Turned in the last paper after having a Microsoft Word crash at 24 pages and 5,400 words. Good thing I’d just saved the document. Shame the autosave feature doesn’t function correctly.
I pasted my references into the paper and then watched the pinwheel of doom appear. I re-opened Word, confident that I’d just pressed the Command-S, and found an old version of the paper. Well then. This is the auto restore function, which picks a version of the from about three hours ago. So I closed that, opened the file in the traditional way and found my updated paper. For the most part. I had to re-make a few changes, despite the save. This is a level of aggravation you don’t need after six consecutive hours focusing on one project.
I’ve been told I expect to much, but Microsoft, which has been in the word processing game for some time now, shouldn’t have problems of this nature.
Yes, I expect it to work.
Got everything fixed, though, properly formatted and sent away. With time to spare!
So dinner was late, but the paper was on time. And that’s been my day: a 15-mile bike ride, reading, thinking, writing, editing and dealing with technology.
And now for this week’s YouTube Cover Theater, where we sample the talent playing in their homes for the adoring crowds of their webcam and random people on the Internet.
This week’s feature artist is Sam Cooke. Why? Because I couldn’t find enough Gene Vincent covers. (The world has enough Be Bop A lula. Let’s try some variety, Internet!)
Kiersten Holine is actually an independent artist — she’s selling a demo and an EP on her site — which is a bit at odds with the YouTube Cover Theater premise. But who cares, this sounds great:
Sayaka Alessandra is a Japanese-Sicilian Italian (I love those combinations and always wonder: how did your parents get together?) who’s bio starts “Sayaka Alessandra started her singing career on YouTube recording cover songs of many various artists … Since being discovered on YouTube Sayaka has gone on to sing in Café’s, Lounges and outdoor venues.” So that’s in keeping with the premise …
And now, two guys sitting in an apartment:
And for the second night in a row, I’m going to bed at a respectable hour. No need to check my temperature. I’m fine.
Where did you have breakfast this morning? Was it on a table like this?
It’s based on Microsoft’s Surface technology, modified by the R&D Lab to create a Times-oriented user experience that reimagines the old “around the breakfast table” reading of the paper. You’ll notice that, in the demo, news is both highly personal and highly social — and that the line between “consumer” and “news consumer” is a thin one. Ads look pretty much the way we’re used to them looking, but they’re also integrated into the tabletop flow of information.
And news itself, in the same way, collapses into the broader universe of information.
Who has time for reading with breakfast? I suspect the biggest opponent will be the television, which may be hard to uproot in the short term.
The ad integration is nice. The curation, either human or algorithm, is even more important in this model.
The first time Bill Gates demoed this premise it was incredible to conceive. Now the interface just looks more and more like an Apple screen. Odd how that happens.
You could be reading about a Twitter libel case on your breakfast infonewstainment table one day. They’re popping up. Be aware of what you say, and of how libel laws work.
Journalists who manage to get that addition to their breakfast nook may be spending a lot of bagel time over LinkedIn.
A new survey from Arketi Group found that the percent of journalists on LinkedIn has increased from 85 percent in 2009. Why?
LinkedIn provides an easy way for reporters to connect with sources.
“It comes as no surprise more BtoB journalists are participating in social media sites, especially LinkedIn,” Mike Neumeier, principal of Arketi Group, says, “LinkedIn provides an online outlet for them to connect with industry sources, find story leads and build their professional networks.”
While more journalists are on LinkedIn than any other social network, they have increased their presence on other networks, too. The survey found that 85 percent of journalists are on Facebook and 84 percent use Twitter. Only 55 percent of journalists used Facebook in 2009, and 24 percent were on Twitter.
Google+ should be included in there too, because it will work very well once it gets passed the early adoption stage. Also, as one commenter under that report notes, there is a difference between having an account and using it. I personally use LinkedIn only sparingly. And yet I get more mail from them than anyone.
Quick hits: Kentucky athletics cracks down on student reporters. (Now with an update.) There’s a bit of muscle flexing from the SIDs and a big reaction from the student-journalists (and the APSE and SPJ). The first in a big wave of 10th anniversary stories coming up, this one examining how we’ve changed since Sept. 11th. Answer: Far more than we’d like. One hundred story ideas, nice feature idea for when you’re reaching for copy. And Forbes personalizes the Washington Post’s infographics designer.
Finally, the Associated Collegiate Press’ multimedia story of the year finalists. All of them are worth checking out. Many are worth studying for inspiration. Great work by busy student-journalists in there.
To celebrate the kickoff of the 2011 football season, here’s a picture from every week of Auburn’s championship 2010 season.
Kodi Burns, quarterback turned receiver, scores the first touchdown of the season against Arkansas State, beating the visiting Indian-Red Wolves 52-26. The obscuring shaker just adds to the atmosphere:
Auburn was on the road for their second game, a 17-14 win over conference foe Mississippi State:
The legend of Cam Newton begins in the 27-24 overtime win over visiting Clemson. After only three games he’d amassed 315 yards rushing, 525 yards passing and nine touchdowns. Even still, Clemson had to miss a field goal to allow Auburn to escape from their biggest scare of the early season.
