Archives by Subject: Media

Future speaks loudly to voice of Gilman

Originally published May 10, 2002 in the Baltimore Sun, page 1D.

The Gilman-Landon boys lacrosse game had just ended on Tuesday, and Brett Hollander finally exhaled.

His hair, which had been gelled tightly into place an hour and a half before, was disheveled. The knot on his red tie was nearly undone, and two patches of dirt marred his light-colored pants.

"I feel like I went through a war," Hollander said.

A sportscasting version, anyway.

Hollander, a junior at Gilman, is the voice of the Greyhounds, believed to be the only high school team in the area to broadcast its home games on the Internet. He will be live again today at 3:45 p.m., calling the action as Gilman faces off against archrival McDonogh.

It's not that Tuesday's game was any more eventful than any of the other games that Hollander and classmate Scott Kidder, who directs the technical aspects, have collaborated on this season.

There was the challenge of trying to stoke interest in a game that Landon ran away with, 16-7, and the responsibility to stay positive about Gilman, while still giving the Bears their due.

With no color commentator, Hollander was a one-man show, pausing only a handful of times during the 1-hour, 45-minute broadcast for seven-second station breaks. He stood throughout the game and was constantly gesticulating as he called the action. His voice was loudest when he exclaimed, "Bull's eye!" for a Gilman goal.

And, finally, there were some technical difficulties that shut things down for about 1 1/2 minutes.

That all made for one tired 17-year-old.

"When you do live stuff, that's the name of the game," Hollander said. "You need to find a way to get it back together in a hurry, and that's the thrill of it."

Hollander, a fanatical Baltimore sports booster, said he has wanted to be a sports announcer ever since he realized he would never make it as a professional baseball player. That epiphany came when he was 9.

He inquired about the prospects of calling Greyhounds games on the school's radio station when he was still a seventh-grader, but the opportunity didn't present itself until this winter.

Hollander started taping play-by-play of Gilman basketball games and the Gilman Radio Club would replay it over the cafeteria's loudspeaker the next day. Only audible on certain parts of the campus, the radio station, broadcast at a frequency of 94.3 FM, got positive feedback, and members of the club, especially Hollander and Kidder, began dreaming of bigger things.

"It is a risk to do something like this, but Scott and Brett have done a wonderful job," said John Schmick, the head of the Gilman Upper School. "They have been tremendously responsible in every step and professional in every sense of the word."

The Radio Club already had the equipment in place and raised money through advertising and donations to pay for the services of On Air Productions, a local e-marketing and Internet streaming company that puts the live broadcasts on Gilman's Web site, www.gilman.edu. That costs about $300 per game.

Kidder, the general manager of the radio station, who acknowledges having no interest in sports, wears a headset and sits to Hollander's left. He cues up commercials and mans the audio board and the telephone coupler, the two pieces of equipment that transmit the sound and send it over a phone line to the On Air Productions studio.

"The games are very stressful because it's a lot of responsibility," said Kidder, a 17-year-old Towson resident. "People just don't understand it's just two people doing this."

The feedback from Gilman alumni, players and parents has been positive. Though no numbers are available for the number of listeners for the live broadcasts, On Air Productions' data showed that the three games broadcast in April combined for more than 1,000 hits since they were archived. All of the broadcasts can be heard by going on www.gilman.edu.

"Just to hear him talking and getting attention for us, it's really incredible," said junior attackman Luke Wilson, who said his brother, who lives in San Francisco, goes online to listen to the games.

Said Gilman coach Dave Allan, whose team is 7-7: "He just seized the opportunity and has done a wonderful job. I just wish we would give him something better to talk about."

Hollander has never needed an excuse to talk, which is one of the reasons he has always wanted to be a broadcaster.

"What's better than getting paid to watch baseball games, paid to watch football games?" said Hollander, who has already decided on a career in broadcasting and will focus his college search on schools with good journalism departments. "There couldn't be a better marriage for me than broadcasting. It is perfect."

Hollander has grown up watching games with the audio muted, doing his own play-by-play into a tape recorder. Piles of tapes, each neatly labeled, line the desk in his room in his family's Guilford home.

He used to mimic former Orioles announcer Jon Miller and Johnny Holliday, who broadcasts University of Maryland football and basketball, but has since tried to develop his own style, and he has had to it with lacrosse, a sport that until recently was given little radio or television exposure. Hollander plans to announce Gilman football games over the Internet this fall.

"People say that I'm a rookie at this, but the fact of the matter is I'm not," he said. "This has always been a hobby for me."

"Brett takes this incredibly seriously," Kidder said. "Some people treat this like a hobby. Brett attacks it as a profession."

Posted in Media, gilman on September 17, 2007, 09:42 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

OMG .MOBI

The new hotness in bed-and-breakfast marketing: .mobi websites!!!

