U.S Air Force takes social media seriously, and for good reason

The United States Air Force take social media seriously.

So seriously the Air Force Public Affairs Agency has devised a 'Posting Response Assessment' to assist those contemplating commenting on people's blogs.

The flowchart looks like something straight out of a personality test found in Girlfriend magazine. Are you a morning person? If yes, progress to the question on the right, if no, answer the question on the left.

It is quite quaint and considered, and recognises the various things that motivate people to comment on news sites and blogs.


Source

Beyond supplying colourful posters that Airmen and women can pin up on their computer desks, the U.S Air Force have gone one step further.

They have created a new role, Chief of Emerging Technology, whose responsibility is to develop effective communication strategies to engage Airmen and women and the general public in meaningful and informed conversation.

One such strategy has been "counter-blogging," where defense personnel counter negative opinions about the US government and the air force in the blogosphere by relaying their own experiences on the field.

The Royal Australian Air Force has an internet presence as well, with Twitter accounts, YouTube channels and RSS feeds, but I think the USAF's 'commenters guide' takes the cake.

As much as you could joke about government's being clued on to trolls (despite how much trolls seemingly take pride in the belief other people are oblivious to their stupidity), I think active online engagement with the general public is an essential communication strategy for government departments in the current digital environment.

More and more people are flocking to the internet to have their opinion heard as engagement structures within political parties whittle away.

Yet despite this glorified re-birth of the public sphere via digital information technologies, there has been much scholarly criticism of the poor quality of debate online.

John Downey in "Participation and/or Deliberation? The Internet as a Tool for Achieving Radical Democratic Aims" notes that more often than not, people seek out and find comfort in online communities who toe a similar line to them.

In these instances, the quality of debate and range of views presented is significantly low.

Scholars Van Alstyne and Erick Brynjolfsson go so far as to label this activity in the blogosphere as a cyberbalkanisation, where individuals glue themselves into electronic enclaves that reflect their initial preferences and find confirmation of their beliefs.

This is arguably just as unhealthy for democracy as the often bipartisan bias you find in the mainstream media.

The USAF's strategy for emerging communications is an important one.

By directly engaging with the community in online forums and blogs, official government bodies can cut through the stuffy rigmarole of their PR departments.

In doing so they not only give defense personnel the opportunity to create a little transparency in what they do and quell persistent unfounded rumours, but, perhaps most importantly, they actively educate the general public.

People don't want to be spoken 'down' to by high and mighty government departments. Instead, messages have a greater chance of hitting their mark if they are delivered in a more personal and relatable way.

Read more about the theories of online engagement here:
Downey, John (2007). "Participant and/or deliberation? The internet as a tool for achieving radical democratic aims," in Dahlberg and Siapera (eds) Radical Democracy and the Internet: Interrogating Theory and Practice. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.

Brynjolfsson, Erik, and Marshall van Alstyne (2005). "Global Village or Cyber-Balkans? Modelling and Measuring the Integration of Electronic Communities," Management Science, 51(6). Pp.851-868.

Letter: Martha Graham to Agnes de Mille

This is for all the performers out there. A bit of nostalgia and inspiration, if you will.

Martha Graham is widely considered as the Picasso of modern dance. She was the first dancer ever to perform at The White House, the first international cultural ambassador for dance in the U.S, and the first dancer to join a long list of 'movers and shakers' such as Mother Theresa and Stephen Hawking as a recipient of the Medal of Freedom.

Growing up in a family who didn't want her to pursue a career in the performing arts, Martha Graham was a dancer until the day she passed at 96 in 1991. The Martha Graham Dance Company is the oldest dance company in America.

Agnes de Mille was a lifelong friend of Martha Graham. She wanted to be an actress but was told she wasn't pretty enough, so she pursued dance. Her parents also disproved of dance as a career path so Agnes de Mille taught herself from watching movie stars on Hollywood sets where her father worked as a director.

De Mille went on to choreograph the dream ballet sequence in one of the first Broadway musicals, Oklahoma!, in 1943. She revolutionised musical theatre by combining her love of acting with choreography in a way that conveyed the emotional dimensions of the characters instead of only focusing on a dancer's physical technique.