Auburn rallied past South Carolina. Linebacker Josh Bynes forced this fumble and secured an interception, each helping to turn the tide in a 35-27 victory. Cam Newton would be responsible for all five of Auburn’s scores, on the ground or through the air. Freshman tailback Michael Dyer gained 100 yards, proving to college football onlookers that the Tigers suddenly had too many weapons to defend.
Auburn, now in top 10, improved to 5-0 with a tuneup win over Louisiana Monroe 52-3.
Auburn traveled to Kentucky and escaped the Bluegrass State on a Wes Byrum field goal as time expired. The Tigers orchestrated a 19-play, 86-yard drive in the final 7:22 to set up the game-winner. The 37-34 victory has been somewhat forgotten. All of these big scores, though, were only foreshadowing.
The game the scoreboard broke. Arkansas and Auburn set an SEC record for points scored in a regulation game. When everyone recovered from heart palpitations they discovered the guys in blue had emerged with a 65-43 victory that was a lot closer than the score suggested. Arkansas lost their starting quarterback early. No matter, the backup tossed it around for 332 yards and four scores. But in the end the stir he created was the man who would begin to show his Heisman bona fides. Cam Newton rushed for 188 yards and three scores and threw for 140 more yards and another score.
And finally doubters would be satisfied. LSU brought one of the best defenses in the country into Jordan-Hare Stadium, and they were torched for 526 total yards, 440 of which Auburn gathered on the ground. Mike Dyer collected 100 yards rushing, but the man of the hour was the man wearing the number two.
That’s the end of this famous run:
A thing of beauty is a joy forever.
After gunning down Arkansas and running over LSU, the season definitely took on a special feel. Up next was Ole Miss, who were just a mascot-less speed bump in the way of a juggernaut. Ole Miss was looking for a Halloween surprise, dressing up as a football team (albeit in new, gray unis) but Auburn took the win in Oxford 51-31. Cam Newton caught a touchdown pass from Kodi Burns. The Tigers were showing themselves to be:
Up next was Homecoming. Auburn hosted Tennessee-Chattanooga 62-24, improving to 10-0 on the season, ranked third in the nation and put up statistical superlatives across the board. Cam Newton, in just 30 minutes of play, set a personal best for passing yards. The Tigers put up 484 of offense in the first half, and eclipsed 600 yards offense for the second time of the season. It was the fifth time they’d scored more than 50 points on the season. Terrell Zachery found a career high for receiving yards, including this 80-yard touchdown reception.
Auburn clinched their appearance in the SEC Championship game in a 49-31 victory over Georgia in a controversial reunion of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry. And by controversial I mean that Auburn’s Nick Fairley had one late hit, was flagged for it, and Georgia whined and whimpered about it for the rest of the game. Then they tried to take him out late in the contest, which prompted a fight. Most of Georgia’s sideline stormed the field. Two of Auburn’s players were ejected in garbage time (and suspended for the first half of the upcoming Iron Bowl) and despite all of that, Auburn still won and Georgia looked like poor losers.
But on the day when Auburn earned the right to go to Atlanta, the Tigers’ offensive line deserved special recognition. Guys like Cameron Newton, well on his way to the Heisman Trophy, wouldn’t have accomplished all he did on the field without these guys:
Same story for Mike Dyer, who would in the Georgia game break Bo Jackson’s freshman rushing record:
And the same shot, as told by AUHD:
It was simultaneously the biggest choke ever by Alabama and the largest comeback by Auburn, as the Tigers finished their regular season a perfect 12-0 after the 28-27 victory.
In a year full of tremendous efforts, Antoine Carter may have saved the season on this play, shifting the momentum of the game inexorably into Auburn’s favor:
Some time after this a deranged individual would prove his poor decision making and self-worth by poisoning the trees at Toomer’s Corner.
But before we knew that, it felt like this:
Half of Auburn was in Atlanta for the SEC Championship game against South Carolina. More of us were in the new Auburn Arena to watch a simulcast. The Tigers played their most complete game of the season, proving themselves a force while winning their first SEC Championship since 2004. Auburn thumped Steve Spurrier’s Gamecocks 52-17. More than a few of us grew misty-eyed when the score became 49-14 and we realized these Tigers would have a shot at football glory.
That night I wrote “For 1983, 1993 and 2004. For 270,000 alumni. For every coach and player from Shug to Gene. For Auburn and for ol’ API.”
The state’s newspapers the next day:
A month later Auburn faced Oregon in Arizona and brought home the national championship after Mike Dyer’s run:
… which was exhausting, and Wes Byrum lined up behind senior backup quarterback Neil Caudle to cinch the win:
Kodi Burns, the quarterback who so famously and selflessly said he’d move to wide receiver, unifying the team behind eventual Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton, scored the first touchdown in the season and the first touchdown in this game. From September through January, this team was a joy to watch.
