Direct Marketing

...and I do mean direct!  In the 2002 movie Minority Report starring Tom Cruise, the protagonist enters a mall, is scanned, and then targeted by a variety of direct marketing ads.

See for yourself!

Today you are scanned the moment you sit at your computer and begin shopping on the internet.  As Michael Learmonth says in "The Pants that Stalked Me on the Web," after shopping for a pair of shorts he began receiving internet ads aimed at his desire to buy summer pants.  Being a marketing executive he "know[s] why I'm getting these ads. But as a consumer I'd be creeped out by it, and definitely a little annoyed."

On the other hand, Miguel Helft and Tanzina Vega report that "this form of highly personalized marketing is being hailed as the latest breakthrough because it tries to show consumers the right ad at the right time."  So internet advertisers are doing us all a favor, we aren't inundated with ads for products we aren't interested in only products that may coax those dollars from our wallets.

It seems that most people aren't too concerned about this kind of targeted marketing, so does that mean that biometric ad targeting isn't far behind?

What do you think?  Are all the surveillance cameras in our society going to be taken over by direct marketers to inundate us with ads tailored to our wants and desires?  Creeped out yet?

You Need a Library Card

Why you ask?

There's a couple of reasons.  First if you have a long commute (mine is 1 hour each way), and you are sick of the radio or want to try something different, you can check out any number of audio books.

If you like comics you might check out The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon.  If you are taking a literature class, most classic books are available on CDs.  Listening to a book is a great way to discover new things about a text using an audible learning style.

But what does this have to do with the sword in this post?

My library card got me into San Francisco's Asian Art Museum to see China's Terracotta Warriors for FREE - and what an incredible exhibit.  

China's Terracotta Warriors were commissioned by the First Emperor, Qin Shihuang (259-210 BCE) conquered much in this life, but his driving purpose was even greater: He sought to conquer death. In order to achieve immortality, he built himself a tomb—a vast underground city guarded by a life-size terracotta army including warriors, infantrymen, horses, chariots and all their attendant armor and weaponry.This exhibition includes ten figures—a representative sample of the actual army, which is estimated to include more than 7,000 life-sized figures and over 10,000 weapons.

The picture does not begin to do justice to this bronze sword with its jade inlaid gilt grip.  There are some things you just have to see to appreciate, and I bet you never expected your library card could do that for you.

With my library card I can also visit Cartoon Art Museum, the Oakland Museum, the Aquarium, Bay Area Discovery Museum, California Shakespeare Theater, the Academy of Sciences and much more.  So go get a library card and spend some free time at premier San Francisco Bay Area venues.

What are you going to do this summer?

The Great Gatsby New Millenium Style

Keith Patterson recently created an infographic that explores how the 1920's world of Jay Gatsby stacks up against the rich and famous today -- specifically the rich and famous who are playing the roles of the Roaring Twenties uberwealthy characters in the recently released Great Gatsby movie directed by Baz Luhrmann.

Click here to view the full-size original over at Electric.com.

According to Patterson, "Fitzgerald's young artist, writer and multi-talented friends inspired his classic novel about one of America's most indulgent periods."  How do you think the nouveau riche of the new millenium compare to those at the beginning of the 20th century?  How do you think our hip-hop, movie star, reality TV megalomaniacs compare to the characters of The Great Gatsby?  

How do books reflect culture?  If you wrote an updated version of The Great Gatsby where would you set your book and how would you define your characters?

Batman or Ironman?

Just title this "Lifestyles of the Rich and Infamous."

Whose lifestyle is more expensive, Batman or Ironman?

If you're Tony Stark, you not only have to invent and pay for all those cutting edge, blow-them-up, and run-them-over kind of gadgets, you also have to maintain your lifestyle as one of Los Angeles' rich and famous.

His house alone costs $25,000,000.  His computer system is over $10,000,000 and then there are his cars and his suits.  Yikes that's quite a bill.

But like we say over here a picture is worth a thousand words, so here's an infographic from Mashable (click here fore a full-size Ironman graphic).

 In order to live like Ironman you are going to need $10,086,485,000.00. 

Yes, college is a good choice if you are looking to make that kind of money.





What about Batman, you ask?

Bruce Wayne has own lifestyle obligations that include not only the Batmobile and outfitting the Batcave, but also Wayne manor, a butler, a bunch of girlfriends, and awesome globe-trotting vacations.

Again that's according to Moneysupermarket.com. Here's how it breaks down visually from Mashable (click here for a full-size Batman graphic).

The Batmobile alone costs $18,000,000 and rebuilding Wayne Manor and the Batcave cost over $600,000,000!

In order to live like Batman you are going to need $682,450,750.00.

Batman's a deal, you say?  Well, don't quit your day job, or as you parents might say "Stay in school."

