NewscomaGot A Two-Pack Habit And A Motel Tan

I’ve been tooling around the TNDP site for the last few days and think it’s a mighty fine thing to behold. I wanted to give it a few days before I started talking about it. When any new website/blog starts there is usually a heady anticipation about it with lots of buzz, and either it falls off or evolves into something better/worse.

After a bit of scrutiny, I think this site is the real deal. I hope to see an upward and forward progression using these available tools as we head toward 2010.

So, I did what anyone like me would do, sent out some invitations to join to people I know and then sat back to wait to see what would happen on the site.

Ning sites are really cool, in my humble opinion, and this one is interactive. I have to say that one of my biggest criticisms about the TNDP over the past couple of years was not having a communicative tool in which to have more instant communication. From our standpoint in the west, and I’m guessing the folks over in the eastern part of the state go through this too as I can’t speak for them, was being geographically confined by location and missing out on some information. The site has opened up some of those lapses and I applaud the folks that did this.

Now, I get to play political multimedia critic and talk about a few things.

• Hoots is extremely underrepresented in the membership drive on the site. Guys, get cracking. We have an outlet and a tool now to participate in the social media aspect of this site so join up. I’d also like to see my legislators, Rep. Mark Maddox and Sen. Roy Herron on this site as well. That shows great leadership and a sense of unity. This also includes our county chair and members of the local party. I realize this sort of technical ideology is all new and stuff, but it’s time to get it going on.
• Mark Brown, who is Ward Cammack’s dude, seems to be utilizing the features of the site better than any candidate’s team right now. Videos, editorials and interactivity are coming from the Cammack camp right now and much of it is happening at the TNDP site. I tip my hat. Or Brown’s hat. Well, there is hat tipping somewhere. And, as GoldnI says, you will know him regardless if you want to or not because he’s hit the ground running.
• The county chairman’s feature articles are excellent. I like that a great deal and am glad to see the spotlight turned on each of the countys’ chairs.
• One bit of advice that I would share with the candidates for governor or any politician, especially the ones I met last week, is that if you are on Twitter, join everyone that has joined you back. And if you are actually doing the Twittering, because some people let their handlers do it, then participate. Yes, it does get noisy, but on the other hand, you will have instant feedback on what you are doing in the legislature. This is better than any poll you could ever pay a lofty commission for while getting immediate results. Thank me later for this bit of advice later over a beer because it’s the best feedback I could ever give you. Legislators who are excelling here are Sen. Jim Kyle and Sen. Andy Berke. (I hear Zack Wamp is doing that as well, but I’m talking democrats right now.) The TNDP asked a question yesterday about guns in parks but I couldn’t DM my response so make sure your direct messaging system is working on any microblogging site. It might have been me, and I own that. One thing that I like is reading Kyle talking about being a dad and his daughter’s disappointment over a lost competition where you could tell he was disappointed for her or Berke talk about everyday stuff as well as legislation. It breaks down the fourth wall, if you will, between an us and them sort of mentality. This works for a lot of people because it’s more personal. Regardless of what you may believe, it’s effective.
• Many of the bloggers talk a great deal off the radar quite a bit. I’m just saying. The new site allows more people to be in the conversation with much more specific information.

Those are just some initial thoughts.

Two crazy kids are getting married.

He asked her on Twitter.

It’s a new world, campers. The jumbotron of a new generation.

It’s weird. Since last Thursday, I’ve had about 40 people join me on Twitter. I honestly don’t know what to say when people join me there other than hi.

I wonder if that they think I’m odd asking for Vodka and Vicodon because there are a jillion children at my house. Don’t get me wrong, these are nice kids, they are playing with the new dog, who I like quite well and has somewhat pissed off Mabel, who will have nothing to do with her.

The kids named the dog. Squeegee Monkey and I wanted to name the dog Jeff, Homer was set on another name and Squirrel Queen liked Hildegaard.

The kids took a vote and the dog is name Pinkey.

They have been playing Rock Band for what feels like a gajillion hours and, of course, I’m cursing the heavens because there is not a decent sports bar anywhere around for SQ and I to go to. I seriously wish that someone would open one here in Hoots. I love a good sports bar, I’m in no mood for a juke joint and I have to go back to work tomorrow with a peppy disposition. I’m in no mood to be peppy, quite frankly, but if you want the check you have to smile.

You know how it goes.

Back to twitter, which for me at least, is a random free association mindsuck that takes little to no time and keeps me connected with my buddies as well as breaks news. So, if I randomly type how beavers in the wilds of Harris Station fascinate me, will these new followers think I’m dropping acid. When I start singing Ethel Merman standards twitter-style, will the new followers think I’m on some meth-based high where I’m seeing singing dandelions. What about the Goosepond Swamp Monster? I’m the only reporter on the beat on it.

One does not know.