Both were inspirational women who embraced their individuality and pursued their passions.

Yet, like everyone, there were times when they lacked self-belief and needed encouraging words to spur them on in their journey.

On one occasion while at dinner with Martha Graham, Agnes de Mille expressed her confusion over why she found success in Oklahoma! (which she felt was only "fairly good") after years of neglect for work she thought was much better.

She told Graham (documented in book Martha: The Life and Work of Martha Graham):

I was bewildered and worried that my entire scale of values was untrustworthy. ... I confessed that I had a burning desire to be excellent, but no faith that I could be.

Graham responded, very quietly:

There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. ... No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.

These words have had a deep resonance with performers around the world for decades. They speak to the artist who knows they have a spark within them but need the courage to let it shine and keep it burning.

May Martha Graham's advice to Agnes de Mille half a century ago provide consolation to the artist who is on a lifelong mission to achieve fulfillment through their craft.

...and Happy Easter to you all!

Review: Doctor Zhivago musical, Sydney

Photo credits: Kurt Sneddon

Doctor Zhivago, 1 April 2011, Lyric Theatre, Sydney

Australia is so fortunate to have Lucy Simon and her team pick Sydney to premiere her breathtaking musical.

The production was of an international standard- from the casting, to the set and lighting design, costumes, direction, libretto, and, of course, the sweeping musical score. There was little to fault in this show.

What was particularly surprising was how well the musical (based on Boris Pasternak's novel of the same name) documented Russian history through the tumultuous time of World War I, the Bolshevik revolution, the Russian civil war and the people's plight under the Tsar, Lenin and then Stalin.

Anthony Warlow's (Zhivago) voice is heaven, and Lucy Maunder's (Lara) soprano is clear and beautiful. The ensemble did a fantastic job, and scenes with the whole company packed a punch- especially the opening song "Two Worlds" which set a dramatic and yet informed tone.

The production was a visual feast; Teresa Negroponte's costumes during the aristocratic high-time were intricate and elegant, and the bitter Marxist uniforms post-revolution gave insight into the culture and politics of that historic moment.

Michael Scott Mitchell's set design was clever and versatile. From dramatic, lavish pillars of a ballroom transformed into brick walls falling apart during the second act; just like the old saying goes- a picture tells a thousand words.

Lighting design by Damien Cooper added that extra layer of perfection. The Red Army marching forward with only the lights on their guns illuminating the theatre was powerful, as were the misty scenes on the battlefield.

Composer Lucy Simon and lyricist pair Amy Powers and Michael Korie know how to write a good song- or twenty. The show is long but there is not a dud tune from start to it's three-hour-long finish. "Now" is a stand out, as is "It Comes as No Surprise" and "Love Finds You".

The orchestra was another slice of heaven under the musical direction of Kellie Dickerson. With the cast in full voice and the orchestra rising above it still, the sound was so full and flawless it paid testament to why there is nothing quite like live theatre.

Also, full credits to sound designer Michael Waters for reminding us of the unmistakable warmth of having live music coming at you from all angles. It's hard to imagine that in pre-production the stage was completely bare- floor to grid- without a piece of sound equipment in sight. The levels of the orchestra and cast were so well balanced my mind didn't stray to thinking about sound levels throughout the entire show- which is a good thing.

The musical flows seamlessly with high energy from scene to scene, and with history moving so fast- particularly in the first twenty minutes- director Des McAnuff does a superb job of continually driving the action forward.

My only critique would be a few moments of over-acting, but as the actors relaxed into the show and the emotional-intensity became a mainstay, I was quickly completely engrossed in the fantasy world of early-20th Century Russia. Some lines were a little melodramatic, too, but completely forgivable.

My only disappointment is that I didn't see it sooner and have a chance to take my family to see what I will always remember as a special little bit of Australian musical theatre history.

I have every expectation that the show will be a success overseas, and I wish the creative team every blessing that it will touch the hearts of those around the world.

I feel lucky that Sydney was picked to premiere this beautiful musical, and if you get a chance to see Doctor Zhivago in either Melbourne or Brisbane on its Australian tour, I would highly recommend sharing the joy by taking your friends and family- and some tissues.

What makes you right and me wrong? The similarities between Christianity and Western universalism

Religion and democracy have more in common than we realise. Before I explain why, let’s set up the paradigms around which this statement is situated.

Ever since colonialism- no, scrap that. Ever since human beings were put on this earth (or however you believe we got here) we have functioned under the idea that ‘equal’ means of ‘equal worth’ and ‘different’ implies of ‘lesser worth’. Slaves, savages, servants, the list goes on. In a sense, the discovery of ‘humanity’ occurred historically at the same time as the discovery of ‘savages’.

Under colonial rule, the idea of the Other sprouted up, which was used to label all those cultures that were essentially not European. Here, the European doctrine of universally valid claims was a strategy of power. Yet this idea of ‘universal’ claims was developed by those who somehow believed they were superior and thus could validate such claims via their self-imposed hierarchical status.

With this in mind, I think Christianity and Western universalism are similar in many ways. The Christians sent missionaries, the Western universalists sent… well, men with guns. The Christians believed that the heathens could be baptised and thus partake in true religion, the Western universalists believed that ‘underdeveloped countries’ and non-Western indigenous societies could be ‘modernised’ and thus baptised in the truth of democracy and market economics. One boasts salvation via the pursuit of eternal happiness, the other success of the state.

In both cases, the underlying concept is that of difference implying lesser value. This has, and continues to lead to, the justification of authority, be that by physical force or force-fed ‘education’.

French philosopher Michel Foucault, the articulate man that he was, called this process of force-feeding the “ritual of truth”. He surmised that throughout history there has been a sense of duty to normalise the truth, that is, to deny the otherness of the Other and convert it to the ‘universal’ truth. Europe and USA happen to know exactly what universal truth is, naturally.

Sociologist Ulrich Beck in his work on rooted cosmopolitanism believes we are approaching a new way of thinking; what he calls the Second Modernity. Here, the Other is both different and equal and, as such, what he calls ‘rooted cosmopolitanism’ is a state where one can be “at home everywhere and at home nowhere”. Beck says much of this new development stems from globalisation, which has allowed people to live and educate themselves transnationally and thus eliminate the clear division between the inner and outer that is at the heart of nationalism.

Discussion of such an idea can get quite messy and be applied in both theory and practice. In this article I want to use Beck’s concept to explore the idea that the Second Modernity is opposed to ethnocentrism and universalism, whether that be from the right or left. Like it or loathe it, in a postcolonial world there is no ‘pure’ nation to go back to.

In this day and age I get the sense that many people are aware of the dangers of moral absolutism and the violent realities that grow out of exclusive certainties, and so instead we search for a happy medium.

Yet, does a centre exist? In the political world we have the right-wing, left-wing and moderates, and within that the right-wing will call the moderates left-wing and vice versa. Christianity preaches their beliefs are true, atheists are certain Christianity is a load of crock. Western politics can’t envision a fair, free and just society without capitalist democracies, and non-democratic countries can’t envision the perfect society without totalitarian control. Some people don’t know what to believe so they just sit on the fence.

The amazing thing, I think, is that humans feel compelled to put value and moral judgements on everything. Part of that can be due to the nature of language- that perhaps it is impossible to be completely objective when we are using language that inherently sets us up for bias. There is also a sense that being human means that we can feel passionately about things but can’t all agree on whatever we feel passionately about.

To go back to my original premise that humanity functions under the idea that ‘equal’ means of ‘equal worth’ and ‘different’ implies of ‘lesser worth’, the dilemma comes when we ask ourselves how we can resolve this. In one breath someone might denounce religion and praise capitalism. In another one will say it is unfair to use authority to enforce religious beliefs and then that it is essential to put laws in place to preserve ‘democracy’.

In a world of black, white and grey where everyone thinks they are right and have some kind of understanding of universal truths, we are reminded that throughout history we have not been able to agree on very much at all.

