|
Anchoring was all the rage in the 1980s and 1990s. Thanks to COVID-19, the term “anchoring” is enjoying a rebirth as many are moving online for school and work.
As the name suggests, anchoring refers to the TV news industry, but specifically to the wardrobe choices of some male anchors. Anchors sat at the news desk wearing sport coats, starched dress shirts and ties. They looked professional. In fact, some anchors became fashion icons. Some launched their own clothing lines. But it’s what we didn’t see, what was hidden beneath the desk, that gave anchoring it’s name. From the waist down, anchors would wear just about anything. According to my anchor friends, choices included sweat pants, gym shorts, boxer shorts — anything more comfortable than dress pants. It didn’t matter because anchors were figuratively anchored to the news desk. They didn’t move. Anchors who felt a little less confined below the desk were otherwise consummate professionals. Camera operators would, on rare occasion, dip the lens to an unexpected angle and, whoops, the audience might see a hairy leg or two. Those days are (mostly) gone, according to... Read more at https://www.vindy.com/life/lifestyles/2020/03/anchoring-returns-thanks-to-covid-19/ (may encounter paywall). Many of us have been thrust into the world of telecommuting overnight. Thanks to COVID-19, we’re trying our best to replicate the face-to-face work environment. We’re online, but it’s not the same.
Like many of you, I don’t like this new normal. While occasionally working from home has perks, this pandemic has thrown our work-life balance into pure chaos. So when things are out of control, we turn to things we can control. For my work environment, it’s leveraging the most from technology to supplement those face-to-face meetings I’m so used to having with my co-workers. Online video meetings are a must for those of us “sheltering in place.” It’s the only way to keep our distance from others while still maintaining some productivity in the virtual workplace. If you traditionally work in a team environment, it’s likely that you already know the major players in video conferencing: WebEx, Skype, Slack, GoToMeeting and Zoom. Read more at https://www.vindy.com/life/lifestyles/2020/03/tips-for-hosting-your-meeting-out-of-office/ (may encounter paywall). Blame the platform, not the user.
Critics who blame major social media platforms for enabling the spread of misdeeds and misinformation have uttered those words more than once. But today is not one of those days. This is because Facebook and friends have stepped up their response to dealing with the coronavirus. In truth, they’ve been preparing for this for weeks — long before the first cases were detected in the U.S. Just as quickly as the virus has spread around the world, so too has misinformation about everything from data on those infected to how we can protect ourselves, and what to do if we think we’re infected. Each of the major social media platforms announced plans — some as far back as late January and some as recent as yesterday — as to how we can stay safe at home and on their sites. Here’s what they’re doing. Read more at https://www.vindy.com/life/lifestyles/2020/03/how-social-media-are-responding-to-virus/ (may encounter paywall). We’re drowning in digital photos.
They’re on our desktops, laptops, pen drives and SD cards, smartphones and iPads, the cloud (in some cases, multiple clouds) and spaces we’ve probably long forgotten. The thought of so many images of family, friends and important occasions stored in so many different locations gives me a lot of unnecessary anxiety. We created this problem with the help of easy-to-use technology. After all, it didn’t used to be this easy to get so many good pictures. As a teenager, I would snap a roll of film on a 35 mm camera, drive the roll to our local Fotomat to be developed, and wait a few days for the prints. I was lucky if half the prints were good enough to keep in a scrapbook. The rest were tossed in a garbage can. Now we take a dozen images of the same subject in the same setting with our phones, pick the best image, share it immediately on our social profiles, and move the rest to our digital garbage cans. If you have a smartphone, take a look at how many you have stored. Read more at https://www.vindy.com/life/lifestyles/2020/03/organize-your-digital-images-in-fewer-places/ (may encounter paywall). Some critics argue that connecting the 7.8 billion people to the internet is a futile, albeit noble, effort.
Aside from current technological limits, there are those who just don’t want to be connected to other people. That’s their right. Well, at least, in SOME countries it’s a right. If you live in the U.S., you can move to a cabin in the Alaskan wilderness and enjoy a peaceful life far away from other humans. But there are more immediate problems with trying to connect 7.8 billion than worrying about those few who crave isolation. Legitimate criticism of efforts from companies like SpaceX and Facebook center on the impact these efforts have on our daily lives. For example, astronomers complain that SpaceX’s Starlink program, a system of mini chain-linked satellites, will hamper their ability to study space. They may be right. As of February, SpaceX has launched more than 300 of these small satellites. They plan to launch an additional 60 satellites every two weeks through 2020. The ultimate goal is to create a chain of 12-thousand interlinked satellites, and possibly expand to 42,000. Read more at https://www.vindy.com/life/lifestyles/2020/03/connecting-everyone-to-the-world-wide-web/ (may encounter paywall). |
AuthorDr. Adam C. Earnheardt is a professor in the Department of Strategic Communication & Media at Youngstown State University in Youngstown, OH, and interim director of broadcasting for WYSU-FM. He researches and writes on a variety of topics including communication, media and sports (with an emphasis on fandom). His work has appeared in Mahoning Matters, The Vindicator and Tribune-Chronicle newspapers. CategoriesArchives
July 2023
|
RSS Feed