Eh Men!

2008-10-22T21:29:00.001-07:00

Finally trying out Ping.fm...

Debating disabilities...

2008-10-15T21:03:00.000-07:00

Palin has a 6-month old with down syndrome. How does she know all about schooling for autistic kids all of a sudden?

Hmm...

2008-10-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

Just wondering if this BlackBerry blog updater still works.

The Future of Newspapers?

2008-01-08T18:00:00.000-08:00

First of all, the question mark means I am asking, and don’t have the answer.

One day a few months back, a colleague who works down at the Toronto Sun brought a delegation of Chinese up to the Canoe.ca offices to show them how the news gets online. For whatever reason, they ended up at my desk. After taking their last photo, they thanked me for giving them a tutorial and started off.

But then one gentleman stopped and turned to ask: “Do you think the web will replace newspapers?” Wow; talk about a loaded question, regardless of whether one of the editors of the Sun was standing there or not. Well, I danced the question a bit because, the truth is, who knows? I ended my hypothesis not with any words but by holding up my Blackberry and shrugging my shoulders in a “what about mobile?” unspoken gesture. He smiled from ear to ear. Seems he agreed…either that or he has stock in RIM.

But I’m only guessing there too. Frankly, I think we’re a lot closer to the future than we realize. If you’ve ever seen the subway scene in Minority Report, or the Daily Prophet in Harry Potter, you’ve seen the sci fi vision of disposable, and updatable, news in the future, complete with changing headlines and video.

Guess what? Digital paper exists. Wireless transmission of video? Easy. Or maybe you’ve heard of another video site out there too…youhoo, tube something, can’t recall. That one’s ok too. Auto-updating content? Yep. RSS, XML, AJAX…

All the ingredients are there for that fancy digital newspaper device seen in the movies. The fact that it might not be “paper” doesn’t matter. Newspapers will thrive as trusted brands that deliver the news in any device you see fit—maybe even newsprint.

The elimination of channels

2007-10-19T15:44:00.000-07:00

Just walking home from the ONA conference and was thinking about their discussion on channels, or sections, and how the traditional newspaper model of segmenting no longer works online. I agree. Someone reading a Paris Hilton story may be the same reader checking out the latest Iraq issues. But I don't agree these silos are going away any time soon. Those sections are tied to revenue streams based on measured and perceived demos. Until dynamic user profiling tech gets way better, we need these channels of navigation.

Manipulating images

2007-09-29T07:29:00.000-07:00

OK, I'm not sure if anyone has interest in image manipulation, but this is one of the coolest things I've seen in a long time. Adobe (Photoshop, InDesign, etc.) just hired the guy who developed it. It's amazing to think that the content of images can keep their context while aspect ratios can change so dramatically. There are also ethical concerns any time you're manipulating images. Interesting.

Check it out.

Speaking of spelling

2007-09-20T16:44:00.000-07:00

I'm finding it funny that Gmail and gmail are "misspelled" according to Gmail and Digg is a spelling mistake in Digg. Upgrade your word processing software guys!

Wii are now on board

2007-09-19T10:52:00.001-07:00

OK, I've been thinking about it for a while, but now I'm definitely getting a Wii. I might need to upgrade my small condo cause I am gonna tear shit up with this game!

Spelling

2007-09-19T04:59:00.000-07:00

Hmm...

I'm noticing a large number of horrific spelling errors round these parts. So, I'm going to take a moment on the defensive side to inform you, dear reader, that I can spell. In fact, in second grade, they told me I could spell like a fifth grader...gold star! Seriously though, I'm finding entering posts from my Pearl allows me to make simple spelling errors and also create words that don't exist (it's intuitive text, and if you're not paying attention...).

Good news is that it's taught me I need to be more cautious when sending business e-mails from this otherwise-slick piece of technology.

The lives of others

2007-09-19T04:07:00.000-07:00

So there I was with Tarantino's Death Proof in one hand and a lil flick called The Lives of Others (Leben der Anderen, Das) in the other. I just wasn't in the mood for a Quentonized Kurt Russell this eve, so I went with the Oscar winner from Germany. Wow. Great film; and I'm often too lazy for subtitles. But I figured if it beat Pan's Labyrinth for best foreign flick...

It's a story of oppression, intolerance, personal growth and the seeds of revolution. Jeez, that sounds like one of those cheesy voiceovers. Well, it's tale of state-sponsored voyeurism in mid-80s Germany before the wall came down and follows an artist under surveillance. The pace is a little slow to start with but it really picks up. Now there will never be any Die Hard action, but the movie has its conflict and layered themes. Ones that makes you think.

The cinematography alone is worth it for the way they create a unique palette to convey a bleak time. But what I really enjoyed was that you don't often see characters question their judgement and change significantly and believably on the screen in front of you. I'm being intentionally vague so nothing is spoiled. But a pleasant surprise.

The Whig

2007-09-18T06:52:00.000-07:00

A colleague just pointed out http://www.thewhig.com, which is the site for the Kingston Whig Standard, owned by Osprey Media. On s first glance, I think they've been quite successful in creating two environments in a single user experience using layout and colour coding. They have one the main content on the left with user content on the right. If you choose user content the layout switches seemlessly. Gotta love those smart pants in Kingston.

Posting by e-mail

2007-09-17T17:43:00.001-07:00

Testing if I can post by e-mail, which, of course, means I can post by phone as well. Ahh, technology.

Version 1.1...and maybe the last for a while

2007-09-17T17:03:00.000-07:00

So after fiddling with the header, background, nav bar and style sheets a little, I think I'm done with "designing" for a while. Now I should probably start thinking of something to say.

Testing how a picture looks once it's uploaded. This is one of my best friends Nick, who decided he's take into the pool with him although it looks like I'm the aggressor. If this isn't boys being boys, then I'm not sure what is.

First post

2007-09-17T03:40:00.000-07:00

So I doubt I'll be posting often to my school blog that much now that I've started this one, but I'll see if I can keep them both going. I put this up in about an hour last night after stealing and creating a few different images and layouts. I'll screenshot it later for posterity because this iteration will not survive long. Anyway, it's a start and the ~~ball machine always makes me laugh~~. Be back soon.

UPDATE: Ball machine gone. Fozo ascii head instead.