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Idaho Senator Larry Craig has been exonerated, thanks to recently released surveillance camera photos that support his account of events that led to his arrest in a Minneapolis airport men's room.
A number of years ago --in cooperation with the Missouri Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse-- we created a radio show/website called KidsCast ("Radio news for kids...by kids.")
I just converted the website to a Typepad blog and wanted to add some video, so I shot a few minutes of one of the recording sessions, plus a minute or two with the student host, Suzanna Pinkley, a fifth grader and the youngest (eleven when she started) host we've had. Bright and charming.
Shot the video with the Casio EX-S770. Edited in iMovie HD. Also featured, Producer Amy Winder.
This just in from Kennett: "Helluva rhubarb up at the courthouse last Friday. One of the prisoners tried to take his attorney hostage, stabbed her two or three times -- not real serious -- then took off running down the hall. One of the deputies and the investigator for the Prosecutor's office tackled him and subdued him. In the process the investigator was stabbed in the face. Everybody says the prisoner was lucky that Raymond Scott was not (still) the sheriff, because Raymond would have killed him right on the spot."
Anyone who has trod the marble steps of the Dunklin County Courthouse has great dificulty imagining this kind of drama.
The video of Ms. South Carolina (Miss Teen USA contestant) showing how to think on your feet reminded me of an MC gig back in my DJ days.
MC Steve: "What, in your opinion, is America's greatest resource?"
Contestant: "I think it would have to be either coal or natural gas."
Bob Hague (Fez #2) points us to this story on the WCCN website:
Two men, driving the same pickup truck, have been cited for driving drunk in central Wisconsin. Police stopped their truck in Abbotsford recently and found 43-year-old Harvey Miller was steering the truck. Miller has no legs. Officers say 55-year-old Edwin Marzinske was operating the gas pedals and brake.
The police report says Miller admitted he was too drunk to drive, but argued he wasn't actually operating the truck because he couldn't push the gas pedal. Officers disgreed and cited him for drunken driving, third offense.
Marzinske was cited for his second drunken driving offense. Both men were also cited for operating a vehicle after revocation.
Please use comments for insensitive and tasteless puns and comments.
From a story at The Guardian: "The cholesterol-lowering drugs statins may also slow the onset of Alzheimer's disease, according to US researchers who examined the brains of 110 elderly people after they died. They found the brains of patients who had not taken the drugs were more likely to show signs of the disease."
My pop died of Alzheimer's, as did Barb's. Not pretty. This study is comforting to those of us who have been taking statins for years.
Roger walked into my office this morning, flipped open his MacBook Pro and showed me a little video he whipped up over the weekend using the new iMovie '08. This might be the first video Roger has edited. He created a little iPhoto slideshow and saved that as a video... but this might be his first run at creating something we'd think of as a short movie.
And since he hadn't messed with iMovie HD (the previous version), he didn't feel a lot of the bumps that users have been wailing about, comparing '08 with '06.
I have to say, after watching this little movie (family ski trip), I'm gonna give iMovie '08 a try. This is probably exactly what the Apple folks had in mind when they redesigned iMovie. This is not your dad's home movie.
Regular readers of this blog might have noticed my fascination with video. I've been experimenting, playing, trying to figure out the best way to use YouTube and Google video. I just think this is a useful thing to know how to do. So does the Church of the Customer Blog:
"A job title of the future for marketing departments is Video Producer. Like a news producer at a television station, she decides every day what's worth covering at the company and produces a short video segment for YouTube, the company blog or even the company intranet.
Telling your company's ongoing story on a daily or weekly basis via online video is looking a lot like the future of marketing and advertising."
Everyone that knows how to shoot, edit and post a short video piece... raise your hand. [via Hear 2.0]
Clyde Lear is blogging the history of our company, which he founded 35 years ago. This is a great use of the blog format and the idea was his alone. I'm helping get some of the audio added to his posts but this is his baby. And --as Clyde observed-- if he doesn't do it, it won't get done.
