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Here’s what I did this month. The red is on the bike, as you can see. The dark blue is obviously running and the light blue is in the pool. It is another month without enough work, which is now not only disappointing to say, but even more so when I realize I’ve said that for several months in a row. On the other hand, I did do these things …
I just need to do more …
On the way to campus this morning:
Everyone seemed OK. The troopers were there. We had just a slight slowdown and I met no ambulances coming the other direction for the rest of my drive. Even still, you see these small accidents and know that these people just had their week ruined. And on a Monday morning, too. But at least everyone is OK.
And now, to change the subject, here’s another hit from Kid President:
It is probably selfish to say, but I hope that guy never changes.
In class today we talked about mobile marketing. This is the part of the conversation where students always find the line dividing acceptable and creepy. Say you’re walking down the street and your phone buzzes, “Hey! We noticed you’re just a block away from Starbucks. Couldn’t you go for a nice coffee and muffin? Here’s a coupon!”
I mentioned this story:
Fan Zhang, the owner of Happy Child, a trendy Asian restaurant in downtown Toronto, knows that 170 of his customers went clubbing in November. He knows that 250 went to the gym that month, and that 216 came in from Yorkville, an upscale neighborhood.
And he gleans this information without his customers’ knowledge, or ever asking them a single question.
Mr. Zhang is a client of Turnstyle Solutions Inc., a year-old local company that has placed sensors in about 200 businesses within a 0.7 mile radius in downtown Toronto to track shoppers as they move in the city.
The sensors, each about the size of a deck of cards, follow signals emitted from Wi-Fi-enabled smartphones. That allows them to create portraits of roughly 2 million people’s habits as they have gone about their daily lives, traveling from yoga studios to restaurants, to coffee shops, sports stadiums, hotels, and nightclubs.
One of my students mentions this even more disconcerting story:
In November, the Macy’s department store chain began testing a product called ShopBeacon at stores in San Francisco’s Union Square and New York’s Herald Square.
The app, created by Shopkick Inc. of Redwood City, Calif., enables a merchant to offer discounts on specific products that a customer has expressed interest in or, perhaps, has lingered near, prodding him or her to buy.
“We can find out where you are standing and how long you’ve been standing in front of the Michael Kors handbag and if you haven’t purchased,” Macy’s Chief Executive Terry Lundgren said at an analysts conference in November. “And if you haven’t, I’ll send you a little note to give you encouragement to do so.”
And that’s the new world in which we shop. Or does something like this just push you further away from brick and mortar stores?
I didn’t mention it but I did have a nice, brief bike ride yesterday evening. I got in a quick 14 miles, wherein I managed to have two thoughts. The first was that I haven’t been riding my bike enough. I knew this because I hit too small little uphill segments and pushed my feet down and accelerated and that was a wonderful feeling. The ride was really meant to be the first half of a brick workout, where I would take on a long run. Just as I went back outside, though, it started to rain. And while I enjoy riding in the rain, I don’t much see the need to run in it. But the other thought I was continually having on the bike was “I wanna run.”
I do not know what is happening.
I did not run, however, because of the rain. This evening I swam a mile, 1,750 yards. It even felt pretty good, which doesn’t happen often. Didn’t want to run, though!
Things to read … because I still don’t want to run.
The title overstates things, but … Robots have mastered news writing. Goodbye journalism:
“It actually started with me reading an article by Steven Levy in Wired about algorithms and news content — ‘Can an Algorithm Write a Better News Story Than a Human Reporter?,” Christer Clerwall tells Wired.co.uk. “My first thought was ‘maybe it doesn’t have to be better — how about ‘a good enough story’?” Sadly, Wired may turn out to be the architect of its own destruction. Because Clerwall, an assistant professor of media and communications at Sweden’s Karlstad University, has found the answer to this question. And it’s yes.
This is the second small study I’ve seen like this. Both have to do with sports copy, which probably means something. What may be promising, however, is that as the algorithms improve this could free up writers from the more basic stories and allow for better storytelling.
Meanwhile, The First News Report on the L.A. Earthquake Was Written by a Robot:
Ken Schwencke, a journalist and programmer for the Los Angeles Times, was jolted awake at 6:25 a.m. on Monday by an earthquake. He rolled out of bed and went straight to his computer, where he found a brief story about the quake already written and waiting in the system. He glanced over the text and hit “publish.” And that’s how the LAT became the first media outlet to report on this morning’s temblor. “I think we had it up within three minutes,” Schwencke told me.
