was actually a corridor of safety for Elijah, because God was the one directing his steps.

That lesson is incredibly hard for most of us to learn. Second Corinthians 5:7: "we walk by faith, not by sight." Our natural tendency is to seek our security in things we can see. So walking by faith never feels very secure. We're tempted to abandon the walk of faith and seek our security in tangible things. But the truth is that real security is found only in the grace of God. And those who walk by faith are the only ones who have any kind of true security.

Contrast Ahab with Elijah in these circumstances. Ahab felt secure in his palace. He had servants to bring him food and water, even in the worst of the drought. He had bounty-hunters scouring the land for Elijah, whom he was determined to destroy. In earthly terms, it looked like Ahab was the secure one and Elijah was the one in serious jeopardy.

But the truth is that God's grace and favor rested on Elijah, and therefore there was nothing Ahab could ultimately do against him. In the words of Isaiah 54:17, "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD."

Meanwhile, God was determined to destroy Ahab, and therefore nothing could ultimately save him. God's patience is measureless, but His justice is ultimately sure, and Ahab, who loved wickedness and set himself against the Lord, would finally reap what he sowed.

Nothing in the world could shield him against that inevitability. Whatever security he enjoyed because of his wealth and political power was only a false security, because "Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain" (Psalm 127:1).

No earthly fortress can ever provide a security equal to the security of divine grace.

Phil's signature

jen elslager said...

Great post. I became pretty much deathly ill a few years ago, and I learned a great deal about trusting in His divine grace and His provision. My situation looked very bleak for a time, and we didn't know how well I'd pull through, but He carried me through it. Of course, I didn't get it all figured out, but I did learn a few things.

BTW, LOVE THE SNOWSHOE MEEZER! My cat looked just like that when he was a kitten. (Psst, Frank, it's not naked. It's wearing a sandal.)

brentjthomas said...

That looks just like the feral kitten we've recently taken in (Chappy). We found him in our shed on Easter Sunday. I was not a cat guy for the first 40 years of my life. Seriously. Not a cat guy at all. My wife wanted one, begged for one (there were tears), and I relented, snarlingly. But now I find that they melt my heart, utterly. Beautiful, unique creations of God. I suppose this correlates vaguely with your sermon, in that I previously thought I was presumptuously content, secure, ignoring or disdaining a part of God's creation, with which I now find myself madly in love.
This new feral kitten curls up on my chest, while I'm reading Tacitus, and purrs, and nuzzles my goatee, and never ceases from displaying his affection, almost to the point that reading becomes difficult.

brentjthomas said...

Your sermon is valuable to me right now, and needed, by the way. Thanks It is a challenge, struggling with feelings of insecurity. I need to rely on God more, our only security, and to walk by faith. This issue has been a very serious problem for me, of late.
My cat story, which I hope was not too trivial, revealed how one can have a willfully and woefully incomplete picture, until driven, compelled, to see more.

Daniel said...

I appreciate (am edified by) these pastoral posts the best. I had never thought about the physical location of the widows house, and what the journey to it entailed - excellent insight Phil - thank you.

On a here's a typo to fix kinda note, "he words of Isaiah 54:17" ... should be "the words of" ?

donsands said...

Thanks for the good teaching. You brought out the realness of walking in faith.
It is so difficult. Especially when yu are insecure, and this is where true security is.
I pray that I could walk in trusting the Lord as Elijah did, so that I might know this security, and please the Lord.
Thanks again.

DJP said...

I love it when someone takes a passage familiar to me, and brings out insights I'd never seen. Thanks, Phil; very encouraging, very meaningful.

It seems as if, in Biblical narratives, God almost delights in letting things go to the eleventh hour, and then well past it, before He acts. It isn't enough that Sarah be barren, and Abraham 60 — or 70, or 80, or even 90. He has to be "as good as dead," before God moves to fulfill His word. The Israelites have to be at the shore of the sea, with nowhere to run. Gideon has to have 'way fewer men. Jesus has to be dead not an hour, not a day, but three days.

He's clearly very serious about this whole faith-thing.

steve said...

Thanks for the encouragement, Phil. I remember John saying from the pulpit that God's will is the safest place to be no matter what our circumstances. We can never be reminded of that too much.

And I appreciate DJP's comment about God letting things go to the eleventh hour and beyond. Good observation.

And that cat looks like one very content critter.

Carla Rolfe said...

"Our natural tendency is to seek our security in things we can see. So walking by faith never feels very secure."

Oh how true that is. It's interesting though how God will allow (ordain, however one looks at it) specific trials and difficulties in our lives to show us just how much we need to walk by faith, and not by sight.

While it may go against our natural inclination to do this, I have learned (and am learning) that for me, it's so much more of a comfort to simply rest in His providence & mercy than to do anything else.

Great post today Phil, and once again very timely. Oh, and the kitty in the shoe? WAY too cute.

centuri0n said...

There's something lewd about that cat and that shoe ...

JackW said...

Phil ... nice post.

Frank ... don't pussyfoot.

LeeC said...

I've taken to calling this "The Gideon Principle" Elijah might work better even.

The whole "You want me to do what...with WHAT God??" As he whittles 33000 Israelites down to a mere 300.

Where on the other hand God is saying that He simply wants us to, well "Trust and Obey" and see that He is indeed God, He is in total control, and He, is, Good.

2 The LORD said to Gideon, "The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, for Israel would become boastful, saying, 'My own power has delivered me.'
Judges 7

We are weak, we need to realize it. And at times God is gracious enough to yank whatever pillars we are relying on for security besides Him out from under us so that we may see that we are truly secure when following His will.

DJP said...

Wouldn't you like to have seen Gideon's face when Yahweh said, "Nahh... still too many."

LeeC said...

DJP said...
Wouldn't you like to have seen Gideon's face when Yahweh said, "Nahh... still too many."

Oh, yeah.

the thing I love about Gideon is he starts out as a weak person even by the worlds standards, God sdays "You are what I say you are, not what you or anyone else thinks you are!"

And then give him a toothbrush to scrub the deck of the U.S.S. Nimitz in ten minutes

"I can't do that!"
Yells Gideon.

"No, that right, but 'I' can, and thats the point."
Says the Lord.

I wish I could grasp how weak I am on my own, it would be a lot les painful...oh the irony. ;)

jbuck21 said...

"The whole Christian life is a movement away from self dependence toward Christ dependence" - Piper

Sewing said...

Phil, thank you, thank you, thank you for this post. It is exactly what I needed to read today.

Dan, what you wrote is so true: "It seems as if, in Biblical narratives, God almost delights in letting things go to the eleventh hour, and then well past it, before He acts." Not just Biblical narratives, but contemporary life as well. It seems that we will never start really trying to trust God until things look so utterly hopeless than only God can turn it all around.

This is the first cat image that doesn't look slightly creepy. You guys are getting soft.

Jackw, there has got to be some kind of Brilliant Pun Award for your quip.

one busy mom said...

great post. Great comments. Very timely. Sadly, it seems slightly past the eleventh hour for our family. Hopefully, someday I'll be able to say God turned a handful of impossible situations arround too.

SolaMeanie said...

Is it possible that the cat passed out BECAUSE of the sandal?

Excuse me.

Ken Silva said...

If I might offer encouragement in something I taught my local church. We tend to look at things with God backward. Such is the case with trials and "tests."

We will hear people say, "God is testing me to see if I'll be faithful." It's actually the reverse. The Lord alreadys knows you'll come through the situation by depending upon Him.

So how great is this! God gives us the chance to see how much of Him is really in us as He brings us through each thing that is imnpossible by mere human standards. :-)

Matt said...

I'll share Daniel's sentiments here. It is important to give a defense of the gospel (i.e. - challenge modernism and postmodernism, etc.) and also to positively teach through biblical exposition. What I like about this site is that I can get both here. Phil, thanks for being the exegete you are - great work.


text:
StartFast: Teams Prepare for Demo Day After Three Months in Accelerator

August 12, 2014

10:30 am

Nomi Foster, the CEO of Platypus TV, is one of the six CEOs who will pitch to investors at demo day for the StartFast Venture Accelerator on August 14th at the WCNY Public Television and Radio in Syracuse, NY.

“We’re looking forward to demoing it for investors and mentors and, more importantly, putting it out there for the public,” says Foster of the team’s app. “I will say, though, that all of this presenting practice has really helped hone my skills, especially since I haven’t pitched in over a year. I now feel more comfortable speaking in public and much better with off-the-cuff.”

