Global Media News is a weekly webcast covering media & technology news from around the world. This webcast is a production of Media Studies students from the SUNY College @ Old Westbury.
This week on the 'Digital Revolution' edition of Global Media News:
"Digital Persuasion: The Revolution in Online Marketing & Adverstising"(with some discussion of Hurricane Sandy)
Consumer Profiling
Celebrity Marketing
Children & Advertising
Storm Relief Online
Storm Tracking with Social Media
Sandy's Effect on the Presidential Campaign
See you next this Thursday for more news from the Digital Revolution!
Next on Global Media News:
Creativity & the Arts!
Listen to our webcast streaming live on Thursdays @ 11am EST.
Can't listen live? Our next webcast will be posted by 2:00pm, Thursday, November 15, 2012.
There was a time in history when a person had to use the radio or watch television to hear the news. They had to stop what they were doing just to sit down for an hour to find out what was going on around the world.Well today in the 21st century we can simply do this through apps. As someone is taking the train into the City or waiting for their class to start they can simply open their smartphones or Ipads and click on a news app that gives them up to date information.
News companies like CNN that people really rely on for their everyday news understands this change in which people now want to receive their news. In an article for the NewYorkTimes by Brian Stelter titled "CNN Acquires Zite, an Ipad App Company"it explains how CNN is becoming leader when it comes to understanding what the people want when they open the CNN app. I bet your wondering how they are able to understand and study what people want when they open these apps. Well CNN recently purchased a company called Zite which studies articles people read when they open the app and this allows CNN to get an idea of what different articles users are drawn to when it comes to the app.
I decided to take a closer look at exactly what Zite does. In reading an article for the New York Times titled Sorting Out an Avalanche of iPad Apps for the Best of 2011"by Bob Tedeschi it explains how Zite launched an app before being acquired by CNN that allowed users to choose categories that would catch their interests when it came to their news. From the categories chosen Zite then filtered the News to fit the interest of different users. This reason alone is why CNN acquired Zite. They want to bring this feature to their app.
CNN deciding to create more of
a presence through their app will not take away from the regular television
program. The main goal of this app is to allow people to expose themselves to
the type of news they want. It will allow people to interact with
the CNN anchors and comment through Twitter. It shows how the digital
revolution can change the way in which people get their news. Through this app
people can now comment on any article and discuss it amongst their peers, they
can tweet a news anchor and they can also filter through different stories
instead of having to watch an hour segment to hear about a story that interests
them.
On my phone I have the CNN app and I get daily blasts of what news are hot topics. If something about the blast interests me I will then open the app and read the article. The world is changing becoming more digital CNN see’s this. People want to know what’s current and relevant at a faster pace. I barely have time to watch television because I'm always on the go so to have the app on my phone as I’m heading out the door with daily blasts of what’s going in the world is great. It’s a cool way to receive my news.
Aside from CNN becoming a power house when it comes to its advancements in the App world Weather Apps are also a huge deal for anyone who had a smartphone or an Ipad. Since the weather plays a major role in everyone’s lives people use to watch the news sometimes just to catch the weather segment. With apps like the weather channel people now have it on their phones.So they can now tell when the rain will start and when the rain will end. In an article by Josh Sternberg titled "Why David Kenny Forecasts Mobile as Weathers Future" it touches on just how important weather apps are to people. It also explains how the weather channel is the fifth most downloaded app in the world. The weather app was one of the main trendsetters in receiving news in a different format. I think weather apps paved the way for other news apps to be created because it showed that there was a market for it. People want to know their news, regardless if it's the weather or everyday events.
The need for news is never ending. People need to know what is going on around them at all times. So I think it benefits most news companies to invest in creating apps, its a great way to keep the viewers loyal to one news station.
Remember the game Operation? The battery-operated board game
from 1965, with the cheesy cartoon guy on the board and the random objects that
you needed to extract with a tweezers. The winner of the game was obviously not a
master surgeon, but studies are finding that video gamers of today to be equal
to surgeons in operating robotic surgery tools in laparoscopic surgery.
The overall attitude towards video gaming has changed a lot
in the last twenty years. Video gaming has been evolving from solely
entertainment to having practical uses in society – especially in the medical
field.
A
new study from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) sought to identify the
developmental effect video games have on training of future surgeons.
They reported that,
“[They have] proven the superior hand-eye coordination skills honed from
hours of joystick-based gaming are the same talents required to master the
world's most advanced robotic surgery tools.”
