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With the new Senate Majority Leader Pedro Estada, the Democrats have regained the majority. Hopefully this means legislative action will now be back on track at the State Capitol (where this reporter spent most of the day). I was subbing for Karen DeWitt, who took some badly-needed well-deserved time off. Earlier in the day I was there when Governor David Paterson fornally introduced his hand-picked Lt. Governor. And late late later I learned that a court document filed protesting that appointment had been overturned. I wonder where this leaves Andrew Cuomo. And what does it mean for the Governor? Will he now be viewed in a more positive light?
I've been so lazy when it comes to LiveJournal! Time to put a nice new post up, a rather long one that's just a bit too long for my regular blogspot readers! Like you, I've been hearing a lot about the decline of print media and how the bloom has dropped off radio's bush. A New York Times op-ed columnist recently described the American press as being on "suicide watch" with "newspaper circulations and revenues...in free fall." The Capital Region's Metroland weekly ran a story entitled "Death on your doorstep" in which Chet hardin wrote "A single Web site wipes out hundreds of millions of dollars in classified ad revenue in a few quick years; legions of anonymous bloggers (I like this part) exert sway over public opinion equal to that of any self-respecting, war-mongering newspaper baron." But while all media is hangs on for dear life through the "digital earthquake," public radio is gaining strength, particularly NPR, and that's GOOD NEWS!
National Public Radio (NPR) ratings have increased steadily since 2000, and they've managed to hold on to much of their 2008 election coverage listenership bump (with over 26 million people tuning in each week so far in 2009), unlike many of their mainstream media counterparts.
Compared to cable news, where most networks are shedding viewers, and newspapers, where circulation continues to plummet, public radio appears to doing a lot better at it than the rest of the traditional media. I don't believe its what NPR or PRI or Radio Pacifica is doing differently. I think the key is what public radio is doing BETTER.
Case in point, the station I work for, WAMC, is a REGIONAL news powerhouse. In the unique
Upstate New York / Capital Region area, people have what I refer to as "regional alliances." You know people like that: your buddies who travel to the City whenever they get the chance. Your co-workers who root for the Boston Red Sox. Your neighbors who take regular trips up to Montreal. The people at church who are heading out to the Utica Zoo this weekend. Not to mention those who work in state government, hailing from all 4 compass points! Then there's the "Berkshires" crowd, and the Saratoga art and track patrons, etc. etc. etc.
In my opinion, WAMC is successful because it localizes the regionality… where else on the radio dial could you hear current temperatures for Albany, Glens Falls, Utica and Plattsburgh during a newscast?
According to NPR CEO Vivian Schiller, the network has a culture incredibly devoted to local coverage. "To me, local is the big play, because local commercial radio has abandoned the local market. Local newspapers are withering or sometimes dying. The big national media companies, including excellent ones like The New York Times, cannot afford to be covering every single community. So that leaves a big, gaping hole to serve Americans' local coverage," (that's what she told mediabistro.com in April!)
Published reports say NPR has a "three-prong strategy" including a focus on LOCAL newsgathering and informational coverage as well as adoption of social media. WAMC excels in both areas, but that unique twist, that ability to "localize the regionality" is what propels 90.3 into the stratosphere. So you have a great radio station, a great internet presence and a truly local "personality" (if radio stations can have personalities) that instantly befriends any listener.
The only other public radio station that makes me feel welcome anytime I tune in is WFUV down in New York City. What NPR has become aware of, and what WAMC has been channeling so remarkably, is what some industry folk refer to as "hyperlocal content." The Capital - Saratoga - Central NY - NYC area is so unique that I don't believe what WAMC does would work anyplace else.
According to mashable.com, Alex Iskold, the CEO of semantic web application company AdaptiveBlue, in 2007 predicted the rise of hyperlocal information, indicating that extremely targeted local advertising could be the path forward for the ad industry.
"Despite globalization, hyperlocal information is very valuable both to people and advertisers. In the coming years, we will be seeing the rise of a new way to look at information - geography. Inspired by utility and the promise of hyperlocal advertising, startups are racing to build businesses that deliver highly relevant, local information to users," he wrote.
Mashable.com also takes note of another aspect of NPR's winning approach: their adoption of social media. NPR is one of the few mainstream media organizations that is leading the charge in social media channels. Their Twitter account has over 780,000 followers, making it one of the top 25 on the social network (and third among news organizations behind only the New York Times and CNN). Their Facebook Page has over 400,000 fans. Mashable.com goes on:
…NPR has embraced social media in more ways than just having an active presence on top social media channels. They've also put social media to work for them. In October of 2008, for example, NPR asked listeners to factcheck the US Vice Presidential debates and communicate findings via a Twitter (Twitter reviews) hashtag. And in February, NPR's social media strategist (@acarvin) talked about Twitter on air, including hundreds people tweeting back comments in the conversation. Their conclusion? Twitter lets us all share the media consumption experience together, and that's a very positive thing.
NPR (and WAMC) don't stop at social networking, either - their social media efforts extend to podcasts, blogs, mobile apps, and even their own social network. NPR has been recognized for these efforts year after year with multiple Webby Awards.
