“The View From the Phlipside” is a media commentary program airing on WRFA-LP, Jamestown NY. It can be heard Monday through Friday around 7:30 AM. The following are scripts which may not exactly match the aired version of the program. Mostly because the host may suddenly choose to add or subtract words at a moment’s notice. WRFA-LP is not responsible for any such silliness or the opinions expressed. You can listen to a live stream of WRFA or find a podcast of this program at wrfalp.com. Copyright 2013-16 by Jay Phillippi. All Rights Reserved. You like what you see? Drop me a line and we can talk.
Program scripts from week of February 22, 2016
My name is Jay Phillippi and I’ve spent my life in and around the media. TV, radio, the movies and more. I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion. Call this the View from the Phlipside.
IoT Update
Haven’t checked in the “Next Big Thing”, otherwise known as the “Internet of Things”. In case you missed the big announcement, the IoT is the coming revolution where everything we use is connected and communicating with the each other and us via the Interwebs. I’m still trying to decide if I think that’s a good idea.
There are still some strange concepts floating out there. Last month at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, sports equipment manufacturer Wilson announced the debut of their Bluetooth enabled football. The sensor will be able to instantly record data like velocity, distance, catches, drops and “spiral efficiency”. All of which can be downloaded to a phone app. They had debuted the basketball version in 2015. Ummm, OK.
Meanwhile, smartwatches are the subject of suspicion at some institutions of higher education. Several of them, including Kyoto University in Japan, have outlawed watches of all kinds to eliminate potential cheating. In the hyper-competitive university environment in Japan, any unfair advantage during the strenuous entry examinations is to be discouraged. So all watches are out. Each classroom has a clock for those interested in the passage of time.
Of course, the real concern remains security for all of the information that may be available through these devices. So far an awful lot of them haven’t seemed to spend a lot of time thinking about that subject. Last year a connected tea kettle, and no, I have no idea why your tea kettle needs to be part of the Internet of Things, was hacked. Once the hacker gained control of the kettle’s connection he could instantly gain access to the home’s wireless network.
There were concerns last year about the number of our children’s toys that are connected. The “Hello Barbie” doll is designed to be able to talk with children and even remember responses to improve interaction. A researcher discovered ways to “hack” into the iconic dolls new connected version and gain access to some information, including the audio files used by the doll to “speak” with the children. How many horror movies have you seen where the doll suddenly begins speaking on its own? Now imagine if someone works out how to remotely have Barbie tell you child whatever. It hasn’t happened yet to my knowledge but the mere fact that it’s possible is a little scary.
There are plenty of ways that the Internet of Things can be useful. Hey, that football thing might help the Bills quarterbacks. But there are still plenty of questions still out there.
Beacons
One of the side benefits of doing this program is stumbling on stories that I probably wouldn’t have found otherwise. For instance, I had no idea what a “beacon” was when it came to information media. If you said “beacon” I thought “lighthouse”. What I’m discovering is that one of the most challenging aspects of my personal life may have a solution soon.
First, let’s define what we are talking about here. In this case, the word beacon refers to a small device, often described as hockey puck size, that broadcasts via Bluetooth technology. The idea is that these devices can, if you permit them, send specific information to you about what’s happening in your immediate environment. It has to be immediate environment because Bluetooth has severe distance limitations, about thirty feet in ideal circumstances. The small transmitter sends out an ID code that an app on your phone checks and delivers whatever information is connected to that code. So if you’re walking through your favorite department store the shoe department can send you a message about what’s on sale right now. The great thing is that most of the user end technology is already in your smartphone. All you need is the right app.
It’s expected that retail will be one of the two initial big time users of this technology. Rite Aid announced that they would be adding beacons to their stores last month and now Walgreens is talking about doing likewise.
But it’s the other group of potential users that have me excited. The other location that is already moving into beacon technology is airports. Why is this so exciting for me personally? My family and friends will tell you that you don’t want to travel with me. Unless I am accompanying a group of teenagers, my travel exploits are legendary. If it can go wrong, it has. With beacons, I might actually stand a chance of getting the information I need to alleviate some of my traveling adventures. The air industry’s IT and communications group SITA, originally the Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques, is working to create beacon networks that could help. The app would help folks like me navigate through airports, get updated information on flights, gates and more, all of which just might make all of it easier. The network could also speed processing situations like check-in, baggage drop-off, passport control and departure gates.
The technology, which was developed by the folks at Apple, is scheduled to be deployed at Miami International and the Cote d’Azur airport in Nice, France.
I am looking forward to seeing it in action.
Great American Novel
There is a great, perhaps mythological beast out in the land of American literature. Some say it never existed, some say that there have been many over the years. For some writers, it is a lifelong goal. It is the Great American Novel.
There are two primary ways to look at this. First, that The Great American Novel is a Platonic ideal, the perfect novel by and about America. As such, it can never be achieved. The other way to see it is as a book written by an American author that captures the spirit, or zeitgeist, of the time of the story it tells. By that standard, there have been many Great American Novels.
Novels that are often included in the discussion of the Great American Novel would be “Moby Dick”, “Huck Finn”, “Tom Sawyer”, “The Great Gatsby”, “Grapes of Wrath”, “Native Son”, “Rabbit Run” and “Beloved” among many others. There’s even been a novel with the title of “The Great American Novel”, written by Philip Roth back in the 1970’s.
So why talk about it now? Obviously, one of the books that would be commonly be included is Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird”. And it is the death of that author last week that brings all this to mind. While that story has been covered in detail, I felt like I wanted to add something to the lineup of tributes. Lee was renowned for her dedication to protecting her privacy. So it kind of felt that just another review of a life that she worked so hard to keep out of the spotlight wouldn’t be properly respectful.
So I thought that perhaps we would focus on the work. In that book, she captures the essence of the Great American Novel, in my opinion. It offers a perfect vision of a time and place in our history with a clear ear for the language of its inhabitants. The Depression era small town is a part of our American mythology, and Lee shines a light on it that is both tender and searching. Through Atticus, Scout, Jem, and Dill she memorializes all that is best about that America while unflinchingly examining its small-mindedness, fear, and racism.
There is nothing that I can say that honors Harper Lee more than the Great American Novel that she wrote. So I will leave the final words to that novel with just a small change, suggested by my own daughter.
“Stand up Miss Jean Louise, your author’s passing”.
Harper Lee was 89 years old.
Call that the View From the Phlipside
Copyright Jay Phillippi, 2016
Theme music for “The View From the Phlipside” and “TVFTP – Podcast” is “Hustle”
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
Stories Are My Life 
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