Johannes Tromp says the Web site for his South Carolina bed-and-breakfast generates good business. But last fall, he found a way to reach even more potential customers: He made a version of the site for cellphones.

Mr. Tromp signed up for a mobile Web address with the newly available suffix "dot-mobi" and used a self-starter kit from a company called Roundpoint Ltd. to build www.kilburnie.mobi, the mobile site for his Inn at Craig Farm. He says he's gotten a surprisingly good response, with 30 to 40 new calls per month from interested travelers who heard of his inn by accessing the cellphone site.

"For people to find me, I have to make myself available any way I can," says Mr. Tromp.

30 to 40 calls a month from people visiting his website on mobile devices? I call bullshit. Most decently-designed sites will degrade gracefully on blackberries and the like -- no special site needed.

But hmm... I wonder if ScottKIdder.mobi is available?!?

Mini Web Sites Target Users of Mobile Phones [WSJ]

Posted in Business, Media, advertising, rants on April 05, 2007, 03:41 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Key Dfferentiators!

Quoted from a just-received press release:

"Commercial Audio Giant's High Quality, Heavy Duty, No Fluff Products Provide Key Differentiator in Crowded Market"

I'm sold!

Posted in Business, Media, Observations, advertising, marketing on April 02, 2007, 06:00 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

"You should be sitting beside us at the table."

kellersp.jpgFrom President George Bush to New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller:

The president said quite forcefully that this program was something he regarded as part of the crown jewels of our national security, and that if we exposed it, we would be at least in part responsible, or [should] feel ourselves responsible, if there was another attack on the U.S. I think what he said was, "When we were called up to explain to Congress why there was another attack, you should be sitting beside us at the table."

(The emphasis is mine.)

From the excellent PBS Frontline documentary series Newswar.

Posted in Culture, Media, Observations, Politics on February 25, 2007, 06:28 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Disaster on the Set of Family Guy

I think I liked South Park's parody better, but this is pretty good.

Relevant:
· Back to His Roots: Diller's IAC Invests in Online Video [WSJ]

Posted in Culture, Media on February 14, 2007, 11:42 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Barack Obama's Facebook Gifts

obamafb.jpgSo, lots of people are excited about the new Facebook virtual gifts.

Has anyone noticed how many gifts Barack Obama has received? Bars of soap, teddy bears, thongs, cupcakes, and more!

Posted in Culture, Media, Politics on February 14, 2007, 12:04 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Who Cured Polio?

Paris HiltonAs part of a recent 20/20 piece on Americans' obsession with fame, students took to the streets of Boston and asked two questions:

  • Who is Nicole Richie's best friend?
  • Who cured Polio?

How many of the questions can you answer?

Posted in Media, Observations on January 07, 2007, 12:23 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Election Day!

"We got five machines -- one of them's got to work." Take that quote from an Ohio election official as your inspiration when you vote today. The Associated Press says electronic voting machines are causing headaches (and maybe stolen elections, whatever) all over the country. Some machines are just down all morning....

"I never thought I'd say this, but...can we get some help from a Web 2.0 company?

Really, right now I have more faith in a thumbs-up on Digg than in those Diebold touchscreen machines."

Nick Douglas

Posted in Culture, Media, Observations, rants on November 07, 2006, 05:51 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Breaking News!

bullAnother one of the reasons I'm cool is that I tivo Good Morning America, and watch it when I wake up, whenever that might be. This morning during the local news break the top local story was Bull on the Loose!

Am I the only one who finds this funny?

If you don't find it funny yet, the headline on their website is:

'Who let the Bull out? woof, woof, woof..'

Still not funny yet?

It happened in Newark, New Jersey!

Posted in Culture, Media, New York, Observations on November 03, 2006, 12:10 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

They Say Imitation...

defaker.gifThey at least could have copied the design better!

· Viral 'Studio 60' Gossip Blog Unlikely To Bring Up Aaron Sorkin's Problems With Drug Abuse And Mouthy Call Girls [Defamer]
· Defaker

Posted in Business, Gawker, Media, Observations, Technology, blogs on September 20, 2006, 06:24 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Veritas Airlines

From a recent piece in The Economist on what a truthful in-flight announcement would sound like:

"Your life-jacket can be found under your seat, but please do not remove it now. In fact, do not bother to look for it at all. In the event of a landing on water, an unprecedented miracle will have occurred, because in the history of aviation the number of wide-bodied aircraft that have made successful landings on water is zero. This aircraft is equipped with inflatable slides that detach to form life rafts, not that it makes any difference. Please remove high-heeled shoes before using the slides. We might as well add that space helmets and anti-gravity belts should also be removed, since even to mention the use of the slides as rafts is to enter the realm of science fiction."