NPR's 26.4 million weekly listeners are 11 times more than the daily circulation of USA Today, and greater than 9 times more than the prime time viewership of the #1 cable news channel in the US, Fox News. They have 860 local stations in their member network and operate 38 news bureaus around the world - 18 in foreign markets, which is greater than any other news gathering organization. NPR's amazing growth over the past 10 years prompted FastCompany magazine in March to call NPR the "most successful hybrid of old and new media," and wonder if NPR could be the savior of the news industry.
THIS IS THE IMPORTANT SENTENCE:
And they owe that success to the culture of open access and audience participation that they've cultivated over the past decade.
WAMC has been doing that for MORE than a decade! Where else could you get a mix of national, world and local programming including LOCAL news as well as reports from BBC and NPR?
National Public Radio (NPR) ratings have increased steadily since 2000, and they've managed to hold on to much of their 2008 election coverage listenership bump (with over 26 million people tuning in each week so far in 2009), unlike many of their mainstream media counterparts. Compared to cable news, where most networks are shedding viewers, and newspapers, where circulation continues to plummet, public radio appears to doing a lot better at it than the rest of the traditional media. I don't believe its what NPR or PRI or Radio Pacifica is doing differently. I think the key is what public radio is doing BETTER.
Case in point, the station I work for, WAMC, is a REGIONAL news powerhouse. In the unique
Upstate New York / Capital Region area, people have what I refer to as "regional alliances." You know people like that: your buddies who travel to the City whenever they get the chance. Your co-workers who root for the Boston Red Sox. Your neighbors who take regular trips up to Montreal. The people at church who are heading out to the Utica Zoo this weekend. Not to mention those who work in state government, hailing from all 4 compass points! Then there's the "Berkshires" crowd, and the Saratoga art and track patrons, etc. etc. etc.
In my opinion, WAMC is successful because it localizes the regionality… where else on the radio dial could you hear current temperatures for Albany, Glens Falls, Utica and Plattsburgh during a newscast?
According to NPR CEO Vivian Schiller, the network has a culture incredibly devoted to local coverage. "To me, local is the big play, because local commercial radio has abandoned the local market. Local newspapers are withering or sometimes dying. The big national media companies, including excellent ones like The New York Times, cannot afford to be covering every single community. So that leaves a big, gaping hole to serve Americans' local coverage," (that's what she told mediabistro.com in April!)
Published reports say NPR has a "three-prong strategy" including a focus on LOCAL newsgathering and informational coverage as well as adoption of social media. WAMC excels in both areas, but that unique twist, that ability to "localize the regionality" is what propels 90.3 into the stratosphere. So you have a great radio station, a great internet presence and a truly local "personality" (if radio stations can have personalities) that instantly befriends any listener.
The only other public radio station that makes me feel welcome anytime I tune in is WFUV down in New York City. What NPR has become aware of, and what WAMC has been channeling so remarkably, is what some industry folk refer to as "hyperlocal content." The Capital - Saratoga - Central NY - NYC area is so unique that I don't believe what WAMC does would work anyplace else.
According to mashable.com, Alex Iskold, the CEO of semantic web application company AdaptiveBlue, in 2007 predicted the rise of hyperlocal information, indicating that extremely targeted local advertising could be the path forward for the ad industry.
"Despite globalization, hyperlocal information is very valuable both to people and advertisers. In the coming years, we will be seeing the rise of a new way to look at information - geography. Inspired by utility and the promise of hyperlocal advertising, startups are racing to build businesses that deliver highly relevant, local information to users," he wrote.
Mashable.com also takes note of another aspect of NPR's winning approach: their adoption of social media. NPR is one of the few mainstream media organizations that is leading the charge in social media channels. Their Twitter account has over 780,000 followers, making it one of the top 25 on the social network (and third among news organizations behind only the New York Times and CNN). Their Facebook Page has over 400,000 fans. Mashable.com goes on:
…NPR has embraced social media in more ways than just having an active presence on top social media channels. They've also put social media to work for them. In October of 2008, for example, NPR asked listeners to factcheck the US Vice Presidential debates and communicate findings via a Twitter (Twitter reviews) hashtag. And in February, NPR's social media strategist (@acarvin) talked about Twitter on air, including hundreds people tweeting back comments in the conversation. Their conclusion? Twitter lets us all share the media consumption experience together, and that's a very positive thing.
NPR (and WAMC) don't stop at social networking, either - their social media efforts extend to podcasts, blogs, mobile apps, and even their own social network. NPR has been recognized for these efforts year after year with multiple Webby Awards.
NPR's 26.4 million weekly listeners are 11 times more than the daily circulation of USA Today, and greater than 9 times more than the prime time viewership of the #1 cable news channel in the US, Fox News. They have 860 local stations in their member network and operate 38 news bureaus around the world - 18 in foreign markets, which is greater than any other news gathering organization. NPR's amazing growth over the past 10 years prompted FastCompany magazine in March to call NPR the "most successful hybrid of old and new media," and wonder if NPR could be the savior of the news industry.
THIS IS THE IMPORTANT SENTENCE:
And they owe that success to the culture of open access and audience participation that they've cultivated over the past decade.
WAMC has been doing that for MORE than a decade! Where else could you get a mix of national, world and local programming including LOCAL news as well as reports from BBC and NPR?