The
study concluded that the surgical skills of the high school and college
students who played video games an average of at least two hours a day were
found to be equal to the UTMB physicians. In some cases they even exceeded the
skills of the residents.
Also in an article reported by the Alternative Press, Dr.
James "Butch" Rosser stated that,
"I use the same hand-eye
coordination to play video games as I use for
surgery."
It is clear that skills from video gaming is finding its
place in the medical field. One day we may find out that top gamers will be the
best candidates to perform surgery on people as a result of the Digital
Revolution.
When speaking with some top investors, they all said that natural gas is the commodity to buy. Their job is to predict the future, and they are all banking on natural gas. This made me inquire, why natural gas? How is natural gas going to become profitable in the future? What is the change?
Since Bloomberg.com is a great place to get the lastest information of future trends I looked there to get more information on natural gas. I already know that Shell is on board with natural gas, as are investors, but what does natural gas mean for the environment? According to a bloomberg.com article titled, “SUNY Closes Industry-Backed Fracking Institute”, natural gas may not be so great for the enviroment. To retrieve natural gas miners are currently using a technique called fracking.
Fracking is when, “millions of gallons of chemically treated water and sand are forced underground to break shale rock and free trapped gas.” This technology has made retrieving natural gas easy, efficient and cheaper. According to Obama’s Energy Security task force This technology has lowered the price of natural gas, employed many and enhanced national security.
Although Obama’s Energy Security task force says fracking is great there is opposition. Many are saying that fracking is linked to groundwater contamination, high ozone levels, headaches, sore throat and difficulty breathing. The contaminated waste water when buried has been said to cause earthquakes in the United States.
Many recognize that there are environmental problems, but according to Shale Resources and Society Institute these problems can be avoided. Pennsylvania had reduced the amount of incidents by half since 2008. THerefore Shale believes that if companies follow the proper precautions these damages to peoples health and the environment can be avoided. Another move to avoid environmental hazard come from shell who has financed a vessel that liquefied natural gas over a the ocean in a remote location off of Australia.
The NaturalGas.org website has a ton of information and charts to explain what happens when natural gas is burned. This chart gives a great comparison between natural gas, oil and coal.
Fossil Fuel Emission Levels
- Pounds per Billion Btu of Energy Input
Pollutant
Natural Gas
Oil
Coal
Carbon Dioxide
117,000
164,000
208,000
Carbon Monoxide
40
33
208
Nitrogen Oxides
92
448
457
Sulfur Dioxide
1
1,122
2,591
Particulates
7
84
2,744
Mercury
0.000
0.007
0.016
Source: EIA - Natural Gas Issues and Trends 1998
I gather from this that natural gas is still a fossil fuel, and burning it still does release toxins. These toxins are far less hazardous than the oil we currently use, but still are not considered good for the environment. Natural gas is simply better for the environment than gas.
Natural gas is currently being drilled and used in the United States despite its possible dangers. Activist are urging people to protect themselves and use modern technology to detect a natural gas leak. So what is the best way to detect a gas leak? SeekingAlpha.com reports of the newest advancments in detection. The article titled, “PG&E's Use Of Picarro Technology Enhances Natural Gas System Safety Throughout PG&E Service Area” talks about Pacific Gas and Electric Company being the first utility to use the newest detection technology. The Picarro Surveyor technology is a vehicle mounted, super-sensitive gas leak detection system. Recently PG&E used the Picarro Surveyor to find two undetectable gas leaks in Northern California.
According to the director of gas maintenance and construction for PG&E, "Picarro Surveyor allows us to not only locate hard-to-find leaks with greater accuracy that we didn't have before, but it also has the ability to distinguish between natural gas in PG&E's system and naturally occurring methane." This new technology has proven to make natural gas safer by providing early detection of gas leaks that may previously had been impossible to find.
The article describes all of the benefits of this new software. The "Picarro Surveyor measures and maps methane plumes in the air as the vehicle drives through neighborhoods." This is major improvement from the previously used technology that was hand held and much lesss sensative. The new technology replaced instruments that needed to be walked around an area by introducing a technology that is mounted on a car. The Picarro Surveyor is easy to use, has a high-precision gas analyzer and an online component. The online part of the Surveyor provides real-time data and alerts for repair teams on any web-enabled device. The online component can be accessed from an iPad, smartphone, laptop or home computer. This is a patented gas analysis technology and is the most effecient and accurate leak detection equipment. The online alerts allow repair teams to be notified emediatly, locate and repair the leak effeciently and prevent harm to those in the area of the leak.
