Tag cloud

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We (yes, there IS a mouse in my pocket) migrated one of our websites over to WordPress this week. As near as we can determine, more than 46,000 stories were imported. My role in this has been modest but I did spend a good bit of time working with the categories, keywords, tags and other meta data used to organize all of those news and sports stories.

There are less than 5,000 posts to this blog but it would be impossible (okay, very difficult) to find anything without a good tagging scheme. One of the more common approaches to displaying those tags is the “tag cloud.” I have one on the right side of this page, near the bottom. And here’s the tag cloud for my flickr account.

tag-cloud-flickr

My friend Scott doesn’t like how tag clouds use different size text to indicate the most and least common topics. He thinks it looks “sloppy.” I find the visual cue very intuitive and easy to use. (I can see I have some clean-up to do)

Strangely, tagging is a bit like curling your tongue. Some people can do it and some just can’t. I’m getting better at it.

Dollars moving from old radio to new radio?

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“Internet Radio Makes Waves,” a new eMarketer report, predicts the radio industry will see double-digit losses in ad spending this year alone, with terrestrial radio bringing in $14.5 billion in ad revenues in 2009, a drop of 18% from 2008 levels.

ZenithOptimedia reports that in 2009, advertisers will spend $260 million on Internet radio and another $28 million on podcasting for a combined total of $288 million, up 28% from 2008. By 2011, that combined figure will reach nearly $394 million.

The Rev. Knute Rockne will deliver today’s message

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This morning I overhead two friends discussing religion. Their “conversation” quickly became tense and strained with one party walking away angry.

Kids, listen to your Uncle Steve. The ONLY safe place to talk about religion is in a big room with a bunch of people who feel exactly the way you do about it.

jesus_footballOrganized religion (a redundancy) is like the NFL. It’s made up leagues (Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, Hindu, etc) and the leagues are made up of teams (Southern Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Sunni, Shia, etc).

Now, the league officials (the Pope and whatever they call the top guys in the other leagues) don’t want you just getting together on a Saturday afternoon, choosing teams and playing touch football for a couple of hours. That might be fun, but you won’t make it to the Big Leagues like that and those pick-up games sure won’ keep the lights on.

You need uniforms, play books, cheer leaders, a band… and officials to blow the whistle when you break the rules.

With verrrryyyy rare exceptions… every “discussion” of religion (and politics, for that matter) is one person validating his or her beliefs by demonstrating that yours are wrong.

“Ward, June, Beaver and Wally have all moved away to live with Timmy and Lassie.”

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Letter to realtor from man shopping for a home in just the right neighborhood:

“One of the most important things I’m looking for is the quality of the neighbors and the neighborhood as much as I am a house. According to your map on the internet, I felt that perhaps these homes were in neighborhoods that are clean, wholesome and safe; with honest christian neighbors with sincere and humble christian values who would be pleasant to live among.

Being retired I wish to live where their is respect, and civility and kindness among the resident population. I wish for the neighborhood to have a refinement and elegance to it, with stable households of quality and good taste.  I don’t want to move into a blighted or deteriorating area, nor do I wish to live in an area filled with transient student population where in the neighbors are changing every semeter.  I want it to be family oriented that when one might sit on their front porch people go for walks with their families and wave and are ginuinely neighborly.”

Response to realtor from a seller:

“Ask him if he has any other requests. Would he like his neighbors to be of a specific gender or race? What kind of pets would be to his liking, and what about climate? Would occasional rain be acceptable or would he rather it be dry, but with humidity readings in the low 40’s?

Tell him Ward, June, Beaver and Wally have all moved away to live with Timmy and Lassie.”

No, you can’ t make this shit up. Wouldn’t you just love to live next door to this guy?

“Official” Song of Kennett, MO

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I’ve posted this little ditty a few times but it’s buried deep in 4,000+ posts. So here it is a again, tagged and categorized, for your listening pleasure. The song was recorded sometime back in the ’60’s (?) to promote the town (and the sponsoring businesses). Feel free to download the song, re-post, spread it far and wide. May it play for a 1,000 years.

Kennett, My Home town (MP3)

Alabama paper launches paid site for Crimson Tide sports

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Found this story by Joer Strupp at Editor & Publisher. This strikes me as a very smart move for a newspaper. I can see Alabama fans paying for this kind of niche content.

NEW YORK The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News is the latest to launch a new paid Web site for its newspaper, announcing the creation of a new site devoted to University of Alabama athletics.

The daily paper, owned by The New York Times Company, will charge $10 per month or $59.95 per year for access to the TidesSportsExtra.com site, according to a release. It will be separate from the paper’s main Web page, which remains free.

“The site will offer in-depth coverage of University of Alabama athletics, including specialized blogs, forums, user profiles and video,” an announcement stated.

Added Chris Rattey, the News’ director of new media: “TideSportsExtra provides University of Alabama fans with content they cannot get anywhere else. With photos, blogs, video and extensive coverage, the site will offer an unparalleled fan experience.”

Among the paid-only items on the site will be columnist Cecil Hurt’s new blog, along with his columns and Internet talk show. “In addition to experiencing richer content, Web site users will be able to engage and participate more easily with comments, photos and videos, creating a deeper online community,” the announcement added.

The announcement comes one day after the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette launched PG+, a new paid site that offers additional blogging, discussion and community interaction online.

The company I work for has the marketing rights for the University of Alabama.

Inglourious Basterds

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My thoughts on Quentin Tarantino’s new movie, Inglourious Basterds:

  • Mr.Tarantino makes movies for himself. He tells the story he wants to tell, the way he wants to tell it. If it runs two-and-a-half hours, that’s how long it runs.
  • He likes actors. He gives them lots of words to say and the time to say them. And plenty of business with their hands while they’re doing it.
  • He likes shoot-outs and doesn’t sanitize them. We see the blood and gore but it doesn’t feel gratuitous to me.
  • He must have a great music collection. The soundtrack for IB is fun and effective.
  • He respects his audience. IB has lots of scenes that are entirely in French or German, with sub-titles. If you’re not still sounding out the syllables, you’ can keep up.

Inglourious Basterds was a smart, funny movie that reminds us what Hitler and the Nazi’s were “really” like. And Brad Pitt was very good.

“Having fun trying new things”

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That’s how my friend (and MD) Jeff describes my job. Today he invited me to speak to a group that goes by the nome de nerd, “Geek Salad.” They meet with some regularity but I’m unclear on their raison d’être:

My friend Steve Mays works for Learfield Communications in Jefferson City will present for 20 minutes or so on “Having fun trying new things”. Steve has the enviable job (IMHO) of evaluating new technologies for his organization. And he’s effective and productive! He holds court at the Coffee Zone in Jefferson City on High Street most AM’s.

Is that really my job? Is that anybody’s job? Let’s just pretend that it is. I’m looking forward to meeting these folks and sharing some of my favorite Gadgets & Apps.

UPDATE 9/1/09: Had coffee and nice chat with the Geek Salad gang this morning. Bunch of smart doctors and university types at University of Missouri.

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