- Location:Albany NY
- Mood:
good - Music:Chester French
The title of this post is a line I've imported from a Blondie song. It just seems to fit my general feeling today. Today I'm in Manhattan, and a look at the newspaper reminds one of the great POLITICAL distance between New York City and Albany. The NY Post pulling no punches, hammering Governor David Paterson and his sudden slam-dunk Senate pick Kirsten Gillibrand and the now-indicted former Senator Joe Bruno. The paper predicts that, like the terminator, Andrew Cuomo and Caroline Kennedy "will be back" when time comes. The Post: Gov Says Caroline Turned 'Nasty'... NYDN: ..underwhelmed from the startUp in Albany, talk has already shifted away from politics to basketball, as UAlbany and Siena play home games this weekend. The Times Union has game updates, results and photos at:Siena and UAlbany as well as the TU SportsBlog
The newspapers also reflect the continuing decline of the economy: The Post has three timely articles - one about layoffs at public television station WNET/13, another about Girl Scout Cookies being downsized, and another about the MTA giving toolbooth attendants the boot as more motorists switch to E-ZPass.
And in the Nation's Capitol: OBAMA VS. RUSH IN NEW MEDIA WAR
Labels: Capital Region, MainStreamMedia, New York City, politics, Radio, Sports, TV
- Location:New York City
- Mood:Walking on imported air
- Music:Rihanna on the Radio
I find it hard to believe that in a nation that has just elected its first Black President, we've placed such a low value on the Martin Luther King holiday. I've heard radio talk-show hosts call it a "pseudo-holiday" and "half a holiday" because so many businesses choose to ignore it! People would get pissed if they were suddenly ordered to go to work on Memorial Day or the 4th of July. Hopefully, President Obama will see to it that the King Holiday becomes a full-fledged REAL holiday, not only in the eyes of the Nation, but in the eyes of the private business sector.
A few weeks ago I published an article entitled "The Situation" on my blog*spot blog. This was before the conflict escalated in Israel. In the post, I noted that there are some who would argue that the Middle East is setting the stage for the next (last?) major World war. There are others who invoke the biblical warning of "wars and rumours of wars."
In his newspaper column, Israeli Nechemia Meyers writes about the range of terrorist rockets: "According to maps we see almost every evening on TV, it now reaches only a dozen kilometers south of Rehovot, where we live. There is no reason to doubt that it will soon reach us too."
Meyers brought something very interesting up... it reminds me of the argument people use here in the US sometimes. You'll see Pakistani and Indian businessmen and women coming to New York, living in cramped quarters with several others, working two or three jobs and saving that money for a year or two. Then they buy into a business: a convenience store, pizza shop or gas station. Observers then attack less fortunate Americans with the argument "if they can do it, and they can barely speak English, why can't YOU?" Anyway - here's what Meyers writes about the Palestinians in Gaza: "They are still there after six decades because their Arab brothers want them to be there (emphasis mine). Rich, underpopulated Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States could easily absorb them as they have absorbed untold thousands of Indians, Pakistanis, Thais, Filipinos and others, who do work that could be done by Palestinians. But most of the Arab states would rather have the Gazans remain a festering sore in Israel's south rather than to rehabilitate them as Israel has done with Jews from Arab countries... One can only dream of another scenario, one in which peace and cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians would make life easier on both the frontlines and the home front." Isn't that what all "ordinary citizens, everyday people" really want? Peace and cooperation? Can the leaders not make it so?
I've thought this out a bit farther in the interests of clarifying something. Follow me now:
- In the U.S.A. blacks have been socially disadvantaged for many years.
- The Civil Rights Movement (inlcuding the JFK era and the social disorder that raged thru the later sixties into the early seventies) paved the way for many changes which
- really started to "set" during the mid-1970s when there was increased interracial activity on may fronts.
- As the harsh reality of the 1980s set in and hip-hop was born, an mist of hopelessness settled over many inner-city neighborhoods, while at the same time, Indian and Pakistani people (along with other foreigners) came to the States and began to establish the businesses mentioned above.
Even now, many of the poor black families in the US share a common bond with the Palestinians in Gaza. Although other Arab countries could give the Gazans jobs, they choose not to. Although the United States could give jobs (training and loans) to black citizens, those jobs and benefits are going to foreigners. Something is wrong with both pictures.
A few weeks ago I published an article entitled "The Situation" on my blog*spot blog. This was before the conflict escalated in Israel. In the post, I noted that there are some who would argue that the Middle East is setting the stage for the next (last?) major World war. There are others who invoke the biblical warning of "wars and rumours of wars."
In his newspaper column, Israeli Nechemia Meyers writes about the range of terrorist rockets: "According to maps we see almost every evening on TV, it now reaches only a dozen kilometers south of Rehovot, where we live. There is no reason to doubt that it will soon reach us too."
Meyers brought something very interesting up... it reminds me of the argument people use here in the US sometimes. You'll see Pakistani and Indian businessmen and women coming to New York, living in cramped quarters with several others, working two or three jobs and saving that money for a year or two. Then they buy into a business: a convenience store, pizza shop or gas station. Observers then attack less fortunate Americans with the argument "if they can do it, and they can barely speak English, why can't YOU?" Anyway - here's what Meyers writes about the Palestinians in Gaza: "They are still there after six decades because their Arab brothers want them to be there (emphasis mine). Rich, underpopulated Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States could easily absorb them as they have absorbed untold thousands of Indians, Pakistanis, Thais, Filipinos and others, who do work that could be done by Palestinians. But most of the Arab states would rather have the Gazans remain a festering sore in Israel's south rather than to rehabilitate them as Israel has done with Jews from Arab countries... One can only dream of another scenario, one in which peace and cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians would make life easier on both the frontlines and the home front." Isn't that what all "ordinary citizens, everyday people" really want? Peace and cooperation? Can the leaders not make it so?
