*On teh Internets*

What difference does 30 years make in the evolution of breakdancing?

These two videos should speak for themselves. Above you can see the finals of The Notorious IBE, an international breakdance exhibition held yearly in the Netherlands since 1998.

Courtesy of the homie Rob Flow is a throwback video from the movie Beatstreet, showing a choreographed breakdance battle in a 1980s New York City nightclub.

While you can see shreds of the past in the moves of the IBE dancers, it’s really amazing to see just how far the art has come in the intervening years. The power moves are infinitely more powerful, the technical skills more precise, more daring and more enthralling, and the swagger more swaggerific. Oh, those kids have some swagger, indeed. It’s also interesting to see how today’s breakers dress a lot more hipster, with tight pants, skater shoes and keffiyehs, all part of their outfits. Long gone are the days of the matching track suit.

All praise due to the pioneers of the art form, without whose invention none of today’s mastery would be possible. Still, from watching the two videos it really feels like watching two separate millennia, not just two time periods separated by 27 years.

Can you remember the T-Mobile Sidekick? The feature phone with the swiveling screen used to be all the rage. The device is now as good as any for measuring the passage of time in the tech world.

I’m practically giddy with anticipation of the iPhone 5, slated to be released in a matter of weeks. I’ve never before owned an iPhone, and the iPhone 5 will be my first. In typical Apple fashion, no hint of the existence of an iPhone 5 has officially been uttered, but the speculation is rampant, with no shortage of credible tidbits pointing to October 15 as the all-important day. If there’s one gadget I must own this year, that would be it.

I was in the shower (where I do a lot of good thinking) and I remembered how just popular the T-Mobile Sidekick was back in the day. While security vulnerabilities lead to some pretty high profile hacks of the Sidekick, it was pretty much the must-have phone and texting device among celebrities, rappers, and the glitterati at large. However, I’m sure it pales in comparison to today’s iPhone fever. If you’re a public personality, and you don’t have an iPhone, you’re pretty much a loser.

What I find amusing about this current state of affairs is how Apple’s popularity and ubiquity means that you have to own the same iPhone as everyone else in order to maintain your cool. For a company whose public image has long revolved around arming cultural rebels with their stylish, niche laptops and computers, it’s an interesting turnaround, albeit a ludicrously lucrative one.

In any case, it’s that awe-inspiring buffet of apps in the iTunes store that makes any iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch unique, there are still those few must-have apps such as Yelp!, Facebook and Shazam that I downloaded, and use regularly. In this way, the uniformity extends even to the apps. There are well more than 500,000 apps available in the app store, but fewer than a handful greatly improve my daily life, and those are the ones I use regularly.

I would never bejewel my T-Mobile Sidekick, if I ever owned one, and personally don’t indulge in much phone customization. However, the fact people would go through trouble to make their phone stand out from the crowd is something to acknowledge. There’s a stunning array of custom iPhone cases that look like everything from ears, books, and anything else you can imagine, at the end of the day, it’s still the same phone that everyone has.

While the iPhone may be the new standard in smart phone technology, an unexpected attribute of its success is homogeneity. And with that said, I still can’t wait to buy one!

These kids kill it. They’re 22-years-old, from Paris, and really about to take the world by storm. It’s also worth mentioning that they stand 6’4″ tall.

I hate to say it, but when I watch them dance with most other dancers, it makes me mad, because Les Twins are so much better than anyone else out there. Think L.A. Krumping from David LaChappelle’s classic street dance film Rize, with more than a little Oakland Turf Dancing, with a whole lot of extra swagger. There’s still much life in hip hop culture. Bear witness.

LOOSEWORLD x Waverly Films: Reggie Watts in F_CK SH_T STACK from LOOSEWORLD on Vimeo.

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In just 48 hours, former radio announcer Ted Williams has gone from homeless on the streets of Columbus, OH, to the couches of The Today Show. A stunning turn of events to be sure, and likely one of the greatest social media coups of all times.

Williams, who had battled with drug and alcohol addition, but says he had been clean for two years became an instant hit when a video with his story was published on the website of The Columbus Dispatch. This is the stuff that social media viral sensations are made of.