Despite all this talk of the unfairness of an individual or group deciding the future of another human being, we live in a world of law and order. Where hard decisions need to be made, and so we elect politicians to make them on our behalf. Such is the paradox of life; that we all have an opinion, we all have a set of beliefs and yet no matter how much we want to sit around and philosophise, in order for society to function we have to make decisions that benefit some and disadvantage others. Decisions that are informed by values and beliefs, and essentially, an understanding of what is fair and ‘equal’ and what isn’t.

Therein lies the rub. One person’s sense of superiority is another’s sense of ‘savageness’, and vice versa.

So how can we resolve this paradox? Can it be resolved? Your guess is as good as mine. One thing that can be said, though, is that in an increasingly secular world that places little value on religion, it’s only fair to acknowledge that such a value judgement is just that. Who is to say one value judgement is more ‘right’ or- to use consistent terminology- ‘superior’ to another? If we do such we fall into the trap we have criticised Western imperialists for doing centuries ago.

PUBLISHED: Jack Chambers interview

I'm a new monthly contributor for Dancelife Australia and here is my first interview with Australia's own Link Larkin in the musical Hairspray, Jack Chambers.

He talks about how he got the role, how he found the rehearsal process reuniting with Jason Coleman and how he's enjoying the show's run in Melbourne.

http://www.dancelife.com.au/blogs/entry/INTERVIEW-WITH-JACK-CHAMBERS-LINK-LARKIN-IN-HAIRSPRAY

Could luminous trees replace streetlights?

From candlelight to gaslight to electric lighting, for centuries street lights have played a key role in keeping our suburbs safe and navigable through the night.

But a group of Taiwanese scientists are set to reverse the clock with their recent discovery that illuminated trees could replace street lights.

Dr. Yen-Hsun Su and his team came upon the idea of putting gold nanoparticles within the leaves of trees to produce a luminous, reddish glow while experimenting ways to create efficient lighting without the use of highly toxic and expensive chemicals like phosphor powder.

Testing on the Bacopa caroliniana plants, it was found the use of ultraviolet light shining on leaves with gold nanoparticles triggered a red emission in the chlorophyll.

Dr. Su believes this discovery could lead to a revolution of a major part of cities’ urban infrastructure via the replacement of street lights with luminous trees and reduce electricity costs and CO2 emissions.

“In the future, bio-LED could be used to make roadside trees luminescent at night,” he said in an interview with Chemistry World.

“This will save energy and absorb CO2 as the bio-LED luminescence will cause the chloroplast to conduct photosynthesis.”

This is not the first time gold nanoparticles have been thought to hold the key to scientific discoveries.

Scientists at Shanghai Jiaotong University in China found gold nanoparticles can be used to detect viral or bacterial DNA that may cause cancer.

Earlier this year researchers at the University of Pennsylvania discovered the potential of gold nanoparticles to turn optical radiation into electrical current that creates nano-sized circuits, which, if magnified could power themselves through sunlight without the need for an electrical current.

Although the Pandora-like world of glowing trees may be a while off yet, the science is still expanding as scientists continue to use chemistry to explore inventive ways to use gold.

Associate Professor at the University of NSW’s School of Chemistry John Stride explains gold is so special because it is an inert metal, meaning it does not rust, and is a good conductor.

“Gold is a very good conductor partly due to the absence of surface corrosion. As such it is widely used as electrical contacts,” he said.

“Some researchers have used the combination of inertness and conductivity for use in bio-applications such as biosensors. Other workers foresee using plasmon excitations to heat tissue surrounding implanted nanoparticles- either gold or gold-coated- to kill tumours.”

On Dr. Su’s research, Professor Stride believes hybrid materials (such as gold nanoparticles) in which LEDs can couple to the energy stored within plants via the biochemistry of the plant are possible but questions the practical application of the discovery to street lighting.

“If one were to impregnate leaves of urban trees with hybrid-nanoparticle type materials, would the loss of the trees warrant the 'cheap' or 'novel' lighting?” he said.

“What's more, how about autumn? With gold-filled leaves -albeit very small quantities per leaf- money would literally be first growing on trees & then falling off them!

“It may provoke local authorities to clean up fallen leaves more effectively however.”

You can read a published, abridged version at news.com.au here: http://www.news.com.au/technology/glowing-trees-are-the-new-street-lights/story-e6frfro0-1226011310001

Unairconditioned trains leave Sydney commuters hot under the collar

For those who commute daily via train the following scenes will be of no shock, and even for those no longer punished by our long-suffering transport systems these scenes may be part of a recurring nightmare.

You’re sitting in a big, rattling tin can- also known as an old train. It feels like you’re in a sauna, except sweat dripping from your every pore like a fountain is making a sticky pool on plastic-not wooden- seats that you consequently feel glued to. Perhaps the half eaten chocolate bar from last night wedged between the seat joining is melting so you are getting an attractive-looking poo stain on your freshly ironed pants or skirt.

The lights above your head flicker on an off intermittently so hopefully you’re not trying to better endure this train ride by reading a good book. Chances are, though, you are so tightly pressed between people that you can barely move your arms. Perhaps your nose is stuck up someone’s armpit and you are holding your breath. Alternatively, your shoulder may already be invaded by someone nodding off or passing out from all the heat and therefore leaning on you like a five year old. If you were lucky enough to get a window seat you may also be consciously trying to avoid resting your own weary head on the slimy, dandruff-covered windows.

As if travelling in packed, sluggishly slow trains on a daily basis isn’t bad enough, when you add over 40 degree heat to the equation-without airconditioning- the stakes get even higher.

Sydneysiders last week suffered a record-breaking heatwave. So record-breaking Sydney has never seen temperatures over 30 degrees for seven days running in the 152 years the Bureau of Meteorology have kept weather records.

Even though the southerly cold front that swept across Sydney Sunday afternoon was a welcome cool change, the heatwave has left many commuters hot under the collar about the state’s public transport system.

As a Sydneysider myself, I commute daily via train on the East Hills/Airport line. Last week I kept a diary of the outside temperature and air-conditioning status of each trip.

Out of the ten trains I caught, predominantly in peak hour, eight of them were unairconditioned. The temperature over the week ranged from 42 to 35 degrees, which means temperatures inside the train- which traps the heat due to the tiny windows that offer very little air flow- would have been significantly higher.

I thought I may have been extremely unlucky to catch all the old trains, or maybe CityRail wanted to start interstate and international travellers’ experience in Sydney off with an unforgettable train journey- for all the wrong reasons.

According to a spokeswoman from RailCorp, 71 per cent of the CityRail fleet is currently airconditioned, of which the trains are “distributed” across the network.

Using these statistics, I had a 29 per cent chance of getting an unairconditioned train and happened to get one 80 per cent of the time. Unlucky.

The spokeswoman also said CityRail staff handed out water bottles at “a number of major train stations to help keep passengers hydrated and cool”. I never got one of those water bottles. Unlucky again.

Throughout this experience the most unpleasant thing- besides watching babies wailing because the heat was so debilitating, uncomfortable heavily pregnant women counting down the seconds till they could escape, or the elderly slumped over their seat in exhaustion- was knowing our State government harps on about Sydney as a “global city” and yet our transport system is almost medieval.

Taxpayer dollars continually go into improving these services and transport projects are frequently announced in a flourish. Then, plans either die a quick death or seem indefinitely pushed back until after the next election.

If all went to plan with the Waratah project that promised 78 new eight carriage trains to ensure the whole CityRail fleet is airconditioned, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. The project was signed with the NSW government in 2006 and the first train set was scheduled for delivery in April last year. It has since been delayed by up to 14 months and is not due until late May or early June.

Beyond the question of airconditioning, associate professor in Transport Management at the University of Sydney, Stephen Greaves, believes the government should be looking to fix more fundamental issues such as services running on time and cutting the extraordinarily long travel times.

“If people weren’t stuck on slow, cramped trains for so long maybe they wouldn’t fuss so much,” professor Greaves said.

“It takes hours to get to the Blue Mountains or the south coast when if you were in London you would be there in 40 minutes.”

“So much money is spent maintaining the rail service when we could do things with bus networks like bus rapit transit (BRT) that’s a lot cheaper; things that would cost millions not billions.”

Every transport system around the world has its problems but it’d be nice to think this will be the last summer commuters will ever need to sweat it out on trains.

An edited version of this post was published on On Line Opinion here: http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=11641