Every Family Needs A Media Geek




Have you ever missed an important family function but still wanted to see who went and what happened? The next best thing to being there in person is to have a family facebook page where everyone can gather. Whether family members and friends attended a certain function or not, they can experience the event through photos, video and interactive communication. 

We all have our own personal Facebook page, but I think a family page is a good thing to have. I also think every family should have a media geek that can record, collect,assemble and distribute information about the family and upcoming family events.  http://www.facebook.com/?sk=nf#!/pages/Alatorre-Family-San-Antonio-Texas/222061136372


As traditional forms of communication have given way to electronic forms. The event and invite features in Facebook makes it a snap to invite relatives and friends to all the births, weddings, parties, graduations and debuts occurring in our family. Electronic RSVPing can help in planning and controlling costs. With a few mouse clicks we can spread  the word almost instantly instead of having to go to the time and expense of sending out traditional paper invitations, plus it also saves natural resources! The dirty little secret of the US Post Office is that email and other electronic forms of communication are putting them out of business. Electronic communication will never totally replace sending beautiful invitations, but it can supplement it.


Quincinera portrait of Amelia Alatorre by Mary Carroll 2011

In the past people used to have to pay professional photographers to get quality large format photographs to frame and display in their homes and scrapbooks. 
When affordable digital still and video cameras  came along, people also started making their own videos of family events.



Computer operating systems now come with free video editing software like Windows Movie Maker or I Movie forMac.Though limited in editing options, both these programs allow people to make some very nice videos by using a bit of imagination. Image editing software like Picassa http://picasa.google.com/ and Gimp http://www.gimp.org/downloads/are also free.

Learning technical skills in producing better family photos or videos is easy. There are thousands of tutorials  available online on You Tube to teach an eager learner the basics of lighting, shooting, editing and digital imaging. Hopefully, the days of boring, fuzzy video and bad sound are on the wane. A more polished production telling a story is more enjoyable and entertaining than just a long clip of shaky video. I made a short video of my cousin Johnny's first karate tournament. It may not be significant to anyone else, but this video captures his commitment to a sport and shows a mother's pride in supporting her son's efforts and goals.

Whether it is an estranged brother, an elderly aunt unable to travel, or future generations of family, technology does and will allow them to vicariously enjoy family events. Even through the distance of time and space digital communications will keep them aware that they are indeed part of a family. The digitally recorded history of my family can continue once I find a younger family member to take up the mantle as my family's media geek. I guess I should start recruiting at the next family function.  Hmmm, Cousin Terrie might be a good prospect.....

Truth, Justice and The Internet Way

Media Technology can be used for the common good or for just plain evil. We have seen in the last two months how the internet, cell phones and Youtube have been the catalyst for social change in countries that are very resistant to change.  Some of that change has been for real and some of it has been for show.

Witness Saudi Arabia and other countries giving away billions to their disaffected populations. Do the people in power really believe they can stave off revolution by throwing money at people? There are problems that require a change of heart and minds, not just the King’s spare change.

We have also seen that subjects or viewpoints that we disagree with or find reprehensible abound in cyberspace. Whether it is some bizarre cultural practice or some group hating another, the internet plays host to all. 


The US Supreme Court recently ruled that the Westborough Baptist Church of Wichita had a right to picket the funerals of soldiers to express their hatred of  homosexuals. Though many of us find the actions and message of Westboro Baptist Church disgusting, the Supreme Court ruled a small group of people have the right to offend the majority.

In repressive countries like China, Iran and North Korea  the government has total control over what information their citizens receive.  In North Korea for instance the people are starving and are told that Americans are cannibals.  Many people believe it because they have been brainwashed by the state.  My fecetious reply to a curious North Korean would be, "Why you are so skinny you wouldn't even make a good snack.“

Media can be manipulated to seem authentic and real.  If you don’t have the technology to do so, the next best thing is to repress the truth and create a reality that will help control the masses.  Some people entrenched in power for decades believe the general population cannot handle the truth and will go to great lengths to protect both lies and truth.  Ultimately the truth is not in the eye of the beholder, but in the power of the person, or organization presenting what they say is the truth.

I believe that hundreds, if not thousands of people have died this week in all the conflicts going on in the world. The only truth I am really sure of this week is that "Knut" the polar bear died.

Front Row Seats To Hell

Watching video of the tsunami in Japan racing across the fields gives me a rush at mother nature's might. People had never so keenly witnessed the power of a tsunami before the advent of movie and still cameras. We can experience these events safely from our homes and offices. The horrible ones like the recent Japan 9.1 and tsunami http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698 kept us glued to the news whether it was radio, tv or the Internet.

