The Last Colony...Yawn

Over at Kickstarter, a dazzling example of Web-based business development that transcends computers and broadband, a man by the name of Juan Agustín Márquez is seeking $77,000 to do a political documentary about Puerto Rico, to be titled "The Last Colony."

Now Márquez is a successful non-fiction filmmakerhttp://juan.mixform.com/, an Emmy-winner for his documentary "100,000," on Our horrible plague of abandoned dogs. He also did "Los 17," a film about 17 students , along with teachers, parents and the community, taking on the challenge of saving their public high school from closure by dramatically raising their test scores. This film and its story was a presentation at the San Juan TEDx conference in November 2011.

So Márquez has the chops to go on Kickstarter and make a decent effort at collecting the $77,000 he's budgeted for the documentary. In his favor, using Kickstarter shows self-confidence and frees him up from "strings-attached" money which normally comes from corporate sponsors, and in the case of political topics, pinheads.

It is obvious that Márquez is blazing his own path and looking to do important projects, developing his skills and occupying ever-higher plateaus in his chosen fields. Good. That's what he should do and I believe his future successes will greatly exceed his current impressive successes. But as for "The Last Colony"...

I don't care. Not a whit.

Hope he makes it happen, which means I hope he gets enough pledged money by September 22nd to go out and do the documentary he wants to do. But I won't give him a dollar and when--I firmly believe when--he finishes it, I won't care to see it.

To Me, the bottom line about the documentary topic--and rest assured, We are a colony--is that it's importance is disconnected between reality and opinion. In reality, Our status is important: it underlies the fundamental positions We can have as a nation on the geopolitical stage. But in Our minds, in Puerto Rico and the U.S. of part of A.--Our status is unimportant, merely an ugly tool used by pandering thieves to whack other idiots over the head with.

And since reality is ultimately created by Our minds, Our status is thus--yawn--unimportant.

Because We and "They" don't care about it.

We don't care 'cause We got dollars and welfare and a false sense of security and Wal-mart and Burger King and flat-screen TVs and don't need passports to "know" Disney and the Bronx and...whatever.

And "They" don't care because they make dollars off of Us by making an island client use only their shipping and buy primarily their products from their stores and their companies while employing Us at lower wages and keeping Us from dealing with anyone else...whatever.

Can We change that? Hell yeah. We could have--We can--anytime since the Jones Act of 1917, that made Us conditional U.S. of part of A. citizens (Congress can revoke Ours, but not "Theirs") and locked Us into economic straitjackets in exchange for Our men being sent to the front lines in World War I and every war since.

We could have changed that before We "negotiated" a status with all the trappings of a colony but the name, stretching the term "commonwealth" (that Massachusetts uses) to disguise "colony," a bit like saying "politician" to disguise "crook."

We could have changed it with any referendum--including the one coming up in November--by insisting that it be binding, bringing "Them" and Us to the table as equals. We could have changed it by voting overwhelmingly for one "solution" or another, understanding that the current status is a colony, statehood is ONLY up to "Them" and that independence is not suicide, as too many of Us stupidly believe.

We could have changed it simply by having the courage, dignity and vision to say to "Them": Enough. This is Our time to take the world stage on Our own terms. And if they balked, We could have changed that by simply having the courage, dignity and vision to assert a simple: You can't stop Me.

We could have, We can, but We haven't and We won't. The status will remain a faux issue in the hands of microcephalic and immoral dirtbags that so many of Us cheer on because they are "My side", failing to grasp that the vermin are only out for themselves.

A documentary to make Our status "part of the national conversation"? Noble goal, but ultimately out of the reach of anyone, be it Márquez, Fellini, Welles or Kurosawa. It's not a matter of talent: it's a matter of indifference. Unless a documentary shows a hideous injustice of torn and mutilated bodies, broken buildings and abject despair, it won't evince the emotional reaction needed to launch a truly meaningful discussion.


Our status doesn't have the torn and mutilated bodies of a genocide or war zone...but it has murder victims in the thousands. Our status doesn't have broken buildings from bombs and bullets, but it has broken buildings housing poverty unlike any in the U.S. of part of A. And in Our status, the faces of abject despair are not the beaming slack-jawed bovine squeals of party supporters waving a blue, red, green or some other colored flag en masse like crazed monkeys, but the scattered thoughtful miens of Our folks who know We are trapped and don't have the collective will to escape.

So good luck, Mr. Márquez. You won't need it to make the documentary; you'll need it--and much much more--to achieve your ultimate goal.

Yawn.



The Jenius Has Spoken.

Symantec Bullshit

What two things do the capital cities of Buenos Aires and San Juan have in common?

Kudos to you if you came up with two that aren't "The primary language is Spanish." And kudos to statehooders who know (or look up) that Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina. All six of you deserve a medal.

But I bet none of you guessed that "dangerous Internet" links both cities. According to a report by Sperling's BestPlaces and Symantec, Buenos Aires and San Juan are the two cities with the highest risk during Internet access, primarily from WiFi networks and cell phone use.

Do tell. Who benefits from this news? Going back to the report's authors, We have BestPlaces, who wants you to go "there"...and Symantec, a cyber-security company.

Do tell.

Now the article cited goes on to say that the report is based on a projected risk, in other words, it amounts to someone's opinion that these 2 cities are dangerous for Web users. And even though the report cites the "high number of reported cyber-crimes" in Buenos Aires, they also note this is in direct relation to the high usage rate of social media, computers and broadband access that the Argentina capital has.

Tack this on: Symantec admits that the "highest risk" cities are not necessarily those "with the highest rates or instances of viruses or cyber-attacks." Oookay...


In other words, Symantec is saying: We made this shit up to scare you.

Do tell.

Are We surprised at this tactic? No. It happens all-too-frequently and for nebulous goals more atrocious than trying to sell security software and hardware. What frosts My perineum in this case is that Symantec chooses to use My Island's capital city in its bullshit report.

I've lived and worked very happily never having spent a second's notice on Symantec, and will go back to that state of bliss after this post, but for now, I call "Bullshit!" on these cyber-pests and wish that they choke to a horrible death on their idiocy in the coming tech cycle.

As for BestPlaces, I strongly suggest that in the future they avoid being drunk before getting into bed with someone. Especially one as stupid as Symantec.



The Jenius Has Spoken.

TEDx San Juan: Giovanni Rodríguez - Part One

Sometimes an interview unleashes so many angles and threads that bringing it together in one article is either an exercise in futility, unintended censorship, cherry-picking (a form of intended censorship almost indistinguishable from editing) or an article so long it becomes practically unreadable.

In the case of My conversation with Giovanni Rodríguez, social media expert, I chose to follow part of the tapestry of topics We created in one post and come back to other parts of the tapestry later.

So here We go, with Part One of Our conversation with the Parranda Man.

Giovanni is the Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer for Deloitte Postdigital Enterprise (enabling government and business to better engage with employees, consumers, and citizens), a founding board member of LATISM and serves as advisor to the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. He's also a blogger for Forbes Magazine and ClickZ. His presentation at TEDx San Juan was about the power of social media and its connection with the growing power of Hispanics.

A key point to grasp about Giovanni is that he is very much Puerto Rican, although Bronx-born and despite having not visited the Island for a couple of decades. The connection? Family. The daily give-and-take of culture and mores that make up a national feeling. That's why Giovanni's return to Puerto Rico was--in his words--such a seminal moment, for he understood the deeply-felt connection that people can have with their homelands, that yearning to go back someday.

This insight helped Giovanni recast his work in a different light, more about the connecting and less about the technology aspect. In his work, scanning and analyzing approaches to Hispanics, Giovanni has seen a change based on non-Hispanic realization that Mexicans are not Puerto Ricans are not Cubans. "Hispanics" are not all one people, and yet within that variety, there exists commonalities, primarily centered on education and immigration. (Not applicable to Puerto Ricans, but We get lumped into the debate in other ways.)

The commonalities are such that often an attack on one Hispanic group causes a ripple effect of support from other nationalities, a form of "We demand respect" unity that has profound and far-reaching repercussions. Giovanni pinpointed that reality by coining the term "metatribe" to describe what happens with Hispanic variety/commonality.

The fact is that Hispanics are now the largest minority group in the U.S. of part of A. and by 2050 could exceed being 33% of the nation's population. With that increase in numbers comes a consequent rise in buying power, as businesses have noted...and a rise in voting power, as Democrats and Republicans have noted.

It is fair and accurate to say that Barack Obama's rise to the presidency was fueled by cutting-edge integration of the Internet and social media...and Hispanic voters. The support generated by savvy new media strategies and get-out-the-vote grassroots campaigning was enormous, but the power of Hispanic votes was vital in major key states.