Personally, I want to live like Batman. Tony Stark has too many responsibilities. I want an alter ego that can act as silly as one wants before snapping into action at the appearance of the Bat signal.

Who would you want to live like, Batman or Ironman?

On the other hand, it would be cool to major in science and invent all these uber-cool, ultra-secret gadgets.

What's your major?

Pakistani Dave Brubeck

I almost clicked by the title "Pakistani Musicians Play Dave Brubeck's Take Five", but then curiosity got the better of me -- and am I glad. Take a listen:



Sitars? Tabla drums? Violins? What?

The Guardian featured the group in a recent article saying,

The Sachal Studios Orchestra was created by Izzat Majeed, a philanthropist based in London. When Pakistan fell under the dictatorship of General Zia-ul-Haq during the 1980s, Pakistan’s classical music scene fell on hard times. Many musicians were forced into professions they had never imagined — selling clothes, electrical parts, vegetables, etc. Whatever was necessary to get by. Today, many of these musicians have come together in a 60-person orchestra that plays in a state-of-the-art studio, designed partly by Abbey Road sound engineers.

So while we are all so busy trying to get through school, remember you have a long life ahead of you and you need to do something besides work...maybe playing music.

What do you do for fun?

3rd Annual O'Keefe Graphic Literature Prizes Announced

Diablo Valley College's 3rd Annual Prize for Graphic Literature surpasses all expectations and showcases the art of some amazing aspiring artists.

Go Fish by Ana Valdez is the Grand Prize Winner; a story of love where you find it between a lonely fisherwoman and a mermaid.


The Runners Up included The Amazing Uncanny Aviator by Emily Pate and Sarah Luver, a spoof of the mainstream superhero comic, and Nick Pino’s Ass Birth One: The Day the Earth Said F@ck, a tale of a boy and his dog. Ass Birth One also won the George Herriman Prize. The Herriman Prize Runner Up was awarded to Kelly Conroy’s Annoying F***tard a knock, knock joke gone incredibly annoying.

An Apple A Day Keeps Everyone Else Away by Sheemul Gupta won the Charles Schultz Award with its lifelong tale of technology’s lonely consequences. “What Does He Want…?” by the creative trio Aly Murphy, Dan Povenmire, and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh, was the Shultz Runner Up in its search for the perfect Christmas gift.

Dorena Hinh’s A Zombie’s Survival Guide to the Human Apocalypse!!! earned the Joe Schuster Award with its makeover handbook for the undead told by a loveable little zombie.

One Newcomer Award went to Tom Valdespino’s My Hero vs. His Mind, a real life narrative about the author/illustrator’s uncle, “the greatest man in the world, and his lifelong battle with the demon known as schizophrenia.” Another Newcomer comic awarded was The Lost World created by the comic duo Greg Childs and Brenda Cudd, an apocalyptic look at an underwater future where merpeople terrorize humans.

Megan Lotter’s heroic journey entitled On Surviving the Search for Self won the Lynda Barry Award, while the Runner Up, Kellyn Borst’s Daydream Believer, examines waking dreams and the consequence of memory.

Abraham Reyes’ Timothy, a gothic love story, won the Edward Gorey Award for its tale of misplaced hearts.

To view any of the winning comics in their entirety go to: http://jokp2013.blogspot.com/

The James O’Keefe Prize is offered in memory of DVC’s beloved Professor O’Keefe who created the Graphic Novel as Literature course. DVC offers transfer level courses and an Associate’s Degree in Art, ArtDigital Media, and English. Professors Adam Bessie, Doré Ripley, and Arthur S. King hosted the event which received over 100 entries . Prizes included art packs, tickets to Big WOW! ComicFest and cash awards. Plans are already underway for next year’s contest.

Do you have a love for writing and art?  Maybe a career in comics is for you.

Got 18 Minutes to Learn the History of the World?

You can learn the history of the world starting with the Big Bang and covering the next 13.7 billion years brought to you by Open Culture: Big History . . . and all in less than 18 minutes.

David Christian, a professor at Australia’s Macquarie University and formally trained as a Russian historian, Christian began working on Big History in the 1980s, a meta discipline that “examines long time frames using a multidisciplinary approach based on combining numerous disciplines from science and the humanities.”

Need to brush up on your history - ALL history - give this lecture a try.

After watching the video, can you appreciate lessons taught via video outline and graphics?

I Love Spell Check

I may love spell checker, but sometimes I think it makes writers lazy.  I know I often have to open up a blank Word document to check on a simple word that I can't remember how to spell.

This poor student has spent way too much time in front of his or her computer and can no longer spell.  If you type the following poem into Word, not a single word comes up misspelled and, according to Word, there are only four grammar mistakes.

Eye Halve a Spelling Checker

I halve a spelling checker

It came with my pea sea

It plainly marcs four my revue

Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a word

And weight four it two say

Weather eye am wrong oar write

It shows me strait a weigh.

