Can we really thank a 16-year-old for our next interplanetary exploration? Or a band of teenagers for the eco-conscious energy that saves our planet from carbon-emitting fossil fuels? The high school students competing in the Spirit of Innovation Awards certainly think so.

Image courtesy of Conradawards.org

Starting on March 29, twenty-five of the top teams will be vying for our votes in an online campaign that chooses this year’s winners. Since August, finalists have been tackling some of the most pressing engineering and scientific issues facing society today, ranging from green living to enhanced nutrition and renewable energy to aerospace exploration. As the competitors’ part of the contest comes to a close, it’s our votes that make the difference between who advances and who goes.

Established by the Conrad Foundation in 2007, the awards challenge groups of high school students to solve real-world problems by using science, math, and technology. The competition encourages education and entrepreneurship, thus not only shaping the minds of our future but the potential shape that future may hold. This is not your run-of-the-mill science fair. These awards feasibly anticipate the innovations and innovators that may change our lives.

Winning groups are granted $5,000 for product development. And a few among the top are given further guidance with admission to The Portal, a program teaching the necessary marketing, technical, and analytical skills to breathe life into the creations. Past participants have even applied for patents to turn their projects into viable solutions.

While these awards celebrate the inner-geek within all of us, they more significantly address the waning education system plaguing our nation. Historically, America’s students have been among the best and the brightest, but we’re quickly being surpassed in the areas of science and math.

The 2006 Programme for International Student Assessment comparison ranks American students 21st out of 30 among those from developing countries in science literacy while ranking even lower at 25th out of 30 in math literacy. According to the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress, fourth-graders aren’t progressing in math for the first time in years; eighth-graders are demonstrating only minimal levels of progress.

The Spirit of Innovation Awards embody the call to action President Obama made late last year. Through his “Educate to Innovate” campaign, Obama urges not only parents and teachers but private companies, foundations, and nonprofits to focus on the perennial ideal that our kids are our future. Obama asks us to take on the responsibility of “mov[ing] American students from the middle of the pack to top in the next decade,” and the Spirit of Innovation Awards embraces that challenge.

So who will the winners be this year? The teens designing carbon-nano bucky tubes for drug delivery in microgravity, or the students converting humid air into drinking water by using solar, wind, and geothermal power? Or maybe the seniors creating a piezo-electric wallpaper that captures sound as energy?

Click here for more information about the finalists. Online voting is open from March 29 to April 9.

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Japanese writers have been doing it for years: creating novels by uploading 140 character texts from cell phones. There are hoards of websites specifically created to house these updates, where readers can comment on the story, even ultimately directing the twists and turns of the final plot. The first keitai shosetsu (directly translated as mobile fiction), Deep Love, was written in 2003—and if this title elicits notions of gaudy or drippy romantic writing, then you would be right.

One interesting facet of this trend is who’s driving it: adolescent girls. Young girls are reading and writing these works in droves (Mika’s Love Sky was read by 20 million people, staggering numbers for any writer). Unwanted pregnancy, eternal love, rape, and prostitution are all popular themes. In a country where women are definitely considered an unequal gender, such a tool is giving more women a voice. With 20 million readers, you can bet that people are talking about these works.

In many ways, this trend is evidence of Japanese youth culture defining themselves, carving out their own genre, in the way that comic books, pop music and Facebook have for Americans. Traditional novels do not reach the younger demographic in Japan, but still they have found a way to tell stories that are relevant to them and, in some ways, rather important. While the genre has been questioned for its simplistic writing and lack of originality, at some point, writing becomes most important as a tool in relating one’s experience, even creating empathy.

So then, is the U.S. next? Using twitter is one possible medium, and quillpill.com has also capitalized on the trend.  American author Matt Ritchel gave the genre a twirl, using twitter to compose his own version, which he labeled twiller (that is, a twitter thriller).

But there are some inherent differences in Japanese culture that seem to be behind its popularity abroad. Japanese is a high context language, making cell phone novels conducive to the language. Sentences can be as short as one syllable in Japanese with subjects and articles often inferred. A two-hour train commute in Japan is common, whereas we Angelinos are more likely to try to sneak in a text when there are no cops around. Also, the cell phone is the primary form of internet access in Japan, while computers are more commonly used in America.

After reading a translated excerpt from Mika’s Love Sky and reading Matt Ritchel’s twitter history, I found there is something that is definitely different about this form. There is no flow to it; instead, it reads like small pops of electricity, each with a short burst of plot. It takes some adjustment but it doesn’t deserve to be written off.

What is definitely exciting is the embrace of new media to do new things, and to do them in different ways. Even if cell phone novels/twitter novels never catch on in the U.S, it is a sign of the diversification of such tools, and that people will continue to tell their stories.