I've thought this out a bit farther in the interests of clarifying something. Follow me now:
- In the U.S.A. blacks have been socially disadvantaged for many years.
- The Civil Rights Movement (inlcuding the JFK era and the social disorder that raged thru the later sixties into the early seventies) paved the way for many changes which
- really started to "set" during the mid-1970s when there was increased interracial activity on may fronts.
- As the harsh reality of the 1980s set in and hip-hop was born, an mist of hopelessness settled over many inner-city neighborhoods, while at the same time, Indian and Pakistani people (along with other foreigners) came to the States and began to establish the businesses mentioned above.
Even now, many of the poor black families in the US share a common bond with the Palestinians in Gaza. Although other Arab countries could give the Gazans jobs, they choose not to. Although the United States could give jobs (training and loans) to black citizens, those jobs and benefits are going to foreigners. Something is wrong with both pictures.
- Location:Albany NY
- Mood:intense
- Music:TV: "Human Trafficking" on IONtv
I thought that I had deleted Semagic from my system, but as I was checking files, there it was! So here I am, giving the program another "test." I am writing this while offline. I spent much of Saturday trying to figure out whether or not i should shell out $99.99 for an Aspire One Notebook PC. RadioShack is selling them for that, long as you sign up for AT&T's "air card" at $60 a month for a two-year term. The Acer I'm looking at has a flash drive instead of a harddrive. Problem is a lot of my programs I like to use wouldn't work on it... or would they? Looks like I'll be Googling to see if perhaps I can install an extra OS (the Aspire does have a WinXp version which I understand is very cranky, has a DVD program (the Aspire has no DVD drive) and the machine itself has a spinning disc style harddrive, something I don't want at all. Any one out there who is familiar with or owns the Acer Aspire Linux version?
- Location:New York City
- Mood: chipper
- Music:All That I Want (Weepies)
Dear Readers (Blogders!) -You may have noticed a bit of tinkering and experimentation going on. It's ALL good! I'm trying to "stitch my online presence together" Google/Blogger ---> MyBlogLog/Yahoo! ---> LiveJournal ---> MySpace ---> FaceBook ---> LinkedIn ETC.
FIRST a WARM WELCOME to NEW READERS!
Next: It's THAT time of year, when I solicit other bloggers to contribute "guest posts" to run on my blogspot blog during the holiday season! Contact me!
I'm seeing more in the way of "comments" and that's good. I'm also seeing folks come in and use the Haloscan comments like a Cbox or TagBoard, and that's also good! Better yet, I've added a C-Box and a Google Interactive box to encourage more readers to use my blogspot blog as a forum.
I've gotten rid of box at the top of the sidebar where you could enter your email addy and get nightly updates / summaries of this blog. I've seen this recommended by many other bloggers, so naturally I was curious to see how it will work here. It didn't. I almost installed the MyBlogLog widget that shows previous posts (actually, I DID install it for a few hours) but then I realized that there's already a "previous posts" section in the sidebar!
Scroll down a bit (on blogspot) and you'll notice "Dave Lucas' Shared Items" which comes your way via my Google Reader, so I can direct and recommend articles on other people's blogs without having to log in and post an entry.
I'm trying to figure out if I can add a MyBlogLog widget on my LiveJournal blog! anyone?
You'll also notice (on blogspot) different "counters" and "rankers" which are really more for my benefit than yours, so I can get a feel for what's happening with this blog. I've signed up for but haven't fully initiated some "microblogging" features... there's also a little icon under my photo that says "mobile" which is how you can carry and view my blog wherever you go on your iPhone!
I'm also on MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn... (love those "social networks") I'm putting more effort into the LiveJournal blog, where you're beginning to see stuff you won't see on my blogspot.
In the months to come, I'm hoping to get LOTS more in the way of interaction and participation from readers and other bloggers. Your feedback is ALWAYS welcome!
Feel free to share your feedback with me by leaving me a comment using either "comments" feature below. If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to help answer them for you. Take a moment to subscribe to my RSS Feed and be sure to start following me on Twitter.
Now, here's a few things I noticed going on in the blogosphere:
A Cuban blogger meet-up scheduled for Saturday is in danger of being cancelled by the authorities. Eduardo Avila reports.
Blogger feng37 posts on a new wave of control over media in China:
Homero shares his Mom's recipe for the Nicaraguan dish Mondongo Soup.
This article cross-posted on blogspot & MySpace!
- Location:NYC
- Mood: hopeful
- Music:Eagles of Death Metal / "Now I'm A Fool"
It would be nice if it can be done...
- Mood:
curious
Beyoncé - If I Were A BoyBeyonce gets all sexy senorita on the Spanish rendition of her latest smash 'If I Were A Boy'. With a new album and two movies on the horizon, it appears the "Season of Beyonce" has begun. It's all in the MARKETING, folks!
Beyonce in rehab - but only to research her latest film role...
