Wednesday

I do not know what is happening. / journalism / links / memories / photo / Samford / swimming / Twitter / video / Wednesday — Comments Off on I have an idea about noodles
10
Sep 14

I have an idea about noodles

One of my favorite memories of journalism classes as an undergrad was watching the story ideas form. I wasn’t a natural. I think some people are, and others can be taught. Some people have the ideas spring forth, but others have to work on it. Until I learned to come up with a reliable story idea process, I was enthralled by listening to others just riff off ideas.

That’s not right. I’m still impressed listening to really talented, curious, passionate people spit out story ideas.

So this is, perhaps, my favorite part of the semester. We’ve been discussing this in class. Today I broke them all up into groups and requested, nay, demanded story ideas. And once we got just around the corner from the traditional campus issues of parking and tuition, they had some good ones.

Next I’m going to make them put them into practice.

One of the ideas was the new cafeteria vendors. Things have changed. Some people find the food tastier. Others have pointed out there is an awful lot more pasta. To me, the food varies from decent to bland, with fewer options — once you remove the bushels of pasta. And there seems to be more chaos in the food serving area.

Also, this:

sign

Surely we can do better than that.

I swam again today, about three-quarters of a mile, or 1,300 yards. My flip turns, new yesterday, looked basically the same today. Off-kilter, untargeted and more power than grace. But, hey, it seems to get me back down the lane a bit faster.

Also they are slow. And I forget to look for my knees, which probably explains a lot of the above. But, on those flip turns when I go down more than out I must also come up, which, I think, has the look a whale breach. That amuses me.

I hope no one else is looking.

This evening there were Crimson meetings, where we discussed the story they had on the changes in the cafeteria. It is a popular topic. Today’s was the first issue of the year, and in their critiques I got to brag on them a great deal. The paper looks pretty great for a first effort. There are some things they’ll work on, but there are always things to work on. I’m very pleased, I told them, about where they are starting. They have great potential for the year ahead — and so now I will challenge them.

Anyway, we did not discuss the sign above, but the pasta did come up.

The vendor, Sodexo, says they surveyed students on the campus where they have contracts and found that students wanted more of the stuff, so we have tons of carbs. There’s a lot of pasta in the cafeteria.

Things to read … which is as easy to boil up as spaghetti.

Man, I need a good drone. This was shot by my friend and a Samford grad, soaring high above campus. (He appears several times as the drone does flybys.) It is pretty awesome:

This was a terrific story last winter. Now it is heartbreaking, and touching … Patient saved by doctor who walked six miles in snow to perform brain surgery on him has died:

The couple have seen the doctor several times since the incident, and he always told the doctor how much he appreciated what he did, Andrea said.

“God and Dr. Hyrnkiw gave us an extra six months,” said Andrea Robinson. “And I can see why God gave me those extra six months.”

Did you watch anything from the Apple event? Interested in the mobile payments that were discussed. It is a game changer, as Alan Mutter explained years ago … Get ready for mobile payments

It was fun while it lasted … Twitter CFO says a Facebook-style filtered feed is coming, whether you like it or not:

At a financial conference on Wednesday in New York, the CFO provided some hints about the feature roadmap that new head of product Daniel Graf — who came to Twitter from Google in April — has in mind for the service, a list that includes better search and a move into group chat. But he also suggested that the traditional reverse-chronological user stream could become a thing of the past, as the company tries to improve its relevance.

[…]

The most recent example of how stark the differences can be between a filtered feed and an unfiltered one was the unrest in Ferguson, Mo. and how that showed up so dramatically on Twitter but was barely present for most users of Facebook. As sociologist Zeynep Tufekci noted, that kind of filtering has social consequences — and journalism professor Emily Bell pointed out that doing this makes Facebook and Twitter into information gatekeepers in much the same way newspapers used to be.

The impetus for Twitter to filter is obvious: the service needs to show growth in both number of users and engagement in order to satisfy investors, and finding relevant content as a new user can be a challenge, which is why the company recently updated its so-called “on-boarding” process.

