All things connected

ICON_PREVIEW

September 29, 2023

Influencers

You have, probably, heard the expression â€œmonetized.â€ Specifically, it means using something as a source of profit. A modern example of monetization is the social media si ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

August 18, 2023

AI and the Writersâ€™ Strike

AI and the Writersâ€™ Strike Itâ€™s unlikely that the writers who penned those sci-fi scripts, or the actors giving soul to a machine, ever thought that AI mig ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

September 1, 2023

Def Con

There are world conferences, and there are world conferences. And then, there is Def Con! Forty thousand attendees gathered in Las Vegas this month at Def Con, ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

FedNow and CBDC: The Realm of Instant Payments

FedNow is an ambitious project undertaken by the Federal Reserve, aimed at creating a nationwide, instant payment network that operates 24/7, 365 days a year. T ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

The Commonality of Fourth of July

If nothing else, Independence Day should bring our nationâ€™s people together. One of the perks of visiting India was being caught up in the ubiquitous stree ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

Donâ€™t Give Me No Bad News!

Humans have a cognitive bias known as the negativity bias, which means that negative or threatening information tends to have a stronger impact on our emotions ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

Scam Slime

June 15 was Elder Abuse Awareness Day. In the spirit of that day, I dedicate this article to my beloved sister, Mari, one of the purest souls on this planet, wh ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

The Loneliness Epidemic

A major curiosity of our times is the co-existence of the worldâ€™s greatest-of-all-times connectivity on one hand and the deep isolation manifesting as the lon ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

To AI or Not to AI

Not even their creators, can understand, predict, or reliably control Artificial Intelligence (AI). On March 29, while I was teaching the brightest techies ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

India is Leaping into the Future

Dear Neighbors, I was asked to teach a media literacy class at IIT Mandi in India. The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are a group of autonomous, presti ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

TikTok and the Info Wars

TikTok, like its Chinese counterpart Douyin, is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

Bing Unhinged!

People holding secrets, personal or state, have been manipulated or tortured to reveal information since the beginning of the human experience. Many have caved ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

Education Evolving

My magical grand-daughter Sidney comes to my house when she is too sick to go to school and her folks have to be at work. I canâ€™t lie... I love those days. It ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

ChatGPT

Brace yourself. I have to catch you up on some rapid changes (are there any other kind these days?). ChatGPT is important for you to understand. It is a rev ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

A Cornucopia of Digital Wonders

The Computer Electronics Show (CES) was back, live, in full force in Las Vegas for 2023. This year, the event, which had been virtual during COVID, was its ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

Permanent Change

We live in an Age of Disruption. People wake up every day to find old paradigms broken and replaced by new sets of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices. ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

Caveat Emptor! â€”Investigate Before Investing

As a documentary filmmaker I learned very quickly that real life is more fascinating than fiction. Nothing illustrates this more than the true tale of the fall ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

THE READABLE FEAST

A Chanukah Story from Long Ago

How the ancient story of Chanukah is relevant through the centuries and to our lives today. It was 1944 in the Buchenwald concentration camp, and S. B. Uns ... (Read More)

By Rabbi Mendy Piekarski

ICON_PREVIEW

THE READABLE FEAST

Unto Us a Child is Born...

Christmas is upon us and I look forward to this season. The Nativity scene, the trees and lights, getting together with family and neighbors and meeting new one ... (Read More)

The Canyon Chronicle

By The Canyon Chronicle

ICON_PREVIEW

THE READABLE FEAST

In Faith Hope Rises

Throughout the world there are those who walk different paths of faith and call upon us to bring the message of â€œThe peace that surpasses all understanding.â€ ... (Read More)

The Canyon Chronicle

By The Canyon Chronicle

ICON_PREVIEW

THE READABLE FEAST

â€˜Quarantine Highwayâ€™ by Millicent Borges Accardi

Quarantine Highway by local poet Millicent Borges Accardi, is a collection of poetry that strikes an important balance between rejection and criticism and latte ... (Read More)

By A.R. Salandy

THE READABLE FEAST

Living in the Energy of Miracles

During one of my recent client sessions with a woman who is going through an advanced stage cancer diagnosis, she was sharing how grateful she is for her three ... (Read More)

By Dianne Porchia

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

Broken Chains

Thanksgiving is my favorite, least materialistic holiday. Presence is required, presents are not. It is a time of connection, something we have dearly missed ov ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

The Big Digital Coin Trick

I am a firm believer that all students should study magic. Magic is especially effective in teaching students to recognize the technique of distraction. This is ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

Day of the Undead

Do you remember in the movie â€œThe Adams Familyâ€ when Fester takes the children outside to play â€œRaise the Dead?â€ Well, have I got a Halloween story for ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