His latest post includes a 10 minute air check --from one of our first radio station affiliates-- of one of our first programs on Day One. Good stuff. Let's give him lots of encouragement.
From latimes.com: "Miniature radio ads, spanning just a few seconds in length, are a hit in Hollywood, says market leader Clear Channel Communications Inc., which launched the spots known as blinks and adlets last year.
Homer Simpson's unmistakable "D'oh!" or "Woohoo!" followed by the familiar tagline "Tonight on Fox!" for example, has been a popular two-second ad -- known as a blink -- for Fox Broadcasting.
Unlike longer ads, which run during minutes-long commercial breaks, the blinks and adlets are slipped in between songs.
Clear Channel declined to disclose pricing, but one ad executive said five-second adlets typically fetch as much as 20% of 60-second ads, which cost about $800 in major markets, and two-second blinks cost 10%." [Thanks, Roger]
There has been such immediate and passionate interest in the Order of the Fez, I decided we needed a little blog where we could post news and stuff, without cluttering up smays.com. When I discovered that OrderoftheFez.com was available, I saw it as an omen. When OOTF membership reaches 9 (a mystical number in our order), I'll put the domain in place. For now, you can bookmark www.smays.com/fez.
For those who missed it, I wore my new leopard skin fez all day on Monday. It created a bit of interest (fez buzz). The most common question? "Where can I get a fez?"
My answer? "That's what separates the fezz-less from... those with fezzorocity. If you're not resourceful enough to acquire your own fez, you don't deserve to wear one."
Dear readers, I give you Bob Hague, Supreme Potentate of the Badger LaFolette Chapter of the Order of the Fez (Fez #2).
Bob and I will be drafting by-laws and deciding on The Secret Grip in coming days, and if you'd like to join us (throw your fez in the ring, as it were), just email a photo of yourself wearing a fez. (Word of caution: No fez sharing. You must own your own fez to a member in good standing)
Don't delay. The highly prized LFN's (Low Fez Numbers) will go quickly.
If there's an amusing story behind your fez ("I mugged a Shriner and have the video"), please feel free to share it.
On behalf of Supreme Potentate Bob, I challenge you to get your fez on!
On her way back from Destin last weekend, Barb stopped off in Memphis to hook up with some Kennett pals and catch The Usual Suspects at B. B. King's on historic Beale Street.
The Usual Suspects is a pick-up band made up of some good old Kennett boys: Wendell Crow (Sheryl's daddy), Jim Baker, Gary Wilcoxson, Darryl Wilcoxson, Doug Carter and Ken Williams.
Barb shot a little video on her Casio (she didn't have a real good angle). And friend-of-the-band Kay Schanuel took some really fine still shots. Thanks to Kay for letting us share these with you here (and to Ann for putting us in touch).
Everyone who has seen these photos has commented on how happy Sheryl Crow looks. A new mom, jammin' with her daddy. Priceless.
They call themselves the Asylum Street Spankers and there's not a politically correct bone in the bunch. In this video they mercelessly mock a sacred cultural icon. Just tell me this... how else are we going to know who does --and does not-- support our troops? (NWS)
Jakob Nielsen shares results of new eyetracking studies which confirm --"for the umpteenth time"-- that banner blindness is real:
"Users almost never look at anything that looks like an advertisement, whether or not it's actually an ad. On hundreds of pages, users didn't fixate on ads. Scanning is more common than reading, but users will sometimes dig into an article if they really care about it."
Henry has posted the first of three video clips (and some kind words) he and I shot with the idea of giving his clients/fans a sense of his creative process. You look at his images and think... "Damn! How'd he do that?" This little micro-documentary (3 parts) takes an amateur stab at explaining.
I shot it with the Sony (on a tripod). Rather than mic Henry, I used a little shoe-mounted mic that did remarkably well. The lighting inside kinda sucked, but this was a quick-and-dirty project from the git-go. Edited in iMovie.
These little videos work because Henry's passion and enthusiasm for his art transcends the technical short-comings. And one final thought...
