Technology+Culture+People // テクノロジーとか、人とか、文化とか。

Sudden resolution of cognitive incongruencies often causes a rush or euphoria that includes joy and laughter (Berlyne, 1969; Zillman, 2000a). Humor (including funny jokes) develops from a puzzling incongruency that suddenly is resolved. The resolution is often due to a plot or punch-line that allows the audience to comprehend and to solve such incongruency. But the case of nonsense humor, a resolution might just as well bethe realization that there is nothing to resolve (cf. Zillman, 2000a).

Bryant, J. (2008). Media Effects: Advances in Theory and Research (Lea’s Communication Series). New York: Routledge. P. 541

So humor seems to root from either the plot or punchline resolving a proposed problem, or a discovery that there was no problem to start with. This seems to be one of the problems when describing Japanese humor, because Western humor seems to assume the presence of linearity in the context, flow, and a resolution in any form of humor. On the other hand, there are more humor in Japan (and perhaps Eastern nations) that even lack the context in which incongruities can be proposed.

I wonder if it has to do with the high degree of cultural agreement of what can be considered “funny” or not, and that that takes the need away of contextual linearity?

I mean, how do you explain this?

»English Article (via: Society for New Communications Research)

Some raw data:

• 81 of the Fortune 500 or 16% currently have public-facing blogs.
• This compares with 39 percent of the Inc. 500; 41 percent of the higher education sector and 57 percent of the nation’s Top 200 Charities.
• 28 percent of the Fortune 500’s blogs link to Twitter accounts. (Other Fortune 500 companies have Twitter accounts, but they are not linked to their blogs)
• Five of the top ten companies have public blogs: Wal-Mart, Chevron, General Motors, Ford, and Bank of America.
• 90 percent of the Fortune 500’s blogs have the comments feature enabled.
• The computer software/hardware technology industry has the most blogs, followed by the food and drug industry, financial services, Internet services, semi-conductors, retail and automotive respectively.
• Ten percent of the Fortune 500’s blogs link to podcasts; 21 percent incorporate video

»English Article (via: BBC) || »日本語の記事 (via: CNN)

And he was not prepared to wait for politicians or aid groups to do it for him.

The need for action was even greater in 2002 following one of Malawi’s worst droughts, which killed thousands of people and left his family on the brink of starvation…. “I thought: ‘That could be a defence against hunger. Maybe I should build one for myself’.”

The power of creativity, servant leadership, and the will to be the change that he wants. Absolutely stunning.

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干ばつに苦しむ東アフリカ・マラウイの貧しい村では、何もかもが不足していた。赤土の大地はひび割れ、作物の枯れた畑をただ風だけが吹き抜ける。この風を使って、村に電気を起こせれば——。そう思い立った少年が、たった１人で作業に取り掛かった。それから７年、村では少年の作った風車５台が回り、電動ポンプが水を送り出している。（中略）もの珍しげに取り囲む群衆と、溶かした金属から立ち上る熱気で汗だくになりながら、ウィリアム君は黙々と作業を続け、３カ月後には最初の風車を完成させる。タービンが回り、取り付けた電球に明かりがついた時には「これでもう頭がおかしいなんて言われないと思い、ほっとした」という。

想像力、リーダーシップ、そして公益の為に身を捧げる多大なる覚悟と労力。感服です。ぼく、まだゴミ以下です。

WOW.

»English Article (via: Advertising Age)

Red Robin, a casual-dining chain that focuses on premium burgers with outlandish toppings and sweet, frothy drinks,… among other brands, had recently developed GoRecommend, an application that asks consumers if they’d like to post a recommendation on their Facebook page when they seem to have had a particularly pleasant experience. “We don’t go the fan route, we go the recommendation route,” Andrew Datars, VP-product management at Empathica said. “People can become your fans, but the challenge with that approach is it doesn’t leverage the social graph. Just because one of the people is a fan of your brand, it doesn’t get to their friends, or people who aren’t fans of your brand.”

A very smart move. I think these people really understand not just the demographics of their target, but also the “nature” of their behaviors on Facebook.

Promotion (?) for a new Nikon camera with a built-in projector