If that sounds faster than humanly possible, it probably is. While the post appeared under Schwencke’s byline, the real author was an algorithm called Quakebot that he developed a little over two years ago. Whenever an alert comes in from the U.S. Geological Survey about an earthquake above a certain size threshold, Quakebot is programmed to extract the relevant data from the USGS report and plug it into a pre-written template. The story goes into the LAT’s content management system, where it awaits review and publication by a human editor.
The copy, which you can read in that story, was basic, to the point, and not perfect regarding style, but it shared the pertinent information, apparently within three minutes. What happened afterward was telling. ” Quakebot’s post had been updated 71 times by human writers and editors, turning it from the squib above into this in-depth, front-page story.”
This first story, the early morning Quakebot copy, is a first step. It didn’t save the day, or save even a big part of a reporter’s day, but it is the sign of a utility to come, or, rather, a tool that is already here.
These next two items go together in an interesting, if unintended way. Welcome to the New First Screen: Your Phone:
Daily time spent on mobile devices is now outpacing TV in the U.S. for the first time, according a newly-released 2014 AdReaction study from Millward Brown.
Americans now spend 151 minutes per day on smartphones, next to 147 in front of TVs. But the numbers are even greater elsewhere.
Do you know what else is happening? Major Multi-Channel Video Providers Lost About 105,000 Subscribers in 2013:
“2013 was the first year for multi-channel video industry losses, but the modest losses represent only about 0.1% of all subscribers,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Inc. “While the overall market remains fairly flat, further share-shifting has taken place. Cable providers now have a 52% share of the top multi-channel video subscribers in the US, compared to a 58% share three years ago.”
We are at something of a hinge point in entertainment history.
Undercover TV Reports on School Security Raise Ethical Questions:
The three news reports followed the same format: Television reporters walked into schools with hidden cameras, under the premise of testing the security measures. Each time, the anchors provided a sobering assessment of the findings.
[…]
Critics say these kinds of undercover efforts do not provide an accurate portrait of school safety, and question whether they serve any public good. Some journalists question whether the news organizations become too much a part of the story, and whether it is dangerous for reporters to wander into schools now that students and staff are often on heightened alert.
Quick links:
Red Clay Readers to offer fresh look at ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ during 5-week book club
Vestavia Hills woman found nude in dumpster recovering in hospital; no foul play suspected
Auburn hoping go faster with Marshall back
Comments! Oklahoma’s Charles Tapper on Sooners’ spring swagger: ‘Whole defense just dominated Alabama’
And, finally, Arnold Schwarzenegger has a tank, and he wants you to take a ride with him:
If he’s taking the Adam West, Bill Shatner route of playing the caricature of himself, count me in.
What a lovely evening for a bike ride. I have a ride scheduled for triathlon training — a schedule I am poor at keeping, but here’s a chance to ride — and this is a beautiful day and we’re just that much closer to spring:
But those aren’t the only signs we’ll see:
No problem. This is probably a bridge. There’s one down there. And I’ve gotten over bridges on closed roads before. Besides, going around means another five or 10 miles. While I’m not concerned about the miles, I am on a schedule, and the sun is growing weary in the western sky, so press on …
OK then, they’ve adequately sealed off the road with heavy machinery, as is the style here. This particular piece of awesome construction power fills the entire road. I’ll just walk my bike around on the shoulder, then, and ease over the old (or new) creek bridge. This is going to be a problem. There’s no road there:
How big of a problem? Can’t jump that distance:
Let’s be honest. I’m not jumping any distance.
The problem became that I had to get from this side to that side. And while getting down to the creek bed from myside wasn’t difficult, getting back up to the road was a challenge. On one side the opposite back was vertical, and covered in underbrush. On the other side it was almost vertical, and covered in pumpkin-sized erosion rocks.
The thing is I usually, for better or worse, come to a conclusion about things very quickly. I sat there on the side of the road for a long few minutes trying to figure this out. I had to get down, over and back up, carrying my bike. I’m as much a cyclocross rider as I am a jumper, which is to say not at all. Ultimately I went up the near-vertical side with large rocks, pulling myself and 17 pounds of aluminum and carbon with me. Suddenly, spandex didn’t seem that cool and cycling shoes didn’t seem that practical.
But I made it. Didn’t hurt myself. Managed to get scratched by a tree limb and got a dusty knee. Slowed me down enough that I ended up racing the sun home, which was not my intention. And I missed the start of the baseball game. But I got in 30 miles. And Auburn beat Texas A&M 4-0 to start SEC play.
