Author (#1)February 2004 Archives
Steve Outing writes in Editor and Publisher about how journalists and their employers deal with personal blogs. Most journalists let their bosses know. A few keep it secret and write as anonymously as possible.
Some papers, such as the N.Y. Times, are strict about limiting blogs by their news staff. Other papers follow similar rules to their free-lancing guidelines.
A personal look at a reporter's blog and his paper's reaction is Daniel Weintraub's article in Online Journalism Review. His blog covered politics, which is also his job with The Sacramento Bee. His blog become part of his work with the paper, and there was close cooperation with his editors. His column created a debate among bloggers about whether blogs should be edited.
From the N.Y. Times: Vaulting to No. 1, a Truism at a Time. "The Automatic Millionaire" by David Bach catches my eye. But the advice is simple -- avoid debt, curb impulse buys, invest regularly and early. But these books continue to be hot sellers.
"Mr. Bach and his ilk have tapped into a basic need that seems to run deep in the culture: the need for reassurance."
Most of the advice can be summed up in something Motley Fool's 10 Lessons to Teach Kids About Money, which includes (10) Money can't buy happiness, or love, but it can help you avoid many kinds of misery.
All are good tips, but the tenth is the best.
10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.
A rule that came to mind in 1983. Think of what you skip reading a novel: thick paragraphs of prose you can see have too many words in them. What the writer is doing, he's writing, perpetrating hooptedoodle, perhaps taking another shot at the weather, or has gone into the character's head, and the reader either knows what the guy's thinking or doesn't care. I'll bet you don't skip dialogue.
My most important rule is one that sums up the 10.
If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.
Tip from Boing Boing.
Robert Scoble (Scobleizer) responds to someone who is considering quitting blogging:
Really the weblog metaphor lets you do some really interesting things.
1) It lets you share. I bet you know OneNote tricks that no one else does. Tell us! We'll hang on every word. (If you are doing a personal weblog, it lets you share your life with other people, say, your family members).
2) It lets you reveal. You could tell a world-wide audience about the next version of OneNote. Why on a blog? Because of the influence of who reads here. Mary Jo Foley, for instance, tells me she reads all the Microsoft blogs looking for information about Microsoft. (If you're writing a personal blog, you might reveal something cool about your life. A photo of the sunset out your front door, for instance).
3) It lets you reward others. Do you know the social power of a link? I've had people come up to me at conferences all giddy saying "do you realize what happened after you linked to me?" Certainly I'm aware of the GooglePower that I send someone when I link to them. But it's more than that. I've made powerful friends after I've linked to them. It's a social thing. Dave Sifry, the guy who founded Technorati, is right. It's a social gesture. (Personal bloggers, it's a far more powerful act of friendship to link to someone on your blog than it is to say "that guy's my friend" in Google's Orkut).
4) It lets you have conversations. One thing I'd say to Chris is to put "OneNote" and "Pratley" into Feedster.com and subscribe to those two feeds. Then, when someone says something about OneNote or Pratley, respond. By showing you care about people's opinions, they are far more likely to give you feedback that'll make your product better. (Personal bloggers, if you respond to people who talk about you, you'll find you build real and lasting friendships).
S.U.V.s are not safer than smaller cars, but they give the illusion of safety, according to "Big and Bad: How the S.U.V. ran over automotive safety" written by Malcolm Gladwell and published in The New Yorker in January.
The extra weight, higher center of gravity and frame construction cause them to take longer to stop, swerve more and be less safe in an accident than cars.
So are you safer driving a car or an S.U.V.? Gladwell says cars are safer because you can avoid accidents better in a car thanks to handling and shorter stopping distances. Mini-vans, such as the Ford Winstar, are built more like cars than trucks and are safer than S.U.V.s.
Are you safer in a S.U.V. in a wreck? Fatality statistics show S.U.V.s are no safer in actual wrecks than cars. Market research shows that S.U.V. buyers value stronger their belief they will be safer in the inevitable wreck over being better able to avoid a possible wreck, Gladwell writes.
Parts of Gladwell's article feel like stretches to make a point. He describes the psychology of S.U.V. drivers as trading their responsibility for being safe drivers for the perception they will be able to survive the actual wreck.
S.U.V.s are the vehicles we like to hate. Their size makes us uncomfortable when around them. It's more like driving around a group of tractor trailers.
During the snow on Thursday I heard more complaints about S.U.V. drivers sliding and being involved in wrecks. Maybe they were traveling too fast to stop on the icy roads, but maybe we notice them because they are big.
Gladwell cites the book "High and Mighty" by Keith Bradsher for more about S.U.V.s and the perceptions of their buyers.
