The Indiepub Blog

iPods and Violent Crime, Together at Last

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 07:00:40 -0500

This is why people should disregard most studies.

Researchers from the Urban Institute broke out their Correlation=Causation markers to draw a heavy line between the popularity of iPods and a nationwide increase in robberies.

From the Associated Press:
"A key point in the Urban Institute's argument is that robberies - the taking of something by force or the threat of it - had seen dramatic reductions since the 1990s, but jumped in 2005 and 2006 ... During those years, iPods were going mainstream. In late 2004, Apple had sold about 5 million iPods. By the end of 2005 that had ballooned to 42 million, and in 2006 the number neared 90 million."

Wow. If that's not a slam dunk, I don't know what is.

Enterprising headphone manufacturers should take note of this observation:

"People listening through the iconic white earphones are easy to pick out and often unaware of their surroundings. "

Can thieves be foiled by non-white ear buds? "Bose: Great Sound. No Violence."

The Real Format War Has Yet to Begin

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 07:00:38 -0500

HD DVD is dead, but Blu-ray fans (is there such a thing?) shouldn't pop the corks just yet. The real format war hasn't even started.

The HD DVD vs. Blu-ray skirmish serves as a prelude to the real battle: discs vs. hard drives. At some point, an enterprising company will come out with an economically-viable, high-capacity, hard-drive-based device that can output in 1080p. When this happens, the days of disc-based media will be numbered, and that's when the real battle will begin.

Disc-free media is a disruptive technology, and disruptive technologies are the ones that change things. Consider the evidence: the digital revolution began when CDs blew cassettes out of the water and years later, DVD's digital superiority dismantled VHS. In each of these situations, the upside of the new technologies was clear. Consumers understood that an investment in these newfangled discs would lead to a better audio/video experience. And it didn't hurt that these new formats were lighter and thinner.

To me, Blu-ray is SACD with a bigger budget. Sure, it's better than DVD, but it's not disruptive. It's an incremental improvement that hinges on a technology (1080p) most people don't use or understand. But a hard-drive system ... now that's disruptive. No more discs to manage. No more stupid DVD towers to buy. All you need is one simple box.

Congratulations, Blu-ray. You've won the right to be a technological stepping stone.

New Currency in a Free World

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 07:33:15 -0500

Kevin Kelly's recent post, "Better than Free," offers a refreshing perspective on value amidst free distribution and acquisition (this "free" thing is getting a lot of play these days).

Time may prove Kelly wrong, but he deserves significant credit for thinking about the Web/business world in a novel way. Kelly's "Eight Generatives Better than Free" are a springboard for new revenue streams and new careers. There's a lot of good stuff in this essay.

Web Analytics Stay Ridiculous

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 07:00:17 -0500

A short item on Lost Remote illustrates the insanity of Web analytics.

According to Nielsen-Netratings, the MSNBC Digital Network brought in more than 35 million unique visitors in Jan. 2008. Those are lovely numbers, but they differ significantly from MSNBC's own data, which claims 94 million unique visitors in the same period.

That's a gap of 59 million visitors.

59,000,000.

Ad buyers need strong figures to justify expenditures in the Web arena, but how can anyone explain a 59 million gap to the higher ups?

Time for the "Oh My God It's Cold" Stories

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 08:30:53 -0500

It's 13 degrees in Boston today, with soul-killing gusts of icy death. Know what that means? It's time for idiotic newscasters to file their "Hey! It's really cold outside!" stories.

I watched a local reporter prep for one of these inane reports as I crossed the frozen tundra of Copley Square. You could tell he was a reporter because he was the only person within Boston city limits who wasn't bundled in 14 layers of therma-gear. Hurricane-force winds threatened to de-puff his wavy hair. Pity.

Is this the best broadcast news has to offer? Do we really need the "it's cold outside" and "it's hot outside" stories, especially since the weather segment generally covers this sort of thing? Along the same lines, under no circumstances should a news broadcaster be allowed to cover anything to do with sports. It's embarrassing when they get players' names wrong (Manny Ortiz?) and their "analysis" makes me grind my teeth ("It's April and the Sox have lost three in a row ... time to panic, Boston!").

Memo to Jerry Yang: Use Your Shift Key

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 11:12:37 -0500

Two recent "internal memos" from Yahoo chief exec Jerry Yang have miraculously found their way into the public sphere (what are the chances?), and while the information is interesting in a saying-nothing-but-hoping-no-one-notices sorta way, the most notable element is something far more elementary: Jerry Yang hates capital letters.

