GEE -- THIS AWFUL HEADLINE !!!

 I saw this in a magazine.

That title got me shuddering. I don't need more bad news reminding me that our country is in trouble. I don't need to add my voice to the outcry about guns and mentally ill guys.

I hated the title of that article, and immediately started reading it. The criminal justice professor at the University of Alabama, Adam Lankford, dug deeply into mass shootings and published the fact that the U.S. has more people who own guns than any other nation, and  that the U.S. has had more massacres than any other country in the world. He also noted that shooters in our country, more than shooters in other countries, were more likely to use multiple weapons and carry out their rampages in schools or workplaces.

He investigated what it is about American culture that incubates mass shooters and said, "Crime and deviance occur when there’s an unhealthy gap between people’s dreams and aspirations -- our culture has people reaching for the stars and slipping and falling probably more often. Our public mass shooters, based on comments they have left in notes, most frequently cite blocked goal achievement (such as being expelled from school or fired from work), or negative social interactions (such as being bullied by fellow students, coworkers, or supervisors). Mental illness can distort perceptions of such things, and exacerbate the person's inability to deal with them in a non-violent manner. That school and work represent these grievances may explain why American mass shooters are more likely than those in other countries to target schools and workplaces."

Nodding yes, feeling no because the Professor was summing up for me what I have heard before in smaller doses, I put the magazine in my "NO  pile of subjects about which I don't want to write, like, for example -- political candidates. I love my country. I don't love what's going on right now.

Okay, Professor Lankford -- I have to admit -- loud and clear -- that your title fired me up and has inspired me to say -- I pray that President Obama will find a way to restrict gun sales, and STOP gun sales to the mentally ill.

(VIDEO) WHY DO WE DO VIDEOS?

Emily wonders if they're doing videos in order to become famous.

She explains that she wants their videos to be a "John Cullum blog" -- revelations about John's ideas and point view on various subjects.

John enjoys the idea that a thousand people might see the videos and see and hear what's on their minds. Even so, he wishes they'd talk more about Emily, and talk less about him.

INTERNET OF THINGS

I O T -- the Internet Of  Things  -- is affecting our lives.

I never heard of it till the I O T was discussed in Davos, Switzerland, at the World Economic Forum Annual meeting. Sheryl Sandberg, the 2nd in command at Facebook, the "lean in" lady, who often irritates me with her excessive advice about femininism, lectured about its growing power and importance.

I paid attention. It's a network that contains information about all the personal and business devices that are wirelessly connected to the Internet, which means that many of them can respond to sensory input and data without direct commands.

That sounds kind of scary because it is kinda scary.

Fourteen billion things are on it. Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt, says that soon the distinction between what's on line and what's offline will disappear.  "It will be part of your presence all the time."

Hmm.  Is that good?

Yes, is what the Google guy would certainly say. More and more things will be able to update you and keep you alerted to new stuff -- things personal, private, and public. Like sensors in roadways that can warn you of traffic jams -- many cities use the Internet connected networks to manage city streets, highways, as well as air traffic -- patients with Parkinson's or cardiac arrhythmias can be monitored with wearable sensors. There are devices that provide parents with real time info about an infant's body position and alert them if something is wrong, same as a coffee pot that knows if you slept poorly and makes stronger coffee, and the fridge with internal cameras, that can make you a shopping list.

There are 14 billion thingumjajigs...wowy woo!!!!!!

B U T -- (it's a big BUT) -- it's a whole new world for hackers to invade. Many devices -- the AppleWatch for an example -- will tell hackers your name, address, credit card, where you are, and what you're doing. The fact is, our private worlds have been mostly like the TV in your house -- you watch it, but it doesn't watch you. The I O T has been changing that.

Devices gather information about you. The guys who have manufactured  the device often sell that info to other companies who use it to sell you their products. Hackers hacked into a Smart Doll and made her spout sexy passages from the bestseller "Fifty Shades of Grey." Hackers broke into a Jeep's inter-connected system and abruptly cut off its transmission as the Jeep was traveling 70 MPH on a highway. It's wonderful that health and fitness can be monitored 24/7 by wearables, but hackers are lurking in and around many of these devices. Hospitals worry. With phishing techniques (such as using the name "admin" and password 1234), hackers have managed to take over surgical robots, drips, even defibrillators.

The National Security Telecommuncations Advisory Committee warned, in a report to President Obama, that there was a small and rapidly closing window to protect smart devices from serious security threats.

The number of devices is soaring -- according to chip maker "Intel," it will be 50 billion in the next five years, and in the trillions by 2025. Today most people don't bother to protect smart gadgets with a password, though one weak link can allow hackers to access all your device -- allowing hackers to turn on cameras, crash your car, or maybe, just burn your toast.

Don't say to yourself it's just toast, it doesn't matter. It matters! Take a look at the I O T, and as soon as possible become your own security specialist.

READING OUR LIPS

Like it or not, we are participants in how hundreds of popular products are ranked. Our opinions inspire advertisers to spend their money selling us more.

Our facial expressions often reveal what we feel about this or that.

You've heard about Neilsen ratings. Arthur C. Nielsen founded his company in 1923, offering his research, on food and drug purchases. After acquiring an "audimeter" that measured radio sounds, he put a device into 1000 homes that collected which radio shows were tuned in. Around 1950, he got the device measuring which TV shows were tuned in. And that became known as the Nielsen ratings, the results of which are sold to major purveyors, including CBS, NBC, and The Walt Disney Company.

Now, we have "Affectiva," a company that measures attention and pleasure, based on our facial reactions. This picture labels where, on a face, you can discern emotional reactions.

There are 43 separate muscles that keep your face functioning for eating, breathing, seeing, and every twitch -- every eyebrow lift, forehead furrowing, mouth liking, disliking, or grimacing.

"Affectiva," a six-year-old company, is based in Waltham Mass. It has approximately 1,400 clients, (including Kelloggs and CBS.) The founder, Rana el Kaliouby, working with autistic kids who had a hard time reading faces, designed a system to help these kids know whether a person was smiling, or frowning.

You pay $2,500 and Affectiva, has software that watches for you, any commercial, show, or performance you specify, and records and measures engagement, boredom, amusement, and displeasure.

There are already rival companies. New companies are starting up here and there. Market testing is something to sell that a company can make millions with. Other possible customers are law enforcement, lie detecting, airport security, and political candidates.

This makes me cringe! I feel this is another way that big money manufacturers who sell us with their ads-- their truths, not necessarily true truths-- are distorting who and what we humans want and need, by analyzing and codifying our emotions into computer algorithms that help them sell us more whatever.

Okay, take a look at this video. See what you think and feel about this up and coming way of inspiring us to buy more-more-more.
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