Reality vs. Editing

I enjoy the television show The Amazing Race, because it's fun to see the exotic locations that they travel to, the challenges are interesting, and I like to think about the logistics involved in producing such a large scale show.  I understand that being a reality television show means that they use a heavy hand in editing the show to create 'stories'.  While not scripted the show needs drama and as such is edited in a manner that creates favorites and villains.  What scares me is how much the viewing public gets taken in by these tactics.  This season on the show there was a newlywed couple competing and after the season finale I was reading the various contestant Twitter pages.  The newlywed team had been very competitive and had a show no mercy type of attitude.  As a result of the on screen persona that they had developed I was shocked by the amount of Twitter hate they were receiving.  People were telling them how much they hated them, they hope they die in a hole, etc.  I know they weren't the nicest team, but I just couldn't believe how easily the audience fell into the trap of editing.  I doubt that any audience member would have behaved any differently if they had a million dollars on the line.  However, this anger towards contestants is what the networks seek.  An angry person returns for repeated viewings of the show to find out if and when their target of their hate is kicked off the show so they can rejoice.  The editing genius of reality shows didn't occur to me until a few seasons into Top Chef (reality cooking competition) and in end of the season retrospectives the most intense rivalries were revealed to be very trivial.  The most hated characters were revealed by their competition as being one of their best friends.  And so the veil was lifted off the illusion that is reality television.  

Chat and the new lingo

This is the second part in what is bound to be a multipart rant against technology.  I feel like a anti technology elder ranting against 'this new generation' when I write this, but I feel like my complaints are entirely valid.  

I cannot stand chatting or emailing with people who use the most inane 'abbreviations' or shortcuts for common terms.  For example, "wat", "howz", "v" (short for "we"), "dat", "hv", "b", "c", "r", and my all time worst "convo".  If you are having a text or chat conversation with me you certainly have the time to type out "be" instead of "b" or "are" instead of "r".  How incredibly lazy are the people of my generation that they can't be bothered to add a few characters to a word?  I can't have a serious conversation with someone when they write in that manner.  Imagine the following exchange between to working professionals:

Person A: Will u b able to deliver the project on time?

Person B: Dat's the goal, but u hv to c the data I hv.

A: Wats the problem?

B: V should meet 2 go over it.

I expect this out of middle or high schoolers, but I realized this was a problem when I would receive communications from relatives overseas in this language.  Growing up my relatives in India prided themselves on speaking British English and they were right they spoke better English than I did.  Today professionals have business communication in this manner and it's disgraceful.  I'm not saying every single person does, but this exists on a level that it should not.

GPS and the downfall of society

So GPS isn't really the downfall of society, but it certainly causes it's share of problems.  One of the things that I pride myself with is a sense of direction.  I can get lost in an area and have a general idea of where I need to go to get back on track.  I can go somewhere and have a good sense of how to return the way I came.  The other day a coworker received a set of printed directions and laughed that someone would give turn by turn directions in this day of the GPS.  We had a long conversation where I bemoaned the lack of directional knowledge particularly by the technology generation.  I can't stand when I call a business establishment to ask what exit they are off of or the nearest major freeway and people don't have an answer.  If you answer the phone at a business then the very first thing you should know is how to get to your place of employment.  My coworker mentioned what if it is their first day?  Doesn't matter.  They got themselves to work they can tell me.  My coworker went so far as to state that he couldn't give someone directions to the freeway from our office!  Here are directions to the freeway from our office: turn left out of the parking lot, at the traffic light turn right, turn right to get on the freeway going south, or go straight and turn left at the next light and get on the freeway going north.  His argument is that he doesn't need to know, because he has GPS.  When does he go anywhere that his cell phone doesn't get a GPS signal?  So everywhere he goes he gets coverage, but what if his phone dies?  What if he stumbles into an area without a signal?  If he gets lost his phone reroutes him.  What about the fact that the GPS on occasion gives a more cumbersome route?  The GPS is breeding a sense of complacency about directions in people, which is only going to increase as technology strengthens it's grip on our lives.