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My pathetic attempts at LDR’s with boyfriends turned into hair pulling experiences for one blatant reason: lack of sex. I’m sorry, but one week of non-stop loving every few months? I’ll take one night every few DAYS, thank you! As Diane pointed out in “Long Distance Relationships and Why You Don’t Want One” friends are for phones and lovers are for…well, you know. But I’d like to give a shout out for the LDR’s with a longer shelf life; I’m talking about your BFF.

You’ve had countless sleepovers; there are shoeboxes full of notes written in pink Pentel beneath your bed; you share matching tattoos! And then she gets accepted to Harvard Law. And so you help her repaint the yellow walls of her apartment and you listen, and you smile, because unlike all the significant-others in your life, her decision to move on was not about you. You knew it was right because you agonized with her, you drove her to the airport after she cried into the lap of the partner she’d just committed to an LDR with – you weighed the relationship’s pros and cons, even as you felt your own goodbye rising in your throat.

Don’t fret, sweetheart. There is a bright future for friends who go the distance.

She’s just a phone call away. Whenever Jenna calls for an LD gabfest, Coel mock covers his ears and postulates that women speak in tongues unknown to man. Well, duh! When I make a BFF it’s because we communicate on a different level. Even though she’s going to grad school in San Francisco, one of the major pieces of our relationship is made easy thanks to Alexander Graham Bell.

We heart technology. Me and my LD buddies are fortunate enough to live in a world that is getting increasingly smaller. The sun of LA doesn’t seem so different from the clouds in Seattle when you’re getting help from that lovable shrinky dink: the Internet. Ah, lubricant of LDR’s across the globe, we all heart the web! Thanks to our culture’s increasing dependence on this medium, I am able to SEE my BFF’s birthday bash at the Dresden, even if I can’t BE there. And while freeze dried comments from acquaintances mean as little as “how d’ya do,” it is always a joy to read what my friends are thinking as they share the familiar routine of logging in.

Stop with the guilt already. I know. You don’t connect as much as you’d like. You’re allergic to phone tag and are more likely to post a drunken comment on her Facebook wall than send a weekly email digest. Sure, it’s different. Compared to the time we spent together before she moved to Chicago, my relationship with Cassy has seemingly fizzled. …but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Once I kick expectations to the curb, I can see our LDR for what it now is: undiluted, intense and full of love and respect for the frenetic paths we have chosen.

photo by melissa ann photography and creative design

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In the era of Google and Wikipedia, it seems logical to conclude that we are the most informed generation in history.  Most information is just seconds away, and facts that in the past only an elite few were privy to, are now accessible to anyone with a computer and a working internet connection.  But it seems that logic fails us in this situation, as our generation continues, in large numbers, to suffer, not benefit, from the digital revolution.

Israeli researchers from Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine estimate that ten percent of individuals suffer from an addiction to the Internet, with mostly teens and people in their 50’s afflicted most.

Most researchers admit the concept of digital addiction is still allusive to them.  “The problem isn’t widespread but we know of serious cases in which teenagers don’t leave the house, don’t have interpersonal relationships, and have been isolated in front of their computer screen for the past two or three years, and only speak in the language of the characters they play with in network video games,” Louise Nadeau, a professor at the Université de Montréal’s Department of Psychology told Science Daily.

But concluding that only this type of user has a problem glosses over the real issue.  In her book, Distracted, Maggie Jackson explains that “we increasingly seek knowledge in Google searches and Yahoo! headlines that we gulp on the run while juggling other tasks.”  On top of the dangers posed by this drive-by approach to learning, we have now begun digitalizing our relationships.  “We can contact millions of people across the globe, yet we increasingly connect with even our most intimate friends and family via instant messaging, virtual visits and fleeting meetings that are rescheduled a half dozen times, then punctuated when they do occur by pings and beeps and multitasking,” Jackson explains.  “We are nurturing a culture of social diffusion, intellectual fragmentation, sensory detachment. In this new world, something is amiss. And that something is attention.”

It’s worth recognizing that the internet has provided our generation with many positive trends.  After all, without the internet revolution, you wouldn’t be reading this now.  We now have low-cost access to information, the ability to tap into a wide-range of informational resources and global networks, and blogs continue to redefine the way we think, communicate and write.

So how do we reconcile the positives and negatives of this digital age?  It’s all about how you use the technology you have.  Next time your eyes are glued on your friends’ Myspace moods or you find yourself texting through dinner or Google-researching for your thesis, remember: there’s a real world out there with real newspapers and libraries and experiences and (ehem) people.