Since being discovered, Williams has been beset with offers of aid. The Cleveland Cavaliers organization has offered him a job as an announcer, and a caller to a radio show where Williams was being interviewed offered him a mortgage on a house. Kraft Foods has also swooped in with an offer for voiceover work, noting Williams remarkable voice, and also capitalizing on the instant Internet frenzy he has inadvertently created.

This is a heartwarming story, but also one that shows the Cleveland Cavaliers organization gets the power of social media. The fact that a cameraman from the Columbus Dispatch filmed this guy from the roadside, placed a video of it on the newspaper’s website, and catapulted Ted Williams to instant celebrity is proof of how powerful social media tools have become in instantly connecting the globe.

From the standpoint of the Cleveland Cavaliers organization, they’ve found a compelling character about whom they can tell a long story. Will he be able to deal with the pressures of notoriety? How good is he really? Will he be able to accomplish more than people expect? The only way to know is to stay tuned. As long as curiosity lingers, the Cavs organization wins, regardless of how the players perform.

It seems without question that Ted Williams will help sell tickets for the Cavaliers, and while not replacing a superstar like Lebron James, he will help the team change the conversation at a critical moment in franchise history. That he will be able to do so at a fraction of the cost is an obvious bonus.

Another interesting facet of the Ted Williams saga is that in an age of social media, scrubs make better stories than celebs. Normal people going through the ups and downs of life will elicit far more empathy and engagement from an audience of peers than the travails of celebrities such as Paris Hilton and frenemy Nicole Richie playing the role plebian princesses on their show The Simple Life. With no safety net, no one looking out for him, and no where to go if he fails, the stakes are much higher for Williams.

While reality shows allow us to peer into the lives of celebrities, we envy them and and hate them at the same time. They also can manipulate the experience to show only the sides of themselves they want seen. It’s unlikely that Williams will be able to demonstrate the same level of media savvy, and there’s no good reason to think he would. In any case, Ted Williams is one of us, and if he succeeds, we succeed. If he fails, well, how many second chances are there? It’s going to be a real cliffhanger.

Also, because he is a social media sensation, he will give the organization unique opportunities to engage an online audience around his story. People who don’t care about basketball will still love to hear about his resurrection story, and they should be able to see every detail play out on the Web.

Future Journalism Project – San Francisco Postcard from ScribeMedia.org on Vimeo.

Here’s a few words about The Future Journalism Project, a multimedia documentary and collaborative story about the transformation of the journalism industry.

For my part, I like to say that it’s about the convergence of technology and storytelling. Here’s a brief glimpse at what forms might encapsulate the finished product, as well as work in progress, blatanly scraped from ScribeMedia.org

Here’s what we’re now thinking. In addition to producing a traditional documentary, we want to explore the possible. This includes:

Dedicated Web Site: the Future Journalism Project Web site will hold video of all interviews conducted. Each interview will be edited down to a series of 4-6 minute segments organized by subject matter and presented in an interface similar to video-centric sites such as YouTube, Hulu and TED. The goal is to let site visitors explore the ideas of individuals and also dive deeply into specific topics as discussed from a variety of perspectives.

The Web site will also enable community submissions so that those interested in contributing to the project can upload interviews that they have independently conducted. For example, ScribeLabs plans to target students at US journalism programs to encourage them to interview their peers about the future of journalism and upload the results to the project Web site.

Podcast Series: Each Future Journalism Project interview conducted by the producers will be made available and presented in its entirety as an audio podcast. Listeners can subscribe to the entire series or download podcasts with the interviewees they are most interested in hearing from.

The Book: A book of essays written by leading thinkers is planned to accompany the project. The subjects and themes explored will echo and expand upon the video content, with authors focusing on Journalism Education, Journalism Business Models, Changing Journalism Practices and Journalism and Democracy.

The book will appear in both print and digital versions.

There is also a daily blog, FutureJournalismProject.org

Any questions, shoot me an email.

There are good reasons to support the actions of Wikileaks. Transparency in government is something we should all support, as our daily lives are affected constantly by the decisions that lawmakers enact, supposedly on our behalf. Our government should be accountable to the people it serves. Far too often this is not the case.