Before YouTube and Google Video et al, this would not have been as much fun. We could have posted the video files and anyone with enough patience (and the right codec) could have downloaded and watched. Plugging the Flash player into a blog post for one-click viewing... much better.
smays.com has obtained this (as yet unauthenticated) photo of Elvis Presley. The entertainer --long believed deceased-- is reportedly living ("like a king") in a remote village in central Africa.
The alternate explanation is Barb picked up the fez and the Elvis shades down on Beale Street. I wore the fez much of the day and I defy anyone to be in a bad mood while wearing a leopard skin fez. More on Barb's Memphis side trip later.
Kay Henderson was back in the digital Green Room following ABC News' debate this morning in Des Moines. The "other guys" in the headline were: Actor Ron Livingston; the LA Times' Mark Barabak; ABC News Political Director David Chalian and ABC News senior political reporter and author of "The Note" Rick Klein.”
Livingston is an Iowa native who gained international stardom with his leading role in the movie “Office Space.” He was also one of Carrie’s boyfriends in “Sex & the City” plus he did a fine job in “Band of Brothers.”
At no time during the 9 minute video was Kay and Ron in the same frame.
Apple recently released upgrades to their iLife suite (iMovie, iTunes, Garage Band, etc). They also released a new version of iWork (the Apple answer to MS Office). I don't use iWork apps much but I like Keynote (think PowerPoint but fun and easy).
The new release of iWork includes --for the first time-- a spreadsheet program called Numbers. I rarely use a spreadsheet and know almost nothing about Excel. But after watching a demo of Numbers (I subscribe to Don McAllister's ScreenCastsOnline), I'm eager to take it for a spin.
I've read that Numbers wouldn't meet the needs of heavy-duty business users and is more geared for the individual (me!). Looks like it has been optimized for presentations.
I only mention this because it illustrates --again-- how Mac can make something as dry as spreadsheets... fun. And easy. Once I get it installed and play with it a bit, I'll try to come up with a few examples.
I'm not a state fair kind of guy. I'm just not. But that just shows you how little imagination and creativity I possess. And why I missed the Hoosier Hunt at this year's Missouri State Fair.
The Hoosier Hunt is what happens when black humor meets the digital age. You fire up your camera phone and bring back the following images:
If you don't find this amusing, you're probably in one of the photos above. And, god willing, I will be able to share the winning images with you. I'm told there were three teams competing in this Hoosier Hunt and they're compiling the winning photos and will share them here.
If you're in the news business, you should read this blog post by Radio Iowa (a Learfield network) News Director O. Kay Henderson. It's a good example of a reporter allowing her readers/listeners to see how the sausage is made.
The post (and the story to which it refers) is about the network's coverage of remarks made by Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden at the Iowa State Fair on Wednesday. Kay appropriately headlines her post "Splitting hairs with the Biden camp." (Read the post)
In the old (pre-blog) days, if the subject of a news story thought it inaccurate or unfair, the reporter could respond, "I stand by my story" and that would be the end of it.
In this instance, Kay has used her blog to add context to the story and I think everyone is better off for it. Here's what we reported. Here's what people thought about our report. And here's some background we didn't include in the story.
This is why I think every news organization should be blogging. We rely on journalists to cover important news. It's important that we trust them to do it fairly and accurately. Letting us see how they do the job makes it easier.
A co-worker dropped off a copy of a statement he received for some batteries he recently purchased (from Tenergy Corporation/All-Battery.com). At the bottom of the statement:
We pay $30 for your professional reviews and opinions.
Please review the products listed on all-battery.com
I've been reading about this kind of paid review but this is the first pitch I've seen. This raises so many interesting (to me) question:
This just doesn't smell right to me. If I discovered that a blogger was getting paid for reviews, I'd have trouble trusting anything else he/she wrote. If the company's motives are pure, why not clearly state that the offer applies to any well-intentioned, objective review. And if someone has something critical to say, wouldn't that be worth a $30 certificate?