Here's the first paragraph from the most recent memo:

"yahoos --
first off, I want to thank you for the great job you're doing staying focused on executing our priorities. there's obviously been a lot of talk about yahoo! in recent days and we won't let it distract us from pursuing our transformation strategy."

Good lord, man! Press the damn shift key!

And does anyone still refer to Yahoo as "Yahoo!"?

Tutorial: Create a PDF with a Web Browser

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 13:36:31 -0500

I'm branching into screencast tutorials and my first attempt revolves around the simple process of creating pdfs through the print tools in Web browsers.

You can see the screencast here.

I'm an amateur screencaster (as you'll see), but here's how I created this particular tutorial:

Snapz Pro was used to film the screencast and record the audio track. I used the same settings outlined here and the results were excellent.
I used a Logitech USB microphone for the audio, but I'm not all that happy with the results. In future attempts I'm going to toy around with the input levels and make sure I'm much closer to the mic.
I imported the final Snapz Pro video into Flash and transitioned it into an .flv embedded in its own .swf. I then created a second .fla file for my movie container. This container template includes a generic title sequence and a play button. Whenever I create a new tutorial, all I need to do is access the container template, save it with a different name, then tweak the title text and associate the container .swf with the movie .swf (this is done through some simple loadmovie script). So far, the workflow has been great.

I used Flash's publish setting to generate the embed code in an html file, but I'll eventually create my own html template and stylesheet. For the time being, the Flash method works pretty well.

I initially thought I could import the final Snapz Pro file into iMovie and add a title card and simple transitions, but the output was god awful. A little digging revealed this is a common problem, which is why I opted for the more arduous Flash route.

Questions and comments are welcome!

What's Behind that Multimedia Presentation?

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 10:17:32 -0500

MSNBC's interactive bridge tracker aggregates structural data and inspection reports for bridges across the U.S. It's a slick interface that provides useful information to anyone who spends significant time on the road.

I know most people don't care about the inner workings of these types of presentations, but I'd love to see a colophon-esque listing of the tools and technologies used to create the material. I can always guess, but there's bound to be something in there that I haven't run across before. These types of listings would also help multimedia instructors who want their students to see professional output.

Via The Editors Weblog

Microsoft Courts Yahoo with $44.6 Billion Deal

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 09:14:35 -0500

Microyahoo? Yamicrohoo? Yamoo?

Yahoo shareholders are feeling a lot better today thanks to a buyout offer from Microsoft. Larry Dignan at ZDNet says the Redmond software overlord has offered $31 a share -- a massive 62 percent upgrade over Yahoo's Jan. 31 closing price.

To paraphrase Kevin from "The Office" -- If someone gives you a 62 percent premium on anything, you take it. (And if John Mellencamp wins an Oscar, I, too, will be a very rich dude.)

Sidenote: Buried in the buzzword-laden Microsoft proposal letter is a laugh-out-loud sentence:

"It is our view that Microsoft has significant potential upside given the continued solid growth in our core businesses, the recent launch of Windows Vista, and other strategic initiatives."

Wow. Vista. Way to romance 'em, guys.

Wi-Fi Comes to Boston Commuter Rail

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 12:32:27 -0500

Web junkies on the MBTA's Worcester line can finally get their fix: A pilot program is bringing Internet access to the railway.

I ride the commuter rail every weekday and I would kill for something like this (I'm not on the Worcester line, so I'll have to wait for a more extensive rollout). Checking email and getting a jump on my morning tasks would make life infinitely better, especially since my half-hour train ride is dead time dedicated to reading and aimless staring at the cityscape.

Only a few cars per train will have Wi-Fi service during the trial run. That's a problem because regular rail riders know there's an unspoken agreement about favorite seats. Hell hath no fury like a 65-year-old lifer whose seat is occupied by a laptop-toting punk.

EveryBlock Redefines Hyper-Local News

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 14:34:29 -0500

I'll admit it. I'm jealous of Adrian Holovaty. Not only has he done great work at Washingtonpost.com and Lawrence.com, but now he's gone and redefined hyper-local coverage with his latest project, EveryBlock.

EveryBlock aggregates civic data, pictures, reviews and other scattered bits and repurposes them into a mashed-up, user-friendly information hub. The site currently serves Chicago, New York and San Francisco, but it's only a matter of time before the same technique is applied to other metropolitan areas (I'd love to see the Boston version).

Congratulations to Adrian and the EveryBlock team. I hate you all ;)

Isn't there Something Better than an Algorithmic Arms Race?