TI fends off Beyonce
Beyonce Debuts At #1
Beyonce GQ Pictures December 2008
People seem to have an obscene fascination with seeing pictures of celebrities minus make-up. Okay, so here goes a few of Beyonce, the popular singer.
masala4maza: Beyonce Robot Gloves Photo and Video
And the wannabees are waiting in the wings: Leona Lewis 'Inspired' By Beyonce, Sets US Deluxe Album Release
To the left, to the left! Hey Beyonce! The glue is pulling that wig to the left! (Check out the wrinkles near her eye).
By the way friends, I'm at 2,350 posts and counting on this blog alone! Whew!
Tags: Beyoncé, Beyonce
Labels: Bloggers, Blogs, Celebrities, Entertainment, Film, MainStreamMedia, Marketing, Pop Culture, Radio, web 2.0, YouTube
- Location:Albany, NY
- Mood:
annoyed - Music:If I Were A Boy
The New York Times reviews a book called Eat This, Not That!, a nutrition guide full of images of foods you shouldn't eat and their healthier substitutes. The book also has a section highlighting 20 of the country's worst foods, and the article republishes eight of them, categorized with names like "worst fast food meal" and "worst drink". The "winners"?Worst Fast Food Meal: McDonald's Chicken Selects Premium Breast Strips with creamy ranch sauce. Chicken sounds healthy, but not at 870 calories.Worst Drink: Jamba Juice Chocolate Moo'd Power Smoothie. With 166 grams of sugar, you could have had eight servings of Ben & Jerry's.Worst Supermarket Meal: Pepperidge Farm Roasted Chicken Pot Pie. One pie packs 64 grams of fat.Worst "Healthy" Burger: Ruby Tuesday Bella Turkey Burger. With 1,145 calories, not a very healthy choice.Worst Airport Snack: Cinnabon Classic Cinnamon Roll. Packed with 813 hot gooey calories and 5 grams of trans fats.Worst Kids' Meal: Macaroni Grill Double Macaroni 'n Cheese. With 62 fat grams, it's the equivalent of 1.5 full boxes of Kraft Mac 'n Cheese.Worst Salad: On the Border Grande Taco Salad with Taco Beef. A salad with 102 grams of fat and 2,410 mg of sodium.Worst Dessert: Chili's Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream. At 1,600 calories, it's like eating the caloric equivalent of three Big Macs.
So, out of curiosity—any of your "diet" staples make the list? Let's hear how you fared, along with your votes for worst foods, in the comments.
- Location:NYC
- Mood:working
- Music:Dixie Chicks
It's been a long time since I lasted posted here. Most of the time I'm on my blogspot blog http://dave-lucas.blogspot.com, mostly because I'm so familiar with the blogspot way of doing things.
Recently, I became more active on MySpace and semi-active on Facebook. I intend to thread MySpace -> Facebook -> LiveJournal ->Blogspot -> Wordpress into one unified web presence. Why? Because it's good to have multiple ways of communicating on the internet... I call it "interblogging" and I believe it's a good way to maximize exposure if you're somebody like me, who is active in the media.
If you have any comments, thoughts or suggestions on this "interblogging" concept, please let me know!
Recently, I became more active on MySpace and semi-active on Facebook. I intend to thread MySpace -> Facebook -> LiveJournal ->Blogspot -> Wordpress into one unified web presence. Why? Because it's good to have multiple ways of communicating on the internet... I call it "interblogging" and I believe it's a good way to maximize exposure if you're somebody like me, who is active in the media.
If you have any comments, thoughts or suggestions on this "interblogging" concept, please let me know!
- Location:Albany NY
- Mood:
tired - Music:Tinariwen
One thing that really frosts my pumpkin is those bloggers who feel that they "must" tell the world that they are taking a few days or a week or weekend off. First of all, nobody cares! Secondly, that's a great way to tip hackers off that you won't be online and let people in your city or town get the idea that you may not be in your home or apartment for awhile. Bad move! Just take the time off you need, post on the fly if you can, and that's that!
I've always always always been a fan of LaShawn Barber and her blog. I've written many times how much I admired her "comments" section, loaded with real dialog (not spam) that almost takes on a "forum" or "board" atmmosphere--- something I've always hoped to accomplish with my blogspot blog, but it never happened!
Now, LaShawn is taking her popular blog in a whole new direction:
I've always always always been a fan of LaShawn Barber and her blog. I've written many times how much I admired her "comments" section, loaded with real dialog (not spam) that almost takes on a "forum" or "board" atmmosphere--- something I've always hoped to accomplish with my blogspot blog, but it never happened!
Now, LaShawn is taking her popular blog in a whole new direction:
Many people started reading my blog because of the way I covered political and “controversial” topics. Since I’m phasing out those topics, it makes sense that some of those readers are phasing out LBC. But it doesn’t feel scary. I’m treading new-to-me territory, and it feels like a fresh start. I feel refreshed.Absolutely!When I first started blogging, I followed veteran bloggers’ advice: comment on and trackback to other blogs, send post links to established, like-minded bloggers, etc. I did all that. I even visited small blogs - really small blogs - and commented on those sites. This consequently led the bloggers to blogroll me, and things picked up from there.In some ways, I'm starting over with this blog. After I stopped covering politics, a few loyal fans stuck around. For the most part, however, I’m reinventing myself and the readership is shifting. - LaShawn Barber
Should I do the same with digital music blogging?
