Daily news from Monterey County Weekly

View in browser

 
Email Image
Email Image

ETC. Photo of the day by Harlie Twisselman. Autumn has officially arrived, bringing with it beautiful sunsets as the summer heat dwindles in Prunedale. Photographed with a Canon EOS REBEL T5, 18-55mm lens at 43mm, 1/80 sec, f/5, ISO 320. Submit your best horizontal photos. (Please include the location where the photo was taken in the caption.)


 

Welcome to 2020, in which “doomscrolling” should be done in doses.

 

Good afternoon. 

 

Mary Duan here, and I’m feeling anti-social about social media.

 

Karen K. Ho, a finance and economics reporter for Quartz, uses the term “doomscrolling” to describe the phenomenon so many of us have indulged in, especially during the pandemic and the long slog to the Nov. 3 election: It’s a constant obsession with the latest bad news that keeps us glued to our phones (or tablets or computers), refreshing and reading the latest bad headlines as the minutes and hours disappear. Ho changed her Twitter moniker to “Doomscrolling Reminder Lady,” and each night reminds people it’s OK to log off, go take some deep breaths, hydrate and get some rest. “How about putting your physical recovery and mental health first by logging off for the night and going to bed early?” she writes.

 

As consumers, we have the innate ability to turn off and tune out if we choose. 

 

Or do we?

 

A Netflix documentary released in August serves as a wake-up call that while we may consider ourselves consumers, the platforms consider us the product. Everything we do online is tracked, analyzed, commoditized, packaged and sold to marketers that package it neatly and spin it back to us so we will buy everything from food and clothing to political candidates.

For companies like Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and many others, the entire business model is to keep people looking at their screens.

 

Titled The Social Dilemma and directed by Jeff Orlowski, the documentary seemingly seeks to answer a question from design ethicist Tristan Harris, formerly of Google and co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology: “It feels like the world is going crazy. You have to ask yourself,” Harris says early in the film, “is this normal, or have we all fallen under some kind of spell?”

 

At Google, Harris worked on the Gmail design team, and found himself increasingly addicted to email. And as a design ethicist, he wondered why nobody was working on a way to make email less addictive. He created a presentation about it, sent it to a group of colleagues and the next day found hundreds of people were reading it and agreeing with him. It reached the office of CEO Larry Page, and Harris says he thought the company would take it seriously and act on it.

 

“And then, nothing,” he says. 

 

That’s just email, just one platform. As a result of inaction on how to make email notifications less addictive, Harris points out that 2 billion people will have thoughts they didn’t intend to have because a small group of mostly white guys are making decisions on how those notifications happen.

 

So take the example of Google and Gmail and extrapolate it out to dozens of other platforms many of us use—Instagram, with its idyllic shots of travel or filters that can wipe so-called imperfections from our faces. Pinterest, which has become part of my brain, because I use it to keep track of everything from recipes and gardening tips to travel plans. Twitter, great for the aforementioned doomscrolling and fighting with people in a way I would not in real life. TikTok—I started down that rabbit hole earlier this month. It was a tradeoff, I told myself, because I was trying to delete Facebook from my life, tired of the conspiracy theories that kept creeping into my feed.

 

Computer philosophy writer and father of virtual reality Jaron Lanier, who wrote the book Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now, points out that our behavior when interacting with these platforms doesn’t change overnight: It’s gradual, slight, imperceptible change in our behavior: “There’s nothing else on the table that could possibly be called a product,” he says. “That’s the only thing there is to make money from.”

 

When the Trump administration announced Trump had tested positive for Covid, Twitter’s communications team quickly announced that tweets by any user wishing for anyone’s death or harm would be removed—yet those types of tweets are posted regularly, especially for women. Facebook helped tank democracy, allowing as it did for actual fake news to proliferate, but only this week did the company announce it would ban Qanon pages, groups and accounts. 

 

My week without Facebook was a great one. I’m looking forward to not going back there again. Now I have to work on deleting the rest of the platforms from my life. If I can.

 

-Mary Duan, managing editor, mary@mcweekly.com

 

 

 


 
Email Image
 

BY THE NUMBERS

Email Image

This graph shows confirmed Covid-19 cases in California, reflecting a spike in the summer. The number of new daily cases statewide is still not back to where it was in the spring.


 

CORONAVIRUS TRENDS

as of 4:30pm PST
  CASES+/-*DEATHS
MO. CO.10,475<1%78
CA841,074<1%16,332
USA7,511,2361%203,591
WORLD35,998,6061%1,053,357
 
*Percentage change from the prior day. 
Sources: Monterey County Health Department, Los Angeles Times, Covid Tracking Project, Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

 
Email Image
 

LATEST LOCAL NEWS

MPC’s search for a new superintendent/president continues. Today, the board of trustees announced they have narrowed down the list to five candidates.

 

Progress is well underway tonh the Dolan Fire, thanks to favorable weather. The U.S. Forest Service reports that it is 98-percent contained. 

 

Monterey County is still in the Purple Tier—meaning it’s under the strictest guidelines for reopening. Consequently, schools are still closed and have gone online, but nutrition services are still going.