Since the end of May, six teams have been working out of StartFast, a mentorship-driven venture accelerator in downtown Syracuse. With renowned mentors and team members coming from as far as Australia, StartFast is truly a world-class accelerator.

“It’s been a great summer. These are really the best times I’ve had the opportunity to work with and the best set of interns and I’m really pleased with the support from the community, investors, and sponsors,” says Chuck Stormon, one of the managing directors at StartFast, serial entrepreneur and author of Start Fast!: How to Accelerate Your Software, Web, or Mobile Venture.

Every year, the accelerator chooses 5-10 software, mobile, and Internet companies that each receives $25,000. The six teams pitching include Platypus TV, Mass Mosaic, Wyzerr, Zursh, Instamour, and Interface Foundry.

“We modeled this program on TechStars in Boulder. Just the way that community has embraced startups, the Syracuse and surrounding communities have shown they want to help and support,” says Nasir Ali, another one of the StartFast managing directors, serial entrepreneur, angel investor, and CEO and cofounder of Upstate Venture Connect.

Additionally, according to their website, “StartFast’s managing directors have invested in and mentored more than 26 companies, enabling them to raise over $40 million (10x the original capital of their initial angel investments). To date, two of these companies have had exits.”

Regardless of what happens at Demo Day, many of the CEOs are grateful for the experience.

“This summer has taught the team a lot,” says Foster. “We’re a stronger team than even we imagined, this idea will always be evolving, we’re a lot more capable than even we thought, and, ultimately, we have a great CNY community behind us every step of the way.”

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Amanda Quick is a tech/startup reporter covering young entrepreneurs for Tech Cocktail. She's also interested in covering apps, emerging technology, IoT and beauty & wellness. Amanda is currently in grad school at Syracuse University studying Information Management. In the past she has interned at NBC Sports, NBC Olympics, Brand-Yourself, and the Times Leader Newspaper as well as worked at WWNY-TV and the StartFast Venture Accelerator in Upstate New York. Amanda is originally from Kansas City, MO but has also lived in Canton, MA and Scranton, PA. To learn more you can visit Like Amanda on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

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text:
Slump in smartphone biz? Samsung Q2 profit estimate misses forecast

05 Jul 2013 , 07:34

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd missed quarterly earnings forecasts on Friday as it reported a 47 percent rise in April-June operating profit to a record 9.5 trillion won ($8.3 billion), reviving concerns for growth in its smartphone business.

The guidance, released ahead of full quarterly results due on 26 July, was worse than an average forecast of 10.16 trillion won in a poll of 43 analysts by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The South Korean firm is expected to report higher earnings in the current and fourth quarters as sales of its latest Galaxy S4 phone pick up and new products hit the stores.

But margins are widely seen easing as the rapid growth of the high-end smartphone market tapers off and consumers in countries like China opt for stripped-down cheaper devices.

“The slowdown in its handset business appears to be worse than expected and the disappointing result simply reindorses the market view that Samsung’s smartphone growth momentum is slowing,” said Lee Sei-chul, an analyst at Meritz Securities.

Samsung Galaxy S4 poster in the background. AP

“But it’s got the component side of the business, which is showing solid improvements, and new handset product lineups for the third quarter, so (overall) earnings are likely to grow again in the current quarter.”

Shares of Samsung, worth $185 billion, have dropped 15 percent since early June, hit by a series of brokerage downgrades. The share price reflects concerns about Samsung’s handset margins, with its mobile business generating 70 percent of the tech giant’s total profit.

The fall in the share price equates to a drop in market value of 33 trillion won ($29 billion), almost equal to the combined market capitalisation of Sony Corp and LG Electronics Inc.

Competition is getting intense with Chinese manufacturers such as Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corp making ground in the popular mid- to low-end market, especially in China, the world’s biggest mobile market.

Underscoring the growing focus on cheaper devices, Nokia Oyj, once the handset king, unveiled two stripped-down 3G phones this week. They allow access to popular applications such as Facebook and Twitter, and sell for just $68.

Making up for weakening growth in mobiles, Samsung’s component business is expected to show a solid recovery.

Prices of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips, used mainly in computers, have leapt nearly 90 percent so far this year even as PC sales plummeted, while the market for NAND memory chips has tightened on booming demand from mobile devices.

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LDSTech 2015 Conference
LDSTech 2012 Conference summary Print E-mail
Written by Tom Johnson
Thursday, 26 April 2012

Thanks to everyone who participated in the LDSTech 2012 Conference. Over the course of three days, there were 41 presentations and 32 projects. For a quick summary about the conference and the LDSTech effort in general, see this infographic:

LDSTech Conference infographic

Overall, 475 unique volunteers (non-employees) attended the conference. On Wednesday, 130 attended; on Thursday, 300 attended, on Friday another 300 attended. Some volunteers attended only Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, but the unique number of attendees was 475 overall.

New getting started guides available Print E-mail
Written by Tom Johnson
Friday, 27 April 2012

New getting started guides for Maps, Youth, Personal Progress, Duty to God, and have been added to the getting started guides page on the wiki. The new guides are highlighted in red below.

Updated getting started guides

These getting started guides provide simple, introductory information about the application on one page. There are now a total of 15 getting started guides available.

Introduction to LDSTech Projects Print E-mail
Written by David Morris
Wednesday, 25 April 2012

Latter-day Saint history is one of sacrifice and service in building the kingdom of God on earth. Through the early saints’ contribution of their skills, tools, and organization, the saints built temples, constructed chapels, and established vibrant communities. Skilled engineers, stone masons, designers, wood workers, architects, and other saints all worked together in a collaborative, service-based community.

LDSTech projects

LDSTech projects are a modern version of the same principle of service practiced by early Latter-day Saints.

LDSTech projects are founded on this same principle of community service. The goal of these projects is to draw upon the technical talents and skills of its members to hasten the work of the Church.

Rather than build temples, LDSTech project members focus on building software and other technical solutions. Through LDSTech projects, more than 800 people work on various technical projects. Thousands more are willing to help. The projects emphasize quality assurance, technical writing, beta testing, and development.

There's a new wiki page available -- Introduction to LDSTech projects -- that answers many introductory questions about LDSTech projects. Questions addressed include the following:

  • How do you communicate with members?
  • Why do we have LDSTech projects?
  • What is the purpose of LDSTech?
  • Who works on LDSTech projects?
  • What if I want to contribute service long-term?
  • How else can I serve?
  • How do I find out what volunteers in my area are serving?
  • What projects are available?
  • Why is testing an emphasis in volunteer work?
  • How much time does it require?
  • Can I start my own LDSTech project?
  • Who leads LDSTech projects?

To read more, see Introduction to LDSTech projects.

LDS Maps Version 3.0 released Print E-mail
Written by Keri Marler and Tom Johnson
Wednesday, 18 April 2012

A new version of LDS Maps is available. Version 3.0 of LDS Maps includes a host of new features that improve your experience in finding meetinghouses, members in your stake, and a variety of Church locations.

From, you can access Maps by going to Tools > Maps. The direct URL for accessing Maps is

LDS Maps

The features included in the 3.0 release include the following:

  • Single line search
  • Household verifications
  • "Maps 101" overlay help
  • "What’s Nearby" feature
  • Improved print options
  • Numerous map display options
  • New layers
  • Unit boundary maps
  • "Locate me" feature
  • Improved iPad and tablet support
  • Metrics units options

To read more detail about each of these features, see the LDS Maps release notes.

For introductory information about LDS Maps, see the LDS Maps getting started guide. You can also view quick reference guides for other applications on the getting started guides wiki page.

MLS 3.4.3 released Print E-mail
Written by Tom Johnson
Wednesday, 18 April 2012

MLS version 3.4.3 was released this week. The release includes updates to various Seminary and Institute reports, Ward/Branch and Stake/District Organization Application forms, the Bishopric Action and Interview List, Visiting Teaching Reporting, Membership Audit, and more. For details about the updates, see MLS release notes.

Look for the "Church Websites" link Print E-mail
Written by Fernando Camilo
Wednesday, 18 April 2012

A new link has been added to,, Newsroom and Mormon Channel, showing some of the major Church websites in one single place. The link briefly explains the purpose of each website and has quick links from each page for faster navigation. The link can be found on the top right corner of each page under "Church Websites".

Church Websites Link

When you click the link, a panel drops down showing other Church websites.

