If you haven’t seen Sorcerer, I highly recommend it. Directed by William Friedkin and starring Roy Scheider. Another good scene from earlier in the film.
The Trump Tower of Kennett, MO
Our Man in Kennett, Charles Jolliff forward this digital clip:
“Jan McElwrath, executive director of the Kennett Chamber of Commerce, announced there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony held at 2 p.m., Monday, May 19, 2008, at the new Ely Walker Apartments. “Although I’m sad to say that Gov. Matt Blunt will be unable to attend, I’m very pleased to say that Ms. Sheryl Crow will make an appearance,” McElwrath said. “So we are expecting a wonderful turnout for this event.”
So, Sheryl Crow is second-choice after the governor? Uh huh.
Before being converted to posh loft apartments, the old Ely Walker building was a shirt factory. I remember walking by on a hot summer day and peering in to watch row upon row of women making shirts. No air conditioning back then and the work looked damned hot. But these were probably pretty good jobs that –like so many others– have moved off-shore. I’m sure my old hometown would like to have them back.
Let’s hope Charles is feeling fit enough to get some pix of SC holding those big scissors.
ASUS Eee PC
Reply
You see all kinds of laptops at the Coffee Zone. PC’s and Mac’s of every description. This morning I saw something I had not spotted before. Small, white… almost like a baby MacBook.
I barged in on the nice man (a lobbyist) trying to enjoy his scone and working on his ASUS Eee PC. Runs Linux, has a flash drive, built-in webcam and three USB ports.
And costs about $400. Not for the power user but a very slick “web appliance.”
Twittering the news?
I don’t know if this is breaking news or something everyone already knows. But AgWired’s Chuck Zimmerman Twittered what might have been news (Chuck’s tweet is the one on top).
When I demo’d Twitter to one of our reporters, all he could see was ("Who cares if someone’s plane is delayed?"). For some the online glass is half full, for others…
UPDATE: More from Lost Remote.
“The next generation doesn’t like radio.”
Jerry Del Colliano is a professor at USC, broadcaster and program director and founder of Inside Radio. And a blogger:
“The next generation doesn’t like radio. Not the stations. Not the concept. There’s simply less need for it in their lives.
New technologies will not only replace radio among the next generation, they already have. And this generation is huge — with as many Gen Y’ers as there are baby boomers.
Without the next generation the radio business will continue to hit the wall. Once the present economic downturn ends — still a long way off — there won’t be enough new young listeners to help radio continue to grow. It becomes a losing proposition. More radio listeners die and fewer new radio listeners use traditional radio.
The next generation wants to stop, start, time-delay and delete its programming. This generation wants to mash it up — have a say in what it sounds like or how it is used. They want to deliver it to each other — share it — at will. They want community (what we used to call local radio) through social networking online.
One of the hardest things for me to deal with in my years of working with the next generation is that they don’t like radio and don’t understand what I like about it. When I describe it, they say what I am describing is not what they hear on the radio.
We’re an industry in denial that technology has changed the game. But only radio people have the power to adapt and create new content for a new generation and on the devices they use.
But to begin, we have to understand that more has changed than how to deliver radio programming. It’s not about the technology. It’s the sociology.”
When I can safely speak to a young person (early teens), I ask them about radio and get pretty much the same responses as Professor Del Colliano. What’s the joke… denial is not just a river in Egypt?
Omaha man saves own life with self-tracheotomy
“An Omaha man apparently saved his own life by performing an emergency surgery on himself. Fifty-five-year-old Steve Wilder awoke in the middle of the night last week and couldn’t breathe. He’d had breathing trouble after a bout with throat cancer several years ago and his windpipe had swollen shut as he slept. Wilder says he knew he only had one option, as an ambulance would never arrive in time, so he gave himself a tracheotomy. He used a steak knife and poked a hole in his throat, which brought a gush of blood — and a rush of air. He could breathe. He says it didn’t hurt. Doctors say it saved Wilder’s life but they don’t recommend what he did — call 911 instead.”
[Radio Iowa – Nebraska Radio Network]
Google Reader ads nifty Notes feature
Google Reader is my RSS reader of choice. It makes it possible for me to keep up with about 100 blogs and websites. The “Share” feature (which I mention here from time to time) let’s me flag and post a story to my “shared stories” page. Just click the “more stories” link at the bottom of the little blue box on the right side of this page.
Google has added a Notes feature that let’s me share a story AND include a brief note about it. I can also highlight text on a web page, click the “Note” button in my browser toolbar and add the text… with my note… to my shared page.
I know, it’s a little confusing. But this is good shit. There’s a social networking aspect to this but let’s not go there right now.
If you use Google Reader, check out the notes feature. You can get a better explanation at Techcrunch and the Google Blog.
New report calls podcasting growth “massive”
The guys at Podcasting News share highlights from a new report by Universal McCann that suggests new media is becoming mainstream media. Among the research highlights:
“Blogs are a mainstream media world-wide and a collective rival to traditional media (184m bloggers world-wide, China has the largest blogging community in the world with 42m bloggers) – 73% have read a blog, 45% have started a blog.”
Key social platforms mentioned in the report: Blogging; Micro Blogging; RSS; Widgets; Chat Rooms; Message Boards; Podcasts; Video Sharing; Photo Sharing.
If you’re in media now and these terms are foreign to you, or seem silly and pointless, the Cluetrain doesn’t stop here anymore.
Scott Adams: Israel Defeats the Entire Middle East
Scott Adams thinks Israel will eventually create the technology that will make oil irrelevant:
“The oh-my-God moment came when I realized that Israel can destroy all of its local enemies by inventing solar technology that makes oil uneconomical. Such an invention would do more harm than any military attack. And it’s all legal and moral. The politicians and business people in Israel have all the right incentives times a thousand. Their very survival is at risk. Israel is one patent away from crushing every oil producing country in the world.”
In his post, he links to the article that provided his ah-ha moment.
Geek Wannabe Botches Webcast
Well, that sucked. Great video… shitty audio. Yes, we DID test equipment first, but thanks for asking. Even with George (he’s brilliant) on site, we couldn’t pull it off. But it was my party so I can’t blame him. No idea what happened but we shall not rest until we figure it out and pull off a decent webcast.