As Giovanni points out, it still is: the first ads of the 2012 campaign--of both parties--were targeted at Hispanic/Latino (choose your term) voters...and one was in Spanish. Imagine: a U.S. of part of A. presidential campaign ad not in English. Eso es poder, compadre.

However, Giovanni noted that the parties differ greatly in their approaches. By philosophy, the Democratic Party is more compatible with most Hispanics (Cubans being a notable exception), with the party's emphasis on broadening immigration quotas, social services, education and minority rights. The Republican Party, currently spearheading a wide series of anti-immigration laws, is seen as anti-Hispanic. Toss in their focus on reducing social services and education for minorities and you have the makings of a very interesting media experiment in "whitewashing" a party's image for a primary voter group in 2012.

For both parties, Giovanni says, the key is to merge offline and online activities. The Obama 2008 campaign success was built on that merging, but time and technology have created a greater potential platform with the concomitant greater reward/risk factor. Hispanics are very keen users of social media (ranking first in Facebook, a close second on Twitter and again first in average cell phone usage), so the improved platform allows for faster, more focused and responsive organization.

Two recent examples of this new paradigm are the reaction to a perceived slur on ABC's now-defunct "Work It"--galvanizing Puerto Ricans and Hispanics to protest vehemently and effectively--and the Susan G. Komen Foundation fallout after the breast cancer awareness group chose to stop supporting Planned Parenthood. Both ABC and the Komen Foundation were forced to back down from the fallout--and unlike previous "retractions"--these were clearly not based on profit losses, but solely on the public image of their new (recast) positions.

Giovanni said that the Hispanic's growing population, power and presence needs to be understood in order for the conversation it engenders to be guided and molded. He wasn't speaking about "manipulating" Hispanics, but about the communities themselves grasping what their power is, how they can use it and on what issues they can best take advantage of that power. In classical terms of realpolitik, Giovanni is describing the "It isn't power if you don't use it" and the "Fringe groups must move to the center to consolidate power" tenets.

If that sounds menacing, then you haven't understood what it is all based on. As Giovanni discussed, the technology that enables and enhances social media is available to "everyone" (keep this in mind; another angle below), and what it has done is to take what was once "limited" and given access to all. In the past, publishers, newspapers, radio and TV had unique channels they controlled: now We have blogs, self-publishing, aggregators, YouTube, podcasts, Twitter, Facebook and 24/7 access to the world in Our hands. The growing power of Hispanics in this new world is built on the growing power We all have. That means We all have a responsibility to use that power wisely, and Giovanni is at the forefront of that movement.

And yet, not "everyone" is equal: there does exist a digital divide, a chasm between the haves and have-nots in terms of technology and Internet access. At first, that digital divide was structured around economic classes, poor versus rich. Technology and Internet access is now so cheap and ubiquitous that the digital divide is reframed as "levels of use," non-user versus power user. And as Giovanni wrote about a year ago, guess who leads the nation in "power use"?

Again, the implications are enormous. If the education divide between minorities/poor and  the non-minority/wealthy (very real, very pernicious) continues, but the digital divide "flips" the equation, what does that mean for the nation's future? An obvious point: most of the content is non-Hispanic in origin, so crossing this "digital divide" into content production is a key step. What would a more "Hispanic" Web or social media environment be like? What would it mean for marketers, businesses, industries and consumers? What would it mean in terms of public debate and policy?

Neither those questions nor a responsible conversation on the use of this growing power will happen unless commitments are made and kept. Giovanni is working with LATISM and the White House to partner with communities and organizations nationwide to develop that broad-based, effective network for the future. In essence, the focus is on learning to navigate what is an often confusing mélange of data, trends, technologies and opinions. It is the landscape of the early 21st century, it is disruptive and chaotic...and yet it is created by Us. Non-participation won't change it. Only by actively and intelligently slicing and dicing can anyone have a true impact. In Giovanni's words, "Even a tiny slice can yield great results...the challenge is to figure out how and how to do it consistently."

There's more to this topic and a whole new set of topics touched on and discussed by Giovanni that will become posts here in the near future. For now, keep this in mind: the event that galvanized and launched an entirely new social media reality with truly global implications is happening again this year: the Presidential elections. Only this time, the toolkit is larger, the strategies are sharper, the stakes are higher and Hispanics are bigger players on this stage.

And Giovanni is spotlighted on that stage. Cool, huh?



The Jenius Has Spoken.

[Update: 7 March 2012: From Foreign Policy, an eye-opening examination of how the Republican Party is driving Hispanic votes towards Presdient Obama.]

TEDx San Juan: Ramphis Castro

Ramphis Castro, a computer engineer in his non-secret identity, is a key member of the TEDx San Juan  event group. Through him, I learned about the effort to do a TEDx conference on the Island and We talked about that, as well as the entrepreneurial environment of Our Island.

For the TEDx San Juan team, the goals for the event were to reveal the people who were doing noteworthy projects, get them and the invited audience to meet and hopefully establish new collaborations. In those respects, Ramphis feels that the event was truly a major success. However, getting there was not so easy.

The search for sponsorships to secure funding for the event started with, reasonably, major companies. What the TEDx San Juan group discovered was that these big corporations didn't really understand the TED concept and were more concerned with the group's "track record" than anything else. Their general take was "Have the event and if it succeeds, then We'll be interested." In addition, there was a sense that these "established entities"--maybe We can call them the "Establishment"--were less-than-keen to support an event that didn't fit their limited "box" of ideas or didn't seem to directly support their "agenda."

The cold-calling slog at that level was quickly replaced with a new strategy: approaching small businesses and non-profits. The amount of money needed to hold the event was not that much; as Ramphis pointed out, many of the large companies spent many times the TEDx San Juan budget on crap (My word). It wasn't like TEDx was a "break the bank" (pun intended) risk.

[Aside: I've decided not to mention the companies Ramphis and I talked about, not because they deserve anonymity--they don't--but because TEDx San Juan is about synergy and collaboration: dissing anybody at this early stage amounts to closing doors needlessly. But you can call Me to ask who We talked about.]

What was slow bureaucratic protocol based on "Who are you?" and "Why do you want to do this event?" in the Establishment was replaced by quick acceptance and support from small companies and non-profits, who didn't care that Ramphis, Marcos Polanco and the rest of the TEDx team had never done this event before, or that the event had a global focus rather than a local one: what mattered to them was that it was a potential lever for change.

Ramphis discussed how what the Establishment has is power, and though they could make great changes with that power, their focus above all is self-preservation; the status quo must be defended. For the rest of us, isolated from the progress We should be able to achieve because those with the responsibility of helping changes emerge refuse to "open certain doors," shredding the status quo is a good thing.  As Ramphis pointed out, We search for options for progress, and in the TEDx case, the smaller companies are not only more nimble to react, they are more willing to embrace change. And they did, usually with one just call.

TEDx San Juan hit the local scene like a flash-bomb of creativity and passion. Ramphis noted that the most important results would be seen post-event, as the ideas and collaborations start spreading their influences. He replied to My observation about the "high energy" at the event with, "It was one thing to anticipate it, because We did, but it was another to actually see it."

Switching gears, I asked Ramphis for his overview of the entrepreneurial environment here. His first observation was that although We do have an entrepreneurial streak in Our culture, most of Our entrepreneurs are "accidental," i.e., folks who've lost their jobs and are forced to start a business to secure income. In Ramphis' view, We aren't taught how to be entrepreneurs and the resources at hand are not truly geared to helping a business get off the ground. For one, there's protectionism by larger established companies, limited financial supports and though there has been some reduction in government red tape, there's still an often-bewildering array of steps to complete to just start a business. Faced with that panorama, Ramphis says, many of Us just "give up and sit in a corner to cry."

But Ramphis goes on to say that "Everywhere is hostile to entrepreneurs." Starting a business is not easy and that's simply a fact. Those who succeed don't care that it's difficult because their focus is on change. In Our case, Our reliance on "the government" is a barrier because, Ramphis notes, they don't know how to change the system to create an environment of true economic progress. For example, the government looks to big companies to increase jobs, but 2/3 of new jobs are created by start-ups and new companies. If a big company does add 400-500 jobs, it's because they cut 2,000 jobs someplace else, and the same can and does happen to Us when We're (increasingly) on the losing end.

Once again, the Establishment serves more as obstacle than as facilitator, self-preservation trumping "a rising tide to lift all boats," for fear of sinking the ship. But Ramphis notes that entrepreneurialism is not a "magic bullet": it will not "cure" an economy nor is it to be some isolated tool for economic progress. It has to be coordinated with other changes to create a support system that helps create more opportunities across the board, rather than just for new companies.