Church websites panel

New Friend Website Print E-mail
Written by Fernando Camilo
Tuesday, 17 April 2012

The Friend Magazine has updated its website and released it at The new site aggregates several resources for parents and teachers to help them teach the gospel to children. Some of these resources include ASL Primary Song videos, Children's Lesson Helps, Games and Activities and more. Magazine articles from 1971 until present are also available on the site, with complete PDFs of the magazine starting from 2001.

Friend Website

Instantly see your ward boundaries and members on a map Print E-mail
Written by Jeff Van Drimmelen
Sunday, 15 April 2012

I remember working several years ago to map out all the members of our ward. We wanted to create a map for an emergency preparedness plan so that families could check on other families who lived nearby. This was a long and tedious process that involved pasting copies of maps together and adding hundreds of little pins. Eventually we advanced to where we could use some software to do this, but it was so complicated that at times it felt like the paper and pins would be easier.

Well, those days are long gone. Did you know you can now see a listing of your ward instantly on LDS Maps, as well as the ward boundaries? LDS Maps has a variety of uses. Here are a few that come to mind:

  • Emergency preparedness planning
  • Home and visiting teaching
  • Membership cleanup (those members outside your ward boundaries are easy to see!)
  • Bishopric and other leadership visits
  • Missionary work (our ward mission split the ward up into districts)
  • Realignment of ward boundaries in the stake

The application is pretty straightforward. From, go to Tools > Maps, and click the Sign In button in the upper-right corner. You can also go directly to (Note that you need an LDS Account to sign in.)

Google Groups now integrated with LDSTech projects Print E-mail
Written by Tom Johnson
Saturday, 14 April 2012

Google Groups is now integrated with LDSTech projects. When you join a project, you'll automatically be added to the Google Group set up for the project. Google Groups functions as the e-mail listserv for the project, and facilitates communication among project members.

Projects can have several types of Google Groups: Announcement only, Discussion, and Commits groups. Announcement only groups provide one-way communication from the project managers to the team. Discussion groups allow for conversations and discussions among all team members. Commits groups allow members to receive updates when code is committed to the Subversion repository.

Previously, communication within project teams was non-standard and varied from project to project. Since frequent communication is essential for project success, the team needed to implement a seamless and low-overhead method for increasing the communication among project teams.

You can control your subscriptions to various Google Groups by clicking Projects on the top menu, and then clicking the Groups button (see below). For more information about the integration of Google Groups with LDSTech, see Google Groups integration with LDSTech projects.

Google Groups integration with LDSTech projects

LDSTech Wiki Editing Tutorial Print E-mail
Written by Tom Johnson
Tuesday, 03 April 2012

LDSTech WikiNearly every LDSTech project uses the LDSTech wiki as a platform for project information. Besides project information, the wiki has information about applications, meetinghouse technology, clerk-related topics, family safety, and more.

The LDSTech wiki uses Mediawiki, the same wiki platform as Wikipedia. On the LDSTech wiki, any user who logs in with an LDS Account can make edits to pages. However, you do have to understand a little about wiki syntax and rules as you make contributions to the wiki. As a learning resource, a Wiki editing tutorial page is now available. The tutorial provides about 20 steps you can walk through to get up and running on the wiki.

LDSTech wiki editing tutorial

Check out the wiki tutorial. If you complete the tutorial steps, add a comment to this post about your experience.

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LDSTech Conference

Watch session streams from
LDSTech Conferences.

LDSTech Missionaries

Learn how to become a full time or part time LDSTech Missionary.

Meetinghouse Technology

Support for Meetinghouse Technology is available on the MHTech site.

LDS Connected

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Tech Outreach and Onboarding

One thing that we spent a lot of time talking about at tonight’s meeting (though this is FAR from the first time we’ve had this discussion) is the fact that our efforts to connect with interested folks who want to help have been absolutely dismal thus far. One of the things I brought up at the meeting (sometimes with less of my signature tact and cheer than usual – sorry) was the fact that we have tried many ideas for outreach and on-boarding, but they have repeatedly fallen short of our aspirations, usually because no one steps up to really make them work. I tend to think it is not because we have been lacking the perfect piece of software, and not because we have been lacking the right imaging or branding or marketing, but rather because we have been lacking the individual human beings with enough time/motivation/interest to take it upon themselves to really push these efforts forward. I think that many of the things we have tried, and the things we have repeatedly discussed trying, could have worked great if only they had been actively followed-through on. To help contribute to this conversation, I figured it might be helpful to compile a list of some of the tactics we have tried thus far and a brief analysis of their success:

  • IWG Google Group: Hundreds joined during the October rush. At that point, we even had a team of about 3 or 4 off-site volunteers who were Google Group moderators who were actively screening incoming messages and helping direct interested parities to the right place. Many reached out to us though that. Lots wanted our help on outside projects at a time when (like now) we had no resources to spare. Lots wanted to offer suggestions at a time when (like now) we had very limited capacity to implement them. Some were able to use this tool to get involved and stay in the loop, but as time passed, the list traffic slowed down and began to be pretty polarized. Now traffic has slowed even more. We currently have 341 subscribed members, presumably with a HUGE range of things to offer to the group, most of whom have probably changed their preferences to “no email” or setup gmail filters to not see the messages. As far as I can tell, our once-acitve team of moderators has been gone for months.
  • IRC Channel: We first began using this to collaborate on the 2.0 initial build. We advertised it on the Google Group. Since then, this has proven to be a great way to communicate and collaborate. Occasionally, new people will join the IRC channel and say they have skills and want to help. This sometimes is an effective way of on-boarding, but it requires that right then and there, someone in IRC stop what they’re doing to help greet and orient the newbie. Also, tech folks from other occupations sometimes join us in IRC for help/advice. This is also sometimes pretty successful, but also interrupts any work that is going on in IRC. Overall, since IRC is primarily just steaming real-time chat, it is not ideal for providing background info to newbies, but it is good for making people feel like they’re beginning to establish a personal relationship with Tech Ops and not just being asked to read off a website. As I write this, 10 of the 20 humans in IRC (not including the esteemed iwg-bot) are people that I do not personally know who they are. Maybe they’re active in some corner of our work, but not in a way that is evident to me personally. We have also jumped into other IRC channels briefly (wordpress, buddypress, etc) and asked for interested with some good results. We could definitely do more of this.
  • Volunteer Form at This was our big initial push to get people to help us develop When we first built it, we promoted it on twitter, craigslist, google groups, etc. We got a whole bunch of replies and many of them lead directly to great people (some of whom are still core members of Tech Ops, some of whom did great work and then moved on, and some of whom never really got too involved). After the initial push of me personally contacting the initial volunteers from that form, that role was handed off many times to different people/groups of people and at this point, I don’t even remember who is supposedly currently bottom-lining this effort. There are 118 entries on the form. Many of these people once showed some interest but we have not followed up with them.
  • Orientation Meetings: At one point, we had the idea to have one of our weekly meetings each week be an orientation meeting to get people up to speed on what was happening in Tech Ops and build personal relationships so they would be able to plug right in a productive way. I think this plan lasted for about 1 week before fizzling out. It then evolved into having separate training sessions after the meetings on Sundays. This lasted for a few more weeks before fizzling. Tonight at the meeting, there was talk of having the first meeting of every month be a bit of an on-boarding/orientation meeting.
  • IWG Blog: Ron did a lot of work setting up the blog to try to solve some of the same problems we continue to struggle with today including project lists, project documentation, outreach, and more. It never got much traction within the group.
  • Tech Ops Blog: We have been beginning to blog a little more on our new blog. We’ll see how this goes…
  • Tech Ops Group Page: We have 525 members of our group on This is within the top 96% of groups on the site in terms of membership. That said, the participation in our forum conversations is not very high. We also have the ability to send emails to all of those 525 members directly through, but as far as I know we have never done that. This could be a GREAT way to reach out to people (weekly?) to advertise projects, both internal and external, which need help.
  • @OWS_Tech: I recently made a twitter handle for us. We currently have 300 followers. As far as I know, Patricia and I tweet on it. Anyone else want to? I have had a couple of people get in touch with me via twitter to help and some have taken some steps to follow-through on that.
  • Direct one-on-one Outreach: Both in person at OWS and online, we have had some good success with personally reaching out to specific people that we know have some of the skills we need. This is time-consuming but can yield good results, in my experience.
  • MSM Interviews: Lots of us have done articles in various mainstream media outlets. These have definitely generated some buzz and brought some interest in.
  • Enterprise Outreach: Matt has been reaching out to companies in the industry to get support/free stuff. This has been very successful on the free stuff front.
  • Unconference Session: Not a huge amount of attendance. Was more of an opportunity to do a training than a real on-boarding process.
  • InterOcc calls: Lots of interest, and lots of talking, but hasn’t lead to much direct collaboration, AFAIK.
  • Volunteer Services (OWS_Works): They are working hard to solve these problems movement-wide. I do not know specifically of any success stories yet, though, of people that actually found us through Volunteer Services and were able to connect and start being involved.
  • In-Reach: We have had some contact with folks staying at churches, folks in other WGs, etc. A few have expressed interest in helping. Usually, though, this falls through because it is hard to make connections and actually get this to move forward, or because people are too busy, or because access to technology is too limited.
  • Local Meet-Up Visits: Some folks in the group have done this on a very limited scale. This could be much more active.

