Life in the Age of the Encroaching Metaverse, Not Exactly the Garden of Paradise.
As we move away from the natural world, the disconnect from the human world becomes the new norm.
The other day I traveled to a mall surrounded by miles and miles of franchises with large discordant signs that screamed over the tranquility of the green forests and fields, conveying a dreary feeling of oppression.
Once we passed over the Bath bridge and were heading towards Wiscassett, the buildings began to blend into the landscape and the places of business displayed personable signage. I felt a sigh of relief to be back in a calmer place.
Driving into Boothbay we were greeted by a new corporate sign for Dunkin Dougnuts, not bad for a franchise sign. It could almost pass as an Andy Warhol Artwork. Very post-modern, commercial signs imitating art that imitates commercial art. It adds another dimension to the first impression of the Boothbay Region that the Party of the New is working so tirelessly to create. In the Party’s new design, as we enter the village we are greeted by the franchise sign that we can enjoy as we merge into the slow flow of Boothbay’s new traffic congestion brought about by the roundabout that politicians told us we were going to need someday, so we might as well build it now that we have a private investor making it possible to get the DOT funding. Money leads the way, a simple uncomplicated plan, codified into the Maine statutes.
The increase in traffic can be gauged by how far the traffic backs up around three entrances to the roundabout. For now, congestion is only a seasonal phenomenon but if the Party of the New is successful, it will be a year-round experience. The longer the trail of cars waiting to get through the roundabout, the more successful Boothbay is perceived to be. That is what is so clever and strategic about the roundabout. If it weren’t for the roundabout, there would be no congestion, and then what would be the first impression of Boothbay? A small rustic naturally elegant rural town? That won’t do! The perception of a more congested and successful town becomes even more so if there are can be many franchise signs complimenting the politically correct road decor.
In the middle of this carefully crafted environment, there sits Bette’s Fish Fry. Bette wouldn't sell out to Paul Coulombe. The cultivated landscape comes up to the door of the fish fry, but it is still Bette’s Fish Fry, unbranded by Coulombe. It’s not the kind of place one can find anywhere as it serves up fresh locally caught fish in the unpretentious architecture of a roadside stand, but gone is the Center Cafe, once sitting on the opposite side of the Commons to the Dunkin Doughnuts. The Center Cafe occupied a historical building. It had to go!
When I got home I looked at my Newsbreak screen and saw that all the posts that were published with a one-to-one ratio of distribution to views, displayed a red message that said: “needs attention”. The message said If I want further distribution I need to fix the errors. I fixed one with a message about image credits. That was easy. However, a missing image credit does not explain why the story was held since June and distributed internally 43 times. I was in an irritated mood from having spent the day surrounded by franchises and felt more acutely aware than usual that I was having a conversation with a computer entity causing me to wonder if there are any humans employed by Newsbreak who actually read the stories or if everything is done by algorithms.
I reminded myself that when there were content value measures all my stories calling to be fixed were given the highest scores. Now I might think NB does not like my stories, which ultimately does not matter, what matters is that I can publish them, at least for now. There is no security in anything in a world run by algorithms because everything is always changing, without notice, but that is a thought for another post.
I hit publish on the first story and decided to wait and see what happened with the promise of further distribution. After a while, the distribution number started increasing but the amount is not impressive. Rumor has it that Newsbreak pays on views per thousand, but my story has not even received 1000 impressions. I had selected “Maine State” as the location. I have noticed that stories with the state as a location receive very low distribution numbers. One might think that because it is a larger area, the distribution would be greater but the opposite is true. Maine's Deeply Rooted Cultural and Economic Divide Played Out in the Birth of The University of Maine, is clearly a state-wide story. Since we live in a centrally managed state, state policies affect local communities. Does Newsbreak not realize the importance of the central to the local? I will watch this story to see if the distribution continues to increase or if it reaches a plateau and then stops. I am tempted to publish my next state-wide story to a smaller location to see if it gets better distribution.
In the meantime, NewsBreak has made one change for the better. Now registered users can follow a creator on any device and it will count as followers needed to meet the quota to apply for monetization. It is no longer mobile-only and NB reduced the required followers needed to apply for monetization from 200 to 100.
You can follow me on NewsBreak Here. Register once to support any creator that you follow.
The next story that needed attention was so out of date by now that it needed to be rewritten. It was a story about the Pine Tree Power Company. My post argued that the proposed state-owned power company is unconstitutional pursuant to Article IV Part Third Section 13 & 14 of the Maine Constitution.
Section 13. Special legislation. The Legislature shall, from time to time, provide, as far as practicable, by general laws, for all matters usually appertaining to special or private legislation.
Section 14. Corporations, formed under general laws. Corporations shall be formed under general laws, and shall not be created by special Acts of the Legislature, except for municipal purposes, and in cases where the objects of the corporation cannot otherwise be attained; and, however, formed, they shall forever be subject to the general laws of the State.
Since I wrote the post the bill was passed by the Legislature and then vetoed by Governor Mills. In the explanation, Governor Mills, former Attorney General, displays her excellent legal and analytical skills. Although Governor Mills does not bring up Article IV Part Third Sections 13 and 14 of the Maine Constitution, the entirety of her reasoning supports the structure of government that Sections 13 & 14 define. Section 14 forbids the Legislature from chartering corporations by special acts of legislation, with two exceptions, neither of which apply to a Maine State power company. Section 13 says that “The Legislature shall, from time to time, provide, as far as practicable, by general laws, for all matters usually appertaining to special or private legislation”. Governor Mills includes several different approaches to the problems that a State-owned power company purports to solve, but her solutions are consistent with Section13.
That post was accepted and published using Maine State as the location and so far has an even smaller distribution than the story about the University of Maine. Afterward, I decided to publish the story on Medium and found a few typos, which I corrected, wondering why NB hadn’t noticed them after all the unusual events, of which the only communication is about fixing errors.
I am reminded of a Philip K Dick novel in which a character is on a spaceship and communicates only with a televised persona. Our world seems like it is on a fast course to a complete disconnect from the natural world, and now the human world as well. All the more reason why The Andersen Design Museum Of American Designer Craftsmen is on the cutting edge of the future, as the world loses its connection to the natural world and now the human world, humans need the presence of things made by human hands that they can touch, smell, see, hear, and taste. The metaverse is not really real.
I edited the typos in the story titled Janet Mills brought legal & analytical talent to bear in considering the Pine Tree Power Bill, & then she vetoed it and also made some additional changes. This time when I published it, I selected Augusta. That was the right choice. The story is now receiving a much greater distribution.