Taking the "Social" Out of "Social Life"

It's been sad to watch people's definition of "social" evolve over the years. 10 years ago, if you described someone as "social" it probably meant they had a lot of friends and spent a lot of time going out to social gatherings like bars, concerts, or wherever. Now social means you have a Facebook or Twitter and a bunch of "friends" or followers (I use quotations back there because really, how many of your Facebook friends have you met in person?). Now that line is blurring even more with the new app SceneTap.

SceneTap is an app connected to cameras that are mounted in bars and clubs that estimate the number of patrons, average age, and male to female ratio of a particular bar so you can check to see if it's somewhere you want to go. It also tracks recent data from the bars it covers. Most of you just read that (as did I) and thought "Wow, that's pretty awesome! No more nights at an empty bar or sausagefest!" but take a minute to think a little further down the road.

RIGHT NOW the app is great because it's still got a small base of people using it but think 10 years down the road. If the app really takes off and every bar in every town has a camera installed and 90% of people use the app NOBODY WILL EVER GO OUT AGAIN! If it gets to a point where more than half of people are checking an app to see if people are at a bar/club before going out... EVERYBODY WILL BE AT HOME CHECKING THEIR SMART PHONES!

And that's even looking at the issue of invasion of privacy. Right now the cameras don't record faces or personal information, but how hard would it be to install upgraded cameras and/or software to start tracking where people frequent and selling that info to corporate America (basically just like Facebook does every time you log on and keep browsing the internet)? Nothing! Just the monetary push to make it worthwhile.

And if this trend continues, what's next? An app that tells us when the bathroom at work is vacant? An app to check and see if lines at the grocery store are short?

Don't wait for your phone to tell you it's ok to go out and live life. Just open the door and step out.

Rebellion Revisited 2012

Carolina Rebellion 2012 was everything I enjoyed about the first Rebellion, only BETTER!

The weekend started Friday night at the Friday Night Campground Party. We didn't camp out but we did swing by to catch the show. I missed the first few bands but got to see Lez Zeppelin SHRED for a few songs when we first arrived. That was cool because I was there for one thing... Foxy Shazam. The boys blew my freakin' MIND! The show was like watching a tornado with instruments and microphones. The singer rode the guitarist's shoulders while he was jamming a solo, the keyboardist stood on his keyboard several times, even the trumpet player was going nuts. It was insane!

Saturday we rolled out around 7am heading for the big show. Right away it was very obvious it was going to be a HOT day (reaching around 90). We were off to the right of the main stages so didn't get to catch many of the Jagermeister stage bands (well, I didn't SEE them but I definitely HEARD every bit of P.O.D. and Redlight King from across the yard). There were way too many awesome things to tell them all but here's a few of my favorite highlights from the day:

Weaving the Fate kicked off the main stages with a badass tribute to Adam "MCA" Yauch of the Beastie Boys. Paper Tongues debutted a new track from their upcoming 2nd album. Volbeat and Evanescence were just as badass as I hoped they were live (first time seeing both). Five Finger killed it even though Ivan was fighting a cold. Slash shredded through G'nR, Velvet Revolver, and his solo material (and I had the pleasure of MEETING him backstage, very nice guy). Halestorm blistered the stage (and the booty shorts Lzzy was wearing backstage could have killed a healthy man). Staind ran the gambit from their classic ballads to the hard hitting new album and ended with the acoustic track "Something To Remind You". And Shinedown brought it all home with an energy like none other.

For me, however, the highlights of the day focused around my favorite band: Korn! First, I heard rumor that Brian "Head" Welch was in attendance to perform with RED during their set. During the show, I had the pleasure of talking to Munky backstage who confirmed Head was there and it was the first time they'd seen him face-to-face in almost SEVEN YEARS! Korn hit the stage like a bomb blasting through a medley of old and new hits mixed with a few album cuts wrapping up with the full length cover of "Another Brick In The Wall" (where Munky SHREDDED for what seemed like days) and before closing with their trademark "Blind", Jonathan walked to the right of the stage and said "This spot on the stage has been very lonely for 7 years. I'd like to invite one of my favorite people ever to come out and have some fun with us." At that point Head came out from behind the stage with his axe held high and joined the boys for the final song. It was a moment I as a Korn fan had dreamed about since Head first departed in 2005 and I couldn't believe I was there to witness it LIVE!

2 years in and the Rebellion is already an establishment. Talks of 2013 have already begun and rumor is, this year may be looking at THREE DAYS OF ROCK! Guess we'll find out next year!

Digital Narcissism

Ever since "smart phones" became popular, there has been a flood of apps that seem to be able to do everything: simple things like making your phone a flashlight to games to educational tools to the just plain weird. Now there's even an app to make you feel more insecure about yourself... UGLY METER!

I don't get this at all. It costs 99 cents and basically the app does one thing: scans your face and tells you how ugly you are. THAT'S IT! The science behind it is that it takes things like facial symmetry, proportions, and overall bone structure and gives you a ranking between 1 and 10. One interesting thing about the app is that it isn't affected by facial hair, makeup, hair styles, or other ways people decorate their face, it ONLY analyzes the hard data that is your actual face. 

The worst thing about this app is the fact that over 500,000 people have downloaded it so far. That means half a million people are either so vain or so insecure they need a phone to tell them whether their looks are acceptable. 

