2009.09.27

Signal

Posted in Board Games at 11:02 am by Jeremiah Wittevrongel

Once upon a time, Gutenberg invented the printing press.  Books were expensive to produce and distribute, and literacy was a luxury only the privileged could afford.  But the printing press started an inexorable trend. Since its invention in the 1400s, the technology for information distribution has progressed rapidly.

Newspapers, then radio, then television, the internet are major milestones on the path to the present.  Information has become ubiquitous, available instantly to anyone who wants it.

When information was scarce, it was easier to absorb it, digest it, and make decisions regarding its importance and relevance.  Now, we face an entirely different problem. The signal to noise ratio has eroded dramatically in the past decade, making it increasingly difficult to find information of value.

One problem is a shift in mainstream media away from news and towards entertainment.  For example, a popular Calgary radio station has three celebrity gossip segments every weekday morning.  I’d much rather hear a traffic report, local news, weather, or heck, maybe even some music, but this is what mainstream media provides.

Of course, they wouldn’t devote three segments during the peak morning listening hours if people didn’t want to listen.  This is an interesting comment on our society by itself, but it has the effect of reducing the amount of airtime that can be given to a topic like local news.

The news has also gotten shallower.  A typical story on the radio or television has been reduced to a couple of sound bites chosen for maximum impact / entertainment value rather than their value as information.  Someone seeking more depth to a given story has to do a lot of digging to find it and frequently needs to look beyond mainstream media.  I don’t know how many people make this effort.

A second problem is created by the rise of social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.  In and of themselves, they’re great ways to keep in touch with people and find out about events and news of interest, but there is an awful lot of noise there as well.  Unfortunately, these sites only provide one really effective way to deal with the noise: ignoring someone entirely.  This means you throw out some of the signal along with the noise.

I don’t think there’s an easy solution to this one – we’re already at the saturation point for information and the trend shows no signs of slowing down.  I firmly believe that information availability is a good thing relative to the alternatives, but what do we do when such a large amount of the information available has so little value?  What do we do when mainstream media does not provide an appropriate level of depth? How do we improve the signal to noise ratio?

2009.09.16

Farewell, Energy 92.7

Posted in In the News, Music at 6:09 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel

Energy 92.7 was sold a little while back, and as of this past weekend, they are officially no more.  I considered them to in many ways be the soundtrack of San Francisco, and I would often tune in over the internet.

I often wished radio stations in Calgary would be more like them.  Now I can’t even point to them as an example.

This makes me unhappy.

2009.09.04

Autumn projects

Posted in Board Games, Friends, Parties, Writing at 8:38 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel

As most of you probably know, I have had a very busy summer.  Lots of traveling, lots of time with friends and outdoors, and working 2 jobs has kept me off the blogosphere for the most part.  Now things are settling down and I’m embarking on some autumn projects, new and old.  I’m also trying out some new things and challenging myself.

First up is my Halloween costume.  I have some lofty ideas and I’m not sure how (or if) it will all turn out.  I may have to revise my budget somewhat.  Without being too specific, it involves my largest Photoshop document ever (36″ by 80″ when printed) which is a challenge in and of itself.  Once that’s done and printed, I have to build and buy the remainder of the costume.  This will involve at least one trip to Home Depot, one to Cat’s Eye, and quite possibly some time with the sewing machine.   So far it’s a fun project.  I’m really excited to see how it comes together.

Next up are some writing projects.  I posted a short story last month in the form of a letter, and I’ll probably get around to recording the audio version of it later this fall.  I haven’t done much with my audio gear in a while, and I’m getting excitied to do more work now that I can do it on the laptop as well as my main computer.  Recording will be easier since I can be more portable.

The other writing project I have on the go is an RPG scenario for Call of Cthulhu.  I have a lot of notes already written, and I’m going to give some new writing software a try.  The software is called Scrivener, and so far I like it.  It works well with my existing writing workflow in MindManager and I like the ability to work with my research materials alongside my own text within the same application.  I think I’m going to wind up purchasing it – the RPG scenario is a test to see how it goes.  The free trial is very generous (30 days of actual use, not consecutive days) so I’ll be able to know for sure that i like the software before I buy it.  Very unusual, and very cool.

Beyond these projects, who knows.  I’ve got lots of ideas.