erincubert

The Machine is Us/ing Us

2009-02-16T20:32:00.000-08:00

I had forgotten about this video, and I remember tagging it and sharing it with a few friends. I found it by way of Digital Nashville and wanted to make sure to grab this for my own selfish purposes.

The 5 Geekiest Marriage Proposals That Worked

2009-02-16T14:15:00.001-08:00

Awwwwww! This is sure to make your heart melt!"Geeks have come a long way since they were mocked and despised a couple decades ago. Now that we know nerdiness can lead to fame, power and riches, it's possible to be a geek and get the girl. To prove the point, we've rounded up a list of the geekiest, tech-inspired marriage proposals that were sweet enough to work."

read more | digg story

10 Reasons Why Facebook Is for Old Fogies

2009-02-16T13:50:00.001-08:00

Why for me, Facebook is already over:"For what began with college students has found its fullest, richest expression with us, the middle-aged. Here are 10 reasons Facebook is for old fogies."

read more | digg story

Podcamp Nashville

2009-02-15T14:37:00.000-08:00

Are you going to Podcamp? Podcamp will be at Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management, Saturday March 7, 2009. Meet with other podcasters for this unconference ... it's free!

Triggit: Twitter Forums

2009-02-15T10:18:00.000-08:00

I'm in the testing phase with Triggit and its features. I haven't decided exactly how I want to use it, because I'm slightly afraid of blasting my friends on Twitter.

I found a review on mashable that helped me realize the potential of updating my blog fairly quickly without straying away from my continuous stream of thought. To get more insight, go to the Triggit blog, (where I was featured!) or check out their collection of other media/press releases.

Have you tested it? Feedback or thoughts? Let me know!

A great visualization

2009-02-15T10:14:00.000-08:00

I really enjoy looking at this process ... it's much more organized than something I would come up with on the fly. This is what I aspire to, in my creative thinking.

Are you going to TwestivalNashville?

2009-02-12T07:23:00.001-08:00

Valentine's Day: last minute, last resort gifts for geeky girls

2009-02-11T17:26:00.001-08:00

If a man bought me a Photoshop magnet gift set ... I'd probably ask him to marry me. That's beyond genius.

read more | digg story

10 Harsh Truths About Corporate Websites

2009-02-10T22:33:00.001-08:00

And for my last blog post of the night ... some fabulous comments in here! I was nodding my head so much that I felt the gray matter slosh back and forth.

Too much content?

"A fear of missing something: by putting everything online, they believe users will be able to find whatever they want. Unfortunately, with so much information available, it is hard to find anything."

Too much designing by committee ...
"The ultimate symbol of a large organization’s approach to website management is the committee. A committee is often formed to tackle the website because internal politics demand that everybody has a say and all considerations be taken into account. To say that all committees are a bad idea is naive, and to suggest that a large corporate website could be developed without consultation is fanciful. However, when it comes to design, committees are often the kiss of death."

It's hard for me to find a favorite ... I've experienced them all. :)

read more | digg story

10 Web Typography Rules Every Designer Should Know

2009-02-10T21:17:00.001-08:00

These are beautiful examples of great Web typography ... I'm hoping to implement some of this stuff onto my own site, http://www.ecubeart.com as I dedicate more time to design/development in my free time. Take a look for an insta-dose-of-inspiration.

read more | digg story

Check out Google Friend Connect Fully Integrates With Twitter

2009-02-10T20:51:00.001-08:00

I want you to take a look at: Google Friend Connect Fully Integrates With Twitter

Room for Debate: Battle Plans for Newspapers

2009-02-10T20:46:00.001-08:00

Most dailies in America are in dire straits. How will their survival strategies affect readers?

I think it's really interesting to look at the contrasting view points here. Nicholas Lemann really brings some valid points about journalism's new role:

"On the future-of-journalism conference circuit, one often hears that this situation fundamentally imperils the Founders’ vision of how American democracy ought to work.This is too facile. For one thing, in the days when the First Amendment was drafted there wasn’t much journalistic reporting (according to most historians of journalism, the first modern reporter’s interview didn’t take place until 1859)."