· Welcome Aboad [Economist]

Posted in Media, Travel on September 10, 2006, 04:53 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Facebook's Giant Blunder

Oops FacebookThis morning, social networking megasite Facebook launched self-proclaimed "cool features" called feeds AKA stalker aides. You can see everything every one of your friends has done -- changed their relationship status, written on people's walls, changed their interests -- and exactly when they did it.

Facebookers are not happy. There are dozens of groups bashing the feature, the largest of which has over 20,000 643,000 (as of 5pm EST 9/7) members -- in under a week.

Mike Arrington got a secret preview of the features which he says will let users have "a much easier way of staying up to date on what their friends are up to." GigaOm writer Liz Gannes announces that "Facebook finally makes itself useful."

Mike and Liz: have you ever used Facebook? Not tried it out, but seriously used Facebook, day after day? This is not cool. It's one thing to stay up-to-date by seeing a friend has updated their profile. It's quite another to be able to view the history of their relationship status, and see exactly who and when they make new friends.

I feel bad for Facebook Feeds Product Manager Ruchi Sanghvi, whose name is plastered all over the anti-feeds groups and is likely receiving thousands of messages.

I feel especially bad because this mess is overshadowing Facebook Elections, which also launched last night -- and is a pretty cool feature.

My suggestion: Facebook needs to immediately make a very simple way for users to stop their items from appearing in anyone's feeds. Then, they need to publicize it. They say you can just change your privacy settings, but I don't see an option to disable feeds.

If Facebook chooses to ignore the impressive and loud feedback of its users, it may lose them.

Posted in Business, Media, Observations, rants on September 05, 2006, 07:49 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink

Searching on Wired.com

If someone can tell me how to search for an article on Wired.com, I will give them a cookie.

Posted in Design, Media, Observations, Technology, rants on August 22, 2006, 11:34 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink

Google in New York

I had a great opportunity to visit Google's New York offices yesterday. Unfortunately, I had to leave early, but what struck me the most was the consistent focus on Google's mission: organizing the world's information.

For example, someone asked why Google hasn't considered charging for content instead of having it all advertising supported. That's easy: advertising facilitates access to this information.

One other interesting thing I hadn't heard about is the idea of partner-specific pages on Google Video, like this one for Sundance. "But how do you monetize those pages?" asked someone from the audience. The answer came without hesitation: "We don't."

Posted in Business, Media, google, marketing on June 29, 2006, 12:37 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

MTV is With Leather

leathermtv.jpg

Posted in Business, Gawker, Media on June 20, 2006, 08:10 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Live Announcers

One of the things that makes me cool is my interest in local news. I've worked at Baltimore's ABC and NBC affiliates, but I certainly wasn't doing much of anything in 1987, the date of this news open.

They had a live announcer for the local news at WNBC in New York, announcing directly in front of the anchor desk -- how random yet cool.

Posted in Media, New York, Observations on May 23, 2006, 05:23 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

"I hope NBC goes broke"

I'm always interested in how the major news outlets are using blogs, and as so many call it, "joining the conversation." Sometimes, though, I wonder why they bother. Take this "blog" entry from ABC News.

The story interviewed a current air marshal and drew attention to alleged operational and management failures making, according to the marshal, the program significantly less effective.

Many of the comments praised the story. Many of the posters said they were air marshals or flight attendants.

Then, there was this:

I have been flying almost every week since May 1998. I was on a flight on 911 and held at DEN for days.
I, as well as most honest citizens see this segment for what it is. A slap at President Bush and his administration as all the liberal press has been doing since President Bush was elected.
I worked for a major airline for 34 years and after retirement worked for a air line contractor. I am extremely familiar with air marshals and procedures as well as aircraft boarding procedures. While traveling by air I never noticed marshals and I never witnessed any other passengers identifying or even mentioning air marshals.
Air travelers want the security that the air marshal program brings but that was shot all to hell by your lousy report exposing details of that program.
I am incensed by your stupidity in trying to descredit the President and his administration.
I intend to never watch you stupid network again. You have jepordized the safety of air travel in the United States by your selfserving interests at getting back at the President.
Shame on you.............I hope NBC goes broke........there are many viewers that do not appreciate you lack of interest in keeping air travel safe to further your petty attempt to "Get Bush".

Posted by: James Blue | May 19, 2006 10:36:31 PM

Well, okay, I support free speech. But the fact the poster confused ABC and NBC -- I guess they are all "liberal media" -- is, to me, representative of the quality of his comment. Not to mention the numerous spelling mistakes.

Posted in Media, Observations, Politics, blogs on May 20, 2006, 06:21 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink

London Judge Hides Secret Message in "Da Vinci Code" Ruling

You couldn't make this stuff up:

Parts of London's legal community ground to a virtual halt Thursday with lawyers turning into aspiring code-breakers as they tried to decipher a hidden message inserted into "The Da Vinci Code" trial judgment.