As soon as mist ache is maid

It nose bee fore two long

And eye can put the error rite

Its rare lea ever wrong.

Eye have run this poem threw it

I am shore your pleased to no

Its letter perfect awl the weigh

My check tolled me sew.

Have spelling and grammar checking functions in your computer made you a lazy writer?  Should we worry that dependence on grammar and spell checkers are making us less literate?  Do you ever use your phone or computer to look up a word? 

MLA Citations

When you reach college you will be writing a variety of research papers and by the time you reach second year English, your instructors expect that you know how to paraphrase, quote, use in-text citations, and create a works cited page entry in your sleep.

Why is citation important? Plagiarism is one thing that can get your kicked out of college. Your ideas and your writing belong to you. Just like my thoughts and my writings belong to me and Shakespeare's thoughts and his writings belong to him. So give credit where credit is due.

Here are a couple of quizzes to test your knowledge:

Click on the link for an In-Text Citation Quiz offered by McGraw-Hill

Click on the next link for a Works Cited Quiz created by McGraw-Hill.

So how did you do? Were you surprised by how much you knew about in-text citations and works cited entries? Or how much you need to learn? Don't worry it's not too late there are all kinds of online resources for avoiding plagiarism. I would also recommend that you get a good used Writer's Handbook and keep it on your desk.

Remember, it is not enough to just drop an entry on the Works Cited page, you must include in-text citations following everything in your papers that is not your idea.

A Rocky Football Field Just Missed Earth

Asteroid DA14 just streaked by the earth on February 15 - half the size of a football field. The day before a meteor hit Russia causing loads of damage and panic, and according to the experts these two events are unrelated.

Want to watch NASA track a DA14? Here's the footage:
Video streaming by Ustream
Here's something to think about. An asteroid the size of DA14 hit Earth on June 30, 1908 and levelled 820 square miles.

Accourding to NASA when DA14 makes its

closest approach to Earth at approximately 11:25 a.m. PST (2:25 p.m. EST / 19:25 UTC), the asteroid will be about 17,150 miles (27,600 kilometers) above Earth’s surface.

The commentary will be available via NASA TV and streamed live online at: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv and http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2

Many objects in outer space are discovered and tracked by astronimacal enthusiasts, people just like you and me. Should we have an agency that watches for these kinds killer asteroids?

Science in 1,000 Words

If you carefully look at the above rendering of the Saturn V Rocket, you will notice that the creator has used some pretty simple terminology. In fact, Randall Monroe employed only the 1,000 most frequently used words in English.

Under this restriction, the rocket was called "up-goer five," the command module was "people box," and the liquid hydrogen feed line was "thing that lets in cold wet air to burn." The comic inspired Theo Anderson, a geneticist who supports accessible science education, to build a text editor that would force the user to write with only the 1000 most frequent words. He then invited scientists to describe what they do using the editor.

Mental floss reported on the project which has been turned into "18 Complicated Scientific Ideas Explained Simply", scientific ideas ranging from olfactory biology, web development and political economy to paleomagnetism, particle physics and circadian rhythm biology where "Little flying animals can tell time of day. Little flying animals can tell time of year. It’s all in their heads." Bora Zivkovic"

Geologists Anne Jefferson and Chris Rowan created the Tumblr "Ten Hundred Words of Science" to help scientists create science for the rest of us.

Can you think of other areas where using the 1,000 most common words in the English language can help people understand complicated concepts?

Are Your Ancestors Super?

At Foto Marvellini, an art workshop in Milan, two brothers have released the family photos of your favorite superheroes. How they came across so many vintage portraits is unknown, but these pictures answer a lot of questions about why some superheroes adopted their demeanor, garb, and sensibilties.

Take Spiderman for example. Most fan boys and girls believe it was a radioactive spider that produced the web-spinning acrobat, but according to family tradition there seems to be an early twentieth century dapper dude who first donned the spidey mask. Maybe the spider gave Peter Parker his super powers, but there are some spiders in his family closet.

This portrait of Captain America's great-great-great grandma may explain his patriotic roots (and style) as the Victorian lady displays the cameo shield familiar to most readers.

Batman enthusiasts may now understand the penchant for the furry flying mammals as Great-grandad Wayne studies his stocks and bonds. No wonder there was a convenient batcave under the Wayne Manor foundations -- not to mention the studious nature he passed along to Bruce.




If you're interested in seeing more portraits of superhero ancestors, check out Foto Marvellini over at Visual News.

What superheroes do you have in your family tree?

Me? It's kind of hard to go farther back than my mom, the ruffled superhero raising two kids alone. A woman who could leap society's obstacles in a single bound and was definitley more powerful than a locomotive in the metaphorical sense.