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Say enough things and something is bound to be correct

Twice today I’ve read things that I’ve earlier made predictions about. This would make a person insufferable, he said insufferably, if it wasn’t done in a charming way.

Netflix is cutting a bunch of movies in the midst of a licensing fight:

The titles belong to Warner Brothers, MGM and Universal, which are pulling them from Netflix and instead housing them in their own subscription-based “Instant Warner Archive” which you can access for $10 a month.

Two years ago I called this the HBO problem. Entities that own the content, having seen the success of Netflix, and having now verified that achievement by HBO’s own gated community, will pull their own material in favor of a branded digital platform, as we first discussed on the campus blog last March. That’s in addition to the Hulus and Amazons of the world, too. Netflix becomes just another layer in the stratification.

Of course, now, you have to have a paid membership to everything, which is expensive, learn new interfaces and have the proper smart TV and so on — or do without programming.

Eventually some format wins and all of these things come back together again, somehow.

Here’s the other thing I sort-of-somewhat-guessed-at. The New York Times launched their new mobile site today. It is something of a shame that this is a big deal — I would have thought we’d be beyond this point by now — but there is something important here. As Nieman Lab said:

In typography and story layout, it’s much closer to the Times’ iPhone app, edging closer toward cross-platform parity. (Headlines are still just Georgia, not the custom version of Cheltenham it uses in print, in apps, and on Skimmer. But they’re now black — no longer 1994-weblink blue.) Presentation of images, captions, and credits on article pages are also much closer to app styles.

[...]

Overall, the takeaways seem to be: a common visual experience across mobile platforms and a cleaner, more premium look.

Two months ago, after a sneak peak of the new version of the website, I wrote:

But look at the layout they are showing you in this prototype. That’s as indicative of mobile as a traditional news site has thus far been. They may be conceptually starting with the article, but they are designing for your phones and tablets.

As the Times goes on this design, so will many folks follow.

The last part still remains to be seen, but give it time.

Things to read: Just two items today, this one is worth bookmarking: 10 digital tools journalists can use to improve their reporting, storytelling:

Digital tools help produce quality content online, but it can be tough figuring out where to start. Here are 10 online tools that can help improve journalists’ reporting and storytelling, and engage readers in multimedia.

Reporting resources: These tools can help with research and sourcing.

[...]

Data compilation and resources: Datasets and social media backlogs can be intimidating for any reporter; these resources help share, gather and handle large shares of information.

[...]

Data presentation: These tools can help process and design otherwise-cumbersome data sets in a way that makes them easily accessible for stories.

The golden age of privacy Is over:

What the drone debates really tell us, then, is not so much about drones. What they do, unfortunately, tell us is how ill-prepared we are institutionally, and as a culture, to deal with the challenges and complexities of rapidly evolving technologies. In an age when emerging technologies become ever more integral to geopolitical positioning, and military and security competence, this is a weakness that any society can ill afford.

You can take out the word drone and put in the name Google Glass and have the same conversation.

One new thing on Tumblr today, this from Ted’s Montana Grill in Atlanta. I hear that Ted himself lives just upstairs. I’m told that this has provided many interesting stories to the people thereabouts.

There are, of course, always new things to see on Twitter.

And a video from yesterday. It was omelet day in the caf. Delicious:

Monday / Samford / Tumblr / Twitter / site / video — Comments Off
29
Apr 13

Sunny Mondays are the best Mondays

I’ve just this now learned an interesting thing about WordPress. When you are in the Dashboard, after you’ve clicked Posts you get that list of entries you’ve been writing about. Some people, and I’ve seen you, have many different posts in progress at one time saved as drafts. I don’t usually write drafts, unless I’m interrupted, but it happens every so often. And it happened last night when the computer popped and the screen turned gray.

Well, OK then. I stared at it for a respectful amount of time, checked the plug, the battery, did the random search on the keyboard for the Any Key and then rebooted the thing. It all came right back. Somehow rebooting the machine, restarting the browser and restoring the tabs meant that I’d created two versions of the Sunday post. I published one, didn’t realize I had the other and it stayed on as a draft.

Write me! Write me!

I didn’t notice that until just now. I have two posts titled Catching Up. Well, click, examine, verify. Problem understood. Now it is time to run the resolution protocols, initiate. So I did all that, realized the draft could be deleted …

No! No! Not me!

And clicked Trash — if ever there was a more prescient judgment of the thing you’ve been working on, there it was. When I clicked Trash that joker disappeared.

There was no “Are you sure?”

“Really sure?”

“Cause we think it’s Trash. Mullenweg says so right there. But if you want to keep this around, you might think about Cancel.”

