Sheryl Crow Posterino

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I started playing with Posterino a couple of weeks ago and finally got around to creating my first poster. More on that in a moment. For those that missed the earlier post, from the Posterino website:

“We shoot a lot of marvelous pictures, bury them deep down in the file system of our computers and most of them never see the light of day again. The solution is simple: Compose a “best of” poster every couple of months and pin it on the wall in your hall.”

For my first poster I decided to use images of Sheryl Crow. I’ve collected a bunch over the years, almost all taken by others. (You’ll recognize your photos, I hope)

posterino-sherylcrow500

With enough time and patience (and Photoshop), you could create this montage one image at at time. With Posterino, you decide the size and layout of the poster… pick the group of photos you want to use… and hit go. If you don’t like the result, you shuffle. I didn’t spend a lot of time arranging image. I liked the randomness Posterino provided.

Then you just send the image off to a print site and you have a nice poster to hang on your wall. I sent this one to uber-fan Ann (who took some of the non-Sheryl pix in the group).

Oh, one more thought on this. While lots of people have some of the images included in the poster… nobody has them all. Except me. And, now, my friend Ann.

Is Twitter now the place for breaking news?

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I learned this morning –via Twitter– that the Edward R. Murrow Awards will be announced this morning (11Eastern)… on Twitter. One of our company websites won a Murrow award a few years back and it’s kind of a big deal.

The awards are presented by RTNDA, which used to stand for Radio-Television News Directors Association. And may still. But the association now refers to itself as “The Association of Electronic Journalists.” A good move.

Choosing to announce their annual awards on Twitter speaks volumes. I salute the “AEJ” for recognizing and using this tool.

Future of radio?

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After a morning at the Spy Museum and the Lincoln Memorial, we grabbed a taxi back to the hotel for lunch and R&R. The driver asked if he could keep it on the station he was listening to –it was in a foreign language– because the news was on. We said sure.

When it sounded like the news was over, I asked what language was being spoken. It was an Ethiopian station out of NYC. I wondered where else he might get news about Ethiopia. And how many other people in this country have few or no sources for news from their home country.

Could this be a possible future for “terrestrial radio?” Or, perhaps it’s present. I think most big cities have stations programming for those we once referred to as “minorities.” Which, I suppose, is the only place this makes sense. Not a lot of Ethiopians in Western Kansas.

Reminds me of the days of “block programming.” One 15 minute chuck after another, each segment different from the one before and after.

If there were only some way to return radio to the people. To let them decide how their “airways” would be used.

Paul Roe, British Ink

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I jammed my way into some very crowded Metro cars to make my way down to M Street where Paul Roe [Fez #30], the owner of British Ink was taking part in an art exhibition called Artomatic. Paul was doing pre-session consultations while his colleague, Cynthia, hummed away on a guy’s right bicep. He squeezed me in for a chat and I even got to sit in the tattoo chair. The interview ran just under 12 minutes.

D.C. in July

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Barb and I will try to do a little sight-seeing while in D.C. The International Spy Museum is on our short list. Claims to be the the only public museum in the United States solely dedicated to espionage.

Picture 2“The Museum features the largest collection of international espionage artifacts ever placed on public display. Many of these objects are being seen by the public for the first time. These artifacts illuminate the work of famous spies and pivotal espionage actions as well as help bring to life the strategies and techniques of the men and women behind some of the most secretive espionage missions in world history.”

One of her conference events will be held at the Newseum so we might get to see some of that. And hope to make it to Britishink, where Paul Roe (Fez #30) wields the needle.

From blog to book

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henry-book200My friend Henry has self-published a book (Picture of Health, Handbook for Healthcare Art). The term usually applied to self-published books is “vanity press,” but there’s nothing vain about my friend Henry and the story behind the book is interesting.

With a little help and encouragement from me (and others, I’m sure), Henry started blogging a couple of years ago. He wrote about health care art (his specialty). He was a natural but a little more serious than your typical blogger. His posts were more like essays than blog posts and took more time to write. He clearly saw the blog as a complement to his art business.

Somewhere along the way, I told Henry about services that convert blogs to books. He was immediately interested and began researching the idea. The result is Picture of Health.

The book is beautiful. Henry spared no expense. Heavy paper, embossed cover. It felt like it weighed five pounds. God (and Henry) knows what it cost to print.

Now here’s the part I like: The book is not for sale. At least not on Amazon or at Barnes & Noble (I see that you can purchase a copy from his blog). Henry published the book to give it away. Of the thousands of names in his client database, Henry selected just over 18-hundred to receive a copy of the book. (Do the math)

Henry is using the book to build on his relationship with important clients. By keeping the book (relatively) rare, he hopes to increase its value. It’s an expensive gamble and he has promised to share the results.

The part that I found most interesting about this blog-to-book story is that the book is the ONLY book about health care art. I couldn’t believe that when Henry told me but he insists it’s true. Not one book about a multi-million dollar business. Somebody else is writing one but Picture of Health is one of a kind for now. This blows me away. I mean, how many topics don’t have at least ONE book about them?

“100% User-Controlled Radio”

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Later this month (28th), CBS Radio will debut “… the industry’s first 100 percent user-controlled, on-air radio program” Sunday nights on KITS-FM in San Francisco. The website is called Jelli. [ADWEEK]

“A far cry from the days of phone-in requests, Jelli gives listeners complete control, just as if they were in the station studio. Using Web-based, real-time voting and other features, listeners create the playlist, determining what is broadcast over the airwaves seconds before it plays. The community can even vote to pull a song off the air instantly.”

I think I agree with James at Podcasting News. Feels a little gimmicky. I wonder if OFF is one of the options.

My first iPhone video

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Forget for a moment that I have the iPhone in portrait orientation, and check out the quality of this brief walk through the newsroom. I’ve uploaded videos to YouTube from all kinds of cameras: Sony Camcorder; Flips; my beloved Casios; the MacBook iSight.

But I don’t think I’ve ever ended up with a clip that looked and sounded this good. I know, could be some Cupertino Mind Trick but I think I’m correct on this point. And the iPhone has YouTube option built right in.

Steve Walsh has an iPhone

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waslshiphone200Missourinet reporter Steve Walsh showed up for work on Thursday with a brand new iPhone. Like most of the folks in the newsroom, Steve is a long-time radio guy who remembers what a splicing block is used for.

All of our reporters know how to post stories to the web and about half of them are getting their Twitter on. But it was nice to see Steve invest his own hard-earned journo bucks in the latest tech. (I’ve encouraged him to take advantage of the 30 day grace period and upgrade to the new iPhone)

I can’t wait to see how Steve uses the iPhone to cover and report the news. To help him along, I thought I’d make a list of some apps that might be useful. I have these on my phone but the list is far from comprehensive and I welcome your suggestions in the comments.

  • Google News Reader
  • Tweetie – my Twitter client-of-choice
  • TweetMic – For recording audio and linking to Twitter
  • Camera – Comes with phone. Stills and video
  • Photogene – Great for cropping and tweaking still images

Steve does most of the heavy lifting for the Missourinet blog which can be found at Missourinet.com.