Alright, before I say anything, do me a favor? Watch the video as you’re reading the rest of this post. It really adds “ambiance” to my news and I spent a hell of a lot of time cropping my head so that it fit JUST right. Ready? Good, here we go!

Friends, I know many of you know that I am moving to Chicago in September for a few months. Now that everything is in place I am delighted to announce that I will be working on Barack Obama’s campaign! I’m not quite sure exactly what I’ll be doing down there yet, it could range to anything from blog strategy to community building. I’ll post more info as I get it, but all I know is I’ll be right in there at headquarters!

It’s going to be pretty awesome: new city, new friends, new project, new experiences, heck- I’ve even got a new roommate! Hilarity is bound to ensue. I’m inviting all of you to come on this trip with me as I tweet, blog, and Facebook my way towards one of the most historic US presidential elections.

Disclaimer: I have to confess that part of my reason for embarking on this adventure is the pursuit of what I’m pretty sure is the HOLY GRAIL of Facebook profile pictures. WILL I ACHIEVE THIS GOAL?

Stay tuned to find out!!

Short post today, I had actually written this post last week, but had some huge WordPress problems with uploading images. Problem fixed thanks to some blind blog surgery on my part, which isn’t usually recommended but sometimes you just have to close your eyes and hope for the best. I’ve got some awesome posts coming up filled with glorious, colorful images, so check back in soon!

Obama surpasses Kevin Rose on Twitter

Wired reports that Barack Obama has surpassed Digg founder Kevin Rose as Twitter’s most followed person. Over 56,000 follow the tweet updates from the campaign, and more are expected as the announcement of Obama’s running mate is announced.

In celebration, I also give a “well played” to the guy who made this video. Well played sir, well played.

“Unnecessary Quotations”

My friend Dan Smith over at Smithereen’s Blog shared this with me the other day. It’s a blog that tracks and shares the wonder of people who use unnecessary quotations. It’s laugh out loud funny, and I can see this becoming the next stuff white people like.

A sample:

I was on CBC’s Arts & Culture show Q a a few weeks ago talking about technology and its impact on youth. It took me a while to figure out how to splice the hour long podcast into the easy listening piece for your enjoyment. And, I’ve been told I’ve gone over my bandwidth in terms of uploading images for the month, so until I get it resolved, it’s going to be ugly text posts. Sad, I know, but we all face these challenges in life and we just have keep going and persevere.

Apparently, according to Professor Mark Bauerlein technology is making Gen Y dumber, and he’s not holding any punches when it comes to saying so. Here’s the description of his book “The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don’t Trust Anyone Under 30.):

For decades, concern has been brewing about the dumbed-down popular culture available to young people and the impact it has on their futures. At the dawn of the digital age, many believed they saw a hopeful answer: The Internet, e-mail, blogs, and interactive and hyper-realistic video games promised to yield a generation of sharper, more aware, and intellectually sophisticated children. The terms “information superhighway” and “knowledge economy” entered the lexicon, and we assumed that teens would use their knowledge and understanding of technology to set themselves apart as the vanguards of this new digital era.

That was the promise. But the enlightenment didn’t happen. The technology that was supposed to make young adults more astute, diversify their tastes, and improve their verbal skills has had the opposite effect. According to recent reports, most young people in the United States do not read literature, visit museums, or vote. They cannot explain basic scientific methods, recount basic American history, name their local political representatives, or locate Iraq or Israel on a map. The Dumbest Generation is a startling examination of the intellectual life of young adults and a timely warning of its consequences for American culture and democracy.

Drawing upon exhaustive research, personal anecdotes, and historical and social analysis, Mark Bauerline presents an uncompromisingly realistic portrait of the young American mind at this critical juncture, and lays out a compelling vision of how we might address its deficiencies.

In short my arguments:

1) Technology is a neutral tool

Blaming technology for a generation’s ignorance makes no sense. Technology is not by itself inherently good or evil. It all depends on the intent of the person using it. Someone could go online, surf only celebrity gossip sites, watch endless videos of skateboarding accidents on YouTube, bully their classmates online and then call it a day. In comparison, another person could go online, read interesting opinions from thought leaders all over the world, catch up on news events, engage in lively debates and strengthen friendships. It’s the same internet people, and blaming it is pretty illogical.

2) Blanket statements don’t make friends

Now, I’m not arguing that our generation faces immense challenges. In an era of education budget cuts and an evolving technological landscape, there are some of us (a third in fact) that are struggling. That being said, to blanket an entire generation with one derogatory term is not only an insult, but it’s small minded and petty. It’s like calling all boomers sellouts or all Gen Xers disaffected. Gen Y is the largest demographic since the baby boomers, and the world’s first global generation. We’re complex.

3) That evil rock and roll

Every generation seems to think those coming after it are crazy, lost and stupid. It’s natural. Sure maybe the majority of kids aren’t going to museum but which Boomers did that when they were 16? Furthermore, the web has created a platform for unprecedented levels of collaboration and creativity. Social networking platforms are being leveraged to mobilize youth around issues such as climate change or the US presidential elections.

What do you think?

There are some interesting points on both sides, and you can listen to the interview here:

RahafHarfoush-TheFoushReportsAreWeTheDumbestGeneration759.mp3.