Knowing that there are advance technologies to detect gas leaks and laws to keep gas drilling safe, I believe it is a great technological advancement for the United States. Despite some hazards that come with dealing with any fossil fuel, I feel the benefits of natural gas with the help of modern technology outweigh any negative affects. I see natural gas as a way for the United States not only to become self sufficient and no longer depend on foreign fossil fuels, but also as exporter of the soon to be valuable commodity. I see that it is a better alternative for the environment then the current fuels we are burning. With the rising costs of gasoline, natural gas will make transportation affordable again, and therefore have a huge affect on America’s economy. The digital revolution has allowed for technological advancements that have made natural gas a real possibility in the near future. There are already city buses running on natural gas, and there is only growth in where natural gas can take us. The only thing holding the United States back is politics.
In recent times we have come across another way to gain information, the internet. Even bigger and more vast then the television, news travels much faster this way. Now anything you want to know is directly at your fingers tips. We once again find ourselves involved in war in the middle east and dealing with the flow of information from the internet to everyone’s computer screens. Censorship is a major issue for tons of middle eastern countries.
Because of the internet it is even harder to control information. Over the past decade we have been involved in Afghanistan and Iraq. News reporters who go into Iraq are targeted now more then ever. The men running those countries know that they don’t need to make it home to send an article or post a video and it makes journalism even more dangerous. Information that journalists obtain can be sent from anywhere in the world. Further complicating the job of a news reporter.
“ It is well known and an accepted part of war that Iraq had attempted to control media reports, monitor foreign journalists, and even expel them (including CNN and even Al Jazeera for a while).” Global Issues
Anyone with a cell phone is now the enemy since it is that easy to have a picture escape the country and land on everyone’s news feed across the world. The Committee to Protect Journalists states that almost 200 journalist have been killed during the recent war, most of them are Iraqi citizens. A lot of middle eastern countries have laws against free press and most of the information that is presented to the citizens is censored. The people in power make sure they control what is news.
“In Iraq, 230 media workers have been killed since the US-led invasion in 2003, Reporters Without Borders say…The figure includes a number of foreign reporters, but the overwhelming majority of journalists who are targeted are Iraqis, who continue to do their jobs despite huge risks, says the BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse in Baghdad.”BBC News
The governments in these countries see any opinions or ideas that differ from what they deem appropriate are a sign of rebellion. They do not want anyone getting the idea that speaking out against them is okay. Since the internet is harder to sensor then a newspaper or a TV network sometimes they must go to extremes to keep people quiet.
In an article on EFF.org it explains all the proposed laws that Lebanon and Iraq are trying to instate in order to censor and keep tabs on the internet. They state that any information seen to “disrupt” the “unity” of the state or “ideas which are disruptive to public order” are punishable by “mandatory life sentences“. These are very general statements and can be used against anyone who they think is disagreeing with them.
As time goes on, will it become worse for war reporters? It will only get harder to protect your identity as a journalist. If we can find information on them it is just as easy for them to find us. However it will never stop the flow of news and information no matter how hard they try.
As we all know, technology within the medical
field has greatly developed compared to about 20 years ago. At most doctor’s
offices today, the doctors are no longer checking off their appointments with
their clipboard and bulky sheets of paper, they are using a laptop or iPad to
organize all of their appointments and patient’s information. Those methods are definitely a way of the
future, but technology within the medical field is bound to get even more
sophisticated as time continues.
In a TEDTalk entitled "Daniel Kraft: Medicine's future? There's an app for that", physician, scientist, inventor, and innovator, Daniel Kraft
went through a fast-paced look at the innovations that were going to be made
available in the medical field. From a blood glucose meter that could be
integrated into ones iPhone and sends the results to their doctor, to a chip
out of the UK that one can pee on and connect to their iPhone
to check for STD’s.
With the way in which technology is going,
especially for mobile devices, one will eventually be able to use their mobile phone
for all of their medical needs. There already are many iPhone applications that
can serve a variety of medical needs. For example, there is the Blood
Pressure Monitor – Family Lite, which turns your smartphone into “a
personal blood pressure and weight health monitor, and comes with lifetime data
visualization, statistics reporting, medication correlation, email
import/export, built-in reminders, and much more”.