But, I think more importantly, local newspapers will find this advice from Andrew Keen interesting. I think it's dead-on futurism at its finest:

"I am confident that the next big thing on the Internet — Web 3.0 if you like — will be a layer of professionally curated information sitting on top of the amateur Web 2.0 layer. Rather than slithering into the democratic swamp of crowd-generated content, smart local publishers should focus on their core expertise — the organization and curation of information by professionals. To do this, they should emulate Web businesses, like the search-engine Mahalo, that are using social media tools to organize user-generated-content while continuing to employ professional curators.

The new local Web newspaper will depend on self-employed “parochial mavens” whose livings will be based on their intimate knowledge of local merchants, schools and stores. Publishers who can figure out how to use these experts will find a loyal local audience."

There does need to be an emphasis on the local community, involvement and understanding of what makes it tick. Newspapers and journalists need to listen to their audience and have that conversation with them. You'll find it's not only humbling, but a real wake-up call ... Hey! We don't have all the answers. If you don't look outside the window or step beyond your doors, how can you know what's really going on?

read more | digg story

Oh, the 25 Random Things We Do for the Sake of Facebook

2009-02-09T22:49:00.001-08:00

I think this is just hilarious. As I suggested in my comment on Digg, the "25 Random Things about Me" was sent to me by mom ... to my sister and I. I didn't do it then, so I was shocked to see how quickly it grew into a huge phenomena on FB. Now, even the Washington Post is writing articles on it ... which is hilarious, and a great read btw. Check it out.

read more | digg story

Good Tools for Digital Journalism

2009-02-09T08:25:00.001-08:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation on Good Tools for Digital Journalism, presented at The Tennessee Press Association.

Good Tools for Digital Journalism

View more presentations from erincubert. (tags: multimedia networking)

2009-02-07T14:07:00.001-08:00

COOL! Our presentation 'Good Tools for Digital Journalism' is showcased on the Tech page @Slideshare http://urlzen.com/5u7 Srry for RT.

2009-02-06T14:52:00.001-08:00

Grammy Buffet: Get all the coverage you can handle http://urlzen.com/5st Grabbed all the interesting links I could find and put them here.

2009-02-06T08:05:00.001-08:00

RT @fishwreck Are you all about the news? We're having a News Geeks Tweet-up! 7p on Thu, Feb 19, at Melrose Pub http://urlzen.com/5rg

2009-02-05T08:02:00.001-08:00

RT @TChed Visit http://ping.fm/a9ek4 to find all the Social media sites @erincubert and I are trying out in the weeks leading up #PCN09

2009-02-04T12:52:00.001-08:00

Recovering Journalist: Stages of acceptance: Will be much more about "news" than "paper." http://urlzen.com/5oh

2009-02-04T10:40:00.001-08:00

Does this makes me the networked specialist? Model for 21st century newsroom: new journalists for new information flowshttp://urlzen.com/5o4

2009-02-04T08:22:00.001-08:00

Sorry for the repost: Still keep rereading this story about the Steve Henley execution: http://urlzen.com/5kc

2009-02-02T21:22:00.001-08:00

The Mars Volta (oh my), Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Decemberists, TVontheradio, NIN ... for the love of god NIN. #bonnaroo http://urlzen.com/5jt

2009-02-02T21:02:00.001-08:00

2009 Bonnaroo lineup is out! TV on the Radio leaks on blog, according to @nashvillest. http://urlzen.com/5js

A thought for the day

2008-12-16T18:31:00.001-08:00

“Good journalism lasts, the ratings don’t.”
-Dan Rather on CNN’s Larry King Live

Found this on my old friend from Ball State, Dave Studinski's network site Bewildered Society

What could an open archive mean?

2008-12-15T21:33:00.001-08:00

I posted a question on Twitter "There was talk of opening up the Tennessean's archives today and how we can go about doing it ... what do you think would happen?"

What would happen if newspapers opened everything up to the world and stopped asking people to pay for information?

It's been tossed around, discussed, considered, but the biggest question is how ... and why?

What are some of the pros and cons?

What could be used as a solution? What kind of Content Management System would open that up?

The First Day.

2008-12-15T19:09:00.000-08:00

Today, I began my job as what Guy Kawaski would call a SMore. That's my affectionate nickname in the newsroom as a I rattle off terminology such as Twitterverse, Tweetbeep, LOLs, BrightKit and more.

