Hi Paul (and Malcolm):
The audio out of sync with video seems to be one of the many prices of "progress", moving to digital
TV. As I understand it, different digital compression and transmission protocols are used to send
audio and video, and often don't arrive at the viewer's TV set at the same time. Hopefully one of
the broadcast technical pros on the list can explain this better.
Regarding the "so" thing ... it's epidemic in modern American English and it's "soooo" annoying! I
think many of these annoying mannerisms come out of a coddling babyish culture associated with
modern child-rearing and youth. The very fact that those aged 18-26 are called "Adult Children" by
their own government hints at the overall problem. Child-like speech mannerisms now linger long into
what used to be called adulthood. In my interactions with the "youngsters," this speech is of a kind
with the general demeanor of many, which comes across as un-serious and unprofessional. Combine that
with the know-it-all attitude of a generation given "prizes" for just showing up, and a general
ignorance caused by a lousy education system, and you end up with a bunch of "Adult Children"
indeed!
The breakdown of well-conceived formal language probably has something to do with "social media."
The way the "born digital" generation communicates is different. They tap out semi-coherent bursts
of context-lacking words, sometimes speaking few words in a whole day. When they do speak, it's in
similar bursts of half-words, often lacking context or conversational pacing. Perhaps the next step,
hopefully after I'm dead, is something akin to a Vulkan Mind Meld, where speech is not necessary. It
will probably take place through Chinese-made gadgets, connected directly to the brain and monitored
by the government as well as every business wishing to sell something.
-- Tom Fine
----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Stamler" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2014 2:19 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Radio voices, was Toothpaste
> On 3/12/2014 10:58 AM, Malcolm Rockwell wrote:
>> Finally, there's major television news, which, among other things, can't
>> seem to sync the audio with the video and a person's lips either lead or
>> follow the audio signal. Pathetic, especially for the news.
>
> Not necessarily the news -- I find that *many* television broadcasts have the audio out-of-synch
> with the video. Apparently the networks (including PBS, which used to be at the forefront of tech)
> are sending the audio and video from one place to another on different channels, with different
> delays -- or do the A/D converters for video and audio have different latencies? In any case, it's
> annoying.
>
> Going back to radio, I've noticed a linguistic shift happening on NPR public affairsprograms (I
> don't listen to much radio other than NPR): when answering a question, interviewees increasingly
> begin their answer with the word "So", even when it's not appropriate. Is this happening on other,
> non-NPR, broadcasts too, or in the society at large?
>
> Peace,
> Paul
>
>
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