Even when the roads are closed you can have a good day.
Sometimes life is so hard to figure out when you’re a big kid:
There was a red-tailed hawk floating over the baseball stadium for a few seconds this afternoon. I’d never noticed how the underside of their wingspan is camouflaged against the right kind of sky.
Another one of those shots is going to be one of the new rotating banners on the blog.
Oh, the game itself? Auburn took a 5-2 lead into the top of the ninth, but Mercer rallied to tie the score in the top of the ninth. So, at 5-5, Jordan Ebert led off for Auburn in the bottom of the ninth. He singled to left and then stole second. A one-out sacrifice bunt moved him to third. Two more runners got on to load the bases and that brought Ryan Tella to the plate:
On the eighth pitch of the at bat Tella pushed a ball just beyond the shortstop. The ball went into left and Ebert slid home uncontested to celebrate:
Tigers win, 6-5. The highlights:
After the game I completed a training brick. They’re called that because of how your legs feel, right? I did a quick 17 mile ride and a slower three mile run. Nothing like 90 minutes of taxing your cardio to give you perspective, or lack of perspective. I find I can’t think of much of anything but the next breath.
I did ponder on how my bike got so slow. You take a few days off and the thing forgets how to move at a respectably medium speed. And I also managed to notice and marvel and wonder why my hip hurt for the first half-mile. But I could not figure out, for the next mile, why the stretching I was doing didn’t help my calves. Turns out I was flexing the wrong way, so …
I do not know what is happening.
In my class today I invited in a guest speaker today. And I also invited in another class to hear from him.
Nathan Troost is a Samford graduate. Within about two years of leaving he started his own film production company and now travels the world producing video packages for non-profit organizations. He showed us some of his stirring work.
Neverthirst in India: Iron Tribe Update from Lantern Vision on Vimeo.
The Pygmy People: An e3 Church Planting Movement from Lantern Vision on Vimeo.
So, you see, I bring in great speakers for my students.
Things to read … because I bring good reading material, too.
Samford JMC to Create Sports-Media Program:
“Sports media will complement the department’s exceptional print journalism, broadcast journalism, public relations and advertising tracks. We want to show our support for Samford athletics and prepare our students for the rapidly expanding employment opportunities in the sports-media field. The hands-on experience students will get in the Athletics Department will be invaluable.”
The new partnership is announced as Samford JMC students and faculty complete work on the pilot episode for a reality television series that follows nine athletes from various sports as they navigate life at Samford. “The Student Athlete” is expected to be complete in May.
Fun times in our program.
After not walking for seven years, Hoover girl inspires others with first steps and inner strength :
It takes 113 steps for 8-year-old Jian Jackson to walk from the hallway of her school outside to her mother’s car. She made that walk Monday afternoon, something she couldn’t do for the first 7 years of her life in China.
“That’s been the goal from the beginning,” said Stacie Jackson, Jian’s adoptive mother. “We’ve been working on that everyday.”
When she was 5 months old, Jian developed a high fever that lasted for four days. Afterward, the orphanage workers noticed she could no longer move her legs. Doctors in the United States believe Jian was stricken with polio at the time. It was assumed she would never walk.
Last June, a woman set herself on fire about every three days in Herat, Afghanistan:
Last June, a woman set herself on fire about every three days in Herat, Afghanistan. That’s an improvement – in June 2012, the city’s main hospital received a self-immolator about every two days, and in 2010, Afghanistan’s presidential advisor on health affairs estimated that 2,400 women were burning themselves alive nationwide, every year. The cause, he said, was depression.
Lee Rigby murderers sentenced to life in prison:
The Islamist killers of Drummer Lee Rigby erupted into violence in an Old Bailey courtroom as they were sentenced for murder.
Michael Adebolajo, 29, and Michael Adebowale, 22, had to be manhandled out of court by security guards after being told by Mr Justice Sweeney that their crime was a “betrayal of Islam”.
Adebolajo screamed at the judge as he was manhandled down the dock stairs in the historic Court No 2 but, in scenes lasting several minutes, his co-defendant was held to the floor and cuffed before being carried downstairs head first.
Relatives of Drummer Rigby, who were sitting just three feet away from the dock, stood up and cowered away from the violence.
Mr. Justice Sweeney. That’s way to use a title. And justice was almost done.
And now a cycling video:
