SmidgeStream

Thoughts on new media technology, marketing, advertising, politics, society and raising kids in a wired world.

Things That Will Be Gone in 100 Years

I spend a lot of time thinking about what the future will bring. But recently, I've been looking around and noticing things that the future may eliminate. Certain things are so familiar that we never consider living in a world without them. But the world is changing so quickly that I think in as little as 100 years, people may look back on 2010 and see the things that we owned, things that we did, and things that we believed and wonder what the hell we could have been were thinking. Some things like nuclear weapons or combustion engines may be obvious, but here are a few of the less obvious item that may be fun to discuss. So, in no particular order....

Hair Extensions
Men's Neck Ties
Desktop Computers
Breast Implants
Rubber Tires
Christmas Trees
Pet Stores
Credit Scores
Outdoor Advertising
Eyeglasses
Electrical Cables
Phone Lines
40 Once Malt Liquor Bottles
Dentures
High Heels
Microwave Ovens
Handheld Microphones
Zoos
Aquariums
X-Ray Machines
Metal Detectors
Batteries
Cable Boxes
Slot Machines
Toilets
Gas Stations
Insurance Companies
Clock Radios
Video Game Consoles

This list could go on and on...but its time to watch some NFL playoff football. (Football...hmmm. Nahhh) Feel free to comment on or add to this list. Go Pats!!!

The Decade's Top Ten Ads for Dads

Congratulations to all the guys at Daddy Outpost on the launch of their awesome new site! To celebrate, I threw together this list of the Decade's Top Ten Ads for Dads! Check em out, let everyone know what you think...and by all means feel free to ad to this list if you think I forgot something.

10. We Know How You Feel


9. If Looks Could Kill

8. Been There Done That

7. Fun For The Whole Family

6. Remember House of Pain?

5. Cold Blooded

4. Anger Management

3. A VERY Merry Christmas!

2. He Said Shankopotomus...lol!

1. F-ing Funny!

Baseball Bat Tech - What Every Parent Should Know

Today, a Montana jury awarded the family of a young man named Brandon Patch, who was killed by a batted ball, $850,000 in damages against the company that makes Louisville Slugger aluminum baseball bats for failure to place warnings on the product. As the father of a little leaguer, and former baseball and softball player myself, my heart goes out to the family of that young man. And it occurs to me that there may be parents out there, who like Brandon's parents at the time of the accident, may not be aware of the dangers inherent to the sport and specifically the challenges presented by aluminum bats. So if you are the parent of a baseball or softball player, here's what you need to know.

Today's aluminum baseball bats are highly engineered pieces of technology, designed on computers and tested extensively. Often, these bats combine aluminum with high tech composite materials, like graphite and titanium, to produce stronger, lighter bats with larger "sweet spots" and higher performance. They know exactly how fast a ball will come off each bat and under what conditions the bats will fail. Indeed, manufacturers have become so effective at creating high performing bats, that they have a hard time meeting the various league safety regulations which limit their performance. The result is that most bats perform right at the upper edge of what is considered "safe." Whether this makes aluminum bats more dangerous than wooden bats is hard to say. The fact is that people have been killed by batted balls off wooden bats and people have been killed by thrown balls from other players. Baseball, while far less dangerous than some other sports, does have its dangers. Players (and even spectators) can be seriously injured or killed by batted and thrown baseballs. Its not common. But it does happen. All parents need to know this.

If you choose to allow your child to play this sport, then you do so at your own risk. But if you want to minimize this risk, there are a few things you can do.

1. Do not allow your child to pitch. Pitchers are at the highest risk of being hit and seriously injured by a batted ball. They are the closest player to the batter and are usually not in a good fielding position at the moment of contact. If choose to allow your child to pitch, (and for the record, I allow my kid to pitch) make sure they follow through into a good fielding position after every pitch. But know that even then, there are some circumstances in which a pitcher simply does not have enough time to react. Even professional pitchers get hit on occasion. Pitching is a dangerous activity. This is true for recreational softball players as well. Consider yourself warned.

2. Teach your child to maintain situational awareness at all times. If you are on the field, whether on bases, or in the "on deck" circle, players have to keep their eyes on the ball at all times. You don't want to get caught looking the other way when a batted or thrown ball comes flying at you.

3. If a player is not on deck, or on base, they should be in the dugout, behind a fence at all times.

4. You also have to teach your kids how to get hit by a pitch when they are the batter. Kids instinctively want to back away from, and keep their eyes on, a pitch coming straight at them. WRONG! Kids should be taught to TURN THEIR BACK on the pitch and turn their heads toward the backstop while they pull away from the plate. Its always better to take a pitch in the back, or on the helmet, then square in the face. But kids need to be taught to do this by adults.

4. Getting hit by a batted ball is not the only way to get hurt. Kids can also be hit by the bat itself. So make sure kids know not to swing bats around other people and not to walk up on someone taking swings. This part is very tricky. Little kids tend not to pay attention to such things, so the parents and coaches need to be vigilant.

All that said, accidents sometimes happen. Baseball is a wonderful sport, but like everything else in life, it has its risks. Those risks include serious injury and sometimes death. If you teach your child to pay attention, remain vigilant and know how to react, you can help to minimize those risks and enjoy the experience more fully.

