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Archives for July 2010
A Blind Love for Video
Posted on July 23, 2010 Written by
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Sam is a friend of mine from college. He sent me a rant the other day.
I think most news outlets WAAAYYY overvalue their internet video content. For the record: I HATE IT. I never willingly click on a news video. Ever.
I’m looking for information, not some ****-***-slow-to-load or streaming content barfed on me by some D-list talking head du jour. I want to click and read in two seconds, not wait ten or thirty seconds or more for some stupid intro to the actual information (or worse, a 15-30 second ad before the “story”). And I don’t want to disable all of my advertisement/malware blocks to see the stupid video.
Anyway, I’m just bitching because I accidentally clicked through to what I hoped was an article, but was just a stupid ******* video I did not want to wait to load. I’m an old fart, back from when people would actually read things and think through the information, and not just glaze over video content of the quick and easy and meaningless version.
If ever there were a case of the customer being right, this would be it. [Read more…]
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The I-Dumbing of Journalism
Posted on July 22, 2010 Written by
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This may be the single stupidest thing I have ever seen on television. And I used to work in television news, so that’s saying something.
An Oklahoma City television station entertained a piece during the July ratings period about “I-Dosing.” Apparently, school officials are warning parents about a new danger, audio files that your children can download, and can make them high.
Watch the piece, then we’ll talk about how many flavors of dumb they’ve crammed into this Whitman’s Sampler of Stupidity: [Read more…]
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Trust is Made to be Broken
Posted on July 21, 2010 Written by
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Ain’t technology grand?
It’s great that I can tap into networks of really smart people with relevant knowledge and skills.
I can’t tell you how awesome it is that other professions have embraced the ability to break the barriers of time and space to collaborate.
It can’t help but make us smarter, or at least more confident we can access faster answers with a greater degree of success.
We’re not talking Wikipedia here, we’re talking about top experts bouncing ideas off each other.
It’s exciting, but after seeing a couple of recent articles, I’m both scared and relieved. [Read more…]
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The Field Guide to Social Media Weasels
Posted on July 20, 2010 Written by
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I wish I had a nickel for every Social Media Guru.
And I wish I had a quarter for every one of them that ran from that description.
It’s time for the Guru to die, because as a term it’s too generic to mean anything useful. For that matter, “Expert” and “Maven” need to go, because they don’t give you enough information either.
Besides, when it comes right down to it they’re all Weasels.
The next time you see that link to a “Guru” or “Expert” or “Maven” or whatever, there are two questions you need to ask:
- What exactly does this weasel do?
- What exactly do I need from a weasel?
Three years ago, this list wouldn’t have been necessary because the field of people who could really help you was small. But there’s enough solid thought and experience out there to be tapped online, you’re better off with awareness of the types of help you can get. It’s also useful to know, because the people who deliver you value in one area might be very ill-suited to be useful in others.
You’re better off with several different types of Weasel in your RSS zoo. [Read more…]
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Bricklayers are not Architects
Posted on July 19, 2010 Written by
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I wanted to wait until all the Lebron hoopla calmed down, because this isn’t a rant about sports. In fact, the NBA has very little interest for me these days, but I do pay enough attention to sports headlines to have seen this:
Heat Signs Zydrunas Ilgauskas
MIAMI, July 17- The Miami HEAT announced today that they have signed free agent center Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
During the 2009-10 season, Ilgauskas averaged 7.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 20.9 minutes, while shooting 44.3 percent from the field in 64 games (six starts). He recorded double-figure points on 19 occassions and four double-digit rebound games.
Curiously enough, Ilgauskas was a teammate of Lebron’s in Cleveland.
Lebron James was once known as one of the best basketball players never to win a championship, prior to his entrance in the public consciousness as one of the most egocentric athletes in history. He goes to Miami as a free agent, along with other highly-sought free agents Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. The three are often thought of as cooking this together, but you get the feeling that Ilgauskas is coming along because a title isn’t enough for Lebron James; he wants a legacy as a team-builder. [Read more…]
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Double Vision
Posted on July 19, 2010 Written by
{{myquote|If you want to see yourself the way others see you, you need two mirrors.}}