Understanding the LAUSD Ransomware Hack

This year hackers have attacked at least 27 United States school districts and 28 colleges. The recent hack of the Los Angeles Unified School District involved ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

Car Cultureâ€™s New Chapter

Look to the future! EVs will not be the only solution to carbon-free vehicles. Choosing which future fuel will be the winner now is not a good idea. Los Ange ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

Student Apprenticeship Programs

Baaaack to school, right? But some very good news about education! There is a movement afoot offering middle and high school students apprenticeship programs. ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

Farm to Tableâ€”Past to Present

Sometimes, in order to secure the future, we have to retrieve parts of the past. As we head into the emerging global food shortage already affecting large swath ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

Lithium and The New â€˜White-Goldâ€™ Rush

Most of us barely remember the element Lithium from the Periodic Table. It is the third lightest element, coming in with an atomic weight of 3 after Hydrogen an ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

5Journeys Opens New Forest Immersion Pre-school Option

The Topanga-based non-profit, 5Journeys, will hold an open house on August 28, 4 p.m., to introduce Better World Learning Pod for ages two-and-a-half-to five-ye ... (Read More)

The Canyon Chronicle

By The Canyon Chronicle

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

The Hospitalists

Todayâ€™s medical care system is severely broken. When the bad thing happens, as patients, we need support and advocates to guide us. Millennials are often ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

Word Power 101

Folks throw a lot of bewildering words around these days, so here is a vocabulary lesson covering terms of cellular and internet technologies so you know what t ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

The Dog Days of August

Want Your Dogâ€™s picture in The Canyon Chronicle? The Chronicleâ€™s August 5 issue begins our annual Dog Days celebration. Since we donâ€™t want to miss those ... (Read More)

The Canyon Chronicle

By The Canyon Chronicle

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

Real, not Virtual Connections at Camp Cabaret

What a night it was at Camp Cabaret on June 24! Topangaâ€™s soul shone through the performances of campers culminating their two-week musical theater experien ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

Could Topanga Become an Urban Night Sky Place?

The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) recognizes and promotes excellent stewardship of the night sky through its International Dark Sky Places. There are ... (Read More)

The Canyon Chronicle

By The Canyon Chronicle

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

Digital Children: Nightmare or Dream Come True?

Real-time, virtual babies are coming to a metaverse near you and they may even have souls. What??? Thatâ€™s what Catriona Campbell is predicting. She is one o ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

It Happens Every Day

â€œIt is not for us to know those times, when people are wide open, and the lightest touch may wither or heal.â€ â€”F. Scott Fitzgerald By Paula LaBrot ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

Under the Influence

When I was a kid, I do not recall anyone ever saying, â€œWhen I grow up, I want to be an Influencer.â€ That entrepreneurial niche did not yet exist. Not until ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

Food Scarcity

Spring planting! Ooops! Big problem, folks. There is a commercial fertilizer shortage in the world. According to Bloomberg, â€œFor the first time ever, farme ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

Faith in the Metaverse

Religion is in the process of appearing in a Metaverse near you! COVID-19 catapulted digital worship to the status of â€œnew normal,â€ and there are many ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

All things connected

Digital Slang

Itâ€™s spring, 2022. All around us a whole new language is blooming. This column is dedicated to bringing folks up to speed on the symbols of this new language. ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

All things connected

Facing Down the Drought

UCLA historian Norris Hundl once noted, â€œIt is a mistakeâ€¦to think of California in terms of averages and regular cycles of precipitation.â€Â I like thi ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

All things connected

Tech and The Fog of War

In the present conflict between Ukraine and Russia, modern warfare has split into what is termed kinetic battles and digital battles. Kinetic battles are actual ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

Love in the Age of AI

Want to find your perfect valentine? It is a quest as old as humanity. Most people want love more than anything. But how to find it? How to meet that soulma ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

Who Wants to Live Forever?

There is no doubt that modern medicine has made stunning progress in the treatment of previously hopeless medical conditions. It is predicted that anyone born a ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNCTED

Clean Up Your Apps!

