Fire-Wired Blog

This article was first published by  dmcityview.com If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. Children across the country are told this everyday when they say something hurtful. The problem is this expression is also used when people say something negative. Criticism and negativity aren’t inherently evil. They are the building blocks of better art, music, research, politics, and sometimes they even improve parenting efforts. For this reason alone Facebook needs a dislike button, and thankfully the site has been internally testing the feature for winter release. Since Facebook unveiled the Like button in 2009, a sizeable amount of users have been asking for a dislike button. In fact it's the number one requested Facebook feature for six years running. Opponents of "dislike" point to the bottomless pit of negativity the internet appears to be. Between snarky comments, trolling, flame wars, and outright bigotry, do we really need to slap a...

This article was first published by  dmcityview.com To the uninspired, greed-fueled the modern web must be secretly infuriating. Parroting a phrase I heard time again in the photography showcase at the state fair, the internet inspires a lot of “I could do that.” From food blogs to silly YouTube video producers, it seems thousands of talentless hacks are raking in cash with little to no effort. The worst offender? Buzzfeed. Making matters worse, the new media giant was recently valued at a cool $1.5 billion. First things first, I don't believe any of what you just read. Creating audience garnering content on the web is not easy. It takes constant brainstorming, blitzkrieg creativity, excellent imagery and writing, and a unique voice. Anyone can run over to Wordpress and start a blog, but making a living off it takes dedication and serious work. Second, if you find yourself scoffing at a $1.5 billion Buzzfeed you don’t understand the world of today’s web. Web journalism has as...

Covering the 2015 Iowa State Fair for Iowa Public Television made me eat my words. For the last half of my life I have been down on the fair, never understanding why so many people came to Des Moines to mill around a fried food-fueled, tractor-filled, expensive fairgrounds. Well after 10 trips to the fair this year I fully get it. There are hundreds of awesome event, contests, booths, and just general things to do at the fair. The Iowa State Fair is a HUGE deal to Iowa Public Television . IPTV's been covering the fair for 45 years and every year the entire production staff, dedicates 11 days in August to running around the fairgrounds with cameras. Of my 10 state fair odysseys, seven were for work and 3 were personal trips with family. Every time I've gone to the fair in years past whether with friends or family, I've left underwhelmed. Before the Fair got underway this year I was worried it was going to be more of the same except worse because I would subjected to ...

This article was first published by  dmcityview.com The internet can be the most downright ugly place in the world. Anonymous online posting is the number one plague of the 21st century. The list of horrible things people can do on the internet reads like a wrap sheet for aliens to exterminate our species; hacking, child pornography, revenge-porn, hate speech, gamergate, outright racism and sexism, and personally my least favorite of all, doxxing. Before we get too far down the rabbit hole of despicable web behavior, let’s clear something up; the internet is not all bad. It allows us to communicate in ways that were unimaginable just 25 years ago. The internet has changed the way people learn such as online college degrees and free, in-depth tutorials ranging topics from programming to quilting. The internet has enlightened people across the globe to causes and issues that are completely disconnected from their everyday lives. The list of good uses and things on the internet is...

Well the results are in and I'm to proud to announce that Tiny Explosions' 2015 submission to the Des Moines 48 Hour Film Project was the 13th best film of the year. How do I know 13th specifically? Simple, 12 films will screen at the August 20th Best of City screening and "Culling of Heirs" is not one of them. Right off the bat I'd like to congratulate the teams that will screen at Best of City this year. I haven't seen them all, but I completely agree with the half I have seen as worthy of being deemed the top shelf work of 2015. As for Culling ... it may not be our best effort, but I do believe we've learned the most from producing it. The lightning round list of lessons is easy: Acting is not a T.E. shortcoming. We know how to make something look great. Writing is THE most important stage. In room humor doesn't always translate to on screen laughs. Having fun while making a film is easy, but doesn't necessarily lead to your best w...

This article was first published by  dmcityview.com There are big companies like Ford or 3M, and then there massive companies like General Electric or ExxonMobil. Now Ford generates more revenue than General Electric, but G.E. is more diverse company that makes it seem like it might own half the planet. In technology an easy equivalent is Apple and Google; Apple’s revenue is more than double that of Google, but Apple is a consumer technology developer, Google is a firm that explores every possible avenue of technological innovation. To that end, Google is about to make the leap from big to massive. Early this month Google decided it no longer wanted to be Google and unveiled plans to create a parent company named Alphabet. Google will still exist, but not as an all encompassing tech umbrella that absorbs and acquires other properties rebranding them Google That or Google That. See three years ago when Google acquired Motorola, the popular refrain was Motorola didn’t feel lik...

This article was first published by  dmcityview.com One of the worst sins in rock & roll is singing your bands name in a song. Nothing rings more lame or inauthentic. Which is bizarre because in hip-hop, rappers are constantly saying their name. In fact, some of the biggest rappers of all-time made a name for themselves by building songs around their name; i.e. Eminem and the Beastie Boys. While there are exceptions, tech is much more in line with rock & roll than hip-hop. Sure you’ll see banner ads, billboards, and YouTube pre-roll advertisements for gadgets and websites, but television is generally the desperation move of tech relevancy. The most relevant example of the moment; Windows 10. The unwritten rule of no-television advertisement is not a tech commandment, but unless you’re up-and-coming or near untouchable, TV ads come off just sad. Microsoft was once one of those untouchable tech firms. In the 90s Windows was the operating system, there were no real alternat...