Author Archives: Steve Mays

Casio Exilim EX FC100

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I’ve only had this camera for a few days and really haven’t played with it enough to offer much of an opinion. The review at InfoSyncWorld says it’s “good” but not “great.” So why did I buy it?

My current Casio is fine and I’ll keep it. But I’ve had such good luck with the Exilim line from Casio, I buy a new one every year or two, just to get my hands on the new features.

I think the FC100 would be a good choice (review above not withstanding) for a parent with youngsters involved in sports. The “High Speed Burst Mode” should let you capture that frozen frame as the soccer ball is kicked or the bat is swung.

The “High Speed Movie” mode claims 1000fps which should make for some fun slow-mo video. I’ll look for opportunities to try out both of those features and post what I get (good or bad) here.

Camera costs between $300 and $350 but that will come down pretty quickly.

Blogs turn websites into conversations

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A couple of years ago my friend Everett asked my advice on a website. He’s a veterinarian and had your basic Web 1.0 site. I suggested he think about a blog because I knew he was a good story teller and would be a natural. And he is.

He often writes about cases he sees in his practice and gets lots of feedback from readers, many of whom have questions.

“Even though I certainly cannot prescribe for a pet that I have not examined, sometimes I can clarify a situation, or make suggestions.  Sometimes they just have questions that weren’t addressed in the original post, but are related to the topic. I receive questions from around the country, and even Europe and (today) Tanzania.”

I share this as just one more example of the powerful difference between a blog and the old “brochure” sites that are still all too common.  Some day –soon, perhaps– this will not be worth mentioning. Everyone will get it and all or most websites will be blogs or have a strong blog component. I believe this is called the “Duh Moment.”

Everett’s blog is YourPetsBestFriend.com. If you have a pet, it’s a must read.

Hometown Radio

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A long-time radio pal shared this item from AllAccess:

DELMARVA BROADCASTING adds an FM partner for Talk WICO-A/ SALISBURY- OCEAN CITY, MD, flipping WXMD (MAX FM)/POCOMOKE CITY, MD to Talk as WICO-FM and installing separate programming from the AM side. The WICO-FM calls move from 97.5, which changes to WKTT, but retains its Country format and CAT COUNTRY slogan.

After a 5-6a simulcast of “AMERICA IN THE MORNING,” the FM carries syndicated QUINN AND ROSE, PREMIERE’s GLENN BECK and RUSH LIMBAUGH, TALK RADIO NETWORK’s JERRY DOYLE, MICHAEL SAVAGE, and RUSTY HUMPHRIES, and then simulcasts WESTWOOD ONE’s JIM BOHANNON and PREMIERE’s “COAST TO COAST AM” with GEORGE NOORY. Weekends feature music programming.

The AM side is carrying DIAL GLOBAL’s MICHAEL SMERCONISH, TRN’s LAURA INGRAHAM, DIAL GLOBAL’s NEAL BOORTZ, syndicated DAVE RAMSEY, DIAL GLOBAL’s CLARK HOWARD and TRN’s MICHAEL SAVAGE. Weekends include “best ofs” from LIMBAUGH, HOWARD and BOORTZ along with the syndicated KIM KOMANDO, CIGAR DAVE, TAMMY BRUCE, and CAR AND DRIVER shows.

My pal estimates that four major network syndicators provide 95% of programming on 80% of all talk stations in the country. Just a guess, he says, but not far off.

Scott Adams: “Super-local news”

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“It’s not just news about your community, but also about your homeowner’s association, your apartment building, your kids’ classrooms, and the sports teams they belong to. Every family would have their own online local newspaper, assembled electronically every day based on that family’s log-in information. Your personal and super-local news would include everything from world events to school lunch menus for that day. Eventually it might even include your child’s report card. Obviously the schools have to be partners in this, and I think that could happen. Most school information is online already or heading in that direction. It just needs to feed to the newspaper’s site for aggregation.

The key is for the super-local information to come to the newspapers from volunteers. For example, every youth sport team would have a parent with a digital camera and the willingness to upload some pictures and write a few lines about the game. A simple user interface would make it easy to integrate the news about little Becky’s soccer game with news of the Lakers. They would have equal billing.”

“To follow or not to follow? How do you decide?”

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Here's how Phil Johnson, writing in Advertising Age, decides:

"When somebody new crosses my path, I take a look at their last 10 tweets and ask myself three sets of questions:

  1. Can I learn something from this person? Does he connect me with information that I would never find on my own?
  2. Is she original? Does she have a distinct voice and make interesting observations about the world and business?
  3. If I'm not getting a clear answer, I ask the ultimate question, "Would I drink with him?"

If I know the person, there's a good chance I'll follow them. If I don't, I'll look at their profile and check out a website if they provide a link. If they're "following" hundreds of people, I figure they're just trying to pump up their numbers and I block them.

When I hear someone sneer, "I don't care about what someone had for breakfast," as a way of dismissing something about which they are clearly ignorant… I immediately think: I don't remember the last time I saw a tweet like that. Why would I follow someone with so little to say? No, this is just an easy rationale for learning something new.