I started the day off, with an alert to all those following The Tennessean that we were expecting ice storms later that night. Shortly thereafter, I saw a few retweets from content pushers in the area. I was extremely happy ... no links, just a Good morning, how's everyone doing and BTW. Throughout the day, I tried to check the weather and traffic just to send updates. I knew other sites had it covered with school closings, readers were telling us that on our forums. Again, it goes back to the thought "they're not just criticizing us, they're telling us how we can help ourselves."

I emailed a paper on how I will (want to) improve the connection to our audience and content outside of The Tennessean. I referenced charts that I had talked with my friend Tom Cheredar about. I am so enthusiastic and ready to change that I sat there spilling my guts on everything we could possibly do under the blazing sun and realized that a lot of the terminology I was using, most people weren't following. It was a sensation similar to Jim Porter trying to teach me his myriad programming ways ... sometimes I have to remind him and the other developers that I don't have that deep of a programming background. Yet. But, teach me the ways ...

So, I'm stepping back, rethinking an approach that makes sense.

We met about what we could do to turn our department on its head, to restructure and reorganize the newsroom to get EVERYONE thinking about online. For self-preservation, people need to vested in the transition online. It can't be forced, it can't be mandatory. In some ways we have to stop acting as a newspaper (with one primary source as a delivery method) and look at it as a news organization (with multiple delivery platforms), without the splintering mind set.
The biggest kicker ... how do we make a community inside The Tennessean, first?

Implementing the next step

These days you have to have many skill sets. The Web must be understood and people like me, you, developers and those who care about the preservation of data, information and content need to help those around us understand and WANT to do it too.

A journalist needs to take on the role of acting as a content pusher and puller, reporter, researcher, designer, developer, social networking geek who takes photos that posts on Flickr and connects to other Web sites, while twittering and blogging. You'd be amazed at how more attention you get by doing all that than just a byline in the newspaper, if that's what you're looking for.

It sounds hard, but with the right frame of mind, the will to learn, the will to dig for and gather your sources and the understanding that everything changes from minute to minute ... we can still pursue what we're passionate about.

If you had to change the newsroom, how would you do it? What would the new journalist be like? How do you expect to get your content delivered?

While this isn't directly tied to this subject, this post from Chris Brogan caught my eye about the difference between a one-man operation and a full team of reporters:
I’m not a journalist. But I am a publisher. I am a reporter. I am a media maker. And here’s the difference: as a publisher, I have all the jobs of the newspaper. I am both the editorial staff and also the business side of the house.

Inspiration for The Media

2008-12-14T10:28:00.000-08:00

I was reading through a couple of blogs, and some of the greatest things I've heard reinforced my notion of "Not Dying, but changing and evolving". I wanted to share a couple of quotes that I found from Ryan Sholin's blog

Okay, here comes the big one: THE GLASS IS HALF FULL. There is excellent work being done in the new world of online journalism and it’s being done at newspapers like the Washington Post and the Lawrence Journal-World and the San Jose Mercury News and the St. Petersburg Times and the Bakersfield Californian and all sorts of papers of all sizes. You don’t need millions of dollars or HD cameras or years of training to make it happen; all you need is the right frame of mind. So let’s stop writing and groaning about how things used to be different, and let’s start building our own piece of the new world of newspapers brick by brick, story by story.

And Yoni Greenbaum

Look around the Internet, and you’ll find all kinds of media/journalism bloggers. I would imagine (without doing any research) that there are hundreds writing just in the U.S. Some bloggers provide great insight and criticism that is sharp and useful. Other are voracious readers and collectors of data and information, their blogs share great works worthwhile to emulate at your own shop. But, and this might just be because of whom I read, the loudest are the bloggers who complain the most about the industry. These are typically young journalists with a short amount of time at any one job. Their blogs are places for them to publicly whine and throw tantrums in an effort to receive attention and obtain validation for their viewpoints. All too often their posts leave me shaking my head and wanting to grab the authors, give them a smack or two and tell them to wake up and, especially, grow up. But that’s not what this blog is about.