And then there was the final celebration of the year at Toomer’s Corner:
War Eagle, and let’s kick off 2011.
iPhone / photo / video / Wednesday — Comments Off on Hours and hours passing cell phone towers 24 Aug 11
We’re spending a lot of time lately talking about curation. No one is better than Andy Carvin, who’s told us all about the Arab Spring from his home. This piece is aimed at higher ed, but it is a valuable read for journalists, journalism students and social media dabblers.
Amid the political upheaval in the Middle East over the past several weeks, a dependable source of information has been Andy Carvin (@acarvin), NPR’s senior social media strategist. But he’s not reporting out of Tripoli or Cairo. Rather, he’s tweeting from his Maryland home, often while his kids watch TV in the background and cats vie for attention at his feet.
Carvin, whom one Metafilter thread dubbed “Curator of the Revolution,” has been tweeting updates from sources who are on the ground in the various countries—Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and elsewhere—that have seen uprisings as of late. In doing so, he’s become something of a poster child for content curation.
The Atlantic hailed Carvin as an example of how curation is the new journalism. Carvin told the magazine, “Curation itself isn’t new; it’s just the way that some of us are doing it online that’s fairly new. The tools have evolved, but the goal of capturing a story and turning people’s attention to it isn’t.”
During the deadly April tornadoes in Alabama someone erroneously called me the Andy Carvin of the storm. That was too much flattery, but the effort and purpose were the same. Here’s an archive of I wrote during the twisters.
How does one calculate and measure all of the things we do online? This is an evolving science. It wasn’t long ago that we were quantifying what had happened on the site the day before or a few hours ago. Now the phrase you’ll need to know is big data …
The next wave of tools claim to use a crystal ball of website data and patterns to see the future. And they promise to help news publishers squeeze more money out of the content they already produce.
One of these is Visual Revenue, a product launched this year that gives an editor “a new best friend sitting across the table,” according to founder and CEO Dennis Mortensen.
“We created this model where I can take any piece of content created over the last day or two days … and model how well that’s going to perform in any given position … about 15 minutes into the future.” Mortensen said. “And since we know how well the future is going to play out, we can come up with a set of very specific recommendations about what to put where, for how long.”
[…]
Another new product is called JumpTime Traffic Valuator, founded by people with backgrounds at major media companies such as Yahoo and MTV. It focuses on the revenue potential of each page on a site, showing a publisher how much money each article and each piece of page real estate is generating.
And so on.
There’s going to be a great use of such predictive metrics. What will human hands be motivated by when influenced by this software? An algorithm that tells them how and what to publish? An algorithm that tells editors what will make money? These become thorny issues to contemplate in a new digital ethic.
Only one in five mobile ad campaigns used targeting by location in the second quarter of this year, according to a report from the Millenial Media ad network.
Almost as many ad campaigns (19 percent) used demographic targeting (by age and gender of the user, for example). A smaller share (6 percent) used behavioral targeting. A majority (55 percent) were not targeted and simply sought to raise broad awareness of the advertiser — commonly thought of as “branding” campaigns.
On the consumer side, only 14 percent of mobile device users favor receiving promotions based on their current location, according to a survey of 2,000 American adults using cellphones by mobile marketing firm Upstream.
This doesn’t surprise me much. First, there are actually times when you don’t want text messages or push notifications. And there are moments when we are not actually staring into our phone. What’s more, according to my entirely unscientific study, none of my college students like the implications of mobile advertising. They find it a little icky. (Technical term.)
Pedagogy: Using a blog as an independent study. Great idea, and the execution of it should be rigorous.
And that leads us into the last few items, all of which work together, after a time.
Does it matter where a story comes from, as long as it makes the news? Apparently it doesn’t matter at all, to many of the latest crop of journalism students who believe their smart phones hold the keys to truth.
[…]
Today’s journalism students are like no other, in that they were born with a smartphone in one hand and ear pods in the other. The world comes to them, not the other way around. I did not expect that this would have a profound effect on their approach to newsgathering — after all, writing the news is simply the act of telling a story objectively and very well — but it has.
[…]
At first I was horrified. Then I realized they never have known a time when information was not immediate and in their face, screaming for attention. When there is so much of it, a person begins to believe it’s real, no matter where it comes from. But that doesn’t make it accurate.
[…]
This is where I deliver the bad news: It doesn’t matter how fancy the video is, how glossy the pictures are, how compelling the mystery voices in the background may be. Be very, very careful. Step back and think about it. Your temptation is nothing new, I confess, it’s been mine, too.
I refer you back to the Carvin feature at the top of the post. How, though, does one be very, very careful? Being skeptical is a natural skill for some, but others have to learn.
Kansas State professor Michael Welsh, on critical thinking and going beyond, from knowledgeable to knowledge-able:
If you like that topic by Welsh run right out and search for more of his material. It is fascinating, direct and applicable material.
Quick hits: Understanding the psychology of Twitter, by way of infographic. How do you write about the death of an important man few have heard of? A rock ‘n’ roll obituary. Finding the emotional photograph. Local television is expanding once again. Though not to pre-cut levels.