Other
applications like Epocrates provide its
users with drug references, drug and disease monographs, diagnostic tools, plus
much more. According the iPhone App Store, Epocrates has “more than 1 million
active members, including 50% of U.S. physicians that rely on Epocrates to
enable better patient care by delivering the right information, right when it’s
needed”. Also according to the iPhone App Store,
“Healthcare professionals worldwide use Epocrates routinely to:
Review drug prescribing and safety information for thousands of
brand, generic, and OTC drugs.
Select national and regional healthcare insurance formularies
for drug coverage information.
Identify pills by imprint code and physical characteristics.”
The range of apps that are available is extremely broad. As you
can see there are apps that can be used for so many purposes, apps that allow
you to use your smartphone as a stand-in for a stethoscope, to apps that can
tell whether or not you have skin cancer. These apps put many smartphone users
at an advantage, and thankfully according to ABC
News “The FDA is working now on guidelines that will regulate certain apps,
just as it does medical devices, and in the meantime, the FTC is keeping an eye
on the claims being made”.
Below is Daniel Kraft at his TEDTalk looking through the innovations of the furtue:
The latest advancement currently taking the world of medicine by storm is the growing field of Computational Medicine which uses the latest digital software to better understand disease. Last month Science Translational Medicine published an article titled, "Computational Medicine: Translating Models to Clinical Care," written by four Johns Hopkins professors affiliated with the university's Institute for Computational Medicine. According to institute director Raimond Winslow "the field has exploded!"
Science Daily describes computational medicine as a field that is helping doctors understand the complexitites of illnesses such as heart disease, Alzheimers, cancers, etc. by analyzing disease mechanisms mathematically within computer software. The result of this analysis makes it easier to predict who is more at risk of developing these diseases and even offers insight into how to avoid or treat the condition. In an article by the Indo Asian News Service (IANS) featured on Yahoo News! earlier this month "these digital tools are enabling researchers to build on experimental and clinical data that can unravel complex medical mysteries."
"Biology in both health and disease is very complex; It involves the feed-forward flow of information from the level of the gene to protein, networks, cells, organs and organ systems... It also involves feed-back pathways by which, for example, proteins, mechanical forces at the level of tissues and organs, and environmental factors regulate function at lower levels such as the gene. Computational models help us to understand these complex interactions, the nature of which is often highly complex and non-intuitive. Models like these allow researchers to understand disease mechanisms, aid in diagnosis, and test the effectiveness of different therapies. By using computer models, potential therapies can be tested "in silico" at high speed. The results can then be used to guide further experiments to gather new data to refine the models until they are highly predictive."
What does Computational Medicine look like at play? An example is the creation of algorithms that mirror the networks of molecules linked to cancer which has helped researchers understand the disease better, using the results to predict which patients are most at risk. Another example is anatomical simulation to detect change within the human brain such as shape changes that may be attributed to Alzheimer's disease or schizophrenia, neuropsychiatric disorder.
The following video shows this computational medicine in the form of digital anatomic models to show the electrical activity in the heart, which helps doctors prevent sudden cardiac death as well as diagnose and treat those at risk for it.
Computational models are very much allowing doctors to get a clearer picture and image of disease within anatomic simulations as well as giving them ways to test treatments. Katherine Harmon of Scientific American states that "These models, however, also need to be checked frequently against real-world data and adjusted accordingly. But researchers who are armed to deal with this once unusual cross-discipline endeavor are growing more common." Currently more and more people are being trained in not only mathematics, computer science and engineering, but also in biology which will allow them to bring a "whole new perspective to medical diagnosis and treatment" according to Winslow.
Although this field is still growing, it has showed much promise for doctors to make some breakthrough discoveries about various complex diseases. There continue to be a number of obstacles to surpass before computational science and medicine becomes routine among doctors and hospitals, however it is definitely in the forseeable future. Just look at the new iPad application, NeuroResponse that uses computational anatomy to guide doctors through the delivery of deep brain stimulation to patients with Parkinson's disease.
When you bring up climate change or global warming to someone, they may make it into a controversial or debatable issue, but why? Well it could have something to do with mainstream media’s coverage of the topic, or lack thereof. In 2011, just before the EPA began to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act, it seemed as if only new media was covering the new regulations. According to Pew Research, “From December 7-11, more than half (52%) of the news links in blogs were about global warming”. That sounds about right for an issue that would affect 100% of the planet, but how did mainstream media cover this important topic? Well according to PEW, “while mainstream media have generally covered the issue less than have social media, global warming filled 10% of the mainstream newshole last week, the highest level of coverage since PEJ's News Coverage Index began tracking it in January 2007.” Clearly that is a step-up from the nearly non-existent coverage on climate change in the media, but it still remains true that this issue is mostly relegated to the internet.