So, I guess my point is, for all the talk of branding and imaging and marketing, we have not really even been able to send out emails or effectively follow-up with people who have already said they want to help. I think we have a long way to go before branding is the thing that is holding us back.

  1. drew

    This is a great use of our blog. I hope everyone will start posting more stuff like this. Personally I think this blog is an amazing way to keep people up to date, push them to volunteer, and help them understand the projects we are working on.

  2. Charles Lenchner

    What a great list of things that need doing. Great background for folks trying to get involved. We should promote this.
    (Still a fan of marketing/branding fun!)

  3. Jack Smith

    Its a confusing system. I didn’t know if such a open collaborative tech movement existed online. Just so happened I was visiting, which to the average user offers no hint by URL name alone. Once you click through you see ‘New York General Assembly’, again, gives no hint to a person seeking global collaboration. I initially thought it was specific to NY and didn’t host the global tech group. Once I figured out this was possibly the correct place, I then had to search through dozens of groups and to track down an unknown number of groups relating to tech. Tech Ops seems to be the place, albeit a little quiet. Then I found some links in forum, to wiki, projects being worked on, blog, etc. Although much of this info was spread across several sources, so it took a little work to piece together a story about what is happening. Further confusion occurs when forum talk revolves around NY local meetings, etc. Are there meetings online? how open are you guys to non NY’ers collaborating on the projects being discussed? etc.

    I see you guys are consistently progressing, great job, but you are spread too thin and hidden behind layers of non-descript branding. Perhaps separating the Global Occupy branding from the Occupy NY may make things more appealing and clear to those who wish to collaborate online.

    • Jake

      We definitely recognize that this is all hard for the average/new user to figure out.

      To clear up some confusion, Jack, and all groups, blogs, and events connected to it really are about Occupy Wall Street, specifically, here in NYC. That includes this blog and this Tech Ops group. That said, we do have many folks from outside NYC collaborating with us on NYC-based projects. We need all the help we can get.

      At the same time, I will note that we are in communication with tech-minded folks from many other occupations around the country and around the world to try to build something much bigger and much more broad. That is still mostly a dream at this point, but we’re working on it, one conference call at a time.

  4. Brian Martinez

    Foremost I would like to congratulate the Tech Ops team for the magnitude of work you all have accomplished to date. I have ideas that would help developers as myself get up to speed more efficiently. I have tried to replicate your environment locally and ran across a series of issues that proved to be aggravating and time consuming. Do you all have a developer environment online whereby developers can spend some time training and becoming knowledgeable to your environment and platform? Developing web cam overviews as to where you are at, what you have accomplished to include the key php files used, your DB structures, methods you have developed, SQL statements etc… Essentially an MVC breakout in a web cam format would be extremely helpful in the initial training and overview process and would help capable developers get up to speed without doing to much heavy lifting. It would also be far more efficient and lessen the burden on the Tech Ops Team to be in a constant training mode with newbeeies. I volunteer to put this together for tech ops since it would get me up to speed and leave a lasting set of tutorials for others to view.

    For example, at one of your training sessions we can capture the session on web cams using Camtasia Studio and post it so others can review to use as a foundation and reference point. While the Google Group, Wiki, IRC are foundational they really do not paint the complete picture from a development standpoint. The screen cams will also enable those who cannot get into NYC for a formal training session the capacity to train Occupying their couch.

    If you all have an interest to proceed with this idea or would like to developed it further please contact me accordingly. I am reaching out, once again, so please reach back.

    • Jake

      Hi Brian,

      Thanks for being in touch! We do have a team heading up trainings, both in person and as web-casts, but these are really being designed to help train USERS of the sites on how to use them most effectively. That said, we also need a better way to train future developers and get people up to speed. We have the wiki, which is full of a lot of useful documentation, but that can be improved and videos are always good fun. I hear you saying that you would be willing to create those resources. That’s fantastic. Please email us at so we can discuss this further and get you rolling.

  5. liza

    your report is brilliant and it made me wonder if the problem isn’t that nobody has stepped up but that we aren’t clear as to how to follow up with all these channels of communication.

    you’ve identified 15 channels of communication and this, by itself, can be overwhelming. i’ve started a board at

    and all am asking is for people to help organize these 15 channels into manageable FOLLOW-UP categories. off the bat i can think of 4 FOLLOW UP categories: EMAIL, DOCUMENT, PERSON, TWEET. maybe this isn’t the way to identify the follow ups, but that’s all i have at the moment :D suggestions


text:
Forgot your password?

+ - How to Brick an Electric Car 4

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Michael DeGusta writes that Tesla Motors’ Roadster apparently suffer from a severe limitation that can largely destroy the value of the vehicle. If the battery is ever totally discharged, the owner is left with what Tesla describes as a “brick”: a completely immobile vehicle that cannot be started or even pushed down the street. Of the approximately 2,200 Roadsters sold to date, at least five Roadsters have been “bricked” due to battery depletion that can only be repaired by paying Tesla $40,000 to replace the entire battery and the damage is not covered by warranty (PDF). Behind the scenes Tesla has seemingly been scrambling to try to ensure existing owners don’t “brick” their cars. After the first 500 Roadsters, Tesla added a remote monitoring system to their vehicles that Tesla uses to monitor various vehicle metrics including the battery charge levels and Tesla has used this information on multiple occasions to proactively telephone customers to warn them when their Roadster’s battery was dangerously low. "In at least one case, Tesla went even further. The Tesla service manager admitted that, unable to contact an owner by phone, Tesla remotely activated a dying vehicle’s GPS to determine its location and then dispatched Tesla staff to go there," writes DeGusta. "Going to these lengths could be seen as customer service, but it would also seem to fit with an internal awareness at Tesla of the gravity of the “bricking” problem, and the potentially disastrous public relations and sales fallout that could result from it becoming more broadly known.""
This discussion was created for logged-in users only, but now has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

How to Brick an Electric Car

Comments Filter:
  • Let me get this right, a "High Tech" company that makes $150,000 electric cars can't find a solution to battery exhaustion that my $49 electric drill can?

    When the battery is completely exhausted in my drill, I recharge it and all is fine. Now, I realize that do ing that many times will shorten it's (the battery's) life, but it will run just fine after a few hours on the charger!

    If nothing else, put in an out-shutoff that reserves 2-3% of the battery so you don't brick it. That would add what - $12 to th

Practical people would be more practical if they would take a little more time for dreaming. -- J. P. McEvoy


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Target taking advantage of GTA IV to push Mother's Day sales

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T-Mobile officially rolls out UMTS/HSDPA network

gtatargetad thumb

Brian over at Kotaku found this little ad by Target and I have to admit it’s pretty ingenious, but then again it’s pretty stupid. If I already owned GTA IV, what the hell would I be doing cruising around on Target’s site for? Nice try, Target.

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Kijubi Launches Booking Engine For Local Outdoor Activities

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Video: Arduino-powered life size electronic snowball fight game (I can’t explain it)

The online travel booking market is saturated with both large companies and startups which want a share of an $847 billion dollar industry. But in this type of competitive environment, niche sites that offer personalized services that the big guys like Kayak and Expedia can’t do because of scale, can be successful. One such service is Kijubi, a booking engine for local outdoor activities and travel and a TechCrunch50 DemoPit startup. The startup aims to help people book surfing trips, indoor skydiving and other niche outdoor activities on its centralized platform. You can see a live demo of Kijubi and meet the startup’s founders at the DemoPit at next week’s conference. Please note that Kijubi’s site will not be launching until Monday, September 14, but you can email to test out the site beforehand.

Kijubi allows you to research, plan and book a myriad of outdoor activities in a variety of locations around the United States, including California, Nevada, Maryland, and Florida. Kijubi’s co-founder and CEO Billy Fried started the company after finding that it was tough for consumers to book niche outdoor activities, like indoor skydiving or surfing lessons, on the internet because many of these independent operations are mom and pop type of businesses that don’t have an online presence.