With the revelation that Judge Peter Smith inserted a secret code of his own into the April 7 judgment that cleared "The Da Vinci Code" author Dan Brown in his copyright infringement case, lawyers have been hustling to solve the puzzle.

· 'Da Vinci' Judgement Code Puzzles Lawyers [ABC News via AP]

Posted in Culture, Media, Observations on April 29, 2006, 04:44 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Schmap Uses Photos from Flickr

Il DuomoGot a cool email today from Schmap asking permissions to possibly use some of my photos from Florence for use in some kind of online travel guide of Florence (like this one for Rome):

Hi skidder,

I am writing to let you know that six of your photos with a
creative commons license have been short-listed for
inclusion in our Schmap Florence Guide, to be published
mid-April 2006.

Clicking this link will take you to a page where you can:
i) See which of your photos have been short-listed
ii) Submit or withdraw your photos from our final selection
phase
iii) Learn how we credit photos in our Schmap Guides
iv) Download one of our recently released Schmap Guides.

Pretty cool!

Posted in Business, Florence, Media, Observations, Photography on March 29, 2006, 04:59 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Breaking News

This just in: Celebrities under 21 go to clubs and other trendy places!!!!

Posted in Culture, Media on March 02, 2006, 01:13 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Gizmodo: Your Boxes Resource

Are these people serious? Emphasis added.

Hi,

I took a look at your site a couple of hours ago...and I want to tell you that I'd really love to trade links with you. I think http://www.gizmodo.com/ has some really good stuff related to my site's topic of boxes and would be a great resource for my visitors as it deals with some great aspects of boxes that I'd like to give my visitors more information about.

In fact, I went ahead and added your site to my Boxes Info4u website at [redacted]

Is that OK with you?

Can I ask a favor? Will you give me a link back on your site? I'd really appreciate you returning the favor. There's some html for linking back to me on my Add URL page (http://boxesinfo4u.com/addurl/).

Thanks and feel free to drop me an email if you'd like to chat more about this.

Best wishes,

Nick
Boxes Info4u
[email protected]

P.S. If you'd like the description of your site modified just drop me a line.

Posted in Gawker, Media, Observations, marketing, rants on February 22, 2006, 05:28 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

JetBlue and Las Vegas

The holidays have given me some time to do a lot of reading I've had on my wish list for a while, including Blue Streak, a well-written and interesting business biography of JetBlue.

I also managed to catch the tale end tonight of CNBC's Las Vegas, Inc, an excellent look at the mysterious business of Las Vegas.

Both are highly reccomended!

Posted in Business, Media, Observations, books, jetblue on January 02, 2006, 08:34 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Thanks, Tivo!

TivoOne of the things I got this Christmas was a Tivo -- something I'm very excited about. But what made me more excited was that even though we ordered a 40GB version, they sent a 80GB version!

Even if they don't send you a higher model than you ordered, they have a great promotion where you pay only $50 for the hardware when you prepay the monthly service for a year.

Posted in Media, Observations, Technology, tivo on December 26, 2005, 01:21 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

"No Wilma, No Rubble"

keywest-ad.jpgReading the New York Times online moments ago, I saw this ad for the Florida Keys. The Florida Keys are a beautiful place and I've spent a lot of time there, but using the destruction (and 47 deaths) of Hurricane Wilma as a selling point? Seems pretty insensitive to me.

· Hurricane Wilma [Wikipedia]

Posted in Business, Design, Media, advertising, marketing, rants on November 14, 2005, 05:59 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Skidder Networks Relaunches MGross.com, Powered by WordPress

Screenshot of Michael GrossToday Skidder Networks launches a redesign of the website of author Michael Gross. With the help of Josh and Taylor, this site has been built over the past several months. Today's launch coincides with the release of Michael's new book 740 Park.

One really cool feature is the Cast of Characters in 740 Park. It's a database full of information about all the "extraordinary group of tenants–achievers, heirs and even a couple of air-heads" that have lived in the building. You can sort the table to suit your liking and see photos and/or relevant web links about most residents.

But my favorite thing about this site is the tight integration with WordPress. With the introduction of Pages in WordPress 1.5, there's nothing to stop you from using Wordpress as a full-fledged CMS. That's exactly what we've done here.

Michael wanted an easy way to update the site himself. WordPress does just that.

Every single page on the site is created on-the-fly by WordPress.

List of pages

Even cooler, the navigation is generated on-the-fly. So, if Michael adds a page to the 740 Park section, it will appear in the 740 Park navigation bar instantly.

Using the Templating System

The templating system was so much easier than uploading files using FTP that I found myself running everything through it! I even coded the Cast of Characters script inside of WordPress.

This was my first site developed exclusively in WordPress, but you can bet it won't be my last.