Last Sunday, N.Y. Times reports How an S.U.V. Stacks Up to a Car on the Test Track, which discussed how automakers are trying to make S.U.V.s safer, but they're still not as safe as cars and minivans. There's also www.safercars.gov operated by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Others discussing Gladwell's article include Tom Mangan, Shelia Lennon, and Scobileizer
Earlier this month, Marcia had an accident when an S.U.V. in front of her backed into the car. No personal injuries and medium body damage to the car. Driver said she ignored an audible warning device that something was behind her. Probably would have happened even if the driver had been in a car.
USA Today analyzed 1.2 million speeding tickets issued in 2002 and found that speeders drive faster than they did in 1996 and 1991. Average ticketed speed is higher than the posted speed and the number of ticketers driving 100 m.p.h. has fallen from 1 in 300 in 1991 to 1 in 100 in 2002.
Forbes writes about The Coming RSS Revolution as RSS readers become easier to use and more media organizations, including Forbes, N.Y. Times and CNN.com, offer RSS feeds.
RSS saves time from Web browsing, but I use my saved time to read more RSS feeds. From publisher's view, though, the question of offering RSS will be how to make it pay for the cost of producing that content since there's less advertising with RSS feeds.
Do readers become so content with RSS feeds that they no longer visit the actual sites as often? Or is that offset by more choices and easier access to readers? The importance of front pages, such as www.nytimes.com or www.bizjournals.com, is less important to RSS users who bypass it and go directly to articles.
http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=61139
Poynter: Thirty-three top executives gather for two days of discussion of their leadership, their journalism, and their choices.
The 13 or more inches of snow Charlotte received since Thursday morning makes it one of the biggest ever. This morning, there is no proof left that I spent an hour shoveling my drive yesterday evening. I'll be out with camera and shovel later.
Update: Weather stations say our area of Charlotte received at least 15 inches while it was 13 at the airport.
"Oh by the way, have you ever been in prison for armed robbery?" He says he was never asked; so he didn't tell. Smith & Wesson chairman resigns after criminal past revealed from Phoenix Business Journal.
Judge Slashes Lawyer's Rate for Typos, Careless Writing from law.com. If I'd paid myself a nickel for my typos, my retirement would be well funded.
Marketers are missing a major market segment: those over 50. They have money to buy and are interested in more things than life insurance and prescription medicines, from Seattle Post Intelligencer.
MediaPost's MediaDailyNews: Casting Milestones: The Internet Is Now More Wired Than Cable. Sounds like a revolution, but also in article: While penetration levels are important, it is actual time spent with a medium by consumers that translate into the audience impressions bought by Madison Avenue. And in that regard, cable still beats online media by a wide margin.
Current: George Washington's Christmas Farewell by Stanley Weintraub
Finished: Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Audio books
Current: What Went Wrong? : The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East by Bernard Lewis. Article with same title published by The Atlantic magazine January 2002.
Finished: Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.
From N.Y. Times via RichDad.com -- Robert T. Kiyosaki, the author of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," created Cashflow game, which fans say is teaching them how to create wealth and change their lives. The game costs $195 and has sales of $33 million, creating a good deal of wealth for Mr. Kiyosaki.
Update: I'd seen "Rich Dad" in bookstores, but I didn't realize it's become such an industry, including seminars and a show soon on Fox News.
"Rich Dad, Poor Dad" has critics, including John T. Reed, author of books on real estate investing and publisher of the newsletter Real Estate Investor's Monthly. Reed's criticism of Kiyoaski is that many of his biography claims are inaccurate, including the basic premise that he learned from two dads.
"I am extremely skeptical as to whether he has done or seen many of the investment things he claims to have done or seen. He claims to be an experienced, millionaire, real-estate investor, yet the book is full of statements that I would expect only from a rather ignorant, not very bright, novice, investor wannabe," Reed writes. Reed also maintains a site about many real estate gurus, who seem to be more active lately with their two-hour free, introductory seminars at local hotels.
Hotels advertise free internet access now from their interstate billboards. Reminds me of the old ads for color TVs, continental breakfasts, etc. The Guardian's Onlines' blog writes that many companies will lose the bet on charging for high-speed access in hotels and elsewhere. Decades ago, others lost on the business model of providing air conditioning in rooms, for an extra fee.
Years ago someone loaned me their copy of "The Psychology of Everyday Things" by Donald A. Norman and warned that I would not be able to go through doors the same again.
He was right. I now no longer blame myself with I pull on "push" doors even if the sign says push. Norman explains in that book that the design of the door and other things often tells us how to use it at some level more basic than reading instructions. He argued that's how things should work.. The books has returned to print two years ago and been renamed The Design of Everyday Things.
Norman has a new book out "Emotional Design" about why we love and hate everyday things. That's on "To read" list now.
Museums become entrepreneurs in search for more income -- Cincinnati Business Courier
Happiness is their own franchise: More baby boomers enter franchise field -- The Business Journal of Milwaukee
Most newspapers do not show sources a story prior to publication. I've never heard of papers doing it regularly. It's almost a cardinal rule of journalism. Apparently it's less a rule than a guideline.