I also fundamentally believe that multinational corporations should be subject to intense scrutiny, especially where product safety, business ethics and environmental impact are concerned. When the rumored trove of Wikileaks documents about corporate malfeasance break, I will gleefully await the day corporate America’s feet are held to the fire. I think that large enterprise has too much power and should feel the heat from time time.

There are also, however, reasons why Wikileaks is an unmitigated disaster, and Cablegate is both irresponsible and potentially dangerous both to America’s national security interests and global stability.

It’s true that the contents of the pilfered cables were accessible to 2.5 million people, which hardly classifies them as “secret,” but no one had gone as far as the alleged perpetrator Army private, Bradley Manning, in undermining the classified nature of the State Department cables.

The information, suspicion and banter contained within them may have been common knowledge in diplomatic circles, but it is one thing to suspect people are talking about you behind your back, it’s another when you know it, and it’s there in official correspondence. Furthermore, now that news of the leak has circled the globe many times, what is or is not in the cables is starting to cause a bit of a fuss. In Pakistan, which enjoys a special, but tense diplomatic and military relationship with the U.S., fake cables have been circulating in the local press which paint India in a a very bad light, as an intentional instigator in Balochistan and Waziristan, conflicts which are beyond the control of the the Pakistani army and very relevant to the Pakistani people. One cannot help but wonder what other fake cables may arise, and what their impact may be. The toothpaste is out of the tube, so to speak, and it won’t be going back in.

Ultimately, I think that Cablegate is an irresponsible headline grabber because as the video above makes clear, Americans know little about the world in which we live, and they clearly could care less. Most average Americans couldn’t find Libya on a map, so why would they care about Gen. Muamar Qadafi, except that he gets botox. The tabloid nature of the revelations is the only reason why anyone cares. Juicy gossip about Saudi princess hosting lavish parties with alcohol and prostitutes makes for interesting water cooler talk, but it will quickly be replaced by the next Kanye mishap, Monday Night Football, or the suicide of Bernie Madoff’s son Mark over the weekend.

Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Yesterday’s arrest of Julian Assange and the escalating harassment of his organization, Wikileaks, has proven many things, among them, the power of information, and how nasty things can get for those whose business it is to pry the lid off closely-guarded secrets.

While pundits, commentators, bloggers and the Internet as a whole debate the efficacy of the latest Wikileaks bombshell, Cablegate, one thing can be certain, Legacy Media benefits tremendously from the document dumps, while the journalists of the future have already sprinted ahead.

Wikileaks will not change journalism. Instead the fracases over Cablegate demonstrates how the economics of journalism have already changed the business of reporting, and the resultant product. If the 251,000 documents being released were originally pilfered as early as May of 2010 by Army private, Bradley Manning, as is suspected it is somewhat laughable that a group of distributed volunteers could keep such a juicy secret bottled up and away from the professional press for so long.

Organizations like Wikileaks, or groups with a similar agenda will have a role to play in the future of journalism, regardless of what happens to Wikileaks founder Assange, who is now in British custody, awaiting extradition to Sweden. However the future of journalism belongs to those who can use social media, devices like the iPad, location technologies and a suite of tools that make storytelling more rich, more communal and more locally relevant, while simultaneously empowering millions to join the conversation. That is the future of journalism, and the aim of the documentary and website of The Future Journalism Project is to capture the transformation that is underway. The future of journalism is being shaped by the convergence of tools and tales, both the medium of expression, what is now possible to express thanks to technologies that are becoming ubiquitous.

Aside from a few clever infographics and word clouds, little has been done with the information from the cables which demonstrate the power of new media story telling tools. (The term ‘new media’ is somewhat of a misnomer, as many of the tools and techniques are not new, but there are many mashups of existing technologies, as well as new tools that are being created every day that bring with them tremendous potential to change how stories are told and consumed)

Cablegate wordcloud from Fast Company

Today’s Guardian headline says it all; “US cable leaks spark global diplomatic crisis,” and demonstrates why Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is not long for this world.

