Best Headline of the Day

Posted on by

“You’d be miserable too if you’d married that guy you banged twice in high school.”

The honor goes to Laurie at 23/6 (Some of the News, Most of the Time). It tops a little poll: What advice would you give Levi and Bristol? Options include:

  • You can see Russia from the Palin home. Run to it.
  • What’s the problem? Ignoring each other is how me and the missus have lasted this long.
  • Cancel the wedding and give the baby up for adoption to a childless pro-lifer, like Ann Coulter or Rush Limbaugh.

You can see the results if you take the poll at 23/6. I just love silly shit like this.

More US mobile phone than Americans 13+

Posted on by

The following stats were featured in a marketing piece I received today. And I’m guessing the numbers are even higher in other developed countries.

  • Tin_can_string85% of Americans have a cell phone (there are actually more US mobile phones than Americans age 13 and older) Source: CTIA Wireless Association
  • 66% of cell phones in America are equipped with a camera Source: comScore
  • 40% of Americans with cell phones send/receive text messages (80% among 13-24 year olds; 63% among 18-27year olds) Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project
  • 24% of Americans with cell phones send/receive photo or video messages (up 60% in the past year) Source: M:Metrics

And it will just get easier and easier to share those photos and videos. I’m not feeling particularly left out because I probably shoot-and-share more video than the average bear. But I can’t deny my mobilness much longer. Holding out for video iPhone.

Blogging: “A basic right of being in the media business”

Posted on by

The always-plugged-in Amy Gahran insists your blog is “Media Career Insurance” for journalists.

“Because in a professional environment where staying findable equals sustained opportunity and flexibility, search engines are a key arbiter of your career. The more findable and linkable you are, the more search engines will reward you. … And search engines really, really love blogs.”

“Having your own blog is media career insurance. It will serve as your “home base” where you establish your personal reputation, track record, abilities, interests, and aspirations.”

Ms. Gahran offer some tips for starting a blog. Read her post where she explains each:

  1. Get a good domain name.
  2. Map your domain to your site, so every page on your site bears your domain.
  3. Stick with your domain.
  4. Don’t work for anyone who won’t let you keep blogging.
  5. Join the conversation, and link back to yourself
  6. Keep your blog going even if you also blog elsewhere

I particularly liked: “Consider blogging a basic right of being in the media business.”

Most of the journalists I know and work with do not have a personal blog. I think most of them would insist they don’t have time to blog. A few don’t think it’s “appropriate” for a journalist to blog.

Classic nano back

Posted on by
Reply

NanorecorderMy chubby nano worked fine (insert joke here) and I’ve been quite happy with it. But I always preferred the original nano design and was happy see Apple return to it. This one just fits the hand better.

I won’t rehash the features. If you care you’ve already read about and seen them. One of my favorites, however, is the improved “memo” recording. Just the simple addition of a little level indicator (see arrow) makes a big difference if you want to record something.

I made this recording with a little gizmo from Griffin called the iTalk. It’s a little hot because I wasn’t sure how close to hold the mic. I’ll do something a little longer and post that, along with something from the Marantz PMD620 so we can do an A-B comparison.

Knocked-up-girlfriend-hell

Posted on by

Donald Craig Mitchell, blogging (Off the Bus) from Wasilla, Alasaka, attended a Palin rally and spotted Bristol Palin and Levi in the bleachers behind mom. Not talking, not touching. After the event, Levi boogied.

“But if Levi was my kid, the deal I would have cut would, at an absolute minimum, have been: $500,000 for from now to the November election. If McCain-Palin win, a $ 1 million signing bonus to take the trip down the aisle. Then, for the duration of the McCain-Palin administration, $100,000 a month for every month Mr. and Mrs. Johnston live under the same roof, and $50,000 a month for every month that they remain married but do not.”

Any guy who ever got a call from his girlfriend to tell him she was “late” (archaic, dated reference) can empathize with poor old Levi (what is the Secret Service equivalent of a shotgun wedding?).

And I feel just as bad for Bristol. It’s bad enough to have everyone in home room know about your “condition,” but the entire country?

 

Things Davezilla learned from movies

Posted on by

Davezilla.com shares "Things I Learned from Movies, Part III." (I missed parts I and II). My favorites from this list of ten:

  • The first hot woman to appear onscreen in a spy movies is the double agent.
  • Heroes simply bleed less than criminals, who tend to bleed in arterial spray patterns, resembling a Jackson Pollock painting.
  • Virginity protects you from serial killers.

Dropbox: easy way to share and store files online

Posted on by

Picture_1Mac users are familiar with .Mac, now called MobileMe. It’s online storage you can use to move files from one computer to another. It’s worked fine for me and I’ve used it to shuffle files between work, home and the MacBook.

But Dropbox does this trick better. It seems faster than .Mac. I can move a file from my iMac to my MacBook (2 feet away) faster with Dropbox than my little thumb drive. I also find it easier to share files in my “Public” folder. (Our Help Desk folks tell me FTP is a real bitch on Vista.)

I’ll keep paying for my .Mac account (for now) but I’m using Dropbox. Check it out.

Update: Sorry for bad link. Fixed. Thanks, Andy, for reporting error.

“The whole world is watching”

Posted on by
Reply

“…the thing we should all be worrying about is that this election the whole world can see what assholes we are and how much we lie, and do you think they’re ever going to believe anything we say after the election?”

“Being an American in 2008 is a lot like working at Microsoft in 1994 or so. Netscape is coming soon and after that Google, and while we’ll still be here, the cursor will be somewhere else, and our stock options will be worthless and we’ll be fighting with each other while the rest of the world builds around us.” — Dave Winer

Tie me up and blog me

Posted on by
Reply

I think I could count on one hand the number of times I heard or read the word “snarky” before email (and blogging) came along. I subscribe to he notion snarkiness requires a certain level of wit and charm. Otherwise, it’s just bitchy or whiny.

My first snark crush (I’m still not over her) was the Wonkette. The nome de blog of Ana Marie Cox. Ms. Cox was an early blogger who now snarks (last time, I promise) on Time’s Swampland. I trot along after her on Twitter and found a link to a delightful exchange with Megan at Jezebel.com.

“Since the world is ending around us, it’s important to take note of what parts of our civilization fell and in what order. And, really, there’s no one better at documenting mayhem than the original Wonkette (the rest of us are just pale imitations), Ana Marie Cox.”

And then there’s this exchange regarding McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds:

ANA MARIE: “They really need to stop sending the twelve-year-old intern out to the morning shows. Or cable shows, I mean. I think I was thinking “morning show” because he’s getting his ass kicked, in all cases, by heavily rougued faux-next-girls! GIRLS!

MEGAN: Actually, the man just needs to, like, fucking prepare before he goes. Your candidate is out lying like he’s Dick Cheney or something, you gotta put your big boy panties on just like Ari Fleischer did and take it. I think the real problem is that Tucker Bounds likes getting spanked by hot women.

I’ve heard the “big boy panties” reference before but it was “big girl panties.” Someone in the Bush administration?