The Windspire

I am always fascinated at the rate of change we are seeing today. In doing some research for a post on change, I came across this video and website from Mariah Power in Reno, Nevada. Mariah Power is building a unique, new wind generator they call the Windspire.

You can read more about them by clicking here. I also encourage you to check out this video to see just what their new Windspire is all about:



It shifted my paradigm about the new wind power technology we are seeing today. We now know the huge wind farms beginning to dot the landscape are not the only way to generate power from the wind. The wind generators of today are drastically different than the windmills from our parents and grandparents farms of only a generation or two ago.

Change is happening in virtually every aspect of our lives these days. To think young people in school today will be working in careers in five to ten years that are not even invented yet truly amazes me!

What are some of the changes you are experiencing in your life? I look forward to reading about them.

Later,

Mike

Classic Carson

Many of us grew up watching Johnny Carson hosting The Tonight Show. Sorry kids, Jay Leno hasn't always been the host! My cousin sent me this hilarious piece from 1969 when the show ran for ninety minutes.

His guests that night were incredibly funny people, namely Bob Hope, Dean Martin and he was interviewing George Gobel during this clip. Watch what Dean Martin is doing as George Gobel is talking to Johnny. Everybody seems to be aware of the joke except Gobel.

The reason I put this post up is to show just how far the paradigm has shifted with what we find funny and what used to pass as good, clean fun. Also, note both Martin and Gobel were smoking. We don't see that anymore.

See if you agree with me about how humor has changed.

Enjoy:

Change is a constant in our lives. It is happening faster and faster all the time. I think it is important every once in a while to slow down and see where we have been to better appreciate where we are now and contemplate where we are going. I believe humor is a good barometer to measure change. What do you think?

I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

Chicago Gun Violence

Last night the CBS Evening News showed this story on the rash of recent gun violence in Chicago:

It always makes me sick to learn of senseless deaths, especially those
of young people. The story told about one young victim who was only
ten years old!

According to the report, "Since September, 24 students have been
murdered, most of them shot. The dead amount to a classroom of kids. ... Last school year 34 students were killed. That's 58 deaths over what amounts to a 17-month period. And that makes an average of one child getting murdered every eight days."

Several years ago, I was in a high school about twenty miles out of Minneapolis, and asked a class of seniors what they wanted to be doing in five years. I got a number of responses like, "I'd like to be in grad school," "I want to be done with college and starting on my career," "I want to be married and starting a family," among others.

After seven or eight answers, the one black male student raised his hand and said, "I want to be alive."

I asked him, "Why would you say that?"

His response was, "Because the life expectancy for young, black males isn't very great."

I asked, "Why is that?"

He said, "Because we don't know how to solve problems. It's just easier to pull your gun and shoot the other guy. Back in my 'hood, I could be shot in a drive-by at any time. That's why I drive all the way out here through the open enrollment program."

Then I asked him, "If you decided to get out of your old school and drive out here, why don't you find a different group of people to hang with who don't hang out on the street to be targets for drive-bys?"

You should have seen the look on his face! That thought had never occurred to him. My thinking was he had made the decision to switch to a safer school, why not make the decision to make safer friends?

How do we change the paradigm of violence?

I'm interested in your comments on the subject.

Later,

Mike

Generational Differences

I have many friends in the speaking business and I learn a great deal from each one of them. On December 29th, I introduced you to Earl Hipp and his work helping men help boys transform to manhood in my Fatherlessness post.

Today, I want to introduce you to another friend, Eric Chester, who published the very successful Teen Power book series. I was fortunate to have written chapters in three of those books. You can learn more about the books I'm in by clicking here. The books are out of print now, but if you're interested, I still have copies available. You can order them from my website.

Eric is focusing his energies these days on helping corporations strategize on how to employ the new generation of workers he refers to as Generation Why. Generation X followed the Baby Boomers; and now, Generation Y, or, to use the term Eric coined, Generation Why, gives us a dramatic look at the differences between the generations. In the chart below, he shows us how the paradigm is shifting.

I encourage you to click on the image to enlarge it, and see how he identifies the differences in the generations:

Once again, as Karl Fisch says, "Shifts happen."

Cell Phones That Read

In keeping with the theme of change, and rapid change at that, check out this article about a cell phone that reads to people who are blind and visually-impaired by clicking here.

As assistive technology continues to make life easier for many people with a multitude of disabilities, we are just in the beginning stages of what is to come.

Personally, I really like my voice-recognition software which is enabling me to write the book and some of these blog entries. As someone with a severe disability, it's very exciting for me to see these new products.

Yes, change is inevitable, and we best embrace it. Learning is truly a life-long process, and as we see products like this new cell phone, and the Kindle, we need to recognize we have the process in place to address that change.

Kindle is Here

The latest, greatest technological device is here and from what I've read and seen, it will eventually change reading books, newspapers, magazines and blogs just like cell phones have changed the way we communicate with telephones.

Granted, amazonkindle is in it's first generation, and carries a $399 price tag, but like all technology, we'll see that price drop and maybe even disappear.

Imagine students not having to carry heavy backpacks full of textbooks, schools not needing to buy those textbooks because they can just download the books on to their students' Kindles, walking through a park on a nice day and watching people reading their Kindles instead of books, newspapers or magazines, or riding the train or bus to work while reading your morning newspaper on your Kindle.

Amazon.com says about Kindle: "We wanted Kindle to be completely mobile and simple to use for everyone, so we made it wireless. No PC and no syncing needed. Using the same 3G network as advanced cell phones, we deliver your content using our own wireless delivery system, Amazon Whispernet. Unlike WiFi, you’ll never need to locate a hotspot. There are no confusing service plans, yearly contracts, or monthly wireless bills — we take care of the hassles so you can just read."

Check out the extended video demonstration by going to the amazonkindle link in the second paragraph and scroll down to the video.

The paradigm keeps shifting as change is happening faster and faster. For example, my 30 gigabyte iPod which is less than a year old has already been replaced by the 80 and 160 gig models!