So have fun and keep your eyes on that ball!

America's Navy - A Global Force for Good?

Have you seen the new Navy spot? When I first saw it, it immediately struck me as important. I wore out the rewind button on my DVR and viewed it another dozen times. What strikes me the most is the tagline "America's Navy - A Global Force for Good." That is an enormously bold statement and a not-so-subtle attempt to re-brand not only the US Navy, but America as a whole. It is also one of the best examples of the Obama administration's sophisticated use of the media to re-set America's self-image, re-establish America's moral authority and re-boot international relations.

When I was Creative Director at the Pentagon Channel, I saw a variety of print and video promotional material which focused on the more altruistic aspects of America's military. The material focused on peacekeeping & humanitarian missions at home and abroad and was some of the Pentagon's best creative work. While these materials could easily be dismissed as propaganda, I saw it as an authentic expression of American ideals at a time when our image was tanking across the globe. We needed to remember not only who we are now, but what what we aspire to be in the future. It was important. And it was true. But it was in direct conflict with the more immediate truth of a global war and we lost hope in a sea of bad news and body counts.

As others have said, America is an idea as much as it is a country. It is the idea that no matter how difficult the circumstances, or what mistakes we might make, it is the core American value of individual self-determination..."Freedom"...that sustains us. And if you believe that the fundamental nature of man is good, then America, with all its flaws, must ultimately be a force for good in the world. This is the fundamental idea that this country was built upon and that ultimately holds our nation together. But in ways too numerous and complicated to go into here, the events of 9/11 followed by the dubious re-actions of the neo-conservatives in the Bush administration threw all of that into doubt.

So this campaign is about more than re-branding the Navy. And you better believe that the Obama administration drove the creative development. Indeed, I have to assume that the President himself, gave the final approval for this spot. So then, what is this all about? Remove the word "Navy" from the tag and it becomes obvious.

"America - A Global Force for Good."

This is an expression of the larger Obama administration goals of re-branding America's image both internally AND externally. It is a projection of "soft power" across the globe fueled by YouTube and an attempt to re-set our collective sense of purpose. This is what happens when you overlay the perception of great power with great moral authority. It is what "Hope" looks like from the deck of an aircraft carrier. It is what we voted for.

Some may dismiss this campaign as classic propaganda. Others may see it as silly. But I see it as an expression of a deeper, internal American conflict over our true nature. And a not-so-subtle attempt to restore our faith in the American idea. Without a shared belief that America is ultimately a force for good in the world, all the ships and sailors in the world won't be enough to save us.

Ultimately, it will be up to each of us to decide whether this belief is true...or not.

Want the World Trade Center back? There's an app for that.

A company called Mobilizy has created a mobile app for iPhone & Android called the "Wikitude World Browser" which uses augmented reality technology to overlay Wikipedia information on top of the camera display. The app also renders 3 dimensional objects into the display using gravimetric data to calculate position and orientation.  The result is an astonishing, electronic window into a dream world...or a ghost world...or both. I don't know. All I know is that something important is happening here. See for yourself.

Smidge's Bio

My name is Stephen Michael Jackson and I am an Emmy Award winning multi-media producer, creative director, software developer, entrepreneur and father of 4 beautiful children. Thanks for visiting my blog! I have produced commercials for top ad agencies, crafted corporate communications for global media companies and helped to shape the brand identity of a cable channel or two. 

I've written software, managed online communities and social media campaigns. I've published books, developed websites and even built a couple of iPhone apps. Yet somehow, there are still a lot of people who think of me as a video editor. Every once in a while I get this crazy idea that I should have a global media company of my own, so I'll take time off from the 9 to 5 world and to try and make that happen. I have founded 4 companies, all with big time, change the world, potential...none have produced big time, change the world results...yet! And yes...my wife is a saint. I have 3 boys, 1 girl and a beagle...all under the age of 10. So as you can imagine, keeping cereal in the house is a challenge.

I like to say that I have a keen interest in new technologies and how they effect the way people live and communicate across an evolving media landscape. But my kids just call me a "super sci-fi techno nerd." This blog will discuss new media technology and software, video games, television, advertising, social media and raising kids in a wired world. 

I'm always looking for new opportunities, so if you'd like to talk shop, please shoot me an email or call my Google Voice number.

Halloween Fun With Jib Jab

Jib Jab is always a ton of fun. One of the coolest things they do is allow users to create customizable flash movies with holiday themes. Last Christmas we created a really funny elf movie using photos of the kids. Now Jib Jab is offering a Halloween themed movie called Monster Mash and I decided to give it a try. The process of creating the movie was pretty simple. You sign into Jib Jab using your Facebook info and it links a new project to your account. You can upload photos from your computer or from your Facebook photos. I used photos on my PC. The program was built in Flash, which makes it simple to use, but slowed down my PC a bit. But my PC is ancient and if you've got a decent machine, it will probably be fine. You'll need a basic understanding of how to work with and manipulate photos but for most people it will be pretty easy. The project took about an hour to complete. The process was a lot of fun and result is pretty awesome. Enjoy!