There's a way to do this, of course. If someone in the Casio (digital camera) marketing department noticed that I use/like/blog about their cameras, they could send me a new model and ask me to try it out and blog my impressions. Good or bad. They won't have to give me the camera, because if it's good, I'll probably buy it. AND write nice things about the product.
"A nation consists of its laws. A nation does not consist of its situation at a given time. If an individual's morals are situational, that individual is without morals. If a nation's laws are situational, that nation has no laws, and soon isn't a nation.
Are you really so scared of terrorists that you'll dismantle the structures that made America what it is? If you are, you let the terrorists win. Because that is exactly, specifically, his goal: to frighten you into surrendering the rule of law. that's why the call him 'terrorist.' He uses terrifying threats to induce you to degrade your own society."
-- Spook Country, William Gibson (pg. 136-137)
I wouldn't have thought I'd be a widget guy but my side bar is practically bristling with the little buggers. Okay, I've only got two. My beloved Google Shared Items and a little flickr badge.
Joining them is the My Library widget. It randomly pulls covers from My Library Thing. You are what you read.
I like paper plates (the good ones, not the cheap ones) and have the decency to feel guilty about using them. I've worn a plastic Casio wrist watch for years (less than $20). And tonight bought a year's worth of minutes for my little Nokia Tracfone.
I paid $19.95 for the unit at Wal-Mart and have been buying additional minutes for the last 18 months. The Tracfone was made for people like me (and Avon Barksdale). No synching with Outlook. No texting. No camera. No nothing.
Yes, I do keep the Casio Exilim and the MacBook by my side, but the Tracfone and the camera fit nicely in the MacBook case. Weight is not an issue, given my limited travel.
I'll bet I saw 50 iPhones at Gnomedex and everyone else had state-of-the-art hardware. When I pulled out the Tracfone at lunch, the guy across the table asked, "What's that?"
"North Korean. I'm not supposed to have this out in public. Sorry." ...as I jammed it back in my pocket.
So I've got all the minutes I need for the next year, for about $11 a month. What is that, 35 cents a day?
One of our client's held an open house today here in Jefferson City. So I popped in and recorded 90 seconds of video with Rebecca Gordon (Director of Development for KidsFirst). Trimmed it in iTunes... uploaded to YouTube and then posted it to their blog. Done. Online as the open house got underway.
No big deal, just a nice little video snippet. Sort of a low-rent version of what they might have got (perhaps did get) on one of the local TV stations.
I'm parking it here so I can find it easily when talking with prospective clients.
C|net: "Google will be releasing a new feature next week that will enable people to easily embed a Google Map into their Web site or blog, just like you can do with a YouTube video. No coding or programming required; just copying and pasting a snippet of HTML.
"To embed a Google Map, users will simply pull up the map they want to embed--it can be a location, a business, series of driving directions, or a My Map they have created--and then click 'Link to this page' and copy and paste the HTML into their Web site or blog"
The map will be fully interactive, with the ability for users to drag and click or zoom in on a location. The maps will include satellite and hybrid modes."
You're gonna see a lot of these. I think this is as slick as snot on a door knob.
Mr. Ramsey says the advertising industry is about to redefine radio's "category." According to a report by MediaVest, radio is now "audio":
"In a new report being circulated to clients, MediaVest has adopted the position that terrestrial broadcast radio should no longer be looked at as a discrete medium in communications plans, but as part of a greater array of audio media--including satellite, online, mobile and a variety of personal media device technologies, such as iPods, other MP3 players, and even television, which increasingly is being used as an audio-only medium."
"...radio should no longer be looked at as a discrete medium, but as part of a greater array of audio media."
Ouch.
I agree with Mr. Ramsey that a) this has been coming for a bit and b) it is an important shift that too many "broadcasters" still don't get. I encourage you to read the full post.
Missouri Governor Matt Blunt inspects a new bear dressed for the Tour of Missouri at the Build-A-Bear store in Richmond Heights, Missouri. (UPI Photo/Bill Greenblatt)
Barb is in Destin this week (with her sister & co). She left before I got back from Seattle, so it will have been a good week-and-a-half by the time we get back in the same space. The dogs know I'm a light sleeper so they can get me up for a 3 a.m. pee if they take a notion. Life is easier when it's time-shared.