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 09:21:17 -0500

Since I don't know the first thing about search algorithms, I realize my next comment will drip with naivete. Nonetheless, I can't help thinking that the algorithmic arms race between Digg and the anonymous horde of Digg scammers is an exercise in futility. Shouldn't there be a simpler way to manage a ranking site? Maybe those thousands of programming hours could be aimed at a streamlined voting process, or maybe those same resources could be put toward an editorial filter (GASP! Yeah, I said it. ed-it-torial fil-ter).

I know, I know ... I'm missing the whole point of Digg and its super-complicated brethren. But I can't shake the sense that a Gordian Knot paradigm shift is what will really solve these types of problems.

Is This the Key to a Print-Web Marriage?

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 11:42:23 -0500

Mid-way through a New York Times piece charting The Atlantic Monthly's recent Web renaissance lies a head-turning quote from James Bennet, Atlantic editor in chief:

"A highly turbulent Web site where people are engaging in argument with each other turns out to work very well with the idea of a polished monthly magazine about the same kind of political and cultural debate."

It's taken me years of pondering, conversation and conceptualization to arrive at a similar conclusion, yet Bennet nails the relationship between Web and print in one simple, erudite sentence. I guess that's why he's the editor of The Atlantic and I'm a blogger.

What I love about this quote is that it sums up the strengths and limitations of both mediums. Print is an excellent format for long-form, contextualized content that's driven by a top-down editorial approach. The Web works best as the "marketplace of ideas" -- a space where opinions and conclusions are forged through discussion. One form doesn't supersede the other because they both need to exist, and what Bennet is saying -- and proving, based on TheAtlantic.com's traffic boost -- is that a marriage between print and Web can benefit both sides if the attributes of both forms are nurtured. Symbiosis is possible if we let the Web be Web and let print be print.

Five Practical Tips for Young Entrepreneurial Journalists

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 10:09:00 -0500

I understand the thought process behind trend pieces like "Our disgruntled young journalists." I used to write this kind of stuff. It has value in a "starting a conversation" kinda way.

But now that I'm old and cranky, I've grown tired of entrepreneurial journalism punditry. To succeed in any business endeavor, you need practical business ideas, not ambiguous trend prognostications.

Let's get something straight: a newbie journalist with no business sense cannot instantly launch into a lucrative independent journalism career. It just doesn't work that way. Ask an established freelancer about the type of grunt work they have to do and you'll get a sense for just how tough the independent road can be. To stay afloat, you have to consistently balance content creation, personal publicity, business management and industry research. I'm not saying it can't be done, it just takes more time than most people think. Think years, not months.

Contrary to what you might surmise from that last paragraph, I'm a staunch proponent of independent/entrepreneurial journalism. The salary system of set hours in a set office is counter-productive in the project-based content world. But the old paradigm hasn't shifted, and I'm not convinced the remnants of command-and-control hierarchy will ever truly go away.

That's the reality, so let's see how a young entrepreneurial journalist can work within this world:

If you're going the Web route, learn about search engine optimization, keywords, CPM rates, sponsorships, and grassroots marketing. If you're doing print or broadcast, study each industry's established revenue streams. If you're targeting all three worlds, learn everything about everything.

Become a self promoter. Believe me, I know how much this one hurts, but every independent business owner needs to toot their own horn. If you aren't a natural extrovert, you can look at self-promotion as a form of "necessary evil acting." (It still sucks ... just not as much.)

Swallow your pride and get experience at an established organization. Even though I can't stand offices, I have to begrudgingly admit that I've acquired a massive amount of information through cubicle osmosis. The knowledge you accumulate in these environments is insanely valuable.

Get over your entitlement. I used to scoff at people who complained about Gen Y's entitlement issues, but having been in education for a bit I can vouch for its existence. It's a bizarre situation. I admire the inherent self-confidence many Gen Yers have, but a subset of these people don't know where self-confidence ends and cockiness begins. Trust me -- assignment editors have shit lists, and a cocky young freelancer with limited experience can end up on those lists real quick.
To quote Crash Davis:
"Your shower shoes have fungus on them ... If you win 20 in the show, you can let the fungus grow back and the press'll think you're colorful. Until you win 20 in the show, it means you're a slob."

One of the great things about the Web is that people share everything, including their failures. A piece like Steve Outing's "An Important Lesson About Grassroots Media" offers excellent information based on a real business experience. Find this stuff and read it religiously.

What tips do you have?

Hello Kitty and an Assault Rifle: Together at Last

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 15:35:41 -0500

A Hello Kitty fan has finally brought cheer to the high-powered rifle world.

Stuff like this is why I think the Internet is the greatest thing in the history of history.