Posted in Announcements, Media, Skidder Networks, WordPress on October 16, 2005, 02:46 PM | Comments (3) | Permalink

How Many Blogs Did AOL Buy, Exactly?

"In online content that ranges from music to movies, travel to tech, food to fashion, medicine to mortgages, 85 new topical websites now call AOL and AOL.com home – providing online consumers with new micro-communities where they can connect, debate, editorialize, comment, and learn."

Or so says the press release announcing AOL's purchase of WeblogsInc. WIN claims to have 85 blogging sites, but how many do they really have?

As part of my work with Gawker Media, several weeks ago I was asked to undertake an analysis of WIN's properties. I went to each site listed on their sidebar and took note of the last two posts made on that blog. I also got rid of sub-blogs (Engadget: Wireless, etc.) and personal blogs.

My count was 31. Now, mind you, 31 is still a lot! Gawker Media only has 14 sites. But 31 is not 85.

How did they have so many "blogs"?

  • For many blogs, the most recent "post" was the "Best of WeblogsInc" posts that show up on every blog every Friday. Check out the Xbox2 Weblog to see what I mean.
  • Lots of posts were crossposted on multiple blogs.
  • They counted categories within a blog as separate blogs. Engadget appears on the sidebar blog list 5 times: Engadget Cellphones, Engadget Wireless, etc.

Jason recently claimed that they were going to "retire" some of the blogs that haven't seen posts in weeks. We'll see when that happens.

Now that WeblogsInc is no longer an independent competitor to Gawker, this data isn't really confidential. You can download the spreadsheet below and see for yourself.

· WIN Analysis Spreadsheet [Excel File]

Posted in Business, Gawker, Media, blogs, marketing on October 06, 2005, 05:32 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink

WeblogsInc Sells Out to AOL for $25 Million, Gawker Staying Put

The big news today is the sale of WeblogsInc to American Online. Good news for Jason and company, great news for Gawker Media.

I've had several people mention how Jason arguably sold out too late last time and didn't want to miss the boat again. Seems like he didn't miss it this time!

The question is what will AOL do to the company?

· Weblogs Inc Being Bought Out By America Online [PaidContent]
· AOL to buy Weblogs Inc. network [Reuters via. Yahoo News]
· Technorati Search: WeblogsInc

Posted in Business, Gawker, Media, blogs on October 06, 2005, 06:05 AM | Comments (2) | Permalink

Gizmodo Now Publishing in Seven Languages

German Gizmodo!Thanks to a groundbreaking partnership with global media powerhouse VNU, today Gizmodo begins publishing in a total of seven languages. Quoting from the press release:

Under the terms of the partnership, Gizmodo’s content will be translated from English into 6 additional languages, then augmented with local coverage for each market. Besides English, Gizmodo.com now will be available in French, German, Dutch, Spanish, and Italian and covering the Belgium market in Dutch as well.

Flags will be added to the homepage at www.gizmodo.com. Other versions of Gizmodo are accessible at fr.gizmodo.com (French), es.gizmodo.com (Spain), etc.

This is huge!

· VNU Partners with Gawker Media to publish Gizmodo, the “One of a Kind” Gadget Blog across 7 Territories in Europe [VNU Press Release]

Posted in Business, Gawker, Media, blogs on October 04, 2005, 09:28 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Gothamist Music Interviews... Ashlee Simpson?

Is this for real? Is the most recent "Gothamist Band Interview" really with lip-syncing pop sensation Ashlee Simpson?

Did she really answer a question like this?

Q: "You know you've made it when..." you feel proud of yourself for working hard and doing the best you could do

Come on, Dobkin!

(Though, in other Gothamist news, Gothamist LLC seems to have launched a corporate site.)

Posted in Culture, Media, Personal, blogs, rants on September 27, 2005, 06:46 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Gawker Media Launches Comments!

Moments ago, Gawker Media launched an invite-only comments system on Gawker, Gizmodo, and Lifehacker.

Many people have long criticized us for calling our websites "blogs" while not having comments.

Maybe I have a few invites to give away?

· Gawker Comments: We’re So Tired of Being Alone, So Tired of On Our Own [Gawker]
· Step Right Up For Gizmodo Comments [Gizmodo]
· Lifehacker comments launched! [Lifehacker]

Posted in Announcements, Gawker, Media, blogs on September 23, 2005, 12:23 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink

Gawker Media Launches Deadspin, Sploid Redesign

Screenshots of Deadspin and the New SploidToday Gawker Media launches both Deadspin, our new sports blog, and a redesign of our news site Sploid. While I can't promise 80% ads or a million posts a day, hopefully you'll check them out all the same.

Wonder what comes next?

