twitter – Page 53 – Stilgherrian

29 August 200830 August 2008

Twitter changed my life

Wow. Twitter really has changed the way I use the Internet. I now post well over 1000 tweets a month. Some of them are trivial or silly, but many are the quick observations or links to interesting things which I used to post as a “note” like this. If you’re not following my Twitter stream you really are missing a lot of the fun stuff. Meanwhile, I wrote a long piece for Crikey today about the journalists’ strike at Fairfax, but it didn’t run. I’m not sure whether that’ll appear here or there first.

13 August 200813 August 2008

Links for 11 August 2008 through 12 August 2008

Stilgherrian’s links for 11 August 2008 through 12 August 2008, polished with a smooth cloth:

Why Twitter Hasn’t Failed: The Power Of Audience | TechCrunch: An essay discussing why Twitter users stayed with the service through its severe reliability problems.
Why we should be afraid of Google Streetview | APC: Richard Chirgwin’s opinion piece on Google Street View and why many people react with fear. He concentrates on the emotional reaction, not the logic — something which certainly needs to be taken into account.
Don’t Fear Twitter | Nieman Reports: How using Twitter for moment-by-moment observation can help build a community of readers for longer articles.
Make Internet TV : Shoot, Edit, Publish and Promote Your Videos: “This guide has step-by-step instructions for shooting, editing, and publishing online videos.” I reckon this is an excellent overview.

10 August 200810 August 2008

Links for 10 August 2008

Here are the web links I’ve found for 10 August 2008, posted automatically with cheese and onions.

Newspapers that Twitter: July numbers | graphic designr: Statistics on how (American) newspapers are using Twitter.
Why You Should Never Talk to the Police | Schneier on Security: Links to a 30-minute video presentation by Professor James Duane of the Regent University School of Law explaining why — in a criminal matter — you should never, ever, ever talk to the police. It doesn’t matter if you’re guilty or innocent, it isn’t possible for anything you say to help you. Also links to a video of Virginia Beach Police Department Officer George Bruch, who basically says that Duane is right.
Over 400 forms used by the National Security Agency | The Memory Hole: Obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, blank copies of (supposedly) most of the forms used by the US National Security Agency.
George Orwell Diaries | The Orwell Prize: George Orwell started his diaries in August 1938. They’re now being published as a blog, each entry posted exactly 70 years after it was originally written.
Everything That Happens Will Happen Today | David Byrne & Brian Eno: Byrne & Eno’s first musical collaboration in 30 years. On single available free now, album available for free streaming or buy-to-download or physically on 18 August. A world tour follows.

08 August 200808 August 2008

Links for 05 August 2008 through 08 August 2008

Stilgherrian’s links for 05 August 2008 through 08 August 2008, covering all topics from Ma to Me:

NLA Australian Newspapers beta | National Library of Australia: The NLA is digitising its collection of out-of-copyright newspapers, some going back to 1803. Over 90,000 pages online so far. Searchable. OCR has been done, and you can correct any mistakes you find.
GroceryChoice site dismissed as “no help” to consumers | The Australian: The Australian government’s new GroceryChoice website is useless. Data only collected once a month, so it can’t take weekly specials into account.
The Z Curve and IT Investment | Digital Renderings: When should a business invest in new information technology? Move aggressively, assuming high costs and risks in the hope of gaining an outsized reward? Or hold back, waiting for technology to become better established, with lower costs and risks?
Twitter As News-wire | Twitter Blog: Twitter is increasingly being described as a personal news-wire. Here’s a couple of graphs showing how word of the LA an SF earthquakes spread in under 5 minutes.
Jay Rosen of NYU on the Ethic of the Link | YouTube: An excerpt from a Carnegie Council panel on 3 April 2008. Nice contextualisation of the newspaper business’ fear of the web. 4 min 21 sec.
Twitter on the front page of Liberation today | Holy Chic’s Weblog: Twitter makes the cover of French newspaper Liberation. Here’s an analysis in English.
Journalism is Dead: A new blog which purports to be the true diary of someone working at a newspaper. Looks real enough. Let’s hope he or she can continue being this funny.
Fake L.A. Times: Exactly what it says. Yes, yet another satirical news site.
The Ethics of Taking Vacations: “You owe it to yourself to recuperate, and you’ll do your job better if you take time off. Both are ethical issues.”

17 July 200817 July 2008

Links for 13 July 2008 through 17 July 2008

Stilgherrian’s links for 13 July 2008 through 17 July 2008, gathered with moss like a rolling stone doesn’t:

Flat Earth News: The official website for Nick Davies' book, which various people have suggested I read.
Straw man | Wikipedia: "A straw man argument is an informal fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position." Tagged as a reminder to certain blog commenters.
Zappos.com: Who'd have thought that people would buy shoes online? Who'd have thought that a company would use Twitter and other social media to do great customer service (or so I'm told)?
Journalism: A Toxic Culture? (Or: Why Aren’t We Having More Fun?) | contentious.com: Amy Gahran helps explain why journalists are so defensive about their craft these days, and posits that they have "Priesthood Syndrome".
The plastic buttons we push | Amit Gupta likes you!: How do you make a living? Is it by pushing plastic buttons all day?
Is Social Media The Ultimate Buzz Kill? | Awake At The Wheel: Are we becoming so addicted to telling people about what we're experencing that we actually forget to experience it?
Principia Discordia Hardback | Synaptyclypse Generator: The central Discordian text, "Principia Discordia", is once more available in hardback. I am well pleased.
DIY carbon change | Unleashed: "Sometime in the last two weeks I stopped believing in government," says Mark Pesce. If governments are failing to respond to this vital issue, then we can ignore them and handle this ourselves.

16 July 200826 August 2020

Note to “old media” journalists: adapt, or stfu!

[I promised Crikey that I’d write something about the Future of Media Summit 2008. This rant is what emerged. You can also read it over at Crikey, where there’s a different stream of comments.]

What is the future of journalism? To judge by the discussion at this week’s Future of Media Summit held simultaneously in Sydney and Silicon Valley (and every other “new media” conference I’ve been to lately) it’s endless bloody whingeing. Whingeing about how journalism has standards and bloggers are all “just” writing whatever they think.

The panels in both cities covered the same, tired old ground. The new “participatory media” and “citizen journalism” would never be Real Journalism, because Real Journalism is an Art/Craft/Profession. Real Journalism involves research and fact-checking and sub-editing. There’s a Code of Ethics. But “these people”, as bloggers get labelled, these people just sit around in their pyjamas and write whatever comes into their heads.

Bollocks.

Continue reading “Note to “old media” journalists: adapt, or stfu!”