Technology has made everyone a news reporter. With all the cell phones and cameras in Japan there are hundreds of thousands of videos and pictures of the devastation flooding the Internet. Now, the threat of their nuclear reactors melting down is a very real possibility. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Kc-KvQ-XUQ Not to sound callous, but finally something  more profound  on the news than a celebrity drug addict melting down.

Dramatic events like the Hindenburg blowing up are iconic images of tragedy. I know we all feel a rush when we see such images of destruction.  The first time I saw that video, I could  feel the heat and hear the girders twisting in the inferno, not to mention the explosion of the gas.

Reading about an exploding airship is not as exciting  as seeing it happen even if it is only a still shot. Seeing the video is more exciting than viewing a still.   I could see red and yellow even though the video was in black and white. 

words:http://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=A0SO8Zl7Wn1NrnoAE.f7w8QF;_ylu=X3oDMTBncGdyMzQ0BHNlYwNzZWFyY2gEdnRpZAM-?p=the+hindenburg+broadcast&fr=mcsaoff&ei=utf-8&fr2=tab-web&n=21&tnr=20&y=Search

Technology has given us new eyes and ears to supplement our own.  We can go  from the depths of the ocean to other galaxies or we can go to a grocery store in Japan and experience a 9.1 without having to worry about being crushed or killed by flying debris. .http://wwfw.youtube.com/watch?v=MW6u2ENXCHQ&feature=related

Though we are tempted to be mesmerized by horror and drama, people also use the Internet and multimedia to help one another during times of overwhelming crises. Rescue efforts and fundraising can be coordinated via the Internet and twitter. The worlds scientific minds can come together to help solve problems like the one's happening in Japan.  In this case, it is not just  one country's problem because 2 or 3 nuclear reactor cores melting down can affect the whole planet, not just Japan. 

I think the Japanese people are still in shock and will continue to suffer, but they will survive. Though they are a modern country, the destruction has reduced some of Japan to very primitive conditions. I would ask all who read this or have religious or spiritual feelings to pray for the people of Japan as they struggle to recover from this massive disaster. If you can help in any other way; please do.

"Half Dead On Arrival"

In December of 2010, I got very sick.  Lucky for me, I was going to pick up my companion at the VA Hospital.  By the time I got there I was feeling weak and disoriented. My breathing was labored and no matter how deeply I breathed I felt like I was suffocating. I thought I was just having a really bad asthma attack, but it was much more than that.

  

I was so weak and out of breath I couldn't walk more than a few steps.  I called the hospital to send someone out with a wheel chair.  A nurse took me straight to the emergency room and I was seen immediately. They give me an aspirin and listened to my chest. They next gave an oxygen tube to tuck in my nose. As chills racked my body, I knew this was more than just an asthma attack; I had a fever of 103.

I was rather delirious and didn't remember much except when they came to do an arterial blood gas draw. There was someone screaming in the room and I didn't realize for a few moment that it was me. The feeling of the metal needle grated painfully and horribly against the nerves in my wrist. The doctor got the sample he needed and I slept, for five minutes.  An x-ray tech came in next and woke me for a chest x-ray.  A hospital is not a place where you are going to get any rest.

They came to draw more blood.  Thankfully not from my wrist but my arm where I noticed they had installed an IV in one of my plump veins in the crook of my arm.



Dr. Robert Paul



My doctor came in and said I was being treated for asthma exacerbation, pneumonia and a heart attack. My condition WAS serious; my oxygen level was only at 40 percent of what it should have been and my blood pressure was very high 220/170.  The blood sample they had taken from my arm showed that my platelets had started clumping together to form a clot.

Two hours after I came in I was on my way to a intermediate care ward. My eyes closed for a sweet moment and I thought I would sleep; yeah right.  Five minutes later I had an inhalation therapy session of albuterol, that would sooth my sore and swollen bronchial tubes and lungs; eventually. It was the first of dozens of treatments I would have.  Only problem was the medication made my heart race and I would get no sleep the rest of the night. I was also pumped full of antibiotics and steroids (no not the kind athletes abuse).

The days came and went and  it seemed like it took an eternity to get well. I was in the Veteran’s Hospital for nine days.  I received excellent healthcare from caring and professional employees.  If it was not for them, I do believe I would have died that night.

I no longer have the  strength to do many of the activities that require stamina and strength.  Lucky for me technology has made some things easier. I no longer have to haul the 5 pound folder that holds my medical records.  I now have a electronic medical record card. I can also measure my blood pressure without having to go to see a doctor. 

This near death experience has helped me appreciate even more the benefits of technology that helped save MY life. I do however, still have to take a bunch of pills everyday if I want to continue living!