This sure looks and sounds like Dick Cheney. Maybe it's some elaborate editing hoax. Or an actor.
If it really is Dick Cheney, I guess someone could explain this away with some 9/11 gymnastics.
Looks like it's been viewed a few hundred thousand times (YouTube). Runs less than 90 seconds.
eMarketer: "Internet radio will generate ad revenues of $19.7 billion in 2020, equal to those of terrestrial radio in 2006, according to a Bridge Ratings press release issued in August 2007. Bridge Ratings made the projections as part of a study comparing Internet radio adoption with HD radio. Bridge Ratings surveyed consumers ages 12 and older in June and July 2007."
"These aggressive forecasts for Internet radio could be threatened by the ongoing dispute between record companies and Internet broadcasters over performance royalties to labels and artists for music streamed over the Web."
"Bridge Ratings estimates that Internet radio will have 180 million listeners by 2020. Terrestrial radio will have 250 million listeners. But HD will have less than 10 million." [via RAIN]
I hope Chuck (AgWired.com) doesn't mind me lifting his perfect photo of Alice Cooper (performing at the the Missouri State Fair). Do not go gently into that good night. And good night, Alice.
Day Two at Gnomedex was both fun and informative. Highlight for me was presentation by Gregg Spiridellis, co-founder of JibJab Media Inc. This guy is always gonna be one of the smartest people in the room. I'll link to the video of his presentation if/when it's available. Now, I want you to watch Barb and me do our stuff, then go make one of these for yourself. And your friends.
Ran into Kevin O'Keefe at Gnomedex. Kevin is the president and founder of LexBlog. The subject of video and cameras came up and I recorded this minute of jerky, noisy video during a break at Gnomedex with my wee Casio EX-S770.
I can't wait to see what kind of video ideas Kevin comes up with for his lawyer clients.
This is kind of a big deal in the world of politics. The Iowa Straw Poll is a popularity contest held in Ames, Iowa. It's an early indicator of the Republican field. Kay Henderson does a very good job of explaining the poll and handicapping this year's players.
Gnomedex has to be one of the best covered events in that everyone in the audience is blogging, twittering, videoing and flickr'ing.
Photo: Scott Beale / Laughing Squid" laughingsquid.com
300+ intense, passionate, creative people who all happen to be interested in media, communication and --to some greater or lesser degree-- changing the world. Every one a blogger and many podcasters to boot.
Many have been blogging long enough --and hard enough-- to have become bored or exhausted (or both) by its demands.
Web 2.0 is familiar and comfortable to these people. Passe for some. But these are the early adopters, the adept. The advance guard of the blogosphere.
Robert Steele was lead off/keynote speaker at Gnomedex. Former intelligence officer with the Marine Corps and the CIA. He argues that U. S. intelligence reform is needed and that the private sector can perform a high percentage of U. S. intelligence needs. Scary stuff (PDF).
Guy Kawasaki boiled his thoughts on "Evangelism" down to ten (eleven?) very powerful points.
I assume the video of these two presentations will be online and I'll link. I wouldn't even begin to summarize or comment, beyond encouraging you to watch/read. These two speakers worth the trip.
Here's a really good example of the difference between a "traditional" website... and a blog. The Fair Fan Blog ("...taking pictures from the top of the ferris wheel so you don't have to") is a project of Learfield Interaction. The bloggerista is Laura (Last Name Withheld to Protect Her Hotness) and she's off to a bang-up start.
Is it a good thing... or a not so good thing, when a plane full of people applaud the captain on his landing? When they alerted us there might be a problem with the landing gear, I pulled out the Casio and started recording. I gave the lady next to me my Typepad and YouTube account info, with instructions (in case she made it and I didn't).
While I'm on the subject of flying... this is what air travel is supposed to be like.
