The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Category: Media

All about mass media

  • del.icio.us – now featuring happyatwork

    I finally got my act together and started using del.icio.us, a website that lets users share links. From their website:

    What makes del.icio.us a social system is its ability to let you see the links that others have collected, as well as showing you who else has bookmarked a specific site. You can also view the links collected by others, and subscribe to the links of people whose lists you find interesting.

    Clever! I’ve started tagging relevant links with happyatwork – and you can too. Let’s create a store of happy-at-work-related links together.

    * See my del.icio.us links here.
    * See happyatwork links here.

    There aren’t that many yet – but I’m guessing there will be :o)

  • Real debate

    When I saw that Rick Santorum (one of the more conservative conservatives) was going to be the guest on The Daily Show plugging his new book my first reaction was a heartfelt Whaaaaaa..?

    What did play out was a rarity on TV: A real debate between two people who obviously disagree, but who are interested in understanding each others views – and can even laugh about their disagreements. For once we saw a debate that wasn’t about beating the other person into admitting that he’s wrong (like that ever happens) but about true civilised discourse. Santorums views became clear for everyone to see, and we’re each free to decide if we agree. I disagree totally with Santorum, but that doesn’t mean that I want to see the guy attacked on TV.

    See the interview here.

  • Shared space – in traffic and at work

    Danish media have been kicking up a storm lately about all the anarchistic bicycle riders (primarily in Copenhagen) who ignore traffic rules. The debate has been founded on an interesting but unstated premise that traffic safety comes from always following the rules. As long as you go by the book, nothin bad can happen to you.

    Well, according to this NYTimes article, dutch traffic engineer Hans Monderman has a rather different approach: Throw away the book. He designed:

    a busy intersection in the center of town… Not only was it virtually naked, stripped of all lights, signs and road markings, but there was no division between road and sidewalk. It was, basically, a bare brick square.

    But in spite of the apparently anarchical layout, the traffic, a steady stream of trucks, cars, buses, motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians, moved along fluidly and easily, as if directed by an invisible conductor. When Mr. Monderman, a traffic engineer and the intersection’s proud designer, deliberately failed to check for oncoming traffic before crossing the street, the drivers slowed for him. No one honked or shouted rude words out of the window.

    (more…)

  • Worthwhile magazine

    Traci Fenton pointed me to a new magazine called Worthwhile, Work with Purpose, Passion and Profit. Sounds like my kinda publication.

  • The next media economy

    I’ve been thinking a lot about how we buy and consume media (music, movies, TV, books, news, video games, sports, etc.) and though it’s a far cry from the regular topics on this blog, and I’m pretty sure that none of this is new, here’s my take.

    You see, it’s a pretty important question. For one thing, the media industry is huge. We spend a LOT of money on entertainment. But even more importantly, media of various kinds is where we get most of our stories. Much of our perception of the world is shaped by the media we access and how we access them. So media matters.

    The big shift that we’re seeing right now is of course due to the internet. All media are increasingly being freed from physical constraints. You no longer need the physical CD, DVD, TV antenna or paper book. You can get it all on one device: Your computer. I know, I know, it’s completely obvious, but bear with me.

    I can’t say exactly what the next media business model will look like, but I still think we can say some things about it. This is kinda like one of those mathematical proofs, where we don’t know the actual solution yet, but we can still say some things about it. So I predict that any future media economy will have to live up to the following criteria in order to achieve success:

    (more…)

  • Scott Kurtz is a genius

    Scott Kurtz is the writer/artist of the PVP online somic strip, and at the recent San Diego Comics convention, he made an announcement that may change the future of newspaper comics syndication:
    But I’ve already become attached to the idea of seeing PvP in the papers, and that’s why I’ve decided to start a new program. In the coming months, I’ll be putting into effect, a program in which papers can receive PVP for free. That’s right, free. They don’t have to pay me a cent for it. I will provide for the papers, a comic strip with a larger established audience then any new syndicated feature, a years worth of strips in advance, and I won’t charge them a cent for it.

    The exposure and prestige of PvP appearing in daily papers would more than pay for itself in a months time. In exchange, I can offer the papers a comics feature that’s tried and tested, funny and best of all, free. They have nothing to lose or risk financially. They can see, in advance, a years worth of strips so they don’t risk me flaking out on them. Most of all, I can provide them with yet another bargaining chip against the very syndicates. This is the perfect climate to take this step.

    That’s a brilliant, innovative and gutsy move and I really admire him for coming up with it. You can read his entire text here.

  • Alan Moore on media, fascism and more

    That might be a horrifying notion but I’m sure there are people who think of television as perhaps one of their most intimate friends. And if the TV tells them that things in the world are a certain way, even if the evidence of their senses asserts it is not true, they’ll probably believe the television set in the end. It’s an alarming thought but we brought it upon ourselves. I mean, I think that television is one of the most diabolical — in the very best sense of the word — inventions of the past century. It has probably done more to degrade the mind and intelligence of its audience, even if they happen to be drug addicts or alcoholics; I would think that watching television has done more to limit their horizons in the long run. And it has also distorted our culture.

    Alan Moore is the writer of many excellent graphic novels, including V for Vendetta, From Hell and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. In this excellent interview on Salon, he explains (among other things) his very bleak vision of what TV is doing to us, our culture and particularly to politics. President Springsteen, anyone? Via Boingboing.

    I’m not sure my view of the effect of TV is quite so pessimistic, and at the very least you have to factor in all the good that having cheap, globally accessible mass media has brought. I have a deep conviction though, that the sheer amount of time spent in front of TV’s all over the world could be used for better purposes, and does on the whole not contribute much to our happiness.

  • MS goes Google

    Microsoft recently redesigned their search engine in the image of you-know-who. The NY Times has a cool comment on that:

    Once you click Search, you’re in for a pleasant surprise: Microsoft has stopped trying to trick you into clicking on its advertisers’ links, which it used to scatter among the genuine search results…

    Unfortunately, Microsoft calls the separation of advertising an experiment, not a permanent change in policy. It seems to be trying on honesty in the mirror to see if people will find it attractive, rather than realizing that running a principled business is the way to win customers’ trust.

    I like the image of “trying on honesty” and I must say that it fits well with my impression of how business is conducted at Microsoft and many other large corporations. It’s refreshing to see companies like Google that exhibit a true commitment to their customers and who consequently put their interests first.

  • What is the good life

    The Summer 2004 issue of Yes! Magazine asks “What is the good life?” Some of the articles are available online, including one by David Myers that seeks to discredit once and for all the notion that money can make you happy:
    Watch television, and you’ll learn that the good life is in a new car, a cold beer, or a new drug. Look at surveys, and Americans say they want more money. But look inside at what actually gives you joy, and the good life may be closer than you thought.

  • Happiness on the air

    Friday morning, Danish national radio had a 6 minute segment from our happy at work conference, containing interviews with participants and speakers. And right after there was a 5 minute interview with me. You can hear the entire segment here (10 Mb mp3). It is, of course, in danish.