 

SPONSORED: EAT+DRINK

Royal Oaks Produce Delivery - Local, organic produce, fresh pasta & artisan products delivered to your doorstep. (831) 204-2116

 

Estéban Restaurant Outdoor Patio Dining; Sun-Thur 4:30-8:30pm, Fri & Sat till 9pm.Takeout & Delivery nightly 4:30pm, Click for menus. 831-375-0176, 700 Munras Ave, Monterey

 

Melville Tavern Outdoor Dining and Takeout! Wood Fired Pizzas, Burgers, Pasta, Salads & more. Open Mon-Fri 11:30am, Sat & Sun 10am. Click For Menu, 831.643.9525, 484 Wash. St, Monterey 

 

Osteria Al Mare Outdoor Dining overlooking the Bay and Take Out, Tuesday-Sunday: Lunch & Dinner 11:30am-9pm. Order online for 20% Off Take Out, Click Here. 831.920.2833, 32 Cannery Row, Monterey

 

Whaling Station Steakhouse Open Everyday at 4:30pm for Outdoor Dining in the "Prime Pavilion" and Takeout. Click here for menus. (831) 373-3778, 763 Wave St, Monterey

 

Tarpy’s Roadhouse Open Daily from 11:30am to 8pm on the spacious Outdoor Patio, plus takeout. Click here for menus. (831) 647-1444, 2999 Monterey Salinas Hwy, Monterey.

 

Rio Grill Open daily from 11:30am to 8pm on the new Outdoor Patio and takeout. Click here for menus. (831) 625-5436, 101 Crossroads Blvd., Carmel.

 

Montrio Bistro Open every day at 4:30pm for Outdoor Patio Dining plus takeout from 5-9pm. Click here for menus. (831) 648-8880, 414 Calle Principal, Monterey.

 

Beach House at Lovers Point, 620 Ocean View, PG Open Daily with Outdoor Dining (limited seating) and Takeout 4pm. Sunset Supper and other house specialties plus 25% off bottles of wine. Click for menu (831) 375-2345.

 

Abalonetti on the Wharf. Outdoor Dining and Takeout Everyday Noon-7pm. Serving Monterey's Best Calamari plus seafood, pasta & more. Click here (831) 373-1851

 

Sandbar & Grill on Wharf #2, Outdoor dining (limited seating) and takeout Noon-8pm daily. Call (831) 373-2818 for reservations and takeout orders. Click here

 

The Sardine Factory Join us for dinner in The Sardine Factory Pavilion! Open from 4:30pm daily. Click here for menus, details and reservations. 701 Wave Street, Monterey, 831-373-3775

 
Advertise here for $49 for 12 words / +$10 xlarge / +$1 add'l. word
Email sales@mcweekly.com or call 831-394-5656.

 

LOCAL INSPIRATION

"Gone Fishing" by Grace Russell

LOCAL INSPIRATION of the day, photographed by Sergeant Rusty Jenkins. One of Monterey’s littlest residents, Isabella, wants to be a police officer when she grows up. The members of the Monterey Police Department’s Community Action Team decided to dress up and do a drive-by parade for her 6th birthday. Submit your Local Inspiration (digital art, music, multimedia, video, etc.; please include the medium you’ve used, and note when and where it was created.)

There’s more than one way to celebrate Halloween. From Oct. 8-11, Monterey County Fair and Event Center will have drive-in Halloween-themed movies including classics like Ghostubsters, Monsters Inc and others. 

 

Partially taught by local artist Andrew Jackson, painter Scott Jacobs is making a name from himself. In this week’s “Visuals,” the Weekly celebrates his boldness in all mediums. 

 

What makes Padang food—a regional cuisine found in Indonesia’s West Sumatra—so tasty? According to Tuty Sani of @tantetutyskitchen, sambal, long braising times and a good hit of chilis.


 
Email Image
 

BEST OF MONTEREY BAY® REAL ESTATE

Monterey: 250 Forest Ridge Rd #68 | $539,000 | 2br 2ba | Filtered views of the Pacific, new flooring, gas fireplace, oversized deck, spacious en-suite with updated bathroom vanity and walk-in closet. Melissa Radowicz, Compass 831.320.7961

 

Carmel: 22 Del Mesa Carmel | $565,000 | 2br 2ba | 1317 sf condo on a corner lot with great views, updated floors, indoor laundry, recessed lights, fireplace, and tankless water heater. Regina Shaw, Intero Real Estate Services 831.206.3369

 

Seaside: 1146 Birch Ave #98 | $289,000 | 2br/2ba | Spacious, light, bright and airy 2019 Karsten Avalon home. Avalon Bay flooring, W/D, and security system. 55+. Doree Hyland, Mont Grove Realty 831.521.5595

 

Click for more >>

https://realestate.montereycountyweekly.com/

 
Email Image
 

HELPFUL DISTRACTIONS

The Amazon is on the verge of turning from lush rainforest into a savannah. After decades of deforestation and wildfires, the Amazon may risk losing rare animal and plant species, like the ones featured in Netflix’s Our Planet.

 

The one and only vice presidential debate of the election season happens tonight at 6pm. The political watchers at Five Thirty Eight posted this video discussion about what to watch for in tonight’s debate. And, as always, they’ve got data.

 
 

TIP LINE

We welcome your comments, feedback and tips.

  • News: Send news tips and story ideas
  • Letters: Letters and comments to the editor
  • ETC. Photo: Share a recent horizontal photo of people or places in Monterey County
  • Calendar: Ideas for local arts, music, culture and cool livestreams
  • Eat+Drink: Restaurant updates, chef news, cocktail discoveries and culinary bites
  • Local Inspiration: Share your art, music and video
  • Whistleblower: An encrypted form for off-the-record tips
  • Squid: Send tips to our omnipresent cephalopod columnist

Contact Us

 
Email Image
 

 
Email Image
Read It
 

 
 
social iconsocial iconsocial icon

Copyright © 2020 Monterey County Weekly, All rights reserved

 

Our mailing address is: 668 Williams Ave, Seaside, CA 93955

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list