Size Matters

And I'm here to tell you, bigger isn't always better... but sometimes it is! Let me explain.

I heard a commercial the other day for the new Coke 12.5 ounce bottles and it got me thinking. I remember back in the early 90s when there was a race to see who could make teh biggest sodas. It started at 12 ounce, then up to 16, then to 20, then 24, then the mighty BIG SLAM 1 Liter. Around that time was when I first remember seeing the gigantic 3 Liters starting to roll out. (Side note: I always hated 3 liter sodas. They always tasted flat, even when you first open them.)

At the same time that soda and several other food items started growing, technology started shrinking. TVs, cell phones, laptops, even the Playstation 2 started trying to make things smaller and smaller... well, physically at least. Storage space has constantly grown but the actual items themselves were shrinking.

Fast forward to now and watch a few minutes of commercials: drinks, chicken nuggets, and all manner of foods are now going with "snack sizes" and "handheld" and other types of SMALLER portions while technology has gone the opposite direction as well. TV screens, smart phones, tablets, and all kinds of tech is getting BIGGER.

Is bigger better? Depends on WHAT and WHEN you are talking about.

Patience is a Virtue

Today's society is all about NOW! We eat fast food because cooking takes too much time. We text because phone calls take too long. Basically, the idea of waiting in anticipation seems to be a lost art... or is it?

I feel old just saying this but I miss the days of waiting for things. I remember waiting for Tuesday to roll around so I could beg mom to take me to the nearest record store and see what new albums had come out. Or grabbing the newspaper when I got home from school to see what new movies were coming out that weekend. Hell, I even miss smelling Sunday dinner cooking the minute we walked into my grandmother's house and counting the minutes until it was time to eat.

Lately, however, even I have fallen victim to the NOW mentality. I get fussy when my cell phone won't IMMEDIATELY do what I tell it. How dare it make me wait 3 seconds to see a picture?

I don't know if I really had a point when I started typing this (looking back, I doubt it) but even typing it has made me think and I hope it does the same for you. Next time something is taking longer than you want, try to be excited about what you are waiting for rather than mad that you don't have it already. You'll find yourself happy a lot more often.

Who Is Joseph Kony?

If you have a Facebook account you have most likely seen a post or twelve about Kony 2012. No, it's not another presidential campaign that finally figured out how to reach young people. It's a campaign to end a reign of terror in Africa.

This is Joseph Kony:



Joseph Kony is the leader of a Ugandan guerilla group called the Lord's Resistance Army. Since the late 80s Kony and the LRA have run the gambit of atrocities: murder, rape, kidnapping, torture, and even reports of cannibalism. What may be the worst part of all of this is the LRA's tactic for recruiting new "soldiers". They basically kidnap children, murder their families, and force them to fight for the group. An estimated 100,000 or more kids have been "enlisted" since this practice started in 1986.

There is a lot more reasons to hate Joseph Kony but why are we just now hearing about it? He was indicted for 33 charges by the International Criminal Court back in 2005 and has had arrest warrants pending ever since. The US has had an eye on him ever since 9/11 and even sent troops in to assist the Ugandans (not to engage Kony).

The reason it's the big buzz right now is due to a 30 minute documentary titled Kony 2012 that hit YouTube earlier this week documenting the atrocities carried out by Kony and LRA.

I agree this is a cause that needs to be addressed and a problem that needs fixing, but I also think it shows just how flighty Americans are today. Within 24 hours, thousands of people went from having no clue what Uganda was (Is it a new dubstep DJ?) to fighting for their freedom from oppression.

Fight for what you believe in, not what your Facebook friends tell you is important.

That being said, here's the video. I hope everyone reading this actually takes the time to get informed and, if they so choose, help the cause and not just jump on the bandwagon because it's the thing to do.

The End?

So it is 2012. Well, has been for just over a month anyway. According to translation the Mayan Calendar ends this year. That has lead people to assume everything from "Well, they must have just figured that would be a good stopping point on the calendar" to "OH MY GAWD THE WORLD IS GONNA END IN DECEMBER!" I must admit, I'm somewhere in the middle with the "I don't really know what the hell it all means" group.

Here's the facts: The Mayans were a very sophisticated culture who created a 5,125 year calendar that ends on our December 21, 2012 (their calendar and what we think of as a calendar now were organized very differently). It is believed that they based theirs around the movement of celestial bodies (i.e. sun, moon, planets, stars, etc) and the end point marks some specific alignment or configuration.

We, as humans, took that information and came up with the most self-centered conclusion possible... the entire universe is just a big clock counting down to Earth's destruction. Now there are theories that there may be a 2nd Big Bang or something universally catastrophic but most theories revolve around Earth's doom. A planet destroying comet/meteor/gamma ray or collision with another planet or being eaten by a black hole. 7% of people asked in a recent survey even thought we could be living in Planet of the Apes in LESS THAN 25 YEARS!

I myself fall into the "not sure" category. A recent study actually found that 27% of people think SOMETHING will happen. I think something will happen but not from mystical magical forces. I think PEOPLE will happen.

The human race is prone to mass hysteria when "imminent doom" is approaching (anybody remember Y2K?). I hope I'm wrong but I'm expecting a good percentage of people will start to act crazier as the date approaches. Living in bomb shelters, looting and riots, etc.

Whether any world changing or ending event happens, I am more worried about what the world's reaction leading up to that will be.