AZ's Fastest

21/06/2018

22/09/2016

Join us for the Food Festival at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church for FUN and DELICIOUS FOODS!

25/01/2016

A NEW KIND OF ASTROTURF:
AstroTurf®, the artificial grass, was invented in 1965 and gained attention when it was installed at the Houston Astrodome™ a year later. It was developed for use on sports fields to avoid the cost of laying natural turf, though it is gaining popularity with home owners for maintenance free yards.
(We have a customer, Peter Ballato whose company, Evergreen Synthetic Lawns and Putting Greens, installs this product. If interested you can call him at 480-223-3693).

In a TED Talk, former CNN and CBS anchor and investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson, calls astroturfing “A carefully constructed narrative by unseen special interests designed to manipulate your opinion.” Astroturfing, like real AstroTurf®, is fake. In this case it has to do with false information made to look like grass-roots support for an issue. Unknown sponsors hide behind a message or organization to make it appear it is from and supported by grassroots participants. This shows up as Facebook and Twitter accounts, blogs, comments, press releases, non-profits, and letters to the editor. The goal is mostly to influence, but controversy and confusion are sometimes the goal instead.

She gives particular attention to Wikipedia, “Astroturfing’s dream come true.” Anonymous editors are able to control and co-opt pages on behalf of special interests. In 2013 for example, author Philip Roth tried to correct false information about one of the characters in one of his books. When he tried to correct this without success, he persisted in calling Wikipedia only to be told he was not a credible source. She warns against trusting Wikipedia for these and other reasons. Don’t you wonder —as I do– how many journalists are lazy and do their fact-checking with Wikipedia?

Closely related to astroturfing is sockpuppets. This is where one person sets up separate online identities to give the appearance of many voices on a subject. This is mostly used for reviews and comments. It is estimated that about a third of all consumer reviews and comments online are fake.

In her presentation, Sharyl offers four signs of propaganda and astroturfing so you won’t be so easily fooled:
1. Listen for inflammatory language: words such as crank, quack, nutty, lies, pseudo, and conspiracy.
2. Listen for those who claim to debunk myths. Frequently the notion of a myth is a myth itself.
3. Beware when people and organizations are attacked instead of facts and opinions.
4. Most of all, she warns, astroturfers tend to reserve their public skepticism for those exposing wrongdoing and not the wrongdoers.

In spite of heavy fines (up to $16,000 a day) these deceptive practices continue because they are difficult to prosecute. We no longer live in an age where we can automatically trust the media. It is up to you to investigate–and carefully–all the facts before making up your mind. Don’t be fooled by special interests who bend the truth.

You can listen to Sharyl’s presentation yourself. Find it on YouTube with these key words: Astroturf, TED Talks, and Sharyl Attkisson.

29/01/2015

08/07/2014

Video marketing is a new trend in advertising. Okay, so the concept isn’t that new: TV commercials have been around for sixty or more years and movie theaters began showing them with the previews about 15 years ago.

20/01/2014

You will be highly entertained especially if you love education.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY =606

http://www.ted.com Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) ...

15/01/2014

Thinking about You today!

20/11/2013

Do you have a messy desk? Something interesting about messy desks. Check it out
http://arizonasfastestprintshop.com/benefits-of-a-messy-desk-study/

Benefits of a Messy DeskWhen asked if there are benefits of a messy desk you may be surprised to discover some of the most influential people of our time such Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, and Mark Twain, all had messy desks. Do you have a messy desk or workspace? If so, don’t fret! Read on…These thr...

16/11/2013

Have you got your holiday cards ordered yet? If now check out ours....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDZxvA2Kjw4

At Arizona's Fastest Printshop http://arizonasfastesprintshop.com it's never too early to order customized holiday cards for your clients, customers, busines...

15/11/2013

Have you got your holiday cards ready yet? Believe me it's not too early!

http://arizonasfastestprintshop.com/customized-holiday-cards/

Order your customized holiday cards with your business logo today. It's never too early to start preparing for the holidays. Easy to order & pay online.

15/11/2013

Happy weekend everyone!