Author Archives: Ralph Hanson

SCOTUS declines to hear AI copyright case

The US Supreme Court today announced they were not going to hear a case claiming copyright protection for AI generated works.  The plaintiff wanted to have copyright go to the person running the AI software. The courts had previously ruled … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A Video History of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Soul and Country Music

Thursday was one of my favorite media literacy lectures covering the history of a variety of formats of popular music, starting with hillbilly, folk, and the so-called race records. We started out with Chuck Berry performing “You Can’t Catch Me” … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

A Hollowed-Out Washington Post

Approximately 13 years ago, Jeff Bezos was recruited by the Graham family to purchase The Washington Post for $250 million. Bezos, the founder of Amazon and one of the world’s wealthiest men, bought the paper as an individual, not as … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Getting a taste of Hannah Goldfield’s food writing

Although I haven’t talked about it enough here over the years, I’m enthralled by thoughtful food writing – whether it’s the reviews of street food by Los Angeles’ Jonathan Gold, the profane visits round the world by Anthony Bourdain, the … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Getting a taste of Hannah Goldfield’s food writing

TikTok is finally legal again in the US

TikTok has finalized a joint venture to have cloud-computing giant Oracle (along with a range of international partners) run its US operations. This finally brings the company into compliance with a law passed and signed into law in 2024 that … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on TikTok is finally legal again in the US

“Will We Be Extremists for Hate or Love?”

One of the greatest honors of my life was being invited to speak at the Martin Luther King, Jr. candlelight vigil several years ago at the UNK student union, along with Kevin Chaney, who was then UNK’s women’s basketball coach.  On today … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on “Will We Be Extremists for Hate or Love?”

Ralph’s Annual Favorite Movies – 2025 Edition

UPDATE 1/30/26: Please note that I have not seen a number of the big 2025 movies yet which explains some otherwise inexplicable omissions. These include: Marty Supreme – Which I saw last week and loved. It will be somewhere on … Continue reading

Posted in Chapter 7 | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Ralph’s Annual Favorite Movies – 2025 Edition

Taking a Look at a Stranger Christmas Carol

This time of year my Dear Wife and I do our annual read aloud of Dicken’s A Christmas Carol, and we usually watch one or two movie versions of it as well. Some of the takes on it we’ve seen … Continue reading

Posted in Chapter 7 | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Taking a Look at a Stranger Christmas Carol

A Few More Christmas Movies

We are at the time of year when popular Christmas/holiday movies start their omnipresence. My community-run World Theatre, where I volunteer at frequently, will have their usual lineup of Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Home Alone, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story … Continue reading

Posted in Chapter 7 | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on A Few More Christmas Movies

I’m back – Frankenstein, Meta & A-ha!

Editor’s Note: Sorry to have gone dark for the last couple of months. It’s been a difficult time. But I have not forgotten my blog, which I’ve had going since 2004. Going to get started back today with some simple media … Continue reading

Posted in Chapter 10, Chapter 3, Chapter 6, Chapter 7 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on I’m back – Frankenstein, Meta & A-ha!