To Ramphis, the biggest change for economic progress is the Internet because it drastically lowers entry barriers for nearly all businesses. However, by itself, it doesn't change the need for financial support or the reliance on knowledge, specifically education on being an entrepreneur, a subject Our school system doesn't even glance at. And yet, for knowledge, the Internet is its own solution, and thus there's no excuse for anyone to say they can't learn about a product, service, market or industry: it's within keyboard reach.

However, to sell to foreign markets, Ramphis acknowledges We have an "island mentality" that doesn't look outward very often, but he points out that face-to-face, feet-on-the-ground contact is still a key component to secure sales. He notes that local entrepreneurs are missing the point with a strictly-local focus, or a vaguely "global" one, when he points out that We have 4.7 million of Our Brethren populating the States, more than doubling Our Island population. Selling and marketing to them is as easy as being Ourselves with people like Us who want to support Puerto Rico. Ignoring that market is short-sighted and the sooner companies realize that, the better.

As Ramphis discussed, being an entrepreneur is not about just creating companies, it's about creating wealth. Not in the sense of "I'm going to be rich!", but in the sense of creating an ecosystem of value that benefits more than a handful of people. The lack of vision about this key point is seen in that the only major local "offering" for venture capital funding is basically a business plan competition, where a "home run with one swing" mentality is backed by a limp-wristed $5,000 "pledge" based on a document and process that are largely irrelevant to cutting-edge start-ups. Yes, planning is important, but planning for a year is much less a wealth creator than actually doing the business for most of that year. That myopia is not enough for a powerful vision of progress and never will be.

To My remark about the underground economy flourishing as evidenced by the huge expansion of (permanent) flea markets, Ramphis feels that more than anything else, this is a symptom reflecting the failure of public economic policy, which is lost and confused. What this underground economy does is serve as a "safety net" for those who are left out of the economic loop, but it also traps them there, unable to grow. Few start-ups in Puerto Rico grow to be big, but the flea market environment won't change that reality. What Ramphis does see is that start-up processes at this level are lightning-quick, with clear and simple procedures. Although a government has to be aware of more details, it also has more resources to do so, so streamlining red tape and simplifying procedures should be a true economic boost, as has been shown several hundred times around the world.

A deeper look at economic progress and synergy can also be seen in Ramphis' work with Startups of Puerto Rico, a tech-centric push for entrepreneurial development on Our Island. The goal is to create the environment that start-ups can thrive in. In a nod at the Establishment, Startups of Puerto Rico has a focus where older companies help the newer ones make progress. Although the focus is tech-centric, agility is also a vital trait, so non-tech companies with emerging or created markets can also benefit from the group's expertise.

As for TEDx San Juan, the tentative date for 2012 is December 14. Ramphis indicated that the entire group was not only revved up for this year, but also to support any and all TED-type events that might be held locally. The support gos beyond logistical to include sponsorships, so that the synergy and collaboration can spread even wider.

On a closing note, Ramphis and I agreed to collaborate on highlighting noteworthy projects that barely missed the cut for TEDx San Juan and within Startups of Puerto Rico. Synergy and collaboration.

It's so good to be back in that flow.



The Jenius Has Spoken.

TEDx San Juan: We're Not Alone

Oh yeah, I was wrong.

TEDx San Juan was a rousing success. As I tweeted: I'll eat some of My words, happily.

Let Me dismiss My off-targets first: I sill don't agree with hiding the speakers line-up until just before the event. Sharing of anything is enhanced by symmetry and symmetry means We have the same or as much of the same (information) as possible. I would have gone to TEDx San Juan no matter the line-up, and...

Given that over 1,000 people applied and only 100 were allowed (My second point) by TED guidelines (for a first event), then there would have been no problem filling up the event. Only 100 was a stipulation, not a whim: I would have liked to know that beforehand. So picking Me to attend was not a mistake (I don't know what criteria applied), but a a pondered decision that actually honors Me.

Now for the positives: TEDx San Juan is the first event I have ever attended locally that exceeded My expectations. My biggest Congratulations go to the organizing team: Ramphis Castro, Iván Ríos, Marcos Polanco, José Padilla, Arelys Rosado and Héctor Ramos. They did a magnificent job.

A special Congratulations goes to Marcos Polanco for coordinating the speakers. I understand the selection was made by a group, but Marcos had the direct responsibility for the line-up and the agenda and his choices in both regards were impeccable.

Another special shout-out goes to Jenial Friend Luis Herrero as his company was in charge of the video and livestreaming, which I understand was world-class.

The speakers deserve their own recognition, to wit:

Justo Méndez, Nuestra Escuela: Born from the tragic loss by auto accident of his daughter, Nuestra Escuela takes in troubled kids and gives them back their capacity to dream and reach that dream.

Fernando Lloveras described why he created an organization to rescue Puerto Rico's rapidly-diminishing land area, preserving it for Our future.

Jorge Rigau presented his two proposals, a Metropolitan Walking Paths project that could easily and economically provide San Juan with some 3,000 miles of "urban walking paths," rescuing little-used spaces and a project, already done once, to convert a 35-kilometer irrigation canals infrastructure into a passive recreation/tourism attraction.

Dr. Daniel Colón talked about the exponential impact and importance of basic research, so strongly-maligned now, in healthcare and broad-based public benefits.

Tara Rodríguez described her Department of Food company, linking organic farm products with urban and suburban deliveries of high-quality vegetables and fruits.

Jorge Gaskins spoke about microalgae and the enormous potential they have for both food and fuel. Key number: microalgae can produce over 10,600 gallons of biofuel per acre per year; no plant can produce more than 780 gallons per acre per year.

Noel Quiñones spoke about and showed excerpts of his documentary about a school in Maricao that after 9 years of failing the standardized department-wide tests, and facing closure if it failed again, dramatically rocketed its scores to pass the tests...in 60 days.

Lawrence La-Fountain spoke of "sexiles," Puerto Ricans who leave the Island or are marginalized because of their homosexuality and how they respond through artistic expression to that exclusion.

Andrea Pérez (daughter of My Friend Lovely Laura) spoke about her personal decision to truly give, consciously developing sustainable charitable work, based on her experiences in Sudan (yes, Sudan) and Haiti.

Giovanni Rodríguez reconnected with his Puerto Rican roots and described his path to becoming a (cheer)leader for social engagement, social media use that foments change amongst Latinos, the "original retweeters." (In joke...)

Mayra Santos, accomplished writer and teacher, told Us two powerful truths: We need to lose Our fear of literature (We don't read enough) in order to tell the world Our stories, for without Our stories, the world and Us are diminished from full potential.

Four videos were shown: Emiliano Salinas on the attitude change needed to properly face up to the horrendous crime wave in his native Mexico; the Khan Academy's re-framing of education; Joan Halifax on the powerful nature of compassion and a brief video with Joachim de Posada indicating that delayed gratification--not eating the marshmallow for 15 minutes (watch the video)--is an almsot 100% predictor of success.

Three artistic presentations, a TED conference requirement, had strong impact as well: Y No Había Luz, Andanza and Time Machine Squad.

For My money, every speaker was a huge hit. I was especially moved by Andrea Pérez, Noel Quiñones and Lawrence La-Fountain, intrigued by Fernando Lloveras, Jorge Rigau and Jorge Gaskins and I fell in love with Mayra Santos (who is a sex symbol and rightly so.)

I must give a special thanks to Dana Montenegro who served as an energetic, quirky and hugely engaging emcee. I can offer no greater praise than "I couldn't have done it better."

Suggestions? Tables so attendees can sit and share, better monitoring of time so We can start/finish and explore with each other during the event and some stronger form of "connecting," like maybe setting up the tables with names so that you end up sitting with a group of (hopefully) strangers that you can then engage with.

But these are minor quibbles, at best. TEDx San Juan was interesting, dynamic, moving and impressive. Three thoughts came together during the event:

1) I'm so used to events like these being "what could have been" that I have become too cynical about "what could be." I won't do that again.


2) I, and We, are not alone. There are plenty of My Brethren who not only want to make a difference, they actually are making a difference.


3) The next TEDx has already begun. And it will be even better than this one.


The Jenius Has Spoken.


[Update: 11 December 2011: Videos of the TEDx San Juan speakers are here.]

TEDX San Juan: Stale Cracker Or Artisan Bread?

As I write this, TEDx San Juan, first edition, is to start in 17 hours.

I have no idea who's speaking. Or what they'll talk about.

The only information I have is that the theme is "Bursting the Bubble," referring to My Brethren who are pushing the envelope, boricuas breaking new ground. Good. Marvelous. But to be blunt: so what?

Now for the two of you who don't know what the TED events are, they refer to a series of brief (10-20 minute) presentations on topics related to technology, education and design--TED. (Careful: the website is addicting to curious minds. The average statehooder will be bored.) The driving force behind the concept is to bring to light new ideas and have them create synergies. For that to happen, information must flow...so not sharing information defeats the whole purpose of TEDx.

Let Me point out something else: to be able to attend TEDx San Juan, you had to be selected. By who knows who based on who knows what. My feelings about this are best defined by quoting Marx: "I don't want to belong to a club that would have me as a member." What's the idea behind this? (And the Marx quoted was Groucho.)

If the purpose is to "create a better atmosphere/event," then it begs the question: Better for what? And for whose benefit? With no criteria/explanation/definition/reason/plausible excuse offered, then I think the only reason for this little exercise in pedantry is ego: the organizers want to exert a "zero-sum" level of control over an event that is meant to be the total antithesis of that (poor) posture.

More proof? No agenda yet, a "You can't prepare for this until we say you can" gambit.

Now maybe, as friend Kevin has pointed out, the idea is to enhance the event's appeal or manage expectations by using "surprise" as a marketing tool. I give these a 3 on a scale of 1-10 for marketing ideas, with 1 being tossing a dead cat on the salad bar. I don't buy these as good marketing, much less for a TEDx-caliber event. On the other hand, I've also been told that I shouldn't seek conspiracy where incompetence can be the answer.

I know two of the lead organizers of the event; one I have direct negative experiences with and the other I know only through e-mail exchanges. Of the one I know well, this petty power play seems quite in character, the kind of action a low-level bureaucrat would take in office politics. Given his background of several years in government, where his endeavors labeled him as nothing more than a stale cracker in an artisan bread convention, I can see where TEDx is shaping up to be a severe letdown.

(Clarification: The government of Puerto Rico is by no stretch anywhere near being as good or as productive as an artisan bread convention. I was using the analogy so I could write "stale cracker." My blog, My rules.)

So Jenius, if you're so down on the event, why are you going?

Because I could be wrong. I could be wrong that the agenda, when it is finally revealed, will be a flop, a collection of butt-buddies brought in to present a skewed shadow of "Bursting the Bubble" excellence. I could be wrong that the speakers chosen qualified more as "personal networking" for the Speaker Coordinator than as the antithetical proof that We don't need to live with a zero-sum mentality. I could be wrong that TEDx San Juan has a somewhat hand-picked audience solely/primarily in order to establish a power-base for one or more of the organizers. I could be wrong that I shouldn't have been "selected" to go (and buy a $20 ticket) over others I'm aware were told "You aren't worthy." I could be wrong that this event will fail to coalesce its enormous potential and become another in a long line of "what should have beens."

For those of you not deemed worthy and who believe that not sharing basic information is cool, you can tune into the live stream of the event.

And don't bother looking for @GilTheJenius tweets or live-blogging during the event. I'm not going as a reporter, though I can. I'm not going as a social media user, or even as a blogger: I'm going for My sake, to see if My vision of what's possible in Puerto Rico has been discovered by TEDx San Juan.

If their intent was to control the event to manage My expectations, they failed: I have My own. Always have, always will. Bottom line now is that the organizers have to prove to Me that they can live up to Mine.

Good luck.



The Jenius Has Spoken.

Fathers As Heroes

Sometimes--if not most of the time--you have to make the good things happen yourself. That might be the dictum that lead Raúl Colón to launch Papá Héroes, a website that focuses on the good and great things that Dads do. In doing so, it helps remind Us that although there are a lot of voluntarily missing fathers and some who should be shot like rabid dogs, there's a huge number of men who take pride in being a father and do their best to be the best father they can be.

When Raúl launched the website, he kindly invited Me to join. I responded that I would, but this is as close as I've come. In the months since, Papá Héroes has grown into a combination journal-forum on what it is to be a good Dad. Reading through the anecdotes and posts, you get the sense that it starts with caring, just caring about your child and your role as a father.

Indifference is deadly, to the child's development and to having any chance to become a good father. I'd say simply caring is more important than love, because there are good fathers out there who don't love their children, either because they don't know how (think about it and you'll realize who I'm talking about) or because (more often) the children are not theirs, but they care for them anyway. A few step-fathers have told Me they don't really love their step-children, but that they try hard to be there for them in everything. I don't often believe what they say, but when I see them act as good responsible fathers year after year, I have to say: they are honest. And they are good fathers.

Biology makes mothers and fathers very different. A mother literally has the child as part of her body for nine months; for fathers, the connection becomes real when the child is born. By then, the mother has spent months sharing a heartbeat, and if you believe in that sort of thing, a soul with that baby. Fathers learn to love a child; mothers love the child as they love themselves.

That's why some mothers fail to be good mothers: not because they lack a connection to the child, but because they don't love themselves enough. Biological fathers may have more "reasons" (and they are all excuses, anyway) for not loving a child, and yet stepping up and being a father is just as important as being a mother. That so many men fail to do so is an indictment of Our society.

Over the years, I've worried about how I'm doing as a father. I berate Myself for missing a cue, for over-reacting, for not reacting enough, for being short-tempered or for being too patient. Time and time again people have told Me they think I'm a good father, even a great one, but the concern still weighs on Me: Am I? Can I be? Will I ever be?

Yet, on rare occasions, when I'm alone with My thoughts, a part of Me looks at My son and at My nephews, the boys I spent so much time with, and a small voice in My head says: "You're doing good. Keep it up."

I wish that voice would stick around a little longer. Barring that, I thank Raúl and the collaborators at Papá Héroes for bringing good Dads together and letting them--Us--share what it is to be a father.



The Jenius Has Spoken.

Bareassed Hypocrisy

Oh.

Hell.

Pictures, self-taken from a cell phone, appear on a gay website. In a couple of them, a man is naked, on all fours, revealing his... base assets.

Point One: There is no doubt--no doubt at all--that the pictures are meant to be an invitation to sex. The pictures show a man, deliberately covering his face for that very important "sense of mystery," but revealing his body (one picture is of his naked torso), to the extent of "offering his wares" with his "doggy stance."

Point Two: What a person does in private is private and should remain that way, barring a greater good (solving a major crime, for example.) But what a person posts to the digital world is NOT private. It is NOT. Posting a picture to a website or tweeting a pic is NOT a private matter, simply because it spreads outside of anyone's control the moment you hit "Enter." Any position that doesn't acknowledge this basic truth is wrong.

The pictures were almost immediately linked to local senator and majority speaker Roberto "Me Espickin Inglich" Arango, notorious for his support of a statehood he can't define in the "official" language of the country he wants to become a part of.

His first reaction: That's not me. This is a political smear. Or words to that effect. Hell.

His second reaction, when shown the photos: He looks at them and then says That isn't Me.

Oh hell.

Here's the natural reaction of the totally innocent: It doesn't matter what photos you have, I don't have to see them because I'VE NEVER DONE THAT.

His third reaction: Yeah, that's me, but they were pictures taken of my weight loss efforts. But I don't remember those pictures.

Oh fucking hell.

Of course, the liar has already said he won't resign. Why should he? It's not like ethics or morality or integrity or dignity have ANYTHING to do with being a hyena-level thief in Our government. Hell, those are the "deal killers" that keep you from getting (s)elected.

The added twist is that Espickin Inglich has openly supported the proposed amendment to make marriage heterosexual only. So in a pattern that is very very familiar to observers of the Republican Party, the Moral Majority and other hypocrisy-required-for-membership groups, Espickin Inglich wants to legislate against those he wants to join. Carnally, to go Biblical on his ass.

Another day, another scandal, another dollop of barefaced--well actually: bareassed--hypocrisy.

Hell.


The Jenius Has Spoken.

[Update: 28 August 2011: Espickin Inglich resigned his ass from the senate.]

[Update: 9 February 2012: Espickin Inglich photographed kissing a man on a Miami beach. Not a crime, but for an ex-public official who made it a point to mock homosexuals and try to persecute them, it simply confirms hypocrisy. And homosexuality, if you're counting.]

Idiot + Coward = The Larva

When you are so incompetent in your job that even lamebrains can see you are messing up, you are an idiot.

When on top of that you back down at the very slightest hint that you may have to defend a decision, then you are a coward.

Welcome to the Numb Math that is Luis "The Larva" Fortuño, so-called governor of Our Island of whatever.

This weasel-nuts excuse for a leader waffled for months to name a Secretary of Education and basically shafted the educational morass with the naming of Carlos "Pinhead Politico" Chardón, a proven failure at the same job 30 years ago. 

Then The Larva takes months to fire the two-time/ton loser and names Carlos Andújar as the nominee for the post. And because of a comment in a local blog where Dr. Andújar expresses regret that the local government is stereotyping people instead of responding to the needs of all people (more on that in a moment), The Larva immediately withdraws the nomination.

And whose stupid stereotype expressions did Dr. Andújar express regret over? None other than Thomas "Tantrum's" Rivera mouth fart about homosexuals being "mentally insane."

Let Me point out, Oh Tantrum, that you are not only wrong, you are dumbly redundant. And you say dumb things, too.

Another point: Blogueros, this isn't about Us. Just because Dr. Andújar was "outed" for a blog comment doesn't mean--at all--that "they" are out to get "Us." Forget yourselves for a moment and focus on the issue: Because of 22 words that simply express an opinion (more on that in a moment) in honest fashion, a limp-wristed excuse for a governor withdraws the commenter for nomination to a vital position in his wormy Cabinet. And for no other reason--none, damn it all--than to avoid having a rabid wannabe make his day more difficult.

In other words, The Larva gave integrity a blow...job.

(And yes, I wrote "limp-wristed" and "blowjob." Suck it up.)

Now was Dr. Andújar right to express his opinion? Absolutely, no matter what Tantrum's descending colon and prostate feel about that whole "freedom of expression" concept. Was he right? I don't think so, but I'm glad he took the time to express his opinions about the matter. Would he have made a good Secretary of Education? Well, thanks to the candy-assed weakness of The Larva, We'll never know.

And thanks to the "mentally insane" Tantrum, We know who's really in charge.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

 

P.S.  The Larva should listen to all of these 100 Lectures on Leadership...and have somebody explain them to him.

Underground Economy, Part III

Thanks again to Janine Mendes-Franco for selecting another Jenius post to appear on Global Voices Online. 

This won't take long...

Add the long tail of a 3-year recession/depression, with an economy tanking like Andre Agassi on crystal meth, with the government finally "forcing" the economic move that was two decades overdue--the firing of government pinheaded parasites--and toss in the repeal of the idiotic Closing Law now letting loose the forces of "shop 'til you drop" mania and what do you get?

Underground economy, Part III.

Part I was the basic "a little cash on the side and off the books" that kept Us slightly above water for decades.

Part II was the rocket-blast impulse to perfect the underground economy due to the new 7% sales tax, which as I predicted, ended up having an impact closer to 13-14% on the consumer and fell far short of projected revenue for the government. Note the widespread increase in "flea markets" and home-based businesses and a perceived increase in online shopping.

Part III will take the online aspect even further, but not as a tidal wave rush to embrace Internet technology, but as a way to bypass local stores for goods. Expect an increase in visits to websites such as Clasificados Online (the most-visited website in Puerto Rico) and a greater number of "barter" systems based on pooling resources. Facebook would be the venue for that movement.

Why? Uncertainty clashes with the seasonal consumer hunger to buybuybuy in order to feel "the Christmas spirit." A culture that views savings as money badly in need of spending is not going to let the vague spectre of a worsening economy make him or her back down from the Prozac-like relief that spending money brings them. So they will buybuybuy...

...But slightly smarter than before. More cash, less credit. More Internet searching, less mall crawling. More flea market and "I know a guy" than Sears-K-mart and "There's a sale!" More options that involve less money changing hands, preferably where the sales tax does not apply.

As the (smart) economists say, the recession is the recovery, but We don't see it that way. Our way is to buy Our way out of a bad cycle. Too bad We aren't fixing the bad cycle: We're just adapting better to it.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

Questionable Quest

Here's a head-scratcher: According to a local fish-wrapping rag named El Nuevo Día, Our (Faux)Secretary of (Mis)Education, Carlos "What? Me Worry?" Chardón is going to Qatar.

In fact, he is there right now, unless Qatar barred his entry.

For you statehooders, Qatar is an island in the Persian Gulf. For you commonwealthers, the Persian Gulf is east of Africa. Which is a continent. Africa, not the Gulf.

Why is the Bumbling Behemoth going to Qatar, the only country whose name begins with a "q"? To foul the air of the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE). 

This after Selector of Drug Trafficker basically sold out a major chunk of the local Education department's present and future budget by continuing to suck at the Microsoft cesspool instead of exploring the many viable open source options that cost Us--Us, the freaking taxpayers--nothing.

Apparently the Worry-free Whale has everything under control...unless you count the horrendous showing Our students had on standardized tests (Example: less than 1% of Our high schol students scored "Proficient" in Math)...unless you count the fact that the Federal government is again threatening to slap the department and government with the "You Be Crooked" stamp...unless you count that the Federal Affairs Office is in the hands of someone who came on board less than two weeks ago...that the firings throughout the department are frozen, creating greater uncertainty...that there are several investigations going on concerning potential fraud in the use of ARRA and Title funds dating to this year alone...and that there's an increasing outbreak of violence and even swine flu in Our schools.

Nope, Overgrown Oaf is on the ball. In Qatar. Says technology can keep him in close touch. Uh-huh. Like the Fire Chief can put out the fire in San Juan while on vacation in Mazatlán.

Am I implying the Broad Bulge is on vacation? Of course...not. Uh, no. No! He's, uh, trying to find solutions to Our educational problems...in the farthest fucking corner of the planet he can imagine because his fat brain and fat-assed cronies can't find any solutions anywhere closer. 

That or he's getting out of Dodge before the sheriffs show up. Either way, he's wasting his time and Our money,

Here's the thing: We are at the point in Our educational system where it isn't a matter of finding a solution in a desert, it's a matter of implementing proven ideas, processes and techniques that you can find in about an hour's worth of research on the Web. (Note to the Jumbo Jetsetter: The Web, too, is a technology that can keep you in touch with your job. The right way. Not like the 767 you just wedged yourself into.)

Here's an example: The Kumon Math method. Yes, it's a business, but it has a method. Same as Montessori: a conceptual framework for education. No one has to go to Qatar or Liechtenstein or Myanmar to "learn" about education. Here's the quick list of sources the Voluminous Vagabond can use to find good ideas closer to home: teachers, edcuation students and entrepreneurs. 

--Teachers: Yeah yeah yeah, I call most of them "too lazy and too stupid to do any other job," but there are plenty of dedicated men and women who do know how to teach and have ideas that could make a world of difference. And if you want to visit a "q" place, Super-Sized Secretar(iat), may I suggest "Quebradillas"?

--Education students: They don't know better, having no experience with the actual classroom, so they are bound to latch onto some things that just sound cool. And given that We have sucked at almost everything We've tried to do to fix education, letting over-eager wannabes bring their energy and something cool to the classroom could be a step in the right direction. It's not like We're making a ton of progress now, is it?

--Entrepreneurs: Kumon is a business concept centered on education results.  It works because it damn well better work or some other business concept centered on education will come along and kick its sorry ass to the curb. We need results--results, dammit--not wild goose chases and butt-buddy thievery masquerading as "Taking care of Our most important asset."

And if that quick list doesn't inspire the Immense Idlemind to seek solutions, I once again suggest he crank up Explorer on his Windows 7 P(iece of) C(rap)--paid for by Our idiotic generosity--and browse around until the silicon version of swine flu wipes out his hard drive.

The he can use Linux and the quick list to get some REAL work done.

The Jenius Has Spoken. 

Fired/Frenzied

Ding dong the drug dealer done got dumped. Carlos "NOW I Follow Orders" Chardón, so-called education secretary of Our Island, finally fired the Federal Affairs Director William "Double D" Ubiñas (the "Double D" is for drug dealer and drunk driver.) Some so-called journalists are asking why he was fired; the only question worth asking was why he was ever placed there in the first place.

With the local (mis)education department on the Fed's shit list and local standardized test results so bad they are abominable, even the firing of a convicted drug dealer has the patina of progress. We are failing Our children by having the suckiest education system this side of Hoover sales school; We are failing them by electing--and tolerating--mealy-mouthed pegheads like Our (non)governor and his obese-atriopore of a (mis)education secretary.

Which leads Me directly (in My mind, at least) to the tempest-in-a-teacup that is forming around the notion that the hog farm of a (non)administration misled by Luis "The Larva" Fortuño is about to slap legislation onto the books that is supposedly aimed at bloggers.

Hey, blogueros, chill. Don't be so eager to reveal your desperate needs for legitimization and attention. The bill--as drafted--is aimed at you in the same way the Sun is aimed at you. (Clarification: the Sun isn't aimed at you. Like I said, chill.)

Here's My translation of the pertinent portion of the drafted text, as posted in a local blog, basically a paragraph from a 12-page bill, that has blogueros shuddering with the idea that Terminator 3 is about to be unleashed on their asses:

[CHAPTER 4: Crimes Against A Person and Privacy]

Section 1. -- Damage via Electronic Media

Any person who attacks the moral standing of another person with defamation, insults, written or in images, photomontages in electronic media or by way of the Internet, will incur a fourth grade misdemeanor and will be sanctioned with punishment of prison not exceeding six (6) months or a fine not exceeding five thousand ($5,000) dollars. An additional charge will be incurred for any who falsify, alter or modify real images, but that have been obtained or captured by illegal means or that have been published without due authorization of the affected party.

Now compare that to the following definitions of libel:

Definition of libel 3: Defamation of an individual or individuals in a published work, with malice aforethought. In litigation, the falsity of the libelous statements or representations, as well the intention of malice, has to be proved for there to be libel. In addition, financial damages to the parties so libeled must be incurred as a result of the material in question for there to be an assessment of the amount of damages to be awarded to a claimant. This is contrasted to slander, which is defamation through the spoken word.

Definition of libel 4: Libel per se describes statements, which are widely understood to be harmful to a person's reputation. For example, referring to an individual as an alcoholic or criminal, or any description, which would lower the reputation of that individual in the eyes of others. These words are harmful and libelous.

Definition of libel 5: A written, printed, or pictorial statement that unjustly defames someone publicly. Prosecution of libel as a punishable offense puts some measure of restriction on freedom of the press under the First Amendment.

Definition of libel 6: To defame, or expose to public hatred, contempt, or ridicule, by a writing, picture, sign, to lampoon. A tort consisting of false and malicious publication printed for the purpose of defaming a living person.

Definition of libel 7: To publish in print writing or pictures, broadcast through radio, television or film something that is false about someone else which would cause harm to that person or his/her reputation by bringing the target into ridicule, hatred, scorn, or contempt of others. Libel is defamation, which is written, or broadcast and is distinguishable from slander, which is oral defamation.

Definition of libel 8: A malicious publication expressed either in print or in writing, or by pictures, effigies, or other signs, tending to expose another to public hatred, contempt, or ridicule. Such publication is indictable at common law.

Did you notice a trend there? Is the "electronic Armageddon" version making blogueros go wee-wee in their pants substantially different in content and intent from the other definitions presented?

No. It simply specifies that libel extends to electronic media as well as traditional media.

Whoop-dee-doo. All this is the closing of a loophole that is about a decade behind the times. And the bill is actually addressing electronic crimes of many types, from fraud to data destruction to broadband theft, a sweeping redefinition that takes into account technology that most of the people voting on this bill don't use, don't really understand and don't know what it means.

What is disturbing is that those of Us who do are largely behaving like Chicken Little rather than using Our natural superior and (usually) effortless intelligence to recognize this bill for what it is: a copied patchwork "solution."

Silver lining? At least the Fools are trying to think about technology. And in this case, take a look at what the U.S. of part of A. Senate is rolling out for bloggers. Line up over here to bet on the over/under in years it will take for Our Fools to catch up. I'm in at 3.5.

So, blogueros, pop a Valium or something. The libel laws haven't changed, only now the medium you spend your time with will have to officially play by the rules other media do. If you think that's a problem, then you're de facto supporting lying and deception as "standards."  If to do what We do requires that as a standard, then I'm outta here.

But because it doesn't, because I can stand by everything I write without any--any--hint of anxiety concerning the breaking of any law, I can blog as long as I want on anything I want.

And so should you. Once you calm down.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

How Does The Internet See Me?

You have GOT to try this!

The Jenius is seldom this enthusiastic about anything that doesn't involve bitch-slapping Fools, but this Personas thing is slam-bam-thank-you-bacon-burger splendiferous!

Product of the fertile minds of Aaron Zinman, Alex Dragolescu, Yannick Assogba and Judith Donath over at M.I.T., Personas is... here, let them say it:

"Personas is a component of the Metropath(ologies) exhibit, currently on display at the MIT Museum by the Sociable Media Group from the MIT Media Lab. It uses sophisticated natural language processing and the Internet to create a data portrait of one's aggregated online identity. In short, Personas shows you how the Internet sees you. 

Enter your name, and Personas scours the web for information and attempts to characterize the person - to fit them to a predetermined set of categories that an algorithmic process created from a massive corpus of data. The computational process is visualized with each stage of the analysis, finally resulting in the presentation of a seemingly authoritative personal profile. 

In a world where fortunes are sought through data-mining vast information repositories, the computer is our indispensable but far from infallible assistant. Personas demonstrates the computer's uncanny insights and its inadvertent errors, such as the mischaracterizations caused by the inability to separate data from multiple owners of the same name. It is meant for the viewer to reflect on our current and future world, where digital histories are as important if not more important than oral histories, and computational methods of condensing our digital traces are opaque and socially ignorant."

There, now that you know what it is, go use it! Write your name and watch your "personal profile" come up. Or you can enjoy yourself even more by writing My name or Gil The Jenius in the search box. (Notice the differences between Us. Somewhere the term schizoid is rattling a chain or two...)

Go! Do it now!

The Jenius Has Spoken.

Youth Citizen Journalist Network

What began as a conversation about citizen journalism education between Claudio Alvarez-Dunn and Me in mid-2007 is now the Youth Citizen Journalist Network--YCJN. In partnership with the National Student/Parent Mock Election, the largest civic education organization in the world, the YCJN will launch this year as a pilot project in several schools in New York City, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Florida, Maryland and Montana.

Yes, Montana. 

Other states will be added in a blend of citizen journalism and civic education--the basis of citizenship and democracy--that We are calling "Informed Democracy 101." To quote Ralph Nader: There is no daily democracy without daily citizenship. To build the democracy of the present and for the future requires that We educate Ourselves on becoming well-informed citizens about Our democracy and its issues.

Thanks to the support of Gloria Kirshner, President of the NS/PME and Tom Engleman, National Mock Election Coordinator and Board Member of the Dow Jones News Fund, the YCJN has a presence today at the National Civic Summit (the merging of new technologies and citizen journalism) and at the National Association of Secretaries of State conference, both being held in Minneapolis.

The YCJN will focus on middle- and high school students and the use of cell phones to help capture their community interests. Layered with this local (or hyper-local) focus will be a group of experienced journalists editing content and selecting national and international news that relate to developing an Informed Democracy. As newspapers and their influence dwindle, the need for the Fourth Estate to carry out its pivotal role as paladin of democracy increases and what was once the responsibility and privilege of a few is now the responsibility and privilege of all of Us. In the words of Bill Moyers: The quality of democracy and the quality of journalism are deeply entwined.

On a day that closes with the loss of the embodiment of trusted journalism, Walter Cronkite, the YCJN takes its first steps towards becoming a forum for developing engaged, enlightened and expressive citizens who apply the skills and standards of ethical journalism to build democracy, at home and around the world.

The Youth Citizen Journalist will develop with more partners, in more schools, communities, states and countries. It will grow in small steps, but each small step, each person who joins the effort, represents a quantum leap in the potential of developing Our democracy, or any democracy, now and well into the future.

As Abbie Hoffman wrote: Democracy is not something you believe in or a place to hang your hat, but it's something you do. You participate. If you stop doing it, democracy crumbles.

Say Hello to the Youth Citizen Journalist Network and get to know Us better. If you want to make a positive difference, rest assured We'd love to work with you.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

Jenius Does Info

Another Jenius Thanks to Janine Mendes-Franco for grabbing another of My posts for Global Voices Online. I simply must meet this woman...

Jenius Friend Kevin Shockey thought it would be interesting if I explained My information-sifting system. First, the why.

On a daily basis, I will send 3-12 e-mails to people, from My Special One to Family to Friends to Colleagues with links to stuff I think they would like. Many people do this; I do it constantly. For another, I write or speak about a wide variety of topics and will often get consulted on a topic to which I can provide a cogent reponse and expanded information.

There's a reason I'm known as a Jenius (though I'll concede this might not be it.)

So here's the system: I use Opera as My browser (almost always have, always will) and its start page for Me is Speed Dial, a one-page icon-sized preview of My daily websites. These are: Lifehacker, Madville, Metafilter, BoingBoing, Neatorama, Reddit, Mixx, Google News (personalized), Hey It's Free!, The Sports Guy and 9Rules.

Every morning I go to Lifehacker, Madville, Metafilter, Neatorama and Reddit, in that order. Takes Me about 10-20 minutes and I almost always find 8-16 links I can use. I will revisit each of these 2-5 times, depending on how much time I spend in front of My Mac and how bored I might be, adding about 8-18 more a day. (Yes, I kept track so I could make reasonable estimates. I'm very glad  that's over.)

I visit Mixx and Hey It's Free! once a day; Google News and The Sports Guy 3-4 times a week and 9Rules once a week. From 9Rules I can get 12-30 links in about 20 minutes.

I also have a Session (Opera allows for saving multiple bookmarks to reopen as a group) called ZipBang (for reasons I misplaced in the flood) which has Synthesis, Dumb Little Man, Socyberty, Woot!, Zen Habits, Wise Bread, The Red Ferret Journal, Lifehack, Kottke.org and io9. (Eclectic Jenius be I.) I go through these in about 5 minutes, finding 1-3 links a day on average.

I have another Session called Twice Weekly (functional name this time) which contains 1001 Rules for My Unborn Son, Arts & Letters Daily, Buzz Feed, Cool Tools, Cool Websites, Dondequiera (a local blog sadly on hiatus right now), How to Save the World (Dave Pollard's astonishingly smart and irritating blog), My Digital Life, On Simplicity, Puerto Rico: A Paradise Lost?, Roasted Peanuts, Slashfood, Springwise and Stat of the Day. From these I get 2-5 links per session.

Then I have My e-mails, where I receive anywhere from 2 to 9 feeds a day on topics ranging from federal grants, tech news and online education to creativity/innovation, philanthropy/fundraising, sciences, health/medicine and board games. (Yes, I said "board games.")

Doing some quick math, you'll guess I spend about 80-120 minutes a day on this "information track" and you'd be right. You'd also guess I collect about 34-44 links a day, and again, you'd be right. But if only about 8-9 go out, where do the rest go?

I have over 11,000 bookmarks in Opera, with almost 95 folders in the Manage Bookmarks section. All of these are currently synched online (Opera does that automatically) so I can access them from any computer by logging into MyOpera. Most bookmarks are stored in My Action, To Do, Jenius or project folders (currently 4 are open; 2 more coming on board this weekend) or in several other folders, one of which is a series called GrabBag (now in its 10th iteration, with each one averaging 178 bookmarks.) (Yes, I counted.)

For sharing, I'll run every link I look at through a mental checklist, summarized here: Me (of course), My Special One, Kaleb, projects, colleagues, Jenius, friends, Twitter or trash. I recently re-upped on Twitter and its primary purpose is to serve as a File 12 before I go File 13 on what I'm reading.

Then (you didn't think I was finished, right?) I scan almost every link I open for links to other items that might be interesting (My longest segue, I think, took Me through over 30 websites and 3 hours) and follow those until I either have to work, reach a dead end or get bored. Lately My segues have averaged about 5-6 link trails a day.

I also receive some magazines (through Zinio) and do research on 3-4 topics a week which also lead Me down link trails. So if I tell you I spend, on average, 14-16 hours a week on "info-sifting," you know I ain't joking. 

And all this I do for the simple pleasure of zapping My Brain with something new, whether it's a medical procedure, a political argument, a tech meme, a sport stat, a new technology, a business trend, breaking news, trivia, financial advice, science theory, science fact, science fiction or a landscape picture for wallpaper. 

Oh, Twitter is back on My Speed Dial and I try to drop in on it 2-3 times a day. But much like listening to random conversations around town, it is boring. I'm looking around again to replace it with something useful and interesting, which shouldn't be hard at all.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

(Un)Welcome to Puerto Rico!

You are about to take a much-needed vacation and want to head for the Caribbean. Makes sense. I live here, so the attraction is undeniably high. You whisk your merry way through the GoogleNets and find three offers:

---Four days and three nights in a Jamaican seaside villa; $448 for two, afternoon cocktails tossed in to lubricate your whistle.

---Six days and five nights in seashore resort Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, all-inclusive, two persons, king-size bed: $688.

--Three days, two nights at the Rincón of the Seas, for two adults: $749, plus tax.

Okay, choose.

Uh-huh. I hear you, mon. Merengue and steel drums are calling!

Now before My brethren here on the Island start bitching, I am not saying that Jamaica or the Dominican Republic are "better" than Us. What I am saying is that they have been consistently drubbing Our butts when it comes to price/value for vacationers and We have consistently been screwing up what was once Our world-class tourism position.

Local hoteliers moan and complain that We simply cannot compete with other islands because Our wage structure is much higher than theirs. And that's true. The average hospitality industry wage in Puerto Rico is about $11.40, whereas the average for the major Caribbean islands is closer to $4.00. So yes, We pay more for Our people.

But Our people suuuuuck when it comes to earning that pay with service.

A few examples: Airport personnel who refuse to speak English; cab drivers who openly refuse to take on "short" fares; maids (that's what they are and there's no shame in that) who criticize guests while cleaning other rooms; desk personnel who know almost nothing about Our Island or its amenities... The list could--and does--go on. When to comes to service, to being of service and providing service to others, We act as if doing so violates Our integrity and humiliates Our souls. We confuse service with servility and act accordingly.

No I don't mean everybody, of course, but the number of "servility phobics" is so large and so common to encounter that it tinges everybody. Year after year, intra-island tourism is swamped by stories of beds not made, unclean rooms, restaurants closing at 3:00 p.m., dry pools and a whole slew of other complaints that boil down to one simple conclusion: It ain't worth it. And if you can't even convince your own people the stay is any good, how do you convince others?

Back to prices. Local industry players say that service is better "over there" because tips in (once)good U.S. of part of A. (vapid)dollars--when compared to local wages--are very good. That argument sounds nice, but it neglects two simple points: Tips are not required, they are earned. And tips are mostly relative to established prices and service needs. A dollar a bag in one place is $4 a bag in another. So, no, the "tips theory of lazy service" doesn't convince. It serves as an excuse and I don't know about you, but I am freakin' tired of Our excuses.

So you're on the InterTubes and see those three offers: Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. $448, $688 and $749. Yes, you compare the quality of the hotels (Rincón of the Seas is rated at 4 stars.) You add up the travel costs of getting there and back. And you read the comments of people who have stayed at each place and--yes, you know this is true--you base your final decision on what place has the best reviews.

And once again, you'll find We suuuuuuuck at the new digital world of tourism.

Our Tourism Company has about $22 million a year (or roughly $160 million in the past 8 years), of which almost 60%--ye gods, six-freaking-ty per-freaking-cent!--have been spent on TV ads and magazines. This egregious waste of money flies in the face of the rising trend--now topping 60% in most States--of travelers heading first to the GoogleTubes to check out travel information before doing anything else related to their travel plans. When most of your customers are looking online and finding increasingly negative reviews of your offering, it makes sense, doncha think, to spend your money right where they are looking.

But no, We sling ads on cable TV and glossy magazines that sit on bookshelves. And then when We get visitors here, We slap sneaky taxes on their tushies (about 14% worth, all told), treat them like they are a problem and then We wonder why the Dominican Republic is the #1 Caribbean destination--the championship spot We used to own.

By any measure of geographical beauty and variety, Puerto Rico is a wonder. But instead of developing--extending, really--Our culture of hospitality, We've strangled it with greed and misplaced vanity. Instead of being proud of what We have and how courteous We can be as hosts--hosts, damnit, not "servants"--We literally thumb Our noses at Our guests. And instead of a cohesive strategy to develop the industry and present it to the world in all Our shining glory, We have sycophants and dunces at the helm of a Caribbean Titanic.

Only We're the iceberg, too.


The Jenius Has Spoken.

We(b)

I overheard a person commenting that "Puerto Rico is approaching 70% Internet penetration."

HAHAHAHAAHahahahahahaharounduperror

Yes, "approaching" if you you choose to round up 27% to 70% as your nearest "significant lame guess."

Despite once having the worldwide lead in digital infrastructure for communications, Puerto Rico has not embraced the power of the Internet to a significant degree. I define significant as 50% or more of the population, for though the oft-mentioned "tipping point" may be less, the fact is that once "50% plus one" is achieved, a "tendency" becomes a "sociocultural platform."

The Internet is the broadest, most flexible sociocultural platform ever created by humankind. But to Us, it is more a foreign land with a porn industry and shopping malls than it is a platform, i.e., a place to develop what Our minds conceive. 

I have stated a number of times that whereas the Anglo-Asian world prefers science fiction over fantasy, the Latin mind prefers fantasy over science fiction. The key difference is the role of technology: in fantasy, technology is never an issue. To the Latin mind--and rest assured, in this We are very much Latin--technology is something from "other places," and unless We can gesticulate with it (cell phones) or dance with it (MP3 players), We ain't that interested.

Oddly enough, I began this blog because of this dichotomy in what I lived and what I saw around Me. I spend too much time living and working on the Web, but too few of Us do and too many of Us don't spend anywhere near enough time with it. Total Internet penetration in Puerto Rico (in terms of percentages) still lags significantly behind the ratings for Top 10 TV shows, even one where a cowardly transvestite pretends to be an old lady while spewing gossip with a witless sidekick also lacking in dignity and self-respect. A dim-witted doll is the fantasy; the plasma screen is science fiction without any thought.

Will We ever see the numbers for Internet usage rise to 55%, 60% or praise the microchip, 75%? Not anytime soon...unless We catch on to its power as a tool for sociocultural and socioeconomic growth. And even then, the acceptance curve will be more related to age groups than to insight. But I've come this far with the disappointment and I can certainly--along with more brilliant colleagues than Me in this realm--be patient as the growth (eventually) comes.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

Off My Chest

---I've said this before, but here it is in writing: On October 24th, 2011, all Our computer screens will go blank except for an unerasable message that says: We have turned off the Internet. We will turn it back on when you pay us $1,000,000,000,000. Signed, Google.

---The Fools, in their insatiable lust to worship at the Altar of Idiocy, are exploring the use of electronic voting machines, or as the murderous moron calls them "reality checks" (because they block reality when you touch them.) Seeing as how the U.S. presidency was swindled twice through electronic "voting," what possible reason could The Fools have for using them? (I'm not näive: I'm stressing the point.) Take it from an expert programmer, Giles Bowkett:

Every story you see on the news about (electronic) voter fraud is an instance of corruption at work. There are no exceptions. The only way systems which handle such incredibly simple problems can malfunction so consistently and spectacularly is if they are designed to do so. It's like putting square wheels on a car. Fucking up something that simple is harder than getting it right. It takes effort. It can only happen deliberately.

Every single time a voting machine malfunctions, somebody has ripped you off. Manufacturing fradulently "malfunctioning" voting machines has become the new method of choice for undermining democracy. Every time it happens, you should put somebody in jail.

---Speaking of worshiping at the Altar of Idiocy, The Economist did its annual Democracy Index for 2007 and the U.S ranked 17th overall. (For the murderous moron in the Whitewash House and statehooders, that means 16 countries ranked better than the U.S. of part of A.) In two of the five categories--Electoral Process & Pluralism and Civil Liberties--the U.S. ranked dead last. amongst "Full Democracies." Dead. Last. Here's a hint, Fools: If you want to imitate a role model, pick a paladin, not a prevaricator. (F.t.m.m.i.t.W.H.a.s.: A hero, not a liar.)

---After dropping My "weekly" surf sites to less than 30 a week, I went on an Internet binge this week and added 31 new sites...and subscribed to 11 new e-zines. I can either look at this as "falling off the wagon" or "exploring new horizons." Hmmm...Wagon or Horizons? Horizons.


The Jenius Has Spoken.

Net Notes

Five years ago, I was surfing an average of 70 websites a day and receiving 63 e-zines a week. I was spending about 6 hours a day reading web-based material, snipping, clipping and filing digitally, racking up bookmarks by the dozens, My interests ranging from e-commerce to sports to technology, writing, politics, literature, philosophy, web trends, games, history, cooking and trivia.

That was then. Just yesterday I reduced my e-zine subscriptions to only 3 and My Opera Speed Dial start page has only 7 windows filled (of 9.) My weekly reading is down to 20-25 sites once or twice a week and though I websurf every day, it's down to an hour, maybe two, 4-5 times a week.

Given where I was five years ago, the dropoff is understandable: I didn't have a life. I went at everything through the Internet in maniacal frenzy because I didn't feel I had anything else to sustain Me. Sad, but ruefully true.

Now I have a better balance and what's more, less need to prove I am "aware" of all things Internet. So imagine My surprise when I encounter a couple of items square in the middle of My much-narrowed focus:

---The U.S. is preparing to invade Iran shortly after September 11th, and

---A major stock market collapse is expected at roughly the same time.

Okay.

The Internet is perfect for conspiracy theorists, but except for the occasional stop at El Nuevo Día's website, I don't mingle with the lunatic fringe. What strikes Me as off this time is that, given the level of involvement I now have Internet-wise, these two predictions are smack-dab in the middle of My tunnel vision.

That's a likely possibility if My tunnel vision were aimed at politics or at the murderous moron defecating the Oval Office. But it isn't. My tunnel vision is...eclectic, for lack of a better word. I meander mostly through Metafilter, Madville, Fark and BoingBoing, all excellent sites but not exactly The Economist, Foreign Policy and The New York Times. So what's going on?

The sense that something big is about to blow. And like with all conspiracy theories--or spot-on predictions--once you "see" it, you can pick out the threads that weave up to the moment.

Do I think the U.S will invade Iran in the coming month? Maybe. I wouldn't put it past the military shirker and political smirker with the highly-deserved low approval rating. He's practically wiped his ass with the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, so why not take another criminal action against humanity?

As for a stock market collapse, hell yeah it's coming. Artificial or just part of the natural cycle of the economy, somebody's gonna take a bath and a few are gonna rake it in.

Of course, the true conspiracy theory is that those who push for the war and those who rake in riches when the bubble bursts are one and the same. My new tunnel vision doesn't follow that rabbit down any holes, nor do I care to. I have enough to keep Me occupied elsewhere on the Web, and more importantly, in My Life.


The Jenius Has Spoken.

Soldier Report: FUBAR

Some of you may already know Aníbal Freytes, The Information Soldier. He read yesterday's Jenius post and commented. Here's what he wrote:


You know I worked right there where they hold all of Puerto Rico's eGovernment effort for more than a year. At any time I could have told any of the guys working there to set up my eGoverment account. I mean, I could actually bypass the morass of bureaucratic processes that you would have to go through in order to get an account (like having to go in person to your local Treasury department office and present IDs and sign stuff up). I can actually still call some of those people and get my account up and running in two minutes.

But I don't. I won't!

Three things:

1. The eGovernment portal does not work well with my browser (you know, Firefox).

2. I don't trust the (technical/digital) security there. Not that the people there aren't capable. But they are reactive. Ask (I did!--part of the job) for a complete listing of hardware, software, services and data and you will get an incomplete answer, if not an outright blank stare from most.

3. I don't trust the government with my information. Period.

Even if the above didn't apply there isn't (to my knowledge) any established means to settle damages in the event of an information leak. And I'm not talking money, but accountability, responsibility.


Summarizing:

1) There is no chain of command or clear authority/responsibility structure concerning citizens' data in the current Puerto Rican e-government effort.

2) It doesn't work with Firefox. Or Opera. (The Jenius uses Opera since 1996.) The whole shebang runs on Windows. Excuse Me, My mistake: the whole shebang lurches on Windows.

3) There is no clear-cut idea of who has what, running what, doing what, within the e-government system. That has the soothing effect of a foghorn blast, in your ear, while in REM sleep.

4) Yesterday's forum was more cult than business, more bribery than marketing and more disgusting than illuminating. Microsoft essentially runs the entire e-government process. It has sole power over what should be an increasingly-vital government infrastructure. Power corrupts. Enough said.

Is Aníbal wrong? Not from the answers government employees gave Me yesterday. To dismiss the points listed above would require Us to think that the "drones"--the people at the technology/citizen interface level--are kept in the dark while the "upper levels"--too blind to even consider how to overcome the technology gap so prevalent in Our society--hide information or plan a strategy too deep for mere mortals to understand.

Right. And bacon has anti-gravity powers.

The only possible conclusion is that The Information Soldier, reporting from four years on the front lines, is absolutely right: the local e-government effort is a pathetic blend of Swiss and limburger cheeses, gaping and smelly.

In military parlance, a soldier would call this FUBAR: Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition. (Yes, "Fouled" is a euphemism. Feel free to edit.) Or even SNAFU: Situation Normal: All Fouled Up. (Ditto on the editing.) To dismiss the acronyms, We have to take hold of this process in one of two ways:

1) Yoke The Fools to a real future, based on open standards, beholden to no one single entity; open standards that protect Our information and the processes it may be used for, or

2) Yank control from the Frankenstein wannabes and do the work Ourselves.

Or We can do what We've been doing up to now which is letting The Fools play with technology without supervision, the literal horror of retarded monkeys playing with loaded guns. The Soldier knows it, The Jenius knows it, now you do, too.

It's time to act.

The Jenius Has Spoken.