Social Order & Disorder – Page 15

Someone is wrong on the internet

I discovered an entertaining site recently called Skeptic North. It’s a Canadian equivalent to several similar sites and blogs I read that are mostly American-based. It challenges popular assumptions, ideas, trends and pseudoscience and other claptrap. In a Canadian way, of course. Meaning that it’s usually much too polite in how it handles some of the balderdash online. I’m less gracious. Bullshit is bullshit and should be called out. I discovered it when I was looking for some additional backup material on COLD FX, an over-the-counter, made-in-China product (I hesitate to call it a medicine; is pseudo-medicine a proper word? or should ……… click below for more ↓

How to Survive the Mayan Apocalypse

2012-12-05 2012-12-05 Balderdash & Hoaxes / Humour & Satire / Memes; Internet & Social / Religion / Science & TechnologyLeave a comment

How will anyone survive the “end of the world” predicted for December 21, 2012? Easy: by breathing. That’s because it won’t happen. That the Mayans never predicted it would seems to have bypassed a few of the tin-foil-hat brigade. The complex Mayan calendar simply ends one of its long cycles – just like ours ends its annual cycle on December 31. Just like we end decades, centuries and millennia on Dec. 31 with a year that ends in zero (10, 100, 1000). But most important: it’s a calendar, fer cryin’ out loud. It’s not a Magic 8 Ball. You think the ……… click below for more ↓

Another popular myth debunked: moon doesn’t make crazies

2012-11-24 2012-11-24 Balderdash & Hoaxes / Faith / Memes; Internet & Social / Science & TechnologyLeave a comment

“Myth Debunked: Full Moon Does Not Increase Incidence of Psychological Problems,” says the headline on a story on Science Daily. I was amused by the notion that, in 2012, anyone would seriously believe that the moon affected human psychology – especially supposed educated people. In this case, it was very serious and resulted in a paper with the lengthy and ponderous title, “Impact of seasonal and lunar cycles on psychological symptoms in the ED: an empirical investigation of widely spread beliefs.” The abstract says: This study evaluates the impacts of seasonal and lunar cycles on anxiety and mood disorders, panic ……… click below for more ↓

Ten Lessons Learned From the Petraeus Affair

2012-11-19 2012-11-19 Arts / Books & Reviews / Culture / Media Issues / Memes; Internet & Social / Social Order & Disorder / US PoliticsOne Comment

After watching the recent, exaggerated – and sordid – upheaval over the story about an extramarital affair that the (now former) head of the CIA had with his biographer, I have come to several conclusions about America, sex, American media and publicity: 1. Americans, who bought millions of copies of “Fifty Shades of Grey“, a poorly-written, highly derivative, pornographic book, and then turned it into a national industry that includes home parties where BDSM equipment is sold to housewives, and dozens of spin-off blogs based on the book, are easily offended by “racy” emails between consenting adults. 2. Americans, who consume a vast quantity of online ……… click below for more ↓

Pondering the US election from a Canadian perspective

2012-10-30 2012-10-30 Canadian Politics / Media Issues / Politics / US Politics2 Comments

Canadians often find US politics mystifying, no more so than during presidential elections. It’s not just their byzantine electoral college system (which truly baffles us – even when explained concisely as in the video below). It’s not just the differences between America’s republican governance system and our parliamentary system (although they do contribute mightily to the confusion since they are so dissimilar). These are process issues that can be sorted out through reading and study. What baffles us – or at least me – is the increasingly vituperative language of the candidates, their advertising, and even of the post-debate analysts (not the ……… click below for more ↓

Gambling: money and statistics

2012-10-19 2012-10-19 Books & Reviews / Canadian Politics / Collingwood / Games & Gaming / Internet & Social Media / Municipal Politics / Social Order & Disorder / What I'm Reading Now5 Comments

No, I’m not going to write about the morality of gambling.* I’ll save that for another post. This is about money. And numbers. I attended the OLG four-community presentation in Wasaga Beach, Tuesday, and it got me thinking about what gambling means to the economy, what it means to the government, what effect it might have on things like growth and recession. It also made me wonder how governments became addicted to gambling revenue, but that, too, is for another post. I also found some of the statistics presented interesting enough to do some extrapolation, which I’ll get to at the end. ……… click below for more ↓

Does product placement run the viewing experience?

2012-10-13 2012-10-13 Arts / Film & Reviews / Internet & Social Media / Personal Reminiscences / Social Order & Disorder4 Comments

I was watching recent episodes of the BBC series, “Sherlock and Strike Back, this week, and towards the end of last night’s show, I wondered, again, why it was British TV shows were generally so much better than American TV. Why did do most British dramas seem more realistic, the characters more believable, the sets less artificial? Yes, having a longer tradition of acting, script writing and production plays into it. A robust public broadcasting system that doesn’t have to cater to corporate tastes or duck sticky political issues is another reason. So does not catering to pop fashion trends ……… click below for more ↓

Why does anyone need PR?

2012-10-06 2012-10-09 Books & Reviews / Internet & Social Media / Media Issues / Municipal Politics / Social Order & Disorder3 Comments

Flavius Aetius. Only a handful of scholars know who he was. You can look him up on Google, but 1,500-plus years later, not many people will find him memorable, nor will they care. On the other hand, I’ll bet everyone reading this post knows who Attila the Hun was. Or at least you recognize the name, even if you aren’t really familiar with his history. It’s either an insult or praise to be called “right of Attila the Hun” these days, although Attila would not have understood the reference. Attila’s reputation as a warlord still resonates, 1,500 years later. But his ……… click below for more ↓

Should we sell naming rights to public property?

2012-09-27 2012-09-27 Collingwood / Municipal Politics / Urban Design & GrowthLeave a comment

I was recently forwarded a link to a blog post about selling naming rights for public buildings to corporations. The author writes, Last week, I wrote about “the halo effect” on events, buildings, and properties that have had multiple names, all of which have been commercial. The other area we often advise on is the sponsorship naming rights of iconic buildings “owned” by the community or named after community leaders. Often a building may be named after a past politician or community leader. Brands interested in naming such properties must take into account these situations and be prepared to invest accordingly. ……… click below for more ↓

Are internet polls valid?

2012-09-24 2012-10-09 Collingwood / Internet & Social Media / Science & Technology / Social Order & Disorder6 Comments

How valid are internet polls? Are they credible for making serious or significant decisions, or merely as general – even vague – indicators of intent? Are they equivalent to paper (and phone) surveys? No. At least that’s what many experts say. Yes, they can be cost-effective, and good tools to engage the community. But like online petitions, they seldom have sufficient controls that restrict access to the relevant respondents. Anyone with a basic knowledge of how the internet works can easily bypass the limited security and vote numerous times. Often all it takes to get another vote is deleting cookies ……… click below for more ↓