That’s where Kijubi comes in. The startup aggregates all of these activity operators and will facilitate the booking of these activities for you. Plus, you can book all of your other travel, including flights, cars, and lodging on the site.

From sea kayaking to skydiving to discount theme park passes, Kijubi offers over 70 categories of outdoor activities that you can easily find by theme (i.e. kids, romance, luxury), location, and type (i.e. air, water, land). The beauty of Kijubi is that it’s comprehensive; you can book everything, including air, car, hotels, and activities, on one site. Another notable feature of the site is the ability to gift activities to friends or family.

Similar to other travel sites, Kijubi monetizes through commissions. Each time a user books a flight, activity, hotel etc., Kijubi takes a cut. Kijubi is also providing many activity vendors with the technology for e-commerce platforms, in which the startup is able to take a percentage of credit card processing fees. And of course, Kijubi will be advertising on its site.

As of now, Kijubi only covers four states in the U.S., but plans to expand within the U.S. as well as internationally. Even from personal experience, Kijubi seems like it adds value to the online travel industry. I know that when I’ve traveled, I often leave the planning of the activity portion of the trip until I get to the hotel, which leads to late-bookings and not always being able to participate in a desired activity. Next time, I’ll look too Kijubi to book my hot air balloon ride over Napa Valley or flying lesson in San Diego.

At TechCrunch50’s DemoPit next Monday and Tuesday, Kijubi will be giving away a bunch of cool outdoor activities from indoor skydiving to biking tours through Napa Valley via a Twitter contest. Follow Kijubi and Tweet following message “RT #Kijubi #TechCrunch50 and tell Kijubi why you should win an free pass to try out an outdoor activity like sailing lessons or a bike tour in Napa Valley. The most creative tweets will win activities. You can also enter by dropping a business card at Kijubi’s booth at the DemoPit.

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Case-mod: Stargate Pyramid HTPC

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Sony Ericsson will change *everything* with a headset that automatically turns on

There’s an interesting correlation between computer hobbyists and science fiction fans. That’s never more obvious then when you see some of the custom case mods that people produce. Case in point, today we have a Stargate Goa’uld Ha’tak inspired modification. Whomever built this thing obviously spent an enormous amount of time on it, and it really shows in their trousers.

PC modder “Gup” built this project by hand, and while he doesn’t reveal exactly how long it took him to build it, or how much he spent, it’s truly a labor of love. The case opens via a motor driven cover, and reveals a custom interface on an LCD monitor. It’s not powerhouse of a computer, but obviously it’s designed as a HTPC and not a gaming rig.

Here’s the full spec:
Intel T7200 Core2Duo
Mini-ITX Commell LV-677
2Gb DDR2
160Gb HDD
Gforce 9400GT

Obviously, this is a one off design, and won’t be available at a retailer any time soon. I definitely encourage you to watch the video, “Gup” did a really good job and you can get a better idea of exactly how he had to hand craft every part.

[via Slashgear]

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steve garrity
founders stories

Founder Story: Hearsay Social’s Steve Garrity On How To Create A Strong Engineering Culture

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Beefing Up Its Entertainment Content, Xbox Unveils New Apps From Blip.TV, Rhapsody, LOVEFiLM, IGN And More

Earlier this week, I sat down with Steve Garrity, co-founder and CTO of Hearsay Social. Steve is a former hire of mine from Microsoft who transitioned from working at a large corporation to founding his own startup.

Steve shares his thoughts and learning from managing an engineer-driven company that expanded from zero to one hundred in three years. He gives input on important hires in the early startup stages and how he transitioned from running engineering to a new VP of Engineering that he hired.

Hearsay Social is a leading enterprise software for social media management. Hearsay Social helps large companies manage compliance, marketing, and sales on social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, and Foursquare.

Disclosure: Michael Abbott is a general partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, previously Twitter’s VP of Engineering, and a founder himself.


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Next Story

Social Transit App Moovit Launches In New York City, Just In Time To Help All Those Hapless Tourists

In an attempt to shed its web-based search roots in favor of a mobile-only media format, Qwiki today is unveiling an iPhone app that looks to channel the noise of mobile over-sharing through curated storytelling. The release leverages the combined success of the company’s iPad app and publishing tool, which allowed content creators, media organizations, and everyone in between to develop guided story-telling experiences around any subject.

CEO Doug Imbruce says that the new app aims to give users an alternative way to discover, capture and share moments while on-the-go by automatically pre-selecting a user’s best pictures and videos and creating a video-based slideshow, complete with a soundtrack from your music library.

In 2010, Qwiki captured the TechCrunch Disrupt Cup, thanks to an ambitious product that sought to transform the way people consume information online. Like an interactive, multimedia version of Wikipedia, Qwiki essentially combined images, audio, and video for pretty much anything you could search for on the web into multidimensional, narrated movies. Controversial and well-funded by big names from the start, Qwiki has has had plenty of ups and downs and seen a number of changes in directions since. Two years later, Qwiki’s evolution has finally led to what it hopes will be its decisive pivot.

Edit-ScreenThe idea with the new iPhone app, Imbruce says, is to give users the ability to share their experiences in real time, whether in full moments or experiences, packaging them in 30-second mobile videos. Users can watch, comment on, and “like” each piece of media individually, easily sharing those Qwikis via Facebook and Twitter, as well as within Qwiki’s community. This allows them to discover and interact with other Qwiki users, bloggers and media outlets, while customizing their video slideshows by adding or removing pictures and videos, inserting captions, selecting filters and editing the soundtrack auto-selected by Qwiki.

In essence, the new Qwiki is like Viddy meets Slide (with automation), in that the app automatically pulls pictures and videos together from events you’ve captured on your phone and produces a short movie. The app automates those moments and the pacing between frames, adding its own transitions and pulling in an appropriate soundtrack.

Playing-PortraitIf you don’t like what Qwiki has automatically selected, you can edit away. The whole thing is customizable, so you can add photos it missed, take out ones that include your ex-significant other, and add text and filters as you would for a slideshow. And to that point, Qwikis can be viewed either as reels or as actual photo albums, allowing friends, family and stalkers to explore your birthday, graduation, company barbeque (etc.) stories at their own pace.

Qwiki’s iPhone app has been in development for over a year, and that extra time spent shows. The user experience improves on that of its iPad app, especially for the iPhone 5, as Qwiki developed it significantly for the latest generation.

The CEO says that he believes this first version of its new mobile product will take it out of the realm of gimmicky novelty and into the realm of real utility, removing the hassle of curating your photos, links, videos and moments into galleries, instead giving you access to one-tap storytelling. Less work, more enjoyment. And, since Qwikis are embeddable, you can post them on your Tumblr or your friend’s website. Portable web-compatible Qwikis from a mobile-only world. Mind. Blown.

The app is still in invite-only beta, and the startup will be granting access gradually over the next few weeks. For readers interested in testing it out, click over to the Qwiki’s homepage here and enter your email address. The first 100 or so readers will get immediate access.

Screen shot 2012-12-20 at 8.39.53 AM


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Snapchat Settles With FTC After Being Dishonest With Users About Privacy

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Build An Event Crew Qwerkly With Werkly

Snapchat has entered into a consent decree with the FTC to address concerns over the company’s privacy policy, app description, and in-app notifications after the ephemeral messaging service was at the center of a huge data breach last year, exposing 4.6 million usernames and phone numbers.

According to the FTC, the security breach was in direct contradiction to promises made by the service around security and disappearing messages.

FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez had this to say:

Snapchat’s failure to secure its Find Friends feature resulted in a security breach that enabled attackers to compile a database of 4.6 million Snapchat usernames and phone numbers.”

If a company markets privacy and security as key selling points in pitching its service to consumers, it is critical that it keep those promises. Any company that makes misrepresentations to consumers about its privacy and security practices risks FTC action.

Snapchat co-founder Evan Spiegel has always been up-front about the fact that Snapchat pictures, while ephemeral, are relatively easy to capture and save, whether by taking a photo with another camera, screencapping it, or through more deceptive means. However, the description of the app on the App Store and within the company’s privacy policy didn’t necessarily make that crystal clear.

This comes in response to a complaint filed by the Electronic Privacy Information Center last year.

Here’s what Snapchat had to say in an official blog post on the matter:

When we started building Snapchat, we were focused on developing a unique, fast, and fun way to communicate with photos. We learned a lot during those early days. One of the ways we learned was by making mistakes, acknowledging them, and fixing them.