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The technological revolution has brought many changes in society.  Porn pours into the bedrooms of junior high boys, internet cafes buzz with the click clack of lighting fast fingers, emails dominate workplace communication, and text messages serve as courtship in our newly defined “info dating age.” This new dating age is characterized by many men who no longer use the antiquated form of communication known as the phone and, instead, use texting to pursue a woman.  With the rapid spread of this dating phenomenon a burning question arises – in our generation, has textship replaced courtship?

It seems the proliferation of texting has allowed for male communication to evolve, or perhaps de-evolve, into short, succinct, faceless phrases. Many modern men prefer this type of communication, creating society’s newest specimen, “the textguy.” He follows a new form of courtship, which is a slightly less personal version of the former way of dating. The textguy’s initial overtures of interest are always through a text message.

In some cases, this initial form of contact will work, as many women understand that the textguy may be afraid of rejection, and therefore, initially ask her out via text.  But this first contact can also indicate that the guy didn’t have the guts to have a real conversation.  These initial forms of communication via text can indicate that a girl’s new pursuant is a dreaded “textguy” – a guy who only pursues through shallow communication techniques.

The textguy is also infamous for following a date with a text check-up.  This is the text sent after the first date, or initial stages of dating, to show he’s thinking of you. Now, the text check-up, in-and-of itself, is not necessarily a bad thing, and, if coupled with other forms of communication, can be cute and sweet.   The textguy can however, cease to evolve past the text check-up, instead he furthers this with the text “convo.”

The text “convo” is the phase of the courtship where the male would generally be calling to chat and engage in conversation. The textguy, however, engages in long text conversations of humorous phrases, playful flirting, and general chatting that leaves your thumbs sore and makes you wonder why he didn’t just call if he had that much to say?

“Calling takes too much work,” said a typical textguy. Apparently, it requires constant attention and longer phrases, which can mandate a certain amount of effort. Not all text guys don’t want to put forth effort, they just need some time before they evolve into phone guys and relationship guys. But, in order for a textship to blossom into a relationship, the textguy has to eventually become a phone guy, otherwise the text breakup is in order.

This is where its time to take matters into your own hands, quite literally of course.  It only takes a few seconds and some simple text phrasing like, “It’s just not working so take care out there,” to painlessly dump a textguy, almost as painlessly as he’d pursued you.

But just like the texts themselves, more questions arise from this illusive form of communication, making me wonder, if in the info dating age text sex will replace phone sex? Unless the textguy’s evolution allowed for an adaptation which allows him to be incredibly ambidextrous, this could be the one area where he’ll compromise and pick up the phone.

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Reuniting Disturbia’s dynamic duo of director, D.J. Caruso and star, Shia LaBeouf, Eagle Eye descends on multiplexes for audiences to enjoy.  LaBeouf plays Jerry Shaw, a troubled kid who returns home after the mysterious death of his twin brother to find he is being framed for terrorism.  Jerry encounters Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan), who, like Jerry, has been thrown into a world of terror by a phone call from an unknown woman.  The voice on the phone pushes these two strangers into a series of dangerous events using the technology of everyday life to track and control their movements.

As the drama escalates, Rachel and Jerry become fugitives who must obey the commands of the phone calls or sacrifice their lives and those of their families.  Racing against the clock and with federal agents in pursuit, the two must work together to discover what is happening and why, before it is too late.

Eagle Eye is a thriller in the true sense of the word, a wild ride from start to finish and with strong performances from LaBeouf, Monaghan and Billy Bob Thornton (Agent Tom Morgan), there is never a dull moment.  Yet in the midst of car chases and impressive special effects, there is a thought-provoking story that can’t help but cause fear in audiences.

These days, everyone has a computer, a cell phone, credit cards, even social networking accounts and it is truly frightening to watch a depiction of how these personal technologies could possibly be used against us.  While the events that take place in the film are far from believable, they serve as top-notch entertainment and beg questions that are well worth exploring.

That Girl says: Love It!  Eagle Eye is a terrifying thriller that will not only keep you on the edge of your seat, but encourage you to examine the line between protection and privacy and explore the dangers of artificial intelligence in a world where technology is evolving at a possibly catastrophic rate.

Release Date:  September 26th, 2008 Wide
Running Time:  118 minutes
Rated:  PG-13
Company:  Dreamworks SKG
Cast: Shia LaBeouf – Jerry Shaw
Michelle Monaghan – Rachel Holloman
Rosario Dawson – Zoe Perez
Michael Chiklis – Defense Secretary Callister
Anthony Mackie – Major William Bowman
Billy Bob Thornton – Agent Thomas Morgan
Director:  D.J. Caruso
Official Site:  www.eagleeyemovie.com

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