- Location:New York City
- Mood:productive
- Music:All That I Want (The Weepies)
I've been waiting for the opportunity to interblog between Blogger and LiveJournal. Blogger has added a much-needed feature:
H/T Maremag:
H/T Maremag:
Blogger in Draft (it's in a test phase..) now lets you enable OpenID-based commenting in your blogs' Settings | Comments tab...This means that users of OpenID-enabled services — such as LiveJournal and WordPress — can comment on your blog using their accounts from those sites, rather than with Blogger/Google accounts. Read more... I updated my comment section accordingly, no excuses for lurking now!
To try out Blogger in draft, just go to http://draft.blogger.com/ and log in. If you want to stop using it and go back to “normal” Blogger, simply log in to http://www.blogger.com/ instead. Your blogs and posts are the same regardless of whether you use Blogger in draft or regular Blogger. The only difference is what you see in the interface. Source
- Location:Albany NY
- Mood:busy
- Music:Lura
I was twisting the radio dial at home during breakfast when I stumbled upon the Righteous Brothers version of "Little Latin Lupe Lu." How diverse pop music was in the 60's thru 90s... today, all you need is one hit song with somebody saying "Ay, Ay, Ay" in a cute and original way, and all of a sudden you've got a slew of what we used to call "biters" who steal the riff and put it in their own song. Two things are killing Rap & HipHop: the first of course is the language, glorification of violence and dehumanizing of women. The second is stealing riffs or entire songs from others. For heaven's sakes, be original, dude!
We have XM sat radio in the car, and I enjoy popping thru the channels listening to all kinds of stuff. New York City radio is always hot and diverse with a station just about anywhere on FM and AM dials! Albany radio is an entity unto itself: up here people have been buzzing about Imus' return to 770 WABC. Locals are very aware that WFAN 660 and WABC 770 can be received here. The more localized buzz involves Paul Vandenburgh's return to to the airwaves on his own station at 1300 AM. I first met Paul at the old WWCN 1460 when he showed up seeking employment. He seemed like an okay guy. That Friday I was called into the general manager's office. He said to me "Dave, I'm going to be away this weekend. There's two guys that want the afternoon weekend talk show slot. Could you listen for me and pick the one you like best?" I did, and it was Paul, hands down! Off the bat he displayed that local, folksy, Paul style that has entertained Albany area audiences for years. Talk 1300 should be on the air soon.
The laundromat I usually take the clothes to suddenly stopped piping B95 thru the speakers, after playing that station nonstop for about the last 20 years... It switched over to the Country Music station, WGNA. I finally saw the owner and asked him what happened... sit down for this: he said he'd been getting complaints about the music. ??? "Did anybody ever complain before?" "Nope, but I've had several from different people in the last month or two, so I changed the station!" Go figure!
I think it's quite humourous we have so many "radio experts" in the Capital Region. Whatever the case, 2008 should be a very interesting year...
We have XM sat radio in the car, and I enjoy popping thru the channels listening to all kinds of stuff. New York City radio is always hot and diverse with a station just about anywhere on FM and AM dials! Albany radio is an entity unto itself: up here people have been buzzing about Imus' return to 770 WABC. Locals are very aware that WFAN 660 and WABC 770 can be received here. The more localized buzz involves Paul Vandenburgh's return to to the airwaves on his own station at 1300 AM. I first met Paul at the old WWCN 1460 when he showed up seeking employment. He seemed like an okay guy. That Friday I was called into the general manager's office. He said to me "Dave, I'm going to be away this weekend. There's two guys that want the afternoon weekend talk show slot. Could you listen for me and pick the one you like best?" I did, and it was Paul, hands down! Off the bat he displayed that local, folksy, Paul style that has entertained Albany area audiences for years. Talk 1300 should be on the air soon.
The laundromat I usually take the clothes to suddenly stopped piping B95 thru the speakers, after playing that station nonstop for about the last 20 years... It switched over to the Country Music station, WGNA. I finally saw the owner and asked him what happened... sit down for this: he said he'd been getting complaints about the music. ??? "Did anybody ever complain before?" "Nope, but I've had several from different people in the last month or two, so I changed the station!" Go figure!
I think it's quite humourous we have so many "radio experts" in the Capital Region. Whatever the case, 2008 should be a very interesting year...
- Location:Albany NY
- Mood:productive
- Music:Walk Tall - Two of Clubs
Ah, the nasty buggers! Little trojans love hopping aboard unsuspecting computers. For you, I have identified four very nasty bugs and ways to defeat them:ibm0001 - aka - torpig
USPY.EXE
Tempmbroit
lsass.exe
- Location:NYC
- Mood:working
- Music:KALA by M.I.A.
For decades, police and public officials in Albany NY recited the mantra "there are no gangs in Albany" even though citizens knew there were and failed to understand why those in power refused to acknowledge it. I was shocked to see a front-page story in the Sunday Times Union not only detailing gang activity in the Capital City, but running down a list of gang names.
If you liked this post you might like "Gangs of Albany, New York" which is not exactly about the same thing. This article looks at OTHER activities that supposedly DON'T happen in Albany NY!