While we were focused on building, some things didn’t get the attention they could have. One of those was being more precise with how we communicated with the Snapchat community. This morning we entered into a consent decree with the FTC that addresses concerns raised by the commission. Even before today’s consent decree was announced, we had resolved most of those concerns over the past year by improving the wording of our privacy policy, app description, and in-app just-in-time notifications. And we continue to invest heavily in security and countermeasures to prevent abuse.

We are devoted to promoting user privacy and giving Snapchatters control over how and with whom they communicate. That’s something we’ve always taken seriously, and always will.

Following Snapchat’s big data leak, the company came under fire for not responding to warnings made by security researchers and experts who had found a way to access Snapchat’s user data. Hopefully Snapchat has learned a lesson about being honest with its users, growing and keeping their trust, and protecting their information.

Re/Code reports that the FTC settlement prohibits Snapchat from “misrepresenting the extent to which it maintains the privacy, security, or confidentiality of users’ information.” It also requires that Snapchat re-draft its privacy program, as well as undergo independent monitoring for the next 20 years.


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 Import Export Code (IEC) For PayPal India Withdrawals | Paypal India Payment
Import Export Code (IEC) For PayPal India Payment Withdrawals
By on February 27th, 2010

Earlier today, we told you about how PayPal had restarted bank withdrawals for Indian users, however, that announcement came with a catch. Indian users had to fill a field called "Export Code" to initiate the withdrawal.

Now, PayPal has not really clarified much about the "Export Code", but it is basically a Importer Exporter Code (IEC) which is issued by the Government of India, for people who Import or Export goods or services outside India.

Now, PayPal by themselves will not provide users with an "Export Code" and users who require to withdraw payments to their banks will have to apply for it themselves and the process in itself might take several weeks.

So now designers, freelances and website payments will come under the prerogative of Import/Export laws, and taxes for the same will be applicable. This is definitely going to complicate the process of receiving and sending payments for PayPal India users and is 90% PayPal’s fault as they did not follow the rules laid down by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in the first place.

Users who want to get the IEC will have to fill out a form and submit it to the respective department along with required documents to get it approved.

So get ready to face a lot of delays in getting both the IEC and your money out in the future. Getting the IEC is not a straightforward task and you will have to go through several processes and forms before you can get one.

Useful Links for Applying and Learning More About IEC In India

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Author: Keith Dsouza Google Profile for Keith Dsouza
I am the editor-in-chief and owner of Techie Buzz. I love coding and have contributed to several open source projects in the past. You can know more about me and my projects by visiting my Personal Website. I am also a social networking enthusiast and can be found active on twitter, you can follow Keith on twitter @keithdsouza. You can click on my name to visit my Google+ profile.

Keith Dsouza has written and can be contacted at keith@techie-buzz.com.

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Authors //
Charles Morrissey
Associate Professor of Information Systems
Pepperdine University

Charles Morrissey is a 30-year veteran of the instructional software field. He founded the pioneering company in this field in 1966, an alliance with the famous Dartmouth BASIC language project. Houghton Mifflin Publishing Company acquired this venture in 1978. Subsequently Morrissey became an interim CEO for two software companies in California before entering the management education field at the University of California-Irvine's Graduate School of Management where he taught from 1984-89. He joined Pepperdine in 1989 where he is currently an associate professor of information systems.

Morrissey recently developed Study.Net, an Internet management education tool, as an outgrowth of his dissertation, "The Impact of Groupware on Case Method Teaching in Management Education." He earned his PhD at the Drucker Management Center of Claremont Graduate University. He holds an MBA from Harvard and a BA from Colby College. downloadable gamesdownloadable pc gameshidden object gamesbest pc gamesaction gamesmanagement gamespc gamesmatch 3 gamesbrain teaser games

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Will Make Your Day....

Posted on March 19, 2014 by Ted Leonsis

A mash up of Christopher Walken dance moves. Simply the best. Click to tap your feet.

next up:

One Man's Review of Perks for Season Tix Holders

March 19, 2014

Here you go, without any value added, interesting analysis here.

Monumental Network Shows & Videos


text:
May 27, 2015   9 Sivan 5775
Temple Beth Or -- Montgomery, AL
Search Our Site :

Welcome to Temple Beth Or, an historic Reform Jewish congregation in Montgomery, Alabama. We offer many and diverse paths to participate in our temple community. For some, the path is through worship, for others opportunities to pursue social action and join in social gatherings. Education, both youth and adult, is important to many, and a sense of belonging to a community is often central. Whatever your reason or reasons, please come and visit.

All are welcome at our Shabbat service every Friday evening, usually held between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Please check our Calendar for specific timing and other events you may find of interest.

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The members of Temple Beth Or have a long history of community involvement. Whether through the temple, in the city of Montgomery or in the world at large, our members generously donate both time and money to make our world a better place for generations to come. They have truly made ours a caring community, giving Temple Beth Or a deserved reputation as an activist congregation in social action and the improvement of the world.

Visit our Temple Gift Shop

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Come visit and find wonderful gifts for friends, family and yourself.

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Join us at TBO for Passover Seder. A delicious dinner will be served. Seating is at 5:30 and the service will begin at 6:00. Cost per person is $25 for adults; $10 for children between 6 - 12 and children under 5 are free. Reservations are a must and details can be found in the March bulletin.

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consult the bulletin calendar to see all the Temple activities.

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Tennisopolis : Tennis Social Network

Hi, I'm a 3.5 player new to the Echo Park/Silverlake area and I'm seeking local partners. Let me know!

Views: 83

Replies to This Discussion

Hi Tommy --

I'm interested in hitting. I'm in Montecito Heights, so we could probably agree on a decent court location. Lemme know.

Hey Mike,

Would love to hit. Let me know your sched. I'm flexible but I like weekdays, late mornings.Good courts for us may be Elysian or Hermon Park.

Perfect. I'm also flexible. Hermon Park tomorrow at 10:30? I could also do Thursday.

Sounds good, see you then. Call me if any changes.

323 620-9299

Cool. 805-883-8821.

Hi Tommy,

am very close to the Echo Park courts. You up for hitting sometime? I am a 3.0-3.5

I'm a 3.5 on a good day!

I'm roughly available. . .

Weekends:  Most times

Weekdays:  7-8am or 8-9pm

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Tennisopolis : Tennis Social Network

  • Female
  • Austin, Texas
  • United States
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Jessica's Friends

  • Mike Fields
  • Brent Cole

Jessica's Groups

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Jessica's Page

Latest Activity

Joe Booth left a comment for Jessica
"hi, if you're still looking for a tennis partner or know someone, let me know."
Mar 25, 2009
Mike Fields left a comment for Jessica
"so when are we playing?"
Mar 18, 2009
Mike Fields and Jessica are now friends
Mar 18, 2009

Profile Information

I am a:
Tennis Fan, Casual Player
Neighborhood or other helpful location info:
Austin, Texas
My tennis skill (please check your NTRP if you know it):
NTRP 3.5
On the court, I am a:
doubles partner, singles player
My favorite local courts:
Pharr and Caswell Tennis Center
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At 3:56pm on March 25, 2009, Joe Booth said…
hi, if you're still looking for a tennis partner or know someone, let me know.
At 2:41am on March 18, 2009, Mike Fields said…
so when are we playing?
At 12:08am on January 26, 2009, Fil said…
Contact me at
At 12:08am on January 26, 2009, Fil said…
If you would like to hit sometime give me a call, My NTRP is 4.0 and I also like to play at Caswell and Pharr. Sundays and Thursdays I can play most anytime.
At 8:16am on October 8, 2008, Chris said…
Hi Jessica,
I like to play at Caswell. Let me know if you would like to hit some time.
At 10:24pm on September 26, 2008, Brent Cole said…
Sorry been very busy with work, what part of town do you live in? I live off lake creek parkway across the street from Westwood high school.
At 7:21pm on September 5, 2008, Brent Cole said…
Would you like to hit some time or play mixed double? I am a strong 4.0 and live in NW Austin.
At 1:48pm on August 19, 2008, Mike Fields said…
just getting started but you love to play sometime
At 5:18pm on June 21, 2008, Mark / The Mayor said…
Hi! Welcome to the "community-based" tennis social network which connects tennis players, fans, coaches, and you.