Are you looking for blogs, articles and information about journalism? Here's a one-stop shop aggregation of Top Journalism News, which has a host of other subjects. Go to alltop and pick your favorite subject.

How do you maintain your digital identity?

2008-12-13T13:36:00.000-08:00

What is the real advantage of using Facebook and Myspace?
I've started to stray from these two networks, as viruses and spam unfurl themselves on the networks and I get less USEFUL information from them. I detest adding apps that will potentially phish my account, or trudging through the endless spam mail on Myspace.

I have a hunch that I'm not the only one.

In 2004, I originally used Myspace and Facebook as the main form of communication with friends. As I've professionally progressed, I've moved to other networks such as LinkedIn and limited my "personal talk" to more "professional talk". From there I've moved onto a sweeping array of social network and niche' sites such as WiredJournalists and Visual Editors, Digital Nashville.

For a few months, I decided to unplug a little, step back from the networking side and just focus on the "get it working" side. I think I had reached my Social Networking Fatigue.

Today, I ran across this article "How to Manage Your Social Profiles and Create Virtual Business Cards" and found a few tidbits I hadn't been aware of. Google Profiles, a seemingly obvious solution to getting your information out there fast is one of those solutions. Easy to input, straight forward, with a few quirky questions such as "What haven't you found on Google."

What are some of the ways you've been able to rein in the endless resources out there for maintaining your digital identity?

The buzz word is 'Change', for better or worse.

2008-12-11T17:44:00.000-08:00

Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better. - King Whitney Jr.

There is a chart, I believe on the Gannett intranet, that said initial transition and change is often painful. I mentally reference that chart when I am affected by various incidents that require a drastic change in perception.

I've been thinking of that chart more as The Tennessean, a paper owned by Gannett went through a massive layoff. I work(ed) in the Online Development department (also formerly known to the fourth floor/newsroom as OD, as in "I'm going to the third floor to OD."). My boss was laid off and our department fell apart. No leadership, guidance or understanding to the rhyme or reason of what had happened. We were a dysfunctional 'family' of eight, then six ... and then, last week, we didn't know what.

The questions, the looks, the fear began building. Who's next? What's the plan? What the hell? Why him? Why ... us? We're digital, right? The future?

This week, we've finally gotten our answer, and our department is splitting ... two go to the newsroom, two go to the newly created Online Ad/Advertising agency (one will move back to the newsroom later). Our department coordinator and admin assistant will also move to Advertising.

From a business stance, it makes sense ... from a personal stance, it hurts.

So here I am, today, getting ready to move over into a new job in Online, on the news side, and I'm conflicted. Do I still feel angry for what has happened? Or do I look forward and think about the things I could potentially do for this newspaper, for journalism and for the community?

A Twitter came from Knight Stivender @knightstivender about 'The sinking ship' mentality ... "You can sink with the boat, or you could try to help right it."

One person can't right a sinking ship, and a lot of people want to watch it sink ... but if we look to those people, who are often the people telling us HOW to right it, we might actually find a solution. In their comments, if you strip it down, there's a certain lesson to be taken from it.

Such as this from former Tennessean developer Michael McCann

Dear friends at the DNJ/Tennessean

I'm very sad that you didn't get this and USA Today got it instead.

http://digg.com/people/Woman_returns_100K_found_at_restaurant

That would be a metric shit-ton of traffic, probably ~100k hits.

We should have. We didn't, but now that it's been pointed out, we should work towards that as a goal. And that's how we get better ... learn where we screwed up, listen and strike up a conversation ... and then change.

And so I googled "change hurts" quotes ... I can't help but typically google exactly what I'm thinking, no matter how ridiculous it sounds. (The question is, how do you google?) I found the quote above and it filled me with inspiration. I had been teetering on the black abyss of giving up and finding a new venture, or digging in with my usual tenacity to get this next stage going and put my passion back in overdrive.

I can't help but be fearful because the industry I work in tells me we're a dying breed, that the format is a thing of the past and we just don't have digital figured out. I'm hopeful because I think it could get better with the right people, the right mentality and the right plan, and that I could be a part of that "right". I am inspired also, because it forces me to challenge myself to think in ways I had never considered, to do things, that on a micro level, are so intuitive to me.

What do you think? Where could we take this? What could it be? What are the changes you see?