I’d hope there would be a classic version. I count myself in the group of users who have spent a fair amount of time developing a well-curated Twitter stream, and now they’ll turn it into Facebook. And, you’ll see in other stories, let you buy stuff directly from your feed. The ultimate impulse purchase!

The only thing I’d want would be to purchase the original Twitter format, chronological and curated by humans, me.

But that’s a complaint for a different day. Today I can only complain about my flip turns. And the pasta.

links / Samford / things to read / video / Wednesday — Comments Off on That’s a question, sure thing
3
Sep 14

That’s a question, sure thing

There is such a thing as a stupid question. Quora has found it:

Is it safe to do the ALS ice bucket challenge with liquid nitrogen instead of ice water?

But, hey, at least someone thought to ask. One wonders if they simultaneously have access to liquid nitrogen and were unsure about the specific properties of the stuff. Happily, most of the answers have to do with experience in laboratories and an explanation of the Leidenfrost effect. Only one answer goes superlative, along the lines of “sure, if you want to die.”

Mr. Freeze aside, the question was asked, and answered. The question even referenced Leidenfrost. So, yes, stupid question.

Glad it wasn’t asked over at Yahoo Answers, the land of enchantedly silly questions.

Class today. Meetings today. Meetings into the night. It was a full, full day. Quora helped. Yahoo Answers never helps.

Things to read … because even when you read only this much, it helps.

Cyber attacks on hospitals rising 600 percent:

The computer networks of hospitals and health systems that hold millions of patient records and valuable personal information are quickly becoming a favorite target for hackers.

A recent report from security research firm Websense finds that while attempted cyber attacks are on the rise in many industries, the amount of digital invasions on hospitals is unparalleled and has risen 600 percent in the last 10 months.

Just in time for all those medical records in the cloud. Should be fun.

Why Interactives are the Next Big Thing in Content Marketing:

Interactive graphics, or ‘interactives’ for short, are like the Transformers of visual content: They can take on a variety of forms. You can find an interactive that’s a microsite, dashboard, or a map, to name a few. But at the core, they’re all visualizations that allow viewers to explore the information presented for themselves.

By definition, interactives engage viewers in a very active way – and that engagement can be incredibly powerful to marketers. People viewing interactives spend more time on the page, seeing a brand associated with content that interests them, all at their own pace.

[…]There are three situations where making an interactive is the way to go: (1) complex data visualization, (2) personalized branded content, and (3) customized product explainers.

Fortunately, there is already a brilliant visualized explainer to answer the question above. Enjoy:

More tomorrow.

football / journalism / links / running / Samford / things to read / video / Wednesday — Comments Off on First down
27
Aug 14

First down

Started my morning with a run. I got in a nice 5K before a series of meetings — fortunately, there were no meetings about meetings. My workday also ended with meetings about social media. In between, I gave a lecture on the “changing concepts of news.” I started around the muckrackers at McClure’s and worked up to the modern moment. In 2015, remember, Back to the Future II showed us flying robot reporters working for USA Today.

We talked a bit about the Oculus Rift work. I showed them the latest androids being developed in Japan:

Think about all of the changes that have taken place in journalism and storytelling in the last 40 years, I said. Imagine what it will look like toward the end of your career, in another 40 years.

That android, that so many of them thought to be odd or creepy today, will be positively old fashioned by then.

Things to read … because reading will never go out of style.

(We hope.)

How the news upstarts covered ISIS:

The rallying cry for those bemoaning the demise of newspapers was, “Without The New York Times, who would cover Iraq?” Well, quite a few places, it turns out.

As traditional media companies have scaled back their foreign bureaus, newer news organizations like Vice and BuzzFeed have expanded their mandate to fill the void. (Not included in this review is Global Post, the online startup that James Foley worked for, since it started with the express purpose of covering foreign news.) But can a bunch of relatively small upstarts cover the world’s hot spots? ISIS, one of the year’s biggest stories, is as good a test case as any to see how five have been doing it.

