Cyrus Farivar

So Battelle instantly went for the “define:” function on Google, as in “define:polls,” “define:incumbent” or “define:democracy.” A lot of people don’t know about the various operators that Google has to alter a search query. (Further, Google can do all kinds of conversions, including metric to imperial, euros to dollars and so forth.) Using this function, he showed his daughter, works much better when you want to know the definition of a word.

He then goes on to call for what he calls “search literacy,” (and by extension, critical thinking) the idea of being able to form a proper question in a search engine (and by extension to one’s peers in real life), and then have the mental capacity to think, analyze, criticize and evaluate that information to come up with the best solution or course of action.

As he wrote in November 2005:

Our schools are instead focused on a testing regime which requires that students focus not on solving problems or determining best courses of action, but rather regurgitating answers. But as many wiser than I have noted through the course of history, the most creative act a human can engage in is not repeating an answer, it is forming a good question.

In an age where the knowledge of mankind is increasingly at our fingertips through the services of Internet search, we must teach our children critical thinking. One can never have all the answers, but if prepared, one can always ask the right question, and from that creative act, learn to find his or her own answer.

Instead, we have leaders that believe that questions have one answer, and they already know what it is. Their mission, then, is to evangelize that answer. That, to me, is a dangerous course. Reversing it by teaching our children to learn, rather than to answer, seems to me to be a noble cause.

What is lacking is precisely this understanding of what the search engines of today can and cannot do. They’re great, as Battelle proves, for defining words and spitting back short bursts of information.

However, as James Fallows lamented in June 2005 in a column in the New York Times, for anything more complex, search engines are “surprisingly ineffective.”

Recently, for example, I was trying to track the changes in California’s spending on its schools. In the 1960′s, when I was in public school there, the legend was that only Connecticut spent more per student than California did. Now, the legend is that only the likes of Louisiana and Mississippi spend less. Was either belief true? When I finally called an education expert on a Monday morning, she gave me the answer off the top of her head. (Answer: right in spirit, exaggerated in detail.) But that was only after I’d wasted what seemed like hours over the weekend with normal search tools. If it sounds easy, try using keyword searches to find consistent state-by-state data covering the last 40 years.

We live with these imperfections by trying to outguess the engines — what if I put “per capita spending by states” in quotation marks? — and by realizing that they’re right for some jobs and wrong for others.

Fallows is adept enough with technology to know that sometimes the machine can’t possibly know what you mean, whereas a human can. Battelle certainly is too. But how many of our future leaders will be?

I’m not just talking about the ability to actually use the technology — we all know who wins that contest, at least in this presidential race — rather, I’m talking about the ability to evaluate information obtained from all possible sources, from advisers big (say, a general in the field or members of one’s Cabinet) and small (Google).

As Sarah Vowell wrote in February 2005:

What we should be doing is electing a president with the nitpicky paranoia you’d use to choose a cardiologist — a stunted conversationalist with dark-circled eyes and paper-cut fingertips who will stay up until 3 tearing into medical journals in five languages trying to figure out how to save your life.

That’s the kind of search literacy that I’d want in a president.

But there were also a few troubling episodes on the technological front, with text messages and e-mails being used as a way to perpetuate false information.

Wired reported late last night that voters in Florida and New Mexico received a fake text message from 505-507-6041 that says things like: “Due to long lines if you are voting for Barack Obama you can vote tomorrow,” or “Due to the long lines today, all Obama voters are asked to vote on Wednesday.”

The AP adds that there have been reports of similar “robo-calls” and fake texts in Missouri and that the Missouri secretary of state and U.S. Attorney’s Office have been notified. I’m glad that this wasn’t widespread enough to have made a difference, but it’s still a troubling development.

But that’s not all. Thousands of students at George Mason University received an e-mail spoofed to look like it was from Provost Peter N. Stearns saying that “election day has been moved to November 5th. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.” Apparently the FBI is on the case.