What can you do here?
At Tennisopolis, you can:
- meet other players. Here's a primer on how to find partners.
- join a Group. Members have started over 190 Local Groups (and other types of Groups too.) Search for one in your area, or start your own.
- follow the pros. There are over 500 blog posts on Tennisopolis. Have a good read, or write your own.
- improve your game. Get tips in the Forum and check out video lessons.
- post your own Videos or embed your favorites from youtube.
- add your own Photos.
- and just hang out and connect with great people.

To get started, please upload a photo or avatar for yourself (if you haven’t already.) Whether it's of you, your dog, or your racquet it doesn't matter, but it helps people remember you. You can also personalize Your Page with pictures, links, RSS feeds, colors and more here.

Thanks to everyone inviting their friends, we now have over 8200 members and we're growing by 100 new members a day. Invite yours too!

If you need any help, let me know.
At 4:18am on June 19, 2008, Perry H said…
Jessica, love to hit with you sometime to guage myself. Pharr has some nice courts. My schedule is pretty flexible....welcome to the group!

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Working sink for show display

Discussion in 'Plumbing Forum, Professional & DIY Advice' started by rob herman, Jan 3, 2014.

  1. rob herman

    rob herman In the Trades

    Jan 3, 2014
    Toledo, Ohio
    I work for a remodeling firm in Toledo, Ohio and we are looking to have a portable functioning sink for a show display. We would like to have a Touch2O faucet that would function normaly in our kitchen display. Does anyone know the steps it would take to make this happen? Any information or guidance toward more articles would help immensely. Thank You in advance
  2. Reach4

    Reach4 Well-Known Member

    Sep 25, 2013
    I think you are implying that for show you are probably going to want recycle the drain water to be fed back out of the faucet under pressure.
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  4. Tom Sawyer

    Tom Sawyer In the Trades

    Nov 29, 2010
    Yep, get one on the small under sink pump/tank sets and pipe the drain back to the faucet.
  5. Smooky

    Smooky Member

    Apr 4, 2011
    I would set it up with a something like a Shurflo pump. I would use an electric pump if electricity is available if not you could use a 12 volt pump. You will need a tank to pump out of and for the water to drain back into. You may be able to recirculate the water or set it up like an RV with a fresh water tank and a waste tank.
Similar Threads: Working sink
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Plumbing Forum, Professional & DIY Advice Hot and Cold water not working at kitchen sink location Jan 7, 2014
Plumbing Forum, Professional & DIY Advice Hot water in master sinks not working Dec 9, 2009
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Plumbing Forum, Professional & DIY Advice Insinkerator's air switch not working Jan 30, 2008
Plumbing Forum, Professional & DIY Advice sink not working Jul 8, 2006

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Kitchen faucet sprayer leak
Posted by Mark on October 23, 19100 at 14:56:08:
Just installed a Price Pfister 835 series with sprayer. About a week later, discovered a sizeable puddle under the sink. The only way I could re-create any sort of leak was to splash water onto the sprayer recepticle. Any ideas on how to make this a little more waterproof?

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There are none.


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Take the 2-minute tour ×
TeX - LaTeX Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for users of TeX, LaTeX, ConTeXt, and related typesetting systems. It's 100% free, no registration required.

I have a construction that isn't a function, but does produce values assigned (in an ill defined way) varyingly over a domain. I can write this as A \leadsto B. I want to write what happens to a \in A not as a \mapsto b but with a \leadsto arrow that begins with the small vertical bar \mapstochar. I've already loaded the extpfeil package, so stmaryrd won't work. What can I do?

share|improve this question

1 Answer 1

up vote 3 down vote accepted

Use \mapstochar and \leadsto, that's simple! With just a small correction for hiding the bump.

$a\mapstochar\mathrel{\mspace{0.45mu}}\leadsto b$

Of course you'll want to define a macro for it:

enter image description here

If you load latexsym rather than amssymb, then more spacing is needed

$a\mapstochar\mathrel{\mspace{1.75mu}}\leadsto b$

enter image description here

share|improve this answer
What if I wanted to make it extensible? I didn't initially, but that's how I started trying to do it, because extpfeil has a syntax for creating arrows, so now I want to know. –  jdc Aug 31 '14 at 8:55
It doesn't work for me for some reason. Something's misaligned. Worse, the difficulty mysteriously doesn't improve when I change the mspace. tinypic.com/r/2q0q87s/8 –  jdc Aug 31 '14 at 9:04
It seems you're loading latexsym rather than amssymb. Use \mspace{1.75mu} –  egreg Aug 31 '14 at 16:11
Beautiful! Thank you! But why didn't changing the spacing by a smaller amount do anything? –  jdc Aug 31 '14 at 16:15
@jdc mu is a tiny unit: 1/18 of an em –  egreg Aug 31 '14 at 16:19

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Posted in Citizen Journalism (James O'Keefe and Project Veritas) | 1 comment

Veritas This! I’ve Got Your NPR Right Here!

I watch the videos of our new celebrity journalists and I don’t see exactly what they want me to see.

Take any one of the game-changing ACORN videos, for example.

I see what O’Keefe and his Girl Friday have pieced together. A young white guy with his scantily clad girl come in off the street with an outrageous story and the local Community Organization employees are only too eager to help:

“All right, then. Lemme get this straight. You’re hoping to fund your future campaign for office in the Democratic Party; this cute little inarticulate thing hooks for you; and you need advice about how to get fourteen El Salvadoran teenage girls over the border tonight to start working for you in this whore house you’re hoping ACORN will help you buy? Got it. Lemme get the forms.”

In ACORN offices across the country, we are led to believe, versions of this sting played out with little variation.

What is it Team Veritas wants you to see?

  1. Community Organization employees eager and willing to help hide criminal activities.
  2. Your tax dollars being used to support those who are eager and willing to help support criminal activities.
  3. The chickens of the Welfare State come home to roost.

And what Team Veritas wanted on September 10th, 2009, they got.

O’Keefe posted to his YouTube channel, “veritasvisuals,” the first of a series of videos documenting his visits with Hannah Giles to ACORN offices across the country. The release coincided with Andrew Breitbart’s launch of, a news aggregating website designed to serve as a “one-stop shop for those who have had enough of this ‘progressive’ radicalization of our government . . . .”

Appearing as a guest on FoxNews’ Hannity that same day, Breitbart lavished praise on O’Keefe as “already well on his way to being one of the great journalists.”

Why release the tape of the visit to the ACORN office in Baltimore on September 10th, when O’Keefe and Giles had captured the employees offering advice for getting around the tax code by classifying prostitution as “performance art” six weeks earlier? Why wait so long to expose this criminal negligence? Why not rush the news immediately to local authorities?

Uh, for the symbolism.

Break the story on 9/10, so you, humble viewer, make this connection during the next 24 hour news cycle: Just as the terrorists sought to destroy America by flying into the World Trade Center on 9/11, so too are the employees of ACORN at this very moment seeking to destroy America by supporting, in Giles’ words, “the government . . . whoring out the American people.”

Terrorists without, a cancer within.

September 11, 2009.

Not too surprisingly, Fox’s pavlovian dog, Glenn Beck, was frothing at the mouth as soon as the scandal bell rang. But the real scandal for Beck was not what the videos exposed; no, the real scandal was that Fox stood alone among the media outlets in its willingness to cover the story.

Where was the coverage?

Where was the outrage?

Fox couldn’t stop referencing the story in its typical Tourette’s like way. Why wasn’t any one else in the Main Stream Media following along?

Glenn Beck tallies mentions of the ACORN story as of September 11, 2009

With the Main Stream Media looking the other way, things really begin to pick up steam.

As this timeline shows, O’Keefe and Brietbart kept the videos in the news for two months, but this was really overkill. They’d already dealt ACORN its fatal blow with the first set of their videos.

In an extraordinary move, on September 14th, just three days after the first videos were posted, the Senate voted on an amendment to the HUD and Transportation appropriations bill preventing ACORN from receiving further funding. The Senate Republicans already had ACORN in its sites for promoting voter fraud (I’ll discuss this part of the backstory in a future post); the O’Keefe videos tipped the balance and made it impossible for senators who had supported the group in the past to insist upon due diligence, due process, to argue for the necessity of slowing the rush to judgment. After all, weren’t the videos themselves irrefutable evidence that ACORN actively supported child prostitution, sex slavery, sex trafficking, and, well, tax evasion (in a non-Tea Party approved way)?