Willy Stern, who teaches journalism courses at Vanderbilt and Fisk universities, lists six reasons in a column in Nashville Scene why the newspaper routinely show articles before publication. Romenesko mentioned it today.
The Romenesko item was posted late in the day, so it may take a day or two for journalists to react to it. I don't recall ever showing a story before publication. I've read quotes back, I've read explanations, I've made a lot of calls back to get something clarified, which others have told me they never do either. I did it because I wanted the story to be accurate and fair.
I've called people and sources after the paper was printed but before they had received their copy to let them know there was a mistake or some other goof-up. I wanted them to hear it from me first.
Sree Sreenivasan's latest column on Poynter Online lists good Web sites for tech news and tech tips written by journalists for tech reporters. Most have either an email or RSS feed.
I felt he overlooked Lockergnome's Technology News. Maybe it was too tech oriented for his column.
I use Google most of the time. But here's a list of other search engines listings and directories and which are better for different purposes.
World War II aerial reconnaissance photos taken by the Royal Air Force, including pictures of the D-Day invasion in Normandy, are online now. I'm glad to see there are still new "gee whiz" things on the web.
A 47-year-old bank employee in Knoxville sues claiming the Janet Jackson peek caused her and other viewers to "suffer outrage, anger, embarrassment and serious injury." Actual damages are not specified and punitive damages "should not exceed the gross revenues of all defendants for the past three years." Defendants include Viacom, CBS, MTV, Janet and Justin Timberlake. The court filing is on The Smoking Gun, and you'll see the shot that few actually saw, but many have seen since. The lawsuit was filed as a proposed class action lawsuit.
Update: The lawsuit was withdrawn Monday, KnoxNews.com reports.
For several years the promise of electronic newspapers has always been just ahead. It looks like it's finally getting closer. Philips is preparing to mass produce a 5-inch flexible display that can be used for newspapers and magazines. You can watch a video demonstation of the display. Tip from Lost Remote.
Poynter: Roy Peter Clark and Tim McGuire explore what's right and wrong about long and short.
From The Scoop: Harvy Lipman and Grant Williams of the Chronicle of Philanthropy reviewed information from more than 10,000 non-profit tax forms covering 1998 through 2002 to determine that charities reported at least $142 million in debts due to loans made to officers and directors. Private foundations cannot make such loans, but charities can. Some filings contained less than complete information on loan debts: "4,756 groups reported loans to top officials, but failed, as required by the Internal Revenue Service, to say how much the debt totaled."
On The Chronicle of Philanthropy story page you are offered a pull-down menu to see the groups that made loans to officials by state. But it's only available to subscribers.
Update: Pacific Business News did a local version of the story and found that in Hawaii such loans are prohibited by state law. This would be a good story for any newspaper.
Video games are a medium unto themselves. They are the main reason TV networks say males 18-35 don't watch as much TV. From San Francisco Business Times: Electronic Arts is now selling product plugs in its games.
From CNET News: Washington Post misses the $19 annual registration for its domain name, which caused the email system to crash for part of the day.
Wall Street Journal began today the series "Open Secrets", practices that raise eyebrows but persist on Wall Street. It began with corporate minutes and how they are rewritten later, arbitration awards against brokers and brokerages that are never paid, municipal bond pricing and annuities. The series is for those not in on the secrets.
Washington Post will seek more information about its online readers than date of birth and Zip Code. Now it asks for job, size of company, email address and password. Washingtonpost.com story. That may mean more business for registration dodger sites like bugmenot.com.
From Dallas Business Journal -- Sell a warehouse, get free use of a Porsche for three years.
Editor and Publisher: Survey by Consumers Union and the Consumer Federation of America finds newspapers were the primary source of local news. Does falling newspaper readership mean people feel less connected to their local community?
Wall Street Journal article Jan. 26 reports we're running out of spare time.
Chart shows how people spend their spare time since 1996. The amount of time people spend on cable and satellite TV increased 7 hours a week to 18, while broadcast TV has dropped 4 hours to 15. Radio had a slight growth from 19 to 20 hours and recorded music fell almost in half to 3 hours and Internet has risen to from nowhere to 3.5 hours.
Newspapers (4 to 3 hours), magazines (flat at 2.5 hours) and books (slight decline to 2 hours).
One thing we're doing less is sleep (down to 6.8 hours).
Best quote of the article: "In 1965, 80% of 18- to 49-year-olds in the U.S. could be reached with three 60-second TV spots. In 2002, it required 117 prime-time commercials to produce the same results" -- Jim Stengel, Procter & Gamble's global marketing officer.
In spring, students beg their teachers to hold class outdoors. British Telecom recently asked people where they would be most productive. Results: 37% said the beach, followed by park benches, mountain tops or their own back garden. Four percent said they would be happy working from their bed. From the BBC
If you misspell (mispell?) words on Ebay, you lose business. Nobody can find your items. Some have picked up bargains, because misspellings meant fewer bids. From Seattle Post-Intelligencier.