Like a fly buzzing the ear of the world’s most powerful nations, Assange is bound to get swatted, and it will look like an accident when it happens. Surely the day is not far off.

Sometimes you can spot a viral smash as soon as you see it. The new “Tweet It” video from Seedwell may very well go down in history as one of the most prolific memes of all time, or it may just be the week’s big hit. Either way, with 395,000 views on YouTube, it’s a good showing.

FWIW: These guys might as well be saying “turf” in the chorus, as their beats and dance moves seem to be ripped off from East Bay turf dancers. Song’s forgettable, but the video is shiny.

You don’t have to take my word for it, but you might want to peep the video below.

Seven miles per gallon is a slow, hard way to get to the Playa at Burning Man. It hasn’t stopped thousands of people who are planning to spend their Labor Day Weekend in Black Rock City this year, and it hasn’t stopped us.

We’re fortunate, because our ‘Burnerbago’–a 1978 Winnebago Roadmaster–is clocking 10 miles per gallon on a journey of more than 300 miles. With a little luck, we will only have to fill up the 24-gallon tank twice before we reach Black Rock City. While 10 miles per gallon fuel efficiency is hardly something to brag about, an armada of similarly thirsty RVs, buses and campers will be parked on the Playa, turning Black Rock City overnight into Nevada’s fourth largest city.

For many Burning Man attendees, called ‘burners,’ the journey itself is an annual pilgrimage. While we’re traveling by RV, there are many pilgrims who make the trip by train, fly or share rides through services like Waze, both to track and coordinate travel arrangements. But because the festival is approximately seven hours drive from San Francisco, and 100 miles North of Reno, there’s no simple way to get there.

I can’t exactly say I woke up early today–9:20, but I can see the appeal of getting up early on days when it’s not exactly necessary. It’s something about getting older.

As a young lad (just a few years ago, in fact), I loved nothing more than staying out until the break of day and waking up in the mid-afternoon. In Argentina, this is the norm, even for grown folks, but they don’t start dinner until 11pm at the earliest, and night clubs close around 7 or 8 AM.

Today though, I’m brimming with excitement and there are 40 bajillion things I would like to take care of before the sun sets, so the only way to do them is to get up early and attack the day.

I also love the fact that there aren’t the pressures of work and deadlines looming over my head. Though I wish to handle some business related to my job, I don’t actually have to check in with anybody, so I’m free to work at my own pace.

I never thought I would live for the weekend, but here I am doing just that, and getting up early on a Sunday too.

Successful musicians have a lot in common with professional athletes; they live and die by public perception. A long, prosperous career is something of a miracle.

Just to make it to the big show is to surmount frightening odds. History is littered with one-hit wonders and first round draft picks who never quite found their stroke. Why did Guns-N-Roses only produce one good album? Why didn’t Ricky Williams ever shine as a pro quarterback? To be the real deal—- Jordan sinking the the buzzer beater, Beckham nailing the set piece, Usher bringing an audience to tears—-this is why we worship heroes. They’re one in a billion, made from different stuff than us.

British performer M.I.A (real name Maya Arulpragasam) was to treated to a real stinger today when this week’s installment of The New York Times Magazine went live. Not given to hero worship, writer Lynn Hirschberg, in her 8,5000 word profile, either fired the opening salvo in an attempted career assassination, or she penned the kind of press that acknowledges a new superstar has reached the pantheon.

Traveling with the artist to L.A., New York and London as she wrapped up work on her most recent, album Hirschberg unpacks M.I.A.’s craft (a penchant for recombination), her collaborative nature (manipulating bulldozer) and perhaps most damning, her haphazard adherence to revolutionary principles regarding the Sri Lankan civil war. It’s hard not to take sides, but by most accounts, Hirschberg’s piece was an ego thrashing. What is M.I.A made of?

Even as a fan of M.I.A, I was impressed by Hirschberg’s craft and her attention to detail. Weaving together a narrative with rich details, sounds and colors, I felt as though I was bumping through LA gridlock or walking the streets of London on a cold, clammy day. When she spoke to people who know Maya, she gathered opinions that were far-ranging, authentic and insightful. Furthermore, with NY Times bona fides, Hirschberg had access to Interscope Records CEO, Jimmy Iovine, Maya’s old boyfriend, Diplo, and scores of others.