As Senator Mike Johanns of Nebraska put it in his statement advancing his amendment, with ACORN already under a cloud of suspicion for its voter registration practices,

“damaging news surfaced regarding hidden videotapes at the Baltimore and Washington, DC, ACORN offices. You will not believe this: They feature ACORN employees offering advice on illegal activities, including tax evasion, prostitution, and fraud. Today we find out that a different ACORN office–this time in Brooklyn–also offered advice on the same topics. I would suggest, obviously, this is a pattern of very rotten behavior. Well, the alarm bells are rightly going off. Is this the kind of government we want?”

The amendment passed 83-7.

As the story broke, Jim Geraghty, blogger for the National Review tweeted:

“Who were the seven Child-Whoring Pimp Assistance Program defenders?”

September 15th, Beck is back at his scoreboard, letting you know that he’s still keeping count:

This shot of Beck’s scoreboard is taken not from his own discussion of it on his show on the 15th, but from his appearance on Fox and Friends on the 15th, where the other three folks chatting on couches call it back up to share in Beck’s disbelief. Not one of his auditors objects or even giggles when Beck warns:

“If it wasn’t for Fox or talk radio we’d be done as a republic,” announced Beck. “There are people in the administration— two of the president’s czars — that want to shut down the voices of talk radio and Fox and make it all NPR.”

NPR? Really?

How the mighty ambitions of the czars have fallen.

“We not talking about Republicans and Democrats. We’re talking about decency.”

Earlier that day, Breitbart and O’Keefe appeared as guests on Beck’s show, where the main topic was…wait for it….that’s right! The failure of other media outlets to put this story on the front page, to lead the evening news with it, to wave the white flag signaling their irrelevance in the 2.0 world where heroic citizen journalists have the courage to do what the fat cats in their comfy chairs in their corner offices in Manhattan can’t be bothered to even contemplate.

All right, I admit, I’m exaggerating. Aren’t I? Or at least I thought I was.

Here’s Breitbart capturing, accurately I’d say, how dramatically the dynamics of investigative reporting have changed since the days of Watergate:

“Seeing the collective videos, it’s the most damning thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life, case closed against this organization. It’s [t]oast, okay? But the idea that James and Hannah would think, this is how it happened. She was out on a jog. She came out, up with the idea. She went on Facebook. She said to James, the filmmaker who’s done this before, what do you think of this idea [?] He says, ‘Great.’ They do it with $1300. I’m sorry. That’s history. That’s film making. That’s journalism. And the fact that the mainstream media can’t figure out this is the coolest story in terms of just Hollywood narrative and that it is hitting corruption . . . “

September 17th, the House gets in on the action, appending the “Defund ACORN Act” to pending legislation on reforming the government’s role in the student loan business. John Boehner introduced the act as a stand alone bill on the 15th, but allowed Darrell Issa (R-CA) to be the first person listed as putting the amendment up for a vote because of Issa’s persistent calls to have ACORN investigated for voter registration fraud. The amendment to the student loan bill passes 345-75-2.

Over at the “Ace of Space HQ” blog, which runs as its header Menken’s quote, “Every normal man must be tempted to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats,” readers are invited to follow a link to see “the list of the 75 Child Sex Slave Enthusiasts.”

Reload, indeed.

September 18th, Brietbart is back on the air at Fox, being interviewed about the stunning effect the videos have had during their first week of release. Breitbart invokes the rage of the American people, the pressure this has put on Congress, and the anticipated response of the Main Stream Media:

“But, predictably, and why we rolled the videos out one by one by one by one, we set traps for ACORN to lie; each and every time they lied. They went to the mainstream media, continued to tell those lies. The next day, the previous day’s lies were exposed. And CNN in particular has kept going back to ACORN and taking their line.”

In Fearing and Loathing on the Campaign Trail, the apex of Hunter Thompson’s work as a gonzo journalist, Thompson shares a story about “one of the oldest and most effective tricks in politics”–namely, “the politics of the rabbit-punch and the groin shot.” After describing how Hubert Humphery had got George McGovern on the ropes with a series of baseless accusations, Thompson shifts to a story about one of Lyndon Johnson’s early campaigns in Texas:

The race was close and Johnson was getting worried. Finally he told his campaign manager to start a massive rumor campaign about his opponent’s life-long habit of enjoying carnal knowledge of his own barnyard sows.

“Christ, we can’t get away with calling him a pig-fucker,” the campaign manager protested. “Nobody’s going to believe a thing like that.”

“I know,” Johnson replied, “But let’s make the sonofabitch deny it.”

Did Lyndon Johnson ever really say this? Thompson’s not particularly concerned with this question: he offers Johnson’s remark as a story that has been raised to the level of “political mythology.” Thompson, unlike the current crop of new media celebrity journalists, didn’t present himself as dealing with the “Truth” or “Veritas.” He didn’t hit the campaign trail with any illusions that Truth was out there waiting to be revealed by the intrepid journalist. He turned the rock over and showed everybody what was wiggling around down there, but he didn’t imagine that there was some alternative political sphere where the trustworthy, honest, and true politicians or newscasters or commentators were to be found.

Here, for example, is Thompson writing about the major networks in ’72, nearly forty years ago:

The bedrock truths of the McGovern convention were not aired on TV–except once, very briefly, on Monday night; but it hardly mattered because all three networks missed it completely. When the deal went down, Walter Cronkite saw green and called it red; John Chancellor opted for yellow; and ABC was already off the air.

Thompson then goes to intricately detail how McGovern gamed the delegate system and the arcane convention procedures to grab the nomination, working the system in a way that Cronkite and his fellow anchors wouldn’t begin to grasp until the next day.

Fear and Loathing is a useful reminder of what a dirty, vicious business politics is when viewed at eye-level and of the determination of the nightly news to stay above the fray to provide a calmer, more reasoned aura to the political process. The book is an even more useful benchmark, however, of just how much has changed in the shift to the 2.0 world of round-the-clock, scandal-driven news cycle. Thompson’s notoriety arose because of his perspective, his outlaw reputation, and his way with words. Those were his credentials.

Our new celebrity journalists can’t decide what they should be called–investigative journalists, citizen journalists, gonzo journalists, activists–for good reason. James O’Keefe, Hannah Giles, and Lila Rose are independent contractors for the Fox Network. They create the stories that Fox then covers, thereby sparing the network liability for any inaccuracies or misrepresentations that are subsequently brought to light in the video evidence that the independent contractors have provided. Indeed, by the time those inaccuracies are established, the news media are long gone, chasing the next spectacular exposure of governmental waste and corruption. And, in the meantime, they’ve got everybody involved in the circus of denial.

I’ll be detailing the mechanics of this operation over the next posts, but you see the general outline here: independently collected material, distributed over the web and via a 24-hour news service, drives legislation.

Is this the government we want?

I watch the videos and this is what I see: It’s just another day at the office, contending with whatever form of madness and desperation comes through the front door.

I watch the videos and I see the complete failure of our educational system at every level. Our celebrity journalists have no trouble capturing all manner of stupidity in offices meant to help the poor across the country . With the conviction that they are working on behalf of the Truth, they are not constrained, during the editing process, by any ethical commitment to objectivity. What kind of educational system breeds the actions of the actors on both sides of these hidden cameras?

I watch these videos and wonder where will we be once they’ve completed their mission?

Next: Baltimore, My Baltimore or The Facts, Not That They Matter

This is the fourth installment in an evolving series on Citizen Journalism. It may be read on its own or as part of the series, which begins with “My Brush with Celebrity: The Other Side of Cyber-Spying.” A summary of each section of the series may be found here:  Citizen Journalism and the Case of James O’Keefe (Table of Contents).

Breitbart quote about may be found here.

Senator Johanns’ prepared remarks arguing for the revocation of ACORN’s access to HUD funding may be found here.

Geraghty’s blog post on the Senate vote may be found here; the quote of the tweet attributed to him may be found here.

Breitbart quote from Beck show may be found here.

Giles quote may be found here.

Glenn Beck on ACORN coverage may be found here.

Ace of Spades quote may be found here.

Breitbart’s 9/17 interview may be found here.

The first Hunter Thompson quote may be found here; the second here.

1 Comment

  1. And of course O’Keefe never showed the dozen times they got kicked out of ACORN offices or had police called on them. I also find it interesting that in this age of subtle and not-so-subtle race-baiting, no one remarked much on the fact of the incredibly racist portrayal of “typical” black people heading in to the ACORN office for help. Of curse O”Keefe and his girlfriend settled on the pimp and ho characters, since to them that is the typical black urban poor person. They didn’t pose a waitress and a construction worker, or out-of-work people down on their luck, but the most ugly stereotypes.

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