I do know that Pinkey is a fine dog from what I’ve seen, Jura (the big overlord dog who has no sense of humor) hates her and Kirby the blind dog cannot understand what she’s running into other than a water buffalo has moved into her space. They (the big they) do not make canes for blind dogs and so she goes on instinct.

Mabel is not rude but dismissive. Such is the way for many politicians and Mabel is no exception. She grouchy about Bill Richardson today and has lost her sense of humor behind the sofa.

Duff, however, has started a love affair of sorts. The “love that dare not speak its name” sort of thing.

I have been watching and reading about Magpie. I’ve tried to be thoughtful about it but I have to tell you, I don’t think it’s something I would want to do.

Do I want money? Sure I do. Advertise your butt off here if you are so inclined.

However, the idea that some of us have taken small steps to garner some credibility in the blogosphere and on Twitter makes me wonder about Magpie. Yeah, there is a hashtag on it but I still just don’t think this would go with what I do here. It seems a bit disingenious for me to be tweeting about Mabel or democrats in Tennessee and then shilling Colon cleanser or the like.

I am not one of the big boys by any stretch of the imagination, but my Twitterverse is mine. Yes, I do link to my blog on Twitter. However, those of you who know me know what you are getting into because we have that relationship.

Michael Arrington explains:

Advertisers pay on a cost-per-thousand-impression basis, and the ads are promised to be delivered to relevant audiences based on keywords. That means Be-A-Magpie will analyze the content of your Twitter messages to see if there is a match to particular advertisers.

The TechCrunch Twitter account, with 31,000 followers, can earn a whopping €14,410.51 per month, it says.

The service auto-determines the number of ads to insert per legitimate Twitter message – the default is one ad for every five Tweets. The service inserts the ads automatically by storing your Twitter credentials. As for disclosure – well, there really isn’t any. A #magpie hashtag is added to each Tweet, but that’s it.

Advertising. It’s necessary. And the advertising world is changing so quickly that it’s a full-time job just trying to keep up. If you want to really get a feel for what is happening, go to Kurt Varner’s this very second who links to a must read for those of us in advertising. I also know it’s evolving before our very eyes.

Whether you campers know it or not, I’m old school trying to learn new school. As for Magpie, I just don’t think it would work for me as this blog is a labor of love. Twitter has opened an entirely new world to myself and others like me.

To throw the advertising into something very personal of Twitter is just not something I would be comfortable doing.

And you wonder why I’m a poor, starving writer.

I am not going to bang the death gong this morning regarding to the TNDP. I know, thank me later. Although if they read this, they might learn something. (Yeah, I’m feeling all feisty this morning.) This is not a post about a particular Breaking News story so sorry to disappoint, it is about what consumers of news outlets want. I’m pontificating this morning, so bear with me.

I’ve been thinking though about some of the changes that have occurred in the last few years regarding interactive media because in this situation, and in others, it needs attention.

One thing I hear from a lot of people is they don’t have time for Twitter, Friendfeed, Plurk, LinkedIn, Plaxo, Facebook, blogging and others connective online sources.

If someone on Twitter has a 1000 friends, then that’s a resource. If you have a Facebook account, there is a effective way to reach out to other people on what your particular message might be. On LinkedIn and Plaxo, you can put your resume up there and your work experience and something might come out of it. (That’s a hint campers.)

One view becomes another then evolves as people want to know about people they find interesting or who are like-minded. A thirst for information? Perhaps. Nosy? Yes, that too. But people will dig to know about other people because they are curious.

As for people working in the media, these resources are invaluable. In public relations, people are paying attention.

Newspapers are also evolving. I read daily of newspaper cuts across the nation. People perusing news are getting it from the web. That doesn’t mean that people still don’t want soy ink on the tip of their fingers holding on the a paper, but it’s a reality that there is a thirst for immediacy in this day and age. Breaking News is annoying as it is thrown into our face on all the cable newsers, but the subliminal message is there.

“We as consumers of news want to know what’s going on right NOW!” is the message.

When I was in radio news I had a friendly deal with two of the local newspapers. I’d have it first but I only had 50 seconds to give a story that might warrant more detail. I’d break it, they’d give the details to the masses. We would joke about it, but that’s how it went and still does to a local degree.

Now radio and print is competing with interactive media. Christian Grantham, Jack Lail and Michael Silence are great examples of interacting with people on Twitter while still doing the jobs they are paid to do. It creates an intimacy with those who are consumers of the products they work with. The advantage is that with a conversation, it also creates a wider open source for information and potential news leads.

I personally don’t know what my role in the future of interactive media is, but I do know that no matter how large or small a media outlet is, that the changes that we have seen in the last two years are nothing compared to what we are looking at in the immediate future.

Hold on to your hat.

Yes, the strep throat is bitch but I can see a bit of improvement from yesterday and last night was all right I guess because I was stoned out of my head due to all the medicine that I’m having to take. Apparently I’m not the only suffering one from general malaise and feeling like penguin poo.