"We've got the Jungle Junkies, and Tally, which are baby Jungles. They wear beige," he says. "Then there's 4 Block, East Side, West Side, First Street Goonies, Second Avenue Goonies, Purple City, Crips, Bloods, SBO."Conspicuous in it's absence: The Five Per-Centers who virtually ruled Albany AND the resident gangs through the decades. The FBI says the name Five Percenters means "five percent of muslims who smoke and drink."
That last one is a girls' gang and it takes some prodding for Weeks, eyes downcast, to reveal what the initials stand for: Slump Bitches Over.
Officials at City Hall, the Police Department and school district often try to pin the violence on a few "bad apples," but the problem is more ingrained than they say.
"The number of gangs is growing and changing so fast, it's tough to keep up with them all," says Albany County Sheriff's Sgt. Christopher Frambach, supervisor of the gang intelligence unit at the Albany County jail.
He keeps files on more than 800 gang members who've come through the county jail in the past few years. He estimates that at least 10 percent of the inmates at any one time, roughly 75 to 100 prisoners, are part of a gang.
Frambach is now tracking a second generation, with fathers and sons engaged in common gang enterprises behind bars at the same time.
If you liked this post you might like "Gangs of Albany, New York" which is not exactly about the same thing. This article looks at OTHER activities that supposedly DON'T happen in Albany NY!
- Location:NYC
- Mood:
thoughtful - Music:Norah Jones (on the radio)
Having been informed that LiveJournal has added some features that I think I will find most helpful, I've decided to add this blog to my little "stable" of blogs registered on Technorati, which I've been a member of since December 2004. My how time flies! Technorati Profile
- Location:NYC
- Mood:busy
- Music:Veronicas
For reasons unknown, it took several attempts to upload the P2B post to both Blogger and LiveJournal. The software kept getting hung up on trying to insert IceRocket tags (it said it couldn’t find them) - the LiveJournal post went up without a title (although that could have been my fault, which I why I’m posting this) - OH! - Something else: "400 blog reactions" on technorati? That can’t be right...
Time to try something new. I told you about HTTrack, with which I was able to save an entire year of blogging on my harddrive (and on CD) . I’ve been looking for something with the opposite effect: a means by which I could prepare posts offline. Have you ever posted about something, then wish you could have had a little more time to investigate your topic further or embellish your post? Most bloggers don’t like to change something once it’s already been posted. There was a program called W.Bloggar which I tried.. LiveJournal has it’s own Semagic program, but recently I decided to try Bytescout Post2Blog.
This is DejaVu for me: I wrote a similar post last night, but it wouldn’t upload to blogger. Later that same night, I tried a couple of test posts, and they worked fine!?!?! So this Post2Blog thing is going to be trial and error, a learn as I go process. Welcome along! Each Post2Blog post will be named Part One, Part Two, etc. and since Post2Blog Ice Rocket Tags: Post2Blog is multi-platform, I’m going to attempt to post the series on my LiveJournal blog as well as on Blogger.
P2B has it’s own spell-checker, which I like better than Blogger’s, ’cos Blogger’s will screw up the formatting of my post if I use it.I’m a good speller, but an overanxious typists, who wants to get the words on the screen faster than his fingers can peck, which often results in things like "sumemr" instead of "summer" --- P2B is also suppose to be able to insert technorati and icerocket tags as well as Blogger categories.
The biggest benefit I see using P2B is when creating a series of posts I can check back and forth between them without having to be online. Number two is being able to have a working file that I don’t need to connect to Blogger to in order to expand on. So, let’s give it a go!LiveJournal Tags: Post2Blog
Mistakes are the "outtakes" of our lives. We all make them from time to time. It's how we handle them that counts. Think back on your life. What are the things that you wish you could go back and change. What could you have done differently? Reflect on this a moment by closing your eyes, then come back.
Now that you're back you've no doubt realized and understand there is no going back. No undoing what has been done. That doesn't mean you can't do new things, make new decisions that can change your life in a positive way. I recently met a man I'll call Willie. He's around 77 years old and just spent the last 40 years of life in prison. For a murder. But he is not hardened: he IS changed. He's an activist now for prisoners in New York, and I could tell by his "aura" that he indeed was sorry for what he had done, and wanted to spend his remaining time helping others who are now enduring what he had endured.
Okay, so you can't fix every mistake, commit the crime and you do the time. There are other mistakes men and women make. They don't seem to start out as "mistakes," but things happen and go wrong along the way. Breakups are okay, but divorce is the rough way out. Nobody wins (especially if children are involved.) How to cope? First understand that we are all just plain human. Don't enter a relationship expecting that your partner will make you happy. Happiness comes from within. Don't enter a relationship thinking your partner will "take care" of you. Take care of yourself: an old boss once told me "look out for number one." I didn't get that at first. Now I do. It wasn't meant to be taken and applied in a bad or selfish way. if you and your partner can acknowledge and accept each other for who and what you are, unconditionally, and not expect the other to "take care" or "make me happy" you'll get along.
Sometimes we err. To err is human. If you made a mistake and you didn't mean it, you didn't harm anyone, and gee whiz you feel stupid... let it go. Don't talk about it with anyone. Get over feeling bad about it. The only thing you can do is mark time. The more time that fills the space between that mistake and you, the better off you'll be. Never let them see you sweat. Cover your tracks by aspiring to do something outstandingly spectacular that will surely steal attention away from your error. (Politicians are masters of timing when it comes to this!) Should you still get called on, say something like, "oops, my bad" or "barin fart" and don't dwell on or try to justify or otherwise explain what happened. It happened, move on, get over it. Convince yourself and you'll convince others.