Happy New Year, Dear Readers! Finally, 2022 has arrived. What better to do than clear out the clutter of the past? Start cleaning up your phones and computers ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

All things connected

Now, Therefore Be It Resolvedâ€¦

Columnist Joel Bellman, who defines himself as a â€œshort-term pessimist but long-term optimist,â€ declares Rescuing Democracy as his New Yearâ€™s Resolution. ... (Read More)

Joel Bellman

By Joel Bellman

ICON_PREVIEW

All things connected

Christmasâ€”The More Things Changeâ€¦

Christmas 2021 is here! This wonderful holiday has been celebrated around the world for hundreds and hundreds of years. Throughout those years, Christmas has ev ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

All things connected

Entertainment Trends

Over the last couple of COVID-19 years, quarantined populations have relied heavily on home-accessed sources of entertainment to fill in their days and nights o ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

All things connected

Reconnecting

Many of us will have spent the beautiful Thanksgiving holiday connected, once again, with loved ones. It has been two years since COVID-19 shattered our gatheri ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

All things connected

The Digital Art Scene

You probably donâ€™t remember, but in the early days of computers for the masses, around the early nineties, artists were the ones out in front using the new te ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

ALL THINGS CONNECTED

Stars to the Stars

William Shatner may have been the oldest person to travel to space, but he is not the first actor. On October 5, in an historic first, a Soyuz space capsule car ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

All things connected

In the Name of Love

There are so many articles to write for you. I just want to send a more personal message this time. I was thinking this morning that, all over the world, thousa ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

All things connected

Catch the Wind

When candidate Joe Biden campaigned on green jobs and clean energy, it was easy to cheer. â€œWin-win,â€ right? The other guy, after all, had touted â€œbeautif ... (Read More)

Joel Bellman

By Joel Bellman

ICON_PREVIEW

All things connected

Solar Farms

On our present road trip, we are seeing a new kind of farmâ€”solar farms. Over the vast stretches of deserts and high plateaus, extensive acres of photovoltaic ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

Canyon Sages Seek Caregivers

Canyon Sages volunteers have been active as a group behind the scenes during the pandemic helping seniors with meals, vaccines, and information. As part of thei ... (Read More)

The Canyon Chronicle

By The Canyon Chronicle

ICON_PREVIEW

Back to Work In A COVID World

COVID-19 has changed the world. The effects of this devastating virus have made a return to life-as-usual unlikely. Dr. Vinayak Kumar, a physician at the Mayo C ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

Have I got a job offer for you!

NASA is now taking applications in a search for people to live for a year in a Martian habitat called Mars Dune Alpha. To prepare for sending astronauts to Mars ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

Future Scoutsâ€”Forging A Preferred Future

Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the worldwide Scouts Movement, said, â€œWe must change boys from a â€˜what can I getâ€™ to a â€˜what can I giveâ€™ attitude.â€ Ju ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

Thinking Out Loud

Win Some, Lose Some

After a year of publishing a print edition of The Canyon Chronicle, weâ€™ve maintained a website but not to the scale we need. We have an opportunity now to upg ... (Read More)

The Canyon Chronicle

By The Canyon Chronicle

ICON_PREVIEW

Farmers in Lab Coats

I am tired of all the dystopian, doomsday pundits. As a Futurist, I am reporting to you, dear Readers, there is a lot to look forward to. Good things are happen ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

Space for All!

I will never, ever forget being in the desert at Edwards Air Force Base to welcome the Columbia Space Shuttle home in 1981. G and I took Mom, Dad, my very old a ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

Sneaky Sidewalk

Donâ€™t worry. Amazon has opted you in. Itâ€™s up to you to opt out. On June 9, Amazon quietly activated technology embedded, as far back as 2018, into devic ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

Ransomware

We are not under threat of war. We are in a war already. Itâ€™s a different kind of war, fought with ones and zeros, not guns. It is a cyberspace invasion that ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

Amazon Oligarchy

Convenience is the temptress of Big Tech. Amazon can get you anything you want to buy and deliver it the next day. By providing such convenience, Amazon has ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

High-Tech Firefighting

Fire spotting and firefighting have gone high tech in keeping with the cyber-times we live in. Given our latest episode with Santa Monica Mountain wildfires, it ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

Human Barcode

â€œIBM and the Holocaustâ€ by Edwin Black is a stunning, shattering warning to the modern world of the dangers involved in data collection and a bitter reminde ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

EMRâ€”Electronic Medical Records

Remember when the wall behind the doctorâ€™s office receptionist was lined with paper charts? Yours was filed there with everyone elseâ€™s medical records until ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

A Distributed Web

There is so much craziness going on in the oligarchic tech world right nowâ€¦so many politically entwined, power hungry, greedy scary, dark behaviors that I cho ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

ICON_PREVIEW

Of Monoliths and Mangers

This year it took much longer to put up our Christmas decorations, four days alone to mount the house lights and yard display. Usually, that was something we co ... (Read More)

Kathie Gibboney

By Kathie Gibboney

Decentralizationâ€¦! Here We Come! On to Web 3.0!

English philosopher John Stuart Mill wrote in the mid-1800s, â€œThe fraud is the pretense that the welfare of ordinary people matters to the elite, when the rea ... (Read More)

Paula Labrot

By Paula Labrot

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