Remember James Keown? He's the former Missouri radio guy charged with first-degree murder in the the death of his wife, Julie Keown. Authorities allege Keown poisoned his wife by spiking her Gatorade with antifreeze so he could collect on her $250,000 life insurance policy.
One of the witnesses in the recent evidentiary hearings was Andrew Winrow, a computer forensic investigator who testified that Internet searches recovered from at least one of James Keown's computer hard drives revealed a search for The Anarchist Cookbook and " homemade poisons" allegedly occurring on Aug. 17, 2004 and Aug. 18, 2004, less than a month before his wife's death.
This story got me wondering what I've searched for and, as you might expect, Google makes has this info. Looks like I can go back about 90 days. I didn't spot anything incriminating, but it's an interesting snapshot of what I've been thinking about. I assume the NSA has this information as well.
Reuters: A powerful undersea earthquake has hit Indonesia's West Java island. No tsunami warning (yet) and no immediate reports of damage or casualties. There has been some panic (no shit). The Indonesian quake watchers measured 7.0, while the U.S. geological survey said 7.4.
The quake struck 46 miles northwest of Indramayu and could be felt by residents in the capital Jakarta, as well as in the nearby city of Bandung (X marks the spot), which is where brother Blane & Family live. Still waiting to hear.
Update: Better map.
Update: 10:23 p.m. Just got email from Blane. "What earthquake?" That's my baby brother.
This image really sums up the the appeal the new iMac holds for me. I have a Dell just like the one above. And it looks just like the one above. Could I tidy up the wire? Yeah, probably. We started buying these "boxes" with the idea we could add new video cards and hard drives and such. If you don't want or need to get under the hood... the iMac looks pretty sweet. Here's the introduction keynote video and the TV spot.
Lorna Domke is in charge of "Outreach and Education" for the Missouri Department of Conservation and she has added a blog to her communication tool kit.
"I get to learn a lot about what’s going on all over the state in forestry, fisheries, wildlife, resource science, protection and private lands services. We have lots of ways to get the word out including our regular website, the Missouri Conservationist magazine, and news releases. But on this blog, I’m going to share odds and ends of what I’m hearing from other divisions and what’s of seasonal interest."
Lorna is the wife of my pal Henry, who blogs at HealthCareFineArt.com. Another TBF (Two Blog Family). If you know of others, leave a link in the comments.
Our short-list of state departments or agencies with blogs is growing: Attorney General (Consumer Protection); Missouri Gaming Commission; Children's Trust Fund; KidsFirst; Dept. of Agriculture (Farmers' Markets) Department of Mental Health; Lottery. I'm sure there are more that I haven't discovered yet (Three of these are the work of former Learfielders).
It's just a trickle now but as people discover how much more effective a blog is than the traditional website, this will become a flood.
Radio Iowa News Director O. Kay Henderson (friend and co-worker) took part in the autopsy following Sunday morning's debate by GOP candidates in Des Moines. The debate was hosted by ABC News' This Week. Following the live broadcast, Kay and three other reporters (I think they were all reporters) appeared in The Green Room segment [video].
Update: Others featured in the video are Rick Klein, ABC News senior political reporter; David Chalian, ABC News political director; Holly Bailey, Newsweek; Rick Pearson, Chicago Tribune.
Garmin, a manufacturer of G.P.S. equipment, makes a tracking system that keeps tabs on dogs during walks in the countryside or in the dense ground cover of a hunting trip. It has two parts: a hand-held G.P.S. unit for the owner and another device that is mounted on the dog’s collar or harness.
If the dog bolts after a deer, the owner’s device will show where the dog is headed so the owner can follow and find it, even if miles away.
The Garmin dog tracker system, called Astro, costs $599, but the price may not be too steep for people who already have a deep emotional and financial investment in their dogs. Businesses that sell the Astro include Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s, and Gundogsupply.com. [NYT.com]
Would I pay $600 to find Ripley or Lucy if they were lost. You bet. If they weren't inside dogs, I'd have me a couple of these collars.
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