· Sploid
· Deadspin
· Sploid: Do You Like Jigsaws? [Whitespace]

Posted in Announcements, Business, Gawker, Media, Technology on September 08, 2005, 03:23 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Good Luck to the Big Easy

Screenshot: Tulane.edu unreachableIn between packing for my departure to Florence on Tuesday, I've been glued to the television watching the preparations for Hurricane Katrina.

While I wish everyone in the area the best, I wonder what has happened to the new students at Tulane preparing to move in. The storm hasn't made official landfall and Tulane's web servers are apparently already down.

I'm also interested in how New Orleans's local news media (specifically television) is getting by.

· New Orleans braces for monster hurricane [CNN]
· Hurricane Katrina targets New Orleans (good links) [Lost Remote]
· WWL evacuating to Louisiana State University [Lost Remote]

Posted in Media, News, Observations on August 29, 2005, 01:54 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink

New York Times Profiles Today's Rebellious Youth

Rebellious Youth (Photo credit: New York Times)

In today's New York Times Styles section, the rebellious youth of 2005 are profiled:

"We hang out late because there's less people around, so we can do what we want," said Devin McKenna, 17, a high school senior, who was eating cake frosting from a can. He threw the frosting high into the black night sky, letting it splatter white onto the pavement.

"See? You think I could do that in the daytime?" he said. "I'd probably hit a car or a person, and then someone would throw a fit, and we'd be in trouble again."

Uhhhh...

· The Endless Night: Hanging Out in Cars With Boys, and Girls [New York Times]

Posted in Culture, Media, Observations on August 21, 2005, 02:00 PM | Permalink

ABC's Peter Jennings Tribute

Peter JenningsI just finished watching the second half of the 2 hour, commercial-free Peter Jennings: Reporter ABC aired tonight. It was incredible. Even more surreal was hearing some of the people I worked with this past Spring talk about Peter and all he meant to them.

At the end, TV-3 (the World News Tonight/Main Studio) had its lights dimmed. A spotlight was on the anchor chair. A trumpet played the World News Tonight theme song as the camera zoomed in to the empty chair. Trying to describe this using words is such a futile attempt at communication, but it was worth a try. I hope they put parts of what aired tonight online.

I can't imagine how much work it's taken ABC News to put together a 2 hour special in just three days. I only wish I could have been one of the people that helped.

Previously: Rest in Peace, Peter Jennings

· Peter Jennings [ABC News]
· Remembering Peter: "The Most Beautiful Tribute I Have Ever Seen" [TV Newser]

Posted in Media, Personal, abc on August 11, 2005, 01:04 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Page Views versus Hits and CNN

Situation Room LogoOne of my biggest pet peeves is confusion regarding hits versus page views. A hit is recorded each time a file is accessed on the web server, whether is be a HTML document, a graphic, etc. Therefore, a page with five graphics will register at least six hits.

A page view is just that -- a page view. Hits are a relatively useless metric. It's page views or unique visits that you should be interested in (not that those metrics don't have their own problems, but that's another story).

I was watching today's premiere of The Situation Room on CNN, and while I'm thrilled to report that Inside the Blogs has been reworked and finally looks decent, the "internet reporters" told Wolf Blitzer that they'll soon have a segment showing how many hits the various blogs have in an effort to tell how many people read them.

D'oh!

· The Situation Room [CNN]
· A Look Inside 'The Situation Room' [Fishbowl DC]

Posted in Media, Technology, blogs, cnn on August 08, 2005, 05:00 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Rest in Peace, Peter Jennings

Peter JenningsWhile I was interning with ABC News this past spring, I had the privilege of watching Peter Jennings anchor World News Tonight from the glass overlooking the studio on the fourth floor.

ABC News President David Weston released a statement to ABC employees:

For four decades, Peter has been our colleague, our friend, and our leader in so many ways. None of us will be the same without him.

As you all know, Peter learned only this spring that the health problem he'd been struggling with was lung cancer. With Kayce, he moved straight into an aggressive chemotherapy treatment. He knew that it was an uphill struggle. But he faced it with realism, courage, and a firm hope that he would be one of the fortunate ones. In the end, he was not.

We will have many opportunities in the coming hours and days to remember Peter for all that he meant to us all. It cannot be overstated or captured in words alone. But for the moment, the finest tribute we can give is to continue to do the work he loved so much and inspired us to do.

I wish I watched more than once.

· Peter Jennings Dies at 67 [ABC News]
· Peter Jennings dies of lung cancer [CNN]
· Peter Jennings - Biography [ABC]

Posted in Media, abc on August 08, 2005, 12:14 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

"Interlinking Various Things on a Webpage of Sorts..."

Blog Documentary LogosSome great clips over at DocumentaryBlog.com of the documentary-in-progress on blogs. They describe their film as something to explore "the historical background of blogging."