“No?”

“OK then.”

“Last chance.”

“Seriously.”

“Can’t you hear your words dying?”

“Fine. Let it be on your head.”

“We can’t drag this out any longer. This platform powers 16 percent of the web you know.”

None of that. Just gone.

I’ve just written 300 words on the a delete function. (It took about two minutes. It will not be trashed.)

So a lovely Monday. The sun was out, just a hint of warmth in the air. We hit 76 today, which is just two degrees off the average. I believe I’ve said it three times already this year, but spring is finally here. And if we’re proven wrong again we’re all going to write Al Gore a note.

After purchasing locally grown, artisanally-made carbon offsets printed on fair trade, Brazilian rainforest hand-woven stock. When those come in, and we’re shivering in May, we’d write the former vice president and congratulate him on his success at beating back global warming. The suggestion would be that maybe he turn down the air conditioners in his mansion, close the doors and windows and let us get on with the season.

But it has been lovely today, even for Mondays, which are never really all that bad. I had a burger for lunch, because it is Monday and I do that every other one or so. I watched this clip that landed in my Twitter feed:

It truly is all of the things Ray Hudson said, and so was Hudson’s call. If you don’t know the sport I can’t explain to you how impossible it is to do what Lionel Messi just did. What Hudson suggests is that Messi is a mutant, and that might not be far from the case. He’s short, but fast. His pace over the ball belies his size. He has amazing control of everything, himself, the ball, sometimes defenders and maybe the tides. He has the benefit of playing on a terrific team with other potent weapons and in a system that benefits him perfectly. All of these things are true. It is also true that, for the last three years or so, he’s been not far from becoming the greatest player of all time. And he’s only just entering his prime.

Not nearly as good as all that, but 60 Minutes recently produced a package on him:

Anyway, yes, a beautiful Monday. Everyone is smiling on campus. What’s not to smile about? The sun, the sky, progress!

Someone asked me last week about teaching at Samford. What are the students like? I get this question from time to time. It is a good question, because I get to talk about what they are, and what they are not. I’ve had students who take spring break trips to Jamaica, but not the tourist part, the part where they go do mission work. I have students who’ll spend a summer involved in third-world countries, doing their part against this or donating to that. They are, by and large, extremely motivated, caring people.

And then I get to share anecdotes like this one that President Westmoreland shared today:

One night last week this post appeared on the Samford Facebook page:

“I’m a Homewood PD Officer. I was in the drive thru at McDonalds last night about midnight – I work night shift -to grab a quick dinner. There was a car load of Samford students in front of me. When I got to the window to pay I was informed that the students had paid for my meal. It was a small gesture but it was a bright spot in my shift. Please share this on the page – with any luck they will see it and know it was greatly appreciated.”

In class today we discussed movies and the trade publications of journalism. A student stayed late to work on her foreign language homework. Two others were designing an advertisement sample.

I saw a former student who is shooting a video package and we talked about his summer plans covering political activism in Washington D.C. He’s interning at a church right now, too. Multiple internships are important these days.

Most are drawn to hard work, which suggests they can be successful. They all seem to come from places that make them care about the things around them, which gives me great hope that they might all be content.

If, that is, I warn them about this delete function in WordPress before it is too late.

I’ve forgotten this, but we’ll make up for it now. Normally I add these links at the end of the week, just to be synergistic, but have neglected to do so the last several weeks. So here are things I’ve posted on my campus blog:

Five things to count on and remember in big stories

What do journalists do if the 3G network is down?

Don’t get absorbed in this Twitter mystery, this isn’t the Zapruder film

What mobile isn’t

Harnessing the power of crowdsourcing over West, Texas

Studying the atmosphere in West, Texas

Beware the television GFX error

The key skill of modern journalism, according to Jarvis

Layout: how not to do it

Sometimes less is more

Also there are two new images on my Tumblr blog, which has once again returned to action. The first one is here, and has a long quote, which all the Tumblr kids go crazy about. The second one is a drawing involving babies and hearts. What’s not to love?

And, of course, there is always much more on Twitter as well. Tomorrow, more Tuesday than anyone knows what to do with, also the spring picnic!

Tumblr / Twitter / Wednesday / friends / music / video — Comments Off
27
Mar 13

Better than Taylor Swift

I’ve been quite busy today, so there’s not a lot to share here.

You won’t need anything after this, though:

That’s from my friend Victoria Cumbow.

Three new pictures on Tumblr, here and here and here. There are other things on Twitter. There is nothing else here.

Until tomorrow.