My Two Cents

Personally, while I welcome all viewpoints, I found it a little hard to take him seriously when he kept referring to “social networking” as thought it was a cult that eats babies and worships the devil. Clearly he had never actually been on Facebook or MySpace and had simply made a bunch of assumptions based on technology he didn’t really understand. Which is a shame.

So Mark, if you read this and want a tour of MY web, let me know. I’d be more then happy to show you the interesting people, great debates and creative sites that I visit.

Update: When I posted this on twitter I forgot the link! LOL. I’m hoping that the ability to laugh at ourselves is a sign of maturity and intelligence otherwise, we’re all in trouble.

China:

Oh China, where do I even begin? In the first ever Foush triple whammy, China is not in my good books this week.

1) Faking fireworks with CGI

Some of the fireworks viewed in the television footage were computer generated images. The thought behind this move was that the real fireworks (that did go off live) wouldn’t translate appropriately on camera so the Chinese government took the liberty of “enhancing” our video experience.

2) Replacing cute Asian little girl with CUTER Asian little girl

It was also discovered that the little girl singing the above song in the Opening Ceremonies was actually lipsynching to the voice of another little girl who was deemed by a Chinese official as not having the “right look.” Her cheeks were too chubby and her teeth were too crooked, so she was replaced at the last minute by a cuter little girl. This is really awful. I thought they were both cute, and did not approve of the superficiality of that stupid decision. That poor little girl. I wonder what she’s going to happen to her self-image when she’s old enough (if she isn’t already) to realize that she didn’t have “the look.” Or the message that move sends to the millions of other little girls that don’t have that “right look” either. In an era where women are already hyper-aware of their image, this decision could have some sad consequences.

3) Deporting Bloggers

As mentioned in my previous post, Noneck, a video blogger was deported from the country after capturing a protest in Tienanmen square.

Am I the only one really disturbed by these events? I know China is under tremendous pressure and scrutiny from the world especially in regards to their human rights record, but honestly, faking it/sweeping it under the rug only serves to highlight the issue. Even small incidents can hugely detract from other positive efforts. The internet is a place of transparency and openness. It’s not as easy to fool people anymore, and with all eyes on you, you can bet someone is going to notice if you’re up to no good.

Coke

Coke employees fired for following management’s instructions

Shel Holtz recently shed light on a really bizarre situation happening over at Coke, not to mention hugely questionable management decisions.

I quote:

According to workers who got the ax, they had been asked by management to participate in the ”My Coke Rewards” promotion, that lets registered consumers exchange points for merchandise. The outreach to employees was designed to boost a disappointing number of visits to the promotion’s website. More visits would lead to higher search visibility and more attention. Frank Grant, an 11-year employee, said the request came about six months after the program was launched, when employees were expressly told not to take part in it.

When the company changed its mind and asked employees to help boost site traffic, nobody bothered to point out the fine print, which said employees were not allowed to accumulate more than 2,000 points in a year. When Grant became aware of the limit—which he had exceeded—he offered to return the merchandise he’d acquired or pay the company its value. Instead, he was offered the choice to resign or get fired.

If you’re scratching your head, you’re not the only one. You read it right: Coke asked employees to participate in a contest, employees unknowingly accumulated too many points, they offered to give them back since they were following management orders in the first place, and were told to either resign or get fired. Once again, Coke has spectacularly demonstrated it’s lack of understanding of not only social media, but of treating its workers (some of whom have been with the company for over a decade) with respect and dignity.

I first heard about this story from New Media Jim via Twitter. Blogger Noel Hidalgo, also known as Noneck, was in Beijing as an independent journalist and blogger when he came across a protest in Tiananmen Square by a group called Free Tibet 2008.

When he was spotted filming the protest, he found himself shoved up against the wall and detained by Chinese security. Five hours later he was deported, with the flight home credited on his credit card courtesy of the Chinese Police. Here is his video below, which already has over forty thousand views. As you can see, the protest seems pretty tame with some of the other events that have unfolded over there, but apparently, it was enough to make the Chinese police nervous.

I had the chance to speak with Noel about his experiences, particularly the four hours spent with Chinese police officials (the topic of human rights comes up) as well as some rather odd technological glitches that have plagued him since his return. His Facebook and twitter updates have been mysteriously replaced with some cryptic codes.

Some notes before you view:

1) This is raw footage, I was going to play around with it and make it all shiny and new, but I chose to upload the information in a timely manner instead. So apologies in advance for the gritty quality that is iChat.

2) It’s a bit long at just under 13 minutes, but I also wanted to dig deeper into some questions that would not have been addressed by other sources. I think Noel’s story is an excellent highlight of the situation over in China that is getting glossed over in favor of Olympic news, and that’s it’s really important to educate ourselves about the state of human rights in countries all over the world.

If anything, this incident shows me the actual scope of how important it is for China to keep these incidents under wraps- a troubling realization. We’re all on this rock in space together, so we might as well make an effort to make the ride more pleasant for everyone.

Ironically, once again it seems that trying to suppress an issue will in fact, only highlight it. I wonder how many of us would have seen the protest video had Noel NOT been deported?