I just watched both short clips and loved them. There's a man on the street segment where they ask people what blogging is. One person's response:

"Um, something to do with connecting news stories I think and interlinking various things on a webpage of sorts...and then adding content...and writing prefatory statements in regard to those stories."

There's also a great quote from Glenn Reynolds (Instapundit) where he describes being a "blog star" as like "being a star professional bowler."

Excellent!

· documentary:BLOG

Posted in Media, Technology, blogs on August 05, 2005, 07:11 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

A Different Online Ad

Screenshot of Banner AdSurfing Gridskipper today, this leaderboard stuck out. It's rare I see something that actually seems different.

Though, it didn't make me click on it. Alas...

Posted in Media, Technology, advertising on July 25, 2005, 08:22 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Another Day, Another CollegeHumor Article

College Humor LogoAnother glowing profile of CollegeHumor/Connected Ventures appeared in this morning's New York Times.

They have received a lot of media attention recently, in addition to signing movie and book deals. Wonder what'll come next?

In other (more important) Connected Ventures news, with my new camera, I can finally post videos on Vimeo! You have no idea how happy this makes me.

· Sophmorically Incorrect [New York Times]
· Connected Ventures

Posted in Business, Media, New York, Technology, collegehumor on July 24, 2005, 11:25 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink

Is This Actually Gossip?

Page Six LogoIsn't the New York Post's Page Six supposed to be filled with gossip? That's what I thought... until I read this about Gawker co-editor Jessica Coen:

Unknown outside the dork-infested waters of the Blogosphere, her name is Jessica Coen, and she's the co-editor of Gawker.com, where she regurgitates newspaper and magazine stories and slathers them in supposedly witty sarcasm. Every time we bump into Coen, 25, who likes to accessorize with a stuffed dog poking out of her handbag, she smiles and showers us with sycophantic praise. But her every mention of PAGE SIX on her Web site is snide and snarky. Word to Coen: Next time you see us at a party, keep walking. Or slithering. You can't be a boot-licker and a back-stabber at the same time.

Where's the gossip here?

Jessica, of course, has an amusing response critiquing the Page Six item up on her personal weblog. For example, she suggests instead of constantly calling her snarky, saying instead she's "contemptous, irritable, cranky, cocky, insolent, sneering."

· Gawk at This [Page Six, reg req'd]
· Hello! [JessicaCoen.com]
· Gawker Archive: Page Six [Gawker]

Posted in Media on July 17, 2005, 11:51 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink

WeblogsInc Network Compromised?

ScreenshotIt seems like a whole bunch of the WebLogsInc network sites have been compromised. Many sites, including Jason Calacanis' weblog, their corporate site, Luxist, HackADay, their very popular Autoblog, and a bunch more display the following message:

Fuxz Ownz You!

[email protected]

Click the screenshot above for a bigger version.

This seems to affect weblogs that appear to be running the "older" version of their custom-built BlogSmith software.

I've sent a whole bunch of emails to people over there, though I doubt they aren't aware of it by now. Hopefully they can take care of this soon.

Update: Brian Alvey, CTO and co-founder of WeblogsInc, responds:

Our oldest web server's FTP ports were not locked down in our firewalls. Not good. Someone ran cracking software, gained FTP access and defaced our sites. All of our other servers which run Engadget, Joystiq, TV Squad and any blog we've launched since January were untouched, but Hack A Day, Autoblog, Luxist, Gadling, Blogging Baby and several others were affected.

Not much left to say besides we got the holes on that old server closed and I can't wait to migrate everything off of it and decommission it. The new platform has no FTP. All files are managed via web form-based uploads. It's not the easiest way to get a large group of files to the server, but it isn't a hack waiting to happen like IIS's FTP server can be.

I'm not sure how practical it is to abandon FTP, but hey, whatever works.

Disclaimer: Yes, I work with Gawker Media, but it sucks when anyone's website gets hacked.

Posted in Business, Media, Technology on July 16, 2005, 07:54 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink

Tom Cruise Is Insane

Tom Cruise arguing with Matt LauerTom Cruise has apparently gone insane. This morning, he argued with Matt Lauer on NBC's Today over the merits of psychology:

Cruise: Matt. Matt, Matt, you don't even — you're glib. You don't even know what Ritalin is. If you start talking about chemical imbalance, you have to evaluate and read the research papers on how they came up with these theories, Matt, okay? That's what I've done. Then you go and you say where's the medical test? Where's the blood test that says how much Ritalin you're supposed to get?

Lauer: It's very impressive to listen to you. Because clearly, you've done the homework. And you know the subject.

Cruise: And you should. And you should do that also. Because just knowing people who are on Ritalin isn't enough. You should be a little bit more responsible in knowing really —

How long until this makes him unattractive to studios and his fans?