Roughly defined, peripatetic can be used as a noun or an adjective to describe someone in the act of walking or in motion. So it is in that vein that I’m writing about moving again, or perhaps just taking flight. San Francisco beckons.

I’ll be moving to California for work in late June, and I’m giddy at the prospect of returning to the Mission District, one block from my old apartment. Though my job could conceivably be executed from anywhere on the West Coast–nay, anywhere in the world–a Cali homecoming is a true thrill. Previously I spent two month in San Francisco as an intern at Google News.

Just under a year ago today, I crammed what little I own into boxes and launched what I believe will result in a life of endless adventure. Nearly two months of the last twelve were spent in São Paulo, Brazil (with almost an entire weekend in Rio de Janeiro). After quick stopovers in New York City, it was off to India, from which I only recently returned. During those seven uninterrupted months afield, I explored many corners of India, as well as visiting Singapore and Malaysia–which feels so close I can nearly reach out and touch it. After two nights in London, I was on a plane and headed to my parents’ house.

Coming back to Seattle, it felt like I’d never left. While the light rail system was a new addition to the scene, little else seemed different from everything I had known in India, in spite of the fact no place could be more different. I had reached a point where I felt as though, yesterday I was there–Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, China, England–and today I’m here: Malaysia, Nigeria, New York, Chicago.

In that regard, it’s tough to say whether I’m really moving this time, or just making an extended cameo. In three months since I came back to Seattle, I’ve returned to something like life as I’ve known it before. On the one hand, I’ve reconstructed a social web and routine, though always keeping in the back of my mind that I am an impermanent visitor. On the other hand, because of the same social media tools that allowed me to feel a sense of belonging. I’ll keep just as close with the people I know, as if I hadn’t left.

I’ve always longed to travel, and I thought that business trips would be the coolest thing ever. After a single working journey, I was cured of any romantic notions.

While living in Bangalore, we traveled to Delhi to meet with consultants, and host an awareness event for the TEDIndia conference. Hopping on the 6:30am flight meant arriving at the airport an hour early, and leaving our place in Whitefield by 4am for the bonecrunching, hourlong ride. By the time we checked in for our flight, we were in a panic, as only a whisper thin margin separated us from being bumped to the next plane. Once seated, it was nice to know that in India, someone will always show up later than you, though it never pays to take chances.

After 2.5 hours in the air, we arrived in Delhi, hired a taxi and headed to our first meeting. After the initial adrenaline abated, I felt myself drifting in and out of consciousness, even as words were coming out of my mouth. That can’t be good. From this two-hour meeting, we headed to lunch, and then to a hotel, where I flopped down on the edge of a bed hoping for 20 winks. Far too soon, I was up and we were heading out to a series of high stakes social events with global marketing honchos from Barclays bank. Some hours and some whiskeys later, we had accomplished all we set out to do and it was now after 10pm. At last, to bed–once we figured out where we sleeping.

I don’t know if all business trips are this intense, but we made seven appointments in two cities during a single day. If work travel is anything like this, I would prefer to have as little of it as possible. As much as I love to travel, being somewhere is a far better thing.

So yes, I’m on the move again. Fortunately (or unfortunately) the big day is a month from now. It seems like a long time, given that I’ve only been in Seattle three months. The process of disentangling begins anew and this rolling stone keeps rolling.

RT @editorialiste: “As of today this mistake, now 11 days old, remains uncorrected.” WSJ, despite calls, e-mails & press http://is.gd/cpeQi

RT @lavrusik: Arab countries have more Facebook users than newspaper readers, says BBC: http://bit.ly/b2JdHC) Based on newspaper copies.

RT @alttransport Patently absurd: Spat-upon NYC bus drivers take months off, paid http://ht.ly/1PKRH We’re spitting out of irritation!

RT @ollieirish: World Cup Sh*t Lookalikes: Diego Maradona & Saddam Hussein http://ow.ly/1Ptsi