@DanPatterson Status Updates

I build digital platforms and am a UN reporter for ABC News Radio. I generally discuss media, politics, technology, and our inevitable zombie apocalypse.  Read More.  Contact Me.  Zombies. Thanks.

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Thoughtful entries and interviews on the state of media, politics, and technology. 
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Monday
Aug302010

Why Zombies. Seriously.

What can Zombie culture teach us about our culture?

This is a structured question.  This question is asked here as a post on my "serious" website and blog, as formal question-post on Tumblr, and reblogged on the bulging #ZombieDoom group blog im [dot] ZOMBIE [dot] im.

Look beyond the films, the books, the cult status, and the gore.  To Zombie aficionados these things are simple trappings draped on top of a larger metaphor.
The Living Dead are an undead, unstoppable, unending rotting wave of formerly-human malevolent parasites.  
But pause to consider our  The Undead in fiction and culture must have more metaphorical value than simple, passive entertainment.  
Zombies - and the inevitable zombie apocalypse - represent the anti-passive paranoid fantasy of information-saturated hyper-connected media dwellers. 
My questions are: 
Why?
Why the zombie as a device to relate our deep fear and anxiety?  Why the mob and mass of creature that resemble us as much as they represent our demise?
Why Us? Why Now? Why Zombies?
And: What's next?

What can Zombie culture teach us about our culture?

 Answer Question

 

Undead Links:

Zombies on Wikipedia

The University of Alabama iTunes U Zombie lecture series

#ZombieDoom Game and Story Blog

@ZombieDoom on Twitter

im [dot] ZOMBIE [dot] im group blog

Thanks.

- DHP

 

Tuesday
Aug172010

The Audience Conference - Live at Carolines on Broadway

Radio, Technology, and Rock 'n' Roll; or: Tighten the Fuck Up.
This past Saturday I spoke at and attended the 2nd annual Audience Conference hosted by Loren Feldman, aka, 1938 Media [Flickr photoset].
Read More.

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Thursday
Jul292010

Quick Thoughts on Facebook Questions

Updated on Thursday, July 29, 2010 at 11:53AM by Registered CommenterDan Patterson

Updated on Monday, August 2, 2010 at 3:09PM by Registered CommenterDan Patterson

This is not a tech blog. I am not a tech pundit. Having said that, I have a few thoughts on the recent launch of Facebook Questions - the new service that allows users to ask, answer, and search for Questions within Facebook...

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Tuesday
Jul202010

ABC News Radio on Slacker = Headline News + Mobile

Today @abcnewsradio - my team at ABC News - launched a partnership with a mobile audio/radio/music company called Slacker Radio. @SlackerRadio is an app (this is an iTunes link, though the app is also available on Blackberry, Android, and a number of other devices) that - much like Pandora - streams music and audio based on a a personalized recommendation engine...

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Wednesday
Jun092010

Interviews from UN Talk Radio Day 2010 (And: What is a Radio Row)

The annual Talk Radio Day at the United Nations is held every June in New York. The annual Talk Radio Day at the United Nations is held every June in New York. These interviews were provided to @abcnewsradio [link] for broadcast and web distribution. On Friday, 4 June I covered the annual United Nations Talk Radio Day. This event, hosted by my former employer the Talk Radio News Service and organized by the UN Foundation, is always a lot of fun to do. I'm flattered to be invited back each year and the guests seem to get better and better. Here are the interviews from the 2010 UN Talk Radio Day...

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