Tuesday / Tumblr / Twitter / journalism / links / video — Comments Off
26
Mar 13

Amateurish, unless the right person does it

Here’s something insulting:

Some journalists are starting to renew attention to an old storytelling form — “the one-shot” technique.

Rather than editing together dozens or even hundreds of shots to tell a video story, the one-shot story uses just one shot, sometimes a couple of minutes long, to tell a story. A reporter drops in sections of voiced-over track to fill in the gaps or explain information the viewer might not know. It sounds amateurish, even YouTube-ish, until you see a journalist like John Sharify use it.

Because the videos you make aren’t good. Unless you are a reporter.

This is the example that column uses. Be the judge:

It doesn’t do anything for me. It comes off like a reporter trying to walk up to a post, which is amateurish, unless a DJ does it. And he doesn’t have a lot to say, except for repetition, which maybe doubles for emotion. But that just feels like someone who is unprepared.

But at least a journalist did it, saving us from so much YouTube.

Here’s a story from Madison, Ala., where Easter is too … Eastery for one principal:

The power went out in Homewood tonight. So I ducked out for dinner, only the power was out. No intersections had lights. No restaurants could run their neon or their kitchens. People took it in stride. They knew it was coming back on eventually. So I went downtown and finally settled on a calzone at Mellow Mushroom. It was silly to say, but I ordered the Italian Stallion, and it was flavorful.

Then I was able to watch the soccer match:

Just the second point the Americans have ever earned at Azteca. Even if Mexico is playing bizarrely uncharacteristic soccer right now — nothing I saw made sense at least — you take the point toward World Cup qualifying.

Two of the weakest things I’ve put on Tumblr, here and here. There’s also a lot more of useful things on Twitter. Be sure to check that out.

That’s all for now. More tomorrow, have a great evening!

Monday / Samford / Tumblr / Twitter / cycling / food / movies / music / video — Comments Off
25
Mar 13

Ode to flashmobs

We have half the grapes that we started the day with. And one less navel orange. Also, the leftover spaghetti from last night disappeared. And then I was full for about an hour. But white grapes only last so long and I had to talk myself out of an extra lunch. Miles on the bike speed up the metabolism, or so I tell myself, and I want to eat everything.

Strange since my energy was all over the place yesterday. I chased The Yankee around town, counting my second, third and fourth wind. These things should be more predictable, but yesterday I was left amazed at how I couldn’t find my legs to get over this hill, but soft-pedaled over the next one, with my legs feeling bored with it all. The body is an amazing thing, and a body on a bicycle is a curious miracle, all balance and whirring and swaying and moving forward. I’m not a good cyclist. Usually I do well just to stay upright. Balance and whirring and all that. At my best moments I’m either trying to make nice little circles with my feet or, if I’ve given up on that, I just try to make it all look casual. That’s also impossible.

But, 30 more miles yesterday, and I really need to start putting more miles back in. We got home just as the wind picked up. She’d forecast the afternoon perfectly. Meteorologists call her for input, or they should.

And now back to work today, the cold week of spring break is over, replaced by a cold regular week.

In class today we talked about films, which means a lot of clips of special effects. One of the students found a five minute EXPLOSIONGANZA of CGI that just melted everyone’s brains. Oh, for a few scenes of expository. Or even a Stallone quote.

When they talk about film they also talk about awards, which everyone loves except me, apparently. I’m fine with it. I did enjoy the Oscars poster someone showed off. It had the statue in the foreground surrounded by floating lines from memorable award winners. I saw this famous line and thought about adding in some running commentary — we’d recently talked about civil rights, the 50th anniversary of various events in Birmingham and across the south, how critical a time that was and how there is such a great museum just over the mountain — so bringing up In the Heat of the Night would have been perfect.

I decided against it. I’m not sure kids born in the 1990s would understand 1960s Mississippi and why all of this was so important. Even the television show was off the air by the time my oldest student was born. Sidney Poitier, though, he just gives you more every time you watch that quiet moment.

Everyone always remembers this, perhaps a cinematic first:

They filmed most of In the Heat of the Night in Illinois because of conditions in Mississippi. The country’s come a long way in those two generations.

There are two new things on Tumblr today. One is here. This is the other one.

I call that Tumblr page “Extra stuff in an extra place.” That is, perhaps, the most apt thing I’ve ever written.

And, finally, I’ve watched this twice now. It will be the best five minutes of your day on the web.

If you’ve never read the Wikipedia entry on Ode to Joy, you should.

Back to work for me, have a lovely evening you. See you tomorrow, when there will be more on Tumblr, more here, always more on Twitter, another Glomerata and who knows what else we can find.