Places like Europe, United Kingdom, and Germany have surpassed the United States in acknowledgment of such pressing issues. The organization Environment Canada said, “Legislative changes in Europe and the United Kingdom have been found to be directly correlated with an increased interest in developing a longer-term focus in the investment agenda.” They go on to say that the United States has more obstacles because addressing climate change is a conflict of interest to private businesses, specifically one’s with the largest greenhouse gas emissions. Dr. Ben Marzeion from the Institute for Meteorology and Geophysics said, “Melting glaciers will raise the sea level between 15 and 22 cm until 2100. Where we end up within this range is up to us – it mostly depends on how much greenhouse gas we will emit.” Climate Change Reality Project’s website says “Despite overwhelming international scientific consensus on climate change, the global community still lacks the resolve to implement meaningful solutions.” Environmental Organizations have focused most of their attention on the internet as a means to get the word out, because mainstream media just isn’t providing the information.
There are many environmental movements today, some being successfully executed, and some struggling to get results. One common saying to those who advocate progressive environmental measures is that it should start with the children. When I was in elementary school in the 90’s I remember that we perhaps planted one tree every couple of arbor days, ( this all being negated by the fact that our principal had the mature oaks taken down because perhaps their branches would fall on some shade-loving parents.) And other than the occasional thought, these were practically non-existent. Today in the school district that I work for, vegetable gardens have been created, and other types of gardens for study. Another form of this education that I found out about recently was environmental online games.
Now I immediately become skeptical about this because while a child can learn about these pressing issues, and plant trees online, aren’t they better off going outside and planting? Either way maybe I can kind of agree that this is a step in the right direction. Regarding the medium of online gaming, makeuseof.com says, “Children can immediately learn that each action has a contributing effect. Plus, these interactive educational websites on the environment make both the teaching and learning enjoyable without losing out on the lessons”. One online game called the “Climate Challenge” from http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/hottopics/climatechange/climate_challenge/ , was actually pretty enjoyable and educational. It is perhaps for the tween to teenage crowd. It involves you having to invest in environmental measures put forth by the government at the local, state, and national level. With each decision and subsidy, money is depleted and only a few measures can be taken each year.
A game that is for kids and tweens would be the game “Acid Lake” . In this game, you are taken through various stages of a lake with the pH scale. It gives children easily memorized facts, and has pictures that accompany the information. This is a simple and basic way for children to learn about one aspect of climate change.
At some point in 2010, I began to see incredible pictures popping up on my Facebook feed. They had borders, blurred edges and filters. “Wow Cory’s a good photographer, I never knew”. Turns out Cory, as well over 80 other million users, have logged onto Instagram. Instagram.com describes the experience as “Snap a photo with your mobile phone, then choose a filter to transform the image into a memory to keep around forever.” These photographs continue to come up on my Facebook feed, and they certainly are beautiful to look at, but I wondered if this new advent would piss off professionally trained photographers.
The art critic Michael Glover recently commented on the new user-photography phenomenon by saying, "Photography has become so thoroughly prostituted as a means of visual exchange, available to all or none for every purpose under the sun that it is easy to forget that until recently one of the most important consequences of fearless photographic practice was to tell the truth about power." He certainly won’t be logging into Instagram any time soon. And it doesn’t sound like Chris Ziegler of the site “The Verge” will either. “The Verge” is a website that covers tech, science, art & culture. Ziegler recently called these photos “damaged photos”. Maybe Ziegler will come around, but right now he sounds like a typical hyper-critical tech guy. There are those though, who embrace Instagram in the field of photography. I often log on to Scott Schuman’s fashion blog “The Sartorialist”, where he uploads portrait photographs taken with a Digital SLR, and Instagram. Both turn out beautiful, perhaps the SLR one’s more, but they are all produced from a professional. Another professional photographer, Peter Essick, who works for National Geographic recently said that he “looks at it as another medium to use as a photographer.”
Whatever the “art world” has to say about Instagram and other filters apps, it doesn’t speak nearly as loud as the actual Instagram community. The creators of instagram said “We love taking photos. We always assumed taking interesting photos required a big bulky camera and a couple years of art school. But as mobile phone cameras got better and better, we decided to challenge that assumption.” That challenge has produced a simple way to produce unique images, after all, 80 million plus people are currently enjoying it.