Tectonic Shift

The old media–newspapers, magazines, and television–used to be the gatekeepers of influence and information.

Now, anyone with a smartphone and the will can become an online publisher, influencing opinions and events.

The Internet’s online applications and social media networks empower people to connect, to create, to stay in touch, to comment, and to take control of the message.

Television broadcasters once enjoyed a monopoly on the viewing audience. Until the early 1980′s, the big three networks of CBS, … Continue Reading »

The post The 21st Century Video Producer Is An Internet Entrepreneur appeared first on Robert Riggs.

James Benham barks orders into his new iPhone4s for the location of a nearby restaurant and a reminder to call his wife when he leaves his office.   More than thirty times a day an obedient assistant named Siri serves up answers to Benham.

Siri’s feminine voice eerily sounds like what I imagine to be the sister of HAL 9000 from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick.

Benham and I met for the first … Continue Reading »

The post HAL 9000′s Apple Sister Siri Goes Nuclear on Google Search–Leo Laporte Warns PubCon to Duck & Cover appeared first on Robert Riggs.

A flashmob of hundreds of students on their way to classes at Texas A&M University suddenly broke into the line dance craze called the “Wobble” by the rapper V.I.C. The hip artist posted a music video of the Wobble on his website in October of 2009 and its apparently catching fire two years later on college campuses with the start of the Fall 2011 semester.

A class project for an iPhone app called “Fan In My Hand” generated the flashmob … Continue Reading »

The post “WOBBLE BABY!” Fan In My Hand iPhone App Flash Mob Sweeps Texas A&M University Campus appeared first on Robert Riggs.

I posed a straight forward question to State Representative Terri Hodge, “Who pays your rent?” I already knew the answer to that question as a result of digging day and night into corruption allegations at Dallas City Hall.  Hodge stared into the camera like the proverbial deer caught in headlights.  A deafening silence followed.  Finally Hodge blurted out, “Mr. Riggs. I have, no comment!”  Everything about her body language and tone said guilty and her response entered the lexicon of … Continue Reading »

The post “Mr. Riggs. I have no comment!” Investigative Report Sends State Rep To Federal Prison appeared first on Robert Riggs.

NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, LAS VEGAS, NEVADA OCTOBER 2004

In the space of a few minutes, Air Force Captain Catherine Platt says she makes a surreal trip from a pitched battle over Iraq to the choreographed musical fountains in front of the luxurious Bellagio Casino on the Las Vegas strip.

The six-year veteran intelligence officer flies into combat zones half way around the world without ever leaving the ground at her Nevada air base, “You definitely feel that you … Continue Reading »

The post Predator Drone TV: Eye in the Sky Protects Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan appeared first on Robert Riggs.

OVER NEW YORK CITY–The crisp blue sky over New York City resembled the day that dawned on September 11, 2001 three years ago. Ground zero could be clearly seen from the cockpit of F-15 fighters circling above Manhattan Island at twenty-three thousand feet.

That was my vantage point from the back seat of an F-15 of the 71st Fighter Squadron known as the “Ironmen” during a combat air patrol that protected the President.

It’s hours of boredom punctuated by seconds … Continue Reading »

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