And finally, while the outcome of the election was by a pretty overwhelming margin, there were still problems with electronic voting in numerous states, although not enough to have any sort of real impact.

Still,  we as a country really need to have a single standard for federal elections, get rid of these awful e-voting machines, and streamline this whole process so we don’t have to deal with this kind of crap anymore.

On a more personal and professional note, I share with you the news that this is my last post in Machinist, which is going on hiatus beginning tomorrow.

I thank all of you for reading and for your thoughtful and critical comments. If you’d like to follow me and/or any of my other work on public radio or elsewhere, you can do so on my blog: cyrusfarivar.com (where I’ll be announcing the result of our little trial voter-verified election), and/or you can email me at cfarivar [at] cfarivar [dot] org.

Cheers!

CNN will have 44 cameras and 20 computers in each remote location to capture 360-degree imaging data of the person being interviewed. Images are processed and projected by computers and cameras in New York. There’ll also be plasma TVs in Chicago and Phoenix that will let the people being interviewed see Blitzer and other CNN correspondents. Bohrman says the network can project two different views from each city so Blitzer can appear to be in the studio with two holograms.

Jessica Yellin was the first CNN reporter to be “beamed” to the New York newsroom, where Wolf Blitzer interviewed her — and she reported that there were only 35 cameras pointed at her, and that “talk to the cameras in New York.” Apparently representatives in the Obama campaign in Chicago and the McCain campaign in Phoenix will be interviewed as holograms later in the evening.

It’s still unclear who makes this hologram technology, nor how much it costs, nor how exactly it works — nor when I’m going to get it in my house. Man, and I was just getting used to Skype video chat. Still, scope out the video below.

This is without a doubt the best Obama song that I’ve seen so far. It’s got catchy lyrics — Viva Obama! — snappy outfits, a line about healthcare, and that female violin player? Muy caliente!

2) Extra Golden – Obama

This half Kenyan band (just like Obama!) rock out on this chillaxed benga track. Great guitar riffs.

3) Cocoa Tea – Barack Obama

Jamaican reggae star Coco Tea recorded this tune earlier this year, earning a small writeup in the Jamaica Observer at the time.

As he told the newspaper:

“If you notice, Obama is getting a lot of support from the young people, and when the younger generation begin to call for change, it usually comes, as they and the future, and Obama’s future is in their hands. Support for Obama is also coming from other quarters including the Kennedy family, as he is seen as the man with a plan, therefore I was guided by Jah on this one.”

How can you argue with Jah?

4) Docta Musica WashiWara – Barack Obama

This tune comes to us from Cameroon, and if you believe what the Docta says on his Web site: “The video has quickly becomed a big hit on Youtube.” Indeed.

5) crbballgal – BARACK THE VOTE!

How can I deny two fly girls, an ’80s-style synth, and rapping in front of a bathroom mirror? Well done, ladies.

6) Mighty Sparrow – Barack the Magnificent

Mighty Sparrow is the world’s leading calypso singer, hailing from the island of Grenada. Cop a read on the lyrics over here — I’m sure this is the first time that the phrase “Foreign Relations Committee” has worked its way into a calypso song.

7) Obama Song Spanish Reggaeton

I’m not sure who wrote this song, but nothing makes me want to sing “Si se puede!” louder than this reggaeton tune.

Bruce Springsteen – Working on a Dream

This song debuted just two days ago at a rally in Cleveland, so if you drop this joint at your fiesta, you’ll definitely be about 75 percent as cool as the Boss himself.

9) Barackapella – Yes We Can

Although college a capella may get mocked on Stuff White People Like, this cover of the famed will.i.am song is perfectly pulled off by Barackapella, a group from Lewis and Clark College in Oregon. (Also, don’t forget the parody, by john.he.is!)

10) Guru – Obama dance mix

I really, really hope that this is the first song that the Obamas dance to at the inagural ball. Or at least at the party in Chicago tonight.