The biggest mistake of all is when you look in the mirror and wonder "why didn't I..." It's too easy to second-guess or play monday-morning quarterback. That's why you should always, always, always ALL-ways think before your speak, and, wait a minute, think AGAIN before you speak. Practice this and you'll find at least a few times each day you'll be delighted that you kept your mouth shut. This advice works in many situations. Don't understand how to do something at work or school? Don't blurt that out right away. The instructor may be planning to go over it again in a minute, or you may be ableto figure it out all by yourself or get a hand from a co-worker. Life is all about action, but you have to pause a moment to consider what will happen beyond the next thing you say or the next move you make.
Are other people hurting you or calling you names? If you're a family member "stuck" in a family situation, consider if it's worth sticking it out and trying to make changes. This goes back (sometimes) to what others want or expect from you. If somebody is putting you down because you're not "making them happy" the problem may not be all yours. But think back a minute: did you once promise them that you would indeed "make them happy?" Remember, words mean things. Different things to different people. Be careful what you say. Be careful what you promise. Be careful what you wish for.
Your responsibilities are these: first, to thine own self be true. To your belief system, to your gut feeling, to your conscience. To your parents and children, instructors and employers. Keep yourself clean and neat. Make sure you are properly attired for your school or job. Have a set of "dress up clothing" for those very special times. Say your prayers (whatever prayers you choose to say according to the belief system you subscribe to) and always be pleasant, patient and kind to others (no matter how much they piss you off). Not only will you perk up some poor soul's day, you'll gain a little karma. That old saying about "what comes around goes around" is pretty true. Ah well, enough sermonizing! If you have any "life lessons" you'd like to pass along, the "comments" section is your ticket...
Now that you're back you've no doubt realized and understand there is no going back. No undoing what has been done. That doesn't mean you can't do new things, make new decisions that can change your life in a positive way. I recently met a man I'll call Willie. He's around 77 years old and just spent the last 40 years of life in prison. For a murder. But he is not hardened: he IS changed. He's an activist now for prisoners in New York, and I could tell by his "aura" that he indeed was sorry for what he had done, and wanted to spend his remaining time helping others who are now enduring what he had endured.
Okay, so you can't fix every mistake, commit the crime and you do the time. There are other mistakes men and women make. They don't seem to start out as "mistakes," but things happen and go wrong along the way. Breakups are okay, but divorce is the rough way out. Nobody wins (especially if children are involved.) How to cope? First understand that we are all just plain human. Don't enter a relationship expecting that your partner will make you happy. Happiness comes from within. Don't enter a relationship thinking your partner will "take care" of you. Take care of yourself: an old boss once told me "look out for number one." I didn't get that at first. Now I do. It wasn't meant to be taken and applied in a bad or selfish way. if you and your partner can acknowledge and accept each other for who and what you are, unconditionally, and not expect the other to "take care" or "make me happy" you'll get along.
Sometimes we err. To err is human. If you made a mistake and you didn't mean it, you didn't harm anyone, and gee whiz you feel stupid... let it go. Don't talk about it with anyone. Get over feeling bad about it. The only thing you can do is mark time. The more time that fills the space between that mistake and you, the better off you'll be. Never let them see you sweat. Cover your tracks by aspiring to do something outstandingly spectacular that will surely steal attention away from your error. (Politicians are masters of timing when it comes to this!) Should you still get called on, say something like, "oops, my bad" or "barin fart" and don't dwell on or try to justify or otherwise explain what happened. It happened, move on, get over it. Convince yourself and you'll convince others.
The biggest mistake of all is when you look in the mirror and wonder "why didn't I..." It's too easy to second-guess or play monday-morning quarterback. That's why you should always, always, always ALL-ways think before your speak, and, wait a minute, think AGAIN before you speak. Practice this and you'll find at least a few times each day you'll be delighted that you kept your mouth shut. This advice works in many situations. Don't understand how to do something at work or school? Don't blurt that out right away. The instructor may be planning to go over it again in a minute, or you may be ableto figure it out all by yourself or get a hand from a co-worker. Life is all about action, but you have to pause a moment to consider what will happen beyond the next thing you say or the next move you make.
Are other people hurting you or calling you names? If you're a family member "stuck" in a family situation, consider if it's worth sticking it out and trying to make changes. This goes back (sometimes) to what others want or expect from you. If somebody is putting you down because you're not "making them happy" the problem may not be all yours. But think back a minute: did you once promise them that you would indeed "make them happy?" Remember, words mean things. Different things to different people. Be careful what you say. Be careful what you promise. Be careful what you wish for.
Your responsibilities are these: first, to thine own self be true. To your belief system, to your gut feeling, to your conscience. To your parents and children, instructors and employers. Keep yourself clean and neat. Make sure you are properly attired for your school or job. Have a set of "dress up clothing" for those very special times. Say your prayers (whatever prayers you choose to say according to the belief system you subscribe to) and always be pleasant, patient and kind to others (no matter how much they piss you off). Not only will you perk up some poor soul's day, you'll gain a little karma. That old saying about "what comes around goes around" is pretty true. Ah well, enough sermonizing! If you have any "life lessons" you'd like to pass along, the "comments" section is your ticket...
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