· 'I'm passionate about life' (includes video) [MSNBC]
· Cruise, Lauer argue on 'Today' [CNN]
· Today on Today: Tom Cruise Takes On Matt Lauer's Thetans [Gawker]
· Cruise Vs. Lauer: Cruise Wins... Our Mindless Devotion [Defamer]
· Tom Cruise Archives [Defamer]

Posted in Media on June 24, 2005, 06:10 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink

Credibility in the Blogosphere?

gawker.gif
I love the media, it's always so fun to learn new things. For example, today CBS Marketwatch's Internet Daily told me "Only two of 75 magazines launched or announced in the first quarter of the year had anything to do with technology...Nick Denton's Gawker Media, best known for its Weblogs including Wonkette.com, will begin publishing, "Boink," according to the trade group. It will be produced by students at Boston University and feature profiles and photos of students with articles focused on sex and politics."

Only one problem: it's not true!

It would be cool if it was true. Still, I can't blame it on CBS Marketwatch... apparently, the trade organization Magazine Publishers of America noted in their "New & Noted" section of their Finance / Operations Trends & Magazine Handbook (thrilling title!) that this magazine called Boink, published by Gawker Media, will begin publishing in the Spring on a quarterly basis. Good to know.

Recently, a journalism student from NYU sent in a fake tip regarding Moby to websites, including Gawker and Curbed. After it was posted, the student wrote well-known blogger Jeff Jarvis and asked some questions, including "Do you think Gawker should be held responsible for any damages against Moby?" She ignited a small firestorm on that post's comments.

So, who's so sure that the so-called MSM (sorry, Matt) fact-check so well and that we, as bloggers, are at a different level? Perhaps Gawker Media should sue -- the mere thought of Gawker associating with sex is scandalous! Give me a break.

· Web not much of a draw for magazines [CBS MarketWatch, fourth item]
· Correction: Teany Not Shitty [Curbed]
· Gawker Stalker [Gawker, bottom of page]

Posted in Media on May 04, 2005, 06:46 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Nashville Is Talking!

nashvilleistalking.gifCool: Today I came across Nashville is Talking, a blog and blogroll by Nashville ABC affiliate WKRN. On their About page, they call Nashville Is Talking "a blog devoted to the daily conversation that is news in the Greater Nashville community. If it's being discussed in Music City, we hope you'll find it here."

Long-time Nashville blogger Brittney Gilbert made the jump from waitress to professional blogger a few days ago. Monday through Friday from 8 to 5, she works in the WKRN newsroom.

Will other stations follow? Nashville is a pretty big market -- the 30th largest in the US.

· WKRN weblog aggregator launches [Rexblog]
· Dream Job [Sparkwood & 21, Brittney's blog]
· Nashville is Talking

Posted in Media, Technology on April 30, 2005, 04:34 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

CNN's Inside the Blogs - Why So Poorly Produced?

cnn-insideblogs.jpg
There's been lots of talk about CNN's "Inside the Blog" segment on Inside Politics. Basically, two CNN staffers get in a studio with two Macs hooked up to large plasmas and attempt to tell the world what the "bloggers" are talking about that day.

Does anyone else think the segment looks awful? Two cameramen (that are frequently visible on-screen) shakily zoom into the plasmas as the CNN staffers highlight and scroll what they're reading. I rarely can even read what's on the screen.

Why not get a direct hookup to the video out like they used to use on TechTV? It can't be that hard... and it's pretty safe to say CNN won't stop covering blogs.

Perhaps there's something I'm missing, but come on CNN, get your act together.

Posted in Media, Politics, Technology on April 12, 2005, 05:17 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink

BREAKING: GAWKER MEDIA LAUNCHES SPLOID

sploid.jpg
Today Gawker Media launched Sploid, its twelfth blog. While some would argue that I'm just biased, I'm a fan. Some would also argue it's not reallya blog. As Nick says:

"One thing the webheads among you will notice: the headlines are big and, in the default view, headlines are ranked by importance rather than by recency."

Stay tuned.

Posted in Announcements, Announcements, Media, Technology on April 06, 2005, 11:10 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

USA Today's Ad Placement Blunder of Olympic Proportions

I enjoyed (and agree with) former New York Times columnist Robert Lipsyte's editorial on why he doesn't want the 2012 Olympics in New York.

With all the hooplah over the proposed site of a stadium critical to the Big Apple's Olympics bid, Lipsyte does a great job at saying what I have had trouble expressing.

But the best part was that beneath this giant editorial exclaiming "Olympic Unwelcome Mat" was a quarter page NYC2012 advertisement announcing that "Every neighborhood will celebrate."

Whoops. Hope the NYC2012 didn't pay too much for this ad to be placed below the editorial blasting what it's advertising.

Posted in Business, Media on February 22, 2005, 06:40 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink