Pressing Replay

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Not surprisingly someone at Wired Magazine had the same question I did in wondering why so many cars in Russia are driving around with dashboard cams. Equally not surprisingly, they haven’t yet investigated the origin of the Sharpies on the crippled February Carnival Cruise.

Yet even in this story I was drawn to the story behind the phenomena. I realize that by offering you the link to the Wired story I might be an accessory to your wasting time watching horrific car crash videos. Why are these on-line and why did I follow the link and watch two of them?

I selected two from YouTube, which polices its content to some extent, as I didn’t want to view the most horrific crashes. Yet there are sites that don’t police content. There viewers are drawn to watch supposedly much more violent videos which I presume include fatal crashes.

What draws us to watch? Do we like being on the edge of our seats knowing a horrific incident is impending? Is watching an evolutionary instinct? Though for what benefit? As replaying the past is barely a blip in the timescale of human evolution it’s hard to see the role this fascination could possibly have played in human evolution. Or then again is it? Human brains clearly have the capacity to replay the past as happens tragically in those suffering from PTSD. I suppose there exists volumes of research on the Internet on the why and wherefore of the human brain replaying horrific events—maybe that’s a search for another day.

Sharpies and Dashboard Cameras

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Where did the Carnival Cruise passengers get Sharpies to write on their sheets?  Does everyone in Russia drive around with a camera on their car dashboards? 

These are the questions that bubble up as I try to focus on the news of the day.  Inevitably I completely miss the reporter announcing when and where the cruise ship will dock as I watch the video footage of the ship with large handmade signs hanging from cabin balconies.  Large white sheets I quickly realize are easy to come by as a blank canvas.  But what did they write with?  I doubt I could make large dark bubble letters with the pens and pencils that fall to the depths of my travel bag.  Did Carnival hand out Sharpies just for this purpose?

Similarly, as I watch amazed at the meteor.  It was a meteor until it hit the ground right? What an abrupt way to get a name change!   In any case, as I watched the amazing footage of the meteor glowing across the sky, I quickly wondered, who are all these people driving around with cameras on in their cars?  Are these all police officers?  Or do citizens commonly run video cameras on their dashboards in Russia? 

So let me know—did you hand out all those Sharpies?

On-line Local News Demand Will Grow

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I’m a news devotee—I admit it.  I keep the news on the radio while I’m working at home and get push notifications on my iPhone from both AP Mobile and the New York Times to keep up with what is going on around the globe.  I regularly watch NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, yet I never watch local news on television. 

However, over the past year, I have found myself fascinated by, and at times relying upon, local on-line news.  I often read Patch before I look at the world headlines.

What do I find so compelling? While watching a weather reporter leaning against the wind in a blizzard in the plain states can be entertaining, finding out when my power will be restored after a local blizzard is invaluable.  Knowing how housing sales are improving nationwide helps me gauge the national economy, but seeing local house sales is far more relevant.  Hearing that Spiderman is drawing huge audiences despite its dramatic glitches getting off the ground so to speak, is interesting.  Yet knowing when an author will appear at the local bookstore is pertinent to my personal entertainment schedule.

I don’t know if AOL will be successful with their business model for Patch, but I do know that there is an important need to be filled in providing local, relevant news to individuals on-line. Being able to post our own community announcements is a valuable and low-cost service if there is a critical mass of readers.  Hard to say if critical mass has yet been reached—it depends on your community.  Six million unique Patch readers is not an insignificant number, but it’s not the right number to consider when the value is all local.  How many readers can Patch or any other local news source garner in an individual community?

Regardless of who finds a compelling business model, I hope a local news offering continues.  I can use the global news to help me decide which leaders to vote for, improve my understanding of how unrest in the Mideast will affect the economy and  influence how I can help make the world a better place.  But I will be even more influenced by the local news to let me know when I can talk with my local leaders, point me in the direction of the lowest gas prices in town and give me an outlet to recruit volunteers and supporters for my local causes.