Here’s more pessimism for print advertising:

For newspapers, continued print advertising declines will mean more pressure on circulation (print subscribers and paywalls) or new revenue (digital marketing services, events) to make up the difference. Most likely, they won’t, and we’ll see more cuts.

If the rate of print ad decline does slow in 2015 (from 8.9 percent down to 6.2 percent down), that would be…semi-good news, I guess, after several years of drops in the high single digits? But there’s nothing here to predict a leveling off, much less a return to growth.

The ‘guiding principles’ of Quartz redesign

The Miami Herald’s new publisher is moving the paper a bit closer towards irrelevancy

VA ‘Oscar the Grouch’ training angers vets:

The beleaguered Department of Veterans Affairs depicted dissatisfied veterans as Oscar the Grouch in a recent internal training guide, and some vets and VA staffers said Tuesday that they feel trashed.

The cranky Sesame Street character who lives in a garbage can was used in reference to veterans who will attend town-hall events Wednesday in Philadelphia.

“There is no time or place to make light of the current crisis that the VA is in,” said Joe Davis, a national spokesman for the VFW. “And especially to insult the VA’s primary customer.”

These people will apparently not get it. And its a delightful little series of events to which we can all look forward.

The first college football game of the year was tonight. This guy was the referee:

referee

I hadn’t realized that Boyd Crowder had taken on a side job:

Justified should be back around January. But football is here now. Hooray football.

cycling / iPhone / journalism / links / photo / things to read / Wednesday — Comments Off on I would ride 5,000 more
20
Aug 14

I would ride 5,000 more

I choose the routes for all manner of different reasons. Sometimes, admitting my deficiency on climbs, I’ll set out for the biggest “hills” we have around here. On another day, hoping to feel fast, I’ll find an easier route. Boredom, adventure, the name of a road, a fleeting thought or spontaneity can all decide the plan.

Last night, though, I knew today’s ride would be a special one, so I set out for what would be a nice photograph. I broke 5,000 miles on my odometer and I didn’t want to do that in a neighborhood. I planned, instead, to find a nice quiet, woody road.

And I still managed to wind up by this silly little carport:

road

That’s the way it goes sometimes, I guess. That’s the view ahead. This is the view from whence I just came:

road

And here’s my proof:

Odometer

Did it all on this little guy:

bike

I’ve had a lot of fun on that bike. I’ve suffered on it, too. It has hurt me and I don’t think I’ve ever made it flinch. Sometimes it carries me along, more frequently I’m having to convince it I can ride. Occasionally, I feel like I need a new bike. It is a little undersized and sometimes (or perhaps in the same vein) I can generate more power than others and it feels shaky. But that’s a fine ride. Shame the cyclist isn’t better.

I’m also a little embarrassed by how long it took to get to 5,000 miles. Must ride more.

Things to read … because we should also read more, too.

This is interesting, How a Copyright Dispute Helped Give America Rock ‘n’ Roll:

We associate iconic musicians and musical genres with places, stars, and cultural narratives. Less often we recognize the markets and economic forces shaping popular music’s trajectory. But in 1940-41, a dispute over music royalties brought music once relegated to local audiences to national radio, spurring the popularity of blues, country, and, ultimately, rock ‘n’ roll. Were it not for a battle over how much radio should pay for music royalties, performers like Ray Charles and Elvis Presley may have never become classic American musicians.

[…]

The boycott lasted for almost a year. In late 1941, ASCAP signed an agreement with radio stations at terms less generous than it had before the boycott. The Justice Department also sued ASCAP again on antitrust grounds. This time ASCAP lost, and it was forced to accept regulations that opened it up to other musicians and set blanket rates for licensing deemed fair by third parties.

With the gatekeeper gone, the new genres maintained their national audience and anointed new stars, including the first rock and roll icons in the following years, a development that grew out of the once neglected genres like blues.

There is a lot to process here, and it is worth your time. This is a fine collection of information from the New York Times. The Iraq-ISIS Conflict in Maps, Photos and Video

Here’s another informative piece with some good takeaways. How a Norwegian public radio station is using Snapchat to connect young listeners with news

I’ll be honest, this one — Journalism Digital News Archive — had me at the pull quote:

“We should have had a historian running around saying ‘I don’t care if you are ever going to use them — we are going to keep them.'”

Alabama biz taxes account for 47.5% of all state and local taxes:

That represented an 1.8 percent increase from the previous fiscal year, giving it the ninth lowest state and local business tax growth in the U.S.

It works out to $7.2 billion dollars last year.

Meanwhile, Baxter International adding 200 new jobs in Opelika by 2016, means a $300 million 230,000-square-foot expansion for the dialyzer manufacturing facility.

cycling / family / food / history / iPhone / journalism / links / photo / things to read / Twitter / Wednesday — 1 Comment
13
Aug 14

A 60 year-old ad, a new sign, a race and food

Last night’s adventures in insomnia included this guy.

Jim

That’s my great-great grandfather, Jim. He was born in the winter of 1871, a year when the crops didn’t come in and the cotton caterpillars ravaged what was there. Jim married Sarah in 1904 and and they lived on a farm that her grandfather bought in 1854. They had 11 children. He died in 1953, his wife in 1970. So while I don’t know them, I did meet one of their kid’s, my great-grandfather. But I don’t remember him. My grandmother remembers her grandparents well, but I don’t know much more than what you find in this paragraph beyond where he’s buried. I do like that bicycle, though. So I found some old newspapers online and I’m looking for mentions, but turn up nothing.

I did find this, though:

In 1953 the church ads told you what the evening’s sermon was going to be about. This one wasn’t about Old Hickory Bourbon, or temperance. The topic was “A Methodist sermon by a Baptist preacher.” A different church had an ad in the next day’s paper, the preacher had promised to answer the question of a generation, “Should a woman wear a hat to church?”

The pressing stuff of their time.

I guess that branch of my family didn’t believe in obituaries, or care for the local paper. I don’t find a mention of him there. Otherwise, he must have been the quiet type. You don’t get in the paper until you do something wrong or something bad happens. Maybe that’s a good sign for the couple.

On my bike ride today, something of a casual ride around the greater neighborhood just to get in a few miles, I passed one of the better church signs I know. They’ve got personality here, as noted by most any previous message, one of the best in recent memory suggesting that you bring your sin and “drop it like it’s hot.”

This week’s note:

sign

It is a quiet little church, a lovely little place:

church

I also learned during this ride that I was on one of the local segments that the cycling apps chart as races. Without knowing it, I currently have the eighth fastest time on it for the year. I’ll have to try it again tomorrow to see if I can go any faster.

For dinner, we grilled pork chops and had beans which we discovered a few weeks ago:

dinner

I said to the lady that made them, a family friend, “You must give me your recipe or — ” which was the moment a look of embarrassment crossed her face. ” — or tell me what brand they are, because they are just about the best beans I’ve ever had.”

And they were. And they are. Also, they are from a can — Margaret Holmes. We discovered we didn’t necessarily need the lard — which is fine. The lady that made them, she’s a retired school teacher. She told me that her father, a man I knew a bit, was so old-fashioned the type that would not allow anything in his home that involved shortcuts. In this case that meant no canned foods. He made an exception for Margaret Holmes.

That’s an endorsement.

Things to read … because there’s probably something worth endorsing in here somewhere.

First, the journalism stuff:

How digital retailing could roil local media

Solving the Journalism Riddle — Somehow

Radio Disney Moving Off Air to Digital

If Disney is making that move …

Closer to home, 108 immigrant children relocated to Alabama in last 3 weeks:

Included among the children are those from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador who have crossed into the U.S. as part of a massive wave of immigration that has set off a humanitarian crisis and political firestorm.

The data does not include information on where the children were placed or whether they are residing with family members or foster care. The children will remain with the sponsors until a judge orders they be deported; until they turn 18 and are transferred back to DHS; or they are given permission to stay by immigrantion courts.

Finally, Ferguson:

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