I own it. This is some powerful stuff but if it will make me well and give me back my ears, it’s of the good. I’ll probably be announcing my rehab stay with Heather Locklear next week because that apparently is what famous people do and this stuff is STRONG. Squirrel Queen laughed at me because not only was I wondering around the house like I was at a Grateful Dead concert, yammering on Twitter (sorry for those who had to put up with me over there all though I had a great time) and I watched Transformers

I’d give you a review a year late of it but the only thing I can really say is that Peter Cullen voicing Optimus Prime was my favorite part. SQ and I talked today that we really don’t know anything about Transformers so what we saw was a bunch of big robots fighting. I know that’s not very deep but that’s what I got out of it.  Did I mention my medication?  Oh, yeah, I did. If you want to know more about it, go read Ron Hogan’s review at Den of Geek. With that said, I’m a voice-over geek. I love to know who’s voicing what. I guess that goes back to my DJ days.

On another note, Happy Birthday Nelson Mandela.

And due to my medical diversion, I didn’t have enough energy to post about this so just go have your Moment of Zen with Steve Cohen who compares Vice-president Dick Cheney to a barnacle. Now, this is why he’s my political boyfriend.

Finally, join Friendfeed right now. I don’t mean to be an evangelist about this but with Twitter “stressing” I’m finding the functionality of Friendfeed to be very useful. You can put all of your online ramblings into one place, comment, send messages, favorite things such as photos from Flickr, Youtube, Last.fm, twitters, posts and the like all in one place. I had a moment of if anything were to every happen to me, that I wanted a place to show my brilliance and my ineptitude for my nieces. So I have taken my RSS from Friendfeed and put it on a Tumblr account, which of course is also called Newscoma.

I’ve had that account for about a year and I didn’t know what to do with it, so now I do. Yeah, I’m slow on the uptake.

Why do I do this stuff? Because I’m trying to learn new things and I guess one way to do that is to root around places.

And, go read Angela because she’s good. Also, go read and listen to Katie at Shaggy Dog Farms. Three of the four dogs here at Chez Coma were rescues (well, Mabel just showed up and never left and I sometimes wonder where the hell she came from) but Duff was tossed out at Homer’s house when the oldest niece, Asa Corn, was about one year-old. She has a site dealing with pups and kittens. Being that I guess I’m a dog blogger, go check out healthy and gentle living for the animals.

This is Duff. She’s lived with us 11 years. I call her the stinky dog. She has been stinky since the day she moved in with us. But I love her.

Headed back to the strep throat drug highway. I’ll be seeing pink elephants today I’m sure so bear with me.

Because I’ll probably blog about it, as that is what I’m wont to do.

So I shot a gun.

I’d never shot a gun before. We didn’t have them in my house when I was a kid. I think my dad had one but he never had it around.

I tried to kill a can. The can survived. Of course, the gun I shot was a 357 or something like that and my ears rang for 24 hours after I shot the damn thing. If I were going to review the shooting of the gun, the only thing I’d say is that it did exactly what Aunt B. said some time back and that is it went Crack-Pow.

As I talk just about like I Twitter (which, you can ask Badger Beth that I’ve been practicing lately in obscure ways. I tell her it’s like twittering but, you know, with words and looking at people. I will randomly say “Look a cat in a sweater.” “Fruit Loops taste like fruit suck” or “If I was On Sig’s boat on Deadliest Catch, I would be tired yet awesome.”

You know, random things.

Badger indulges me in this social experiment by ignoring me. I put it up on Twitter and had a rather lively conversation about it over there but realize that I hadn’t navel-gazed over here about it.

As for the gun, I don’t have any idea why I shot it. I never had before. Now I can say I did. There is no purpose or reason behind it. No liberal observation. It was loud.

No can was killed in this experiment.

And Mabel rode on the back of a four-wheeler because she wouldn’t ride in a truck when we went to shoot.

On another note, I have not ever really ridden a four-wheeler much nor, until this spring, have I ever hung out in the country but, you know, Goosepond Swamp Monster and all.

I’m a townie. Yes, there are different societal systems in Hooterville. As I continue my quest to find gainful employment in a place where I can eat sushi every day without having to drive an hour, I’m experiencing all I can. I have also realized that mosquitoes think I’m a bar and grille as they dine on me unmercifully when I’m enjoying the spoils of the farm.

To keep my street cred, I did shoot the gun in a tie-dye T-shirt.

Just saying.

I’ve been talking a lot about Twitter this past week. A murder trial, the speed of news and the conversation that followed immediately after Tim Russert’s death and even live updates about the 7.2 earthquake in Japan.

On March 29th, I wrote about us sending out some news on Twitter that made the rounds.

I know, beating a dead horse and all, but actually I’m not.

And I’m not the only one writing about it.

What you are left with is a group of people you find useful/interesting/relevant who update you through out the day. In my case it’s sparked new relationships and opportunities as well.

So I’m not really sure why anyone would prefer not to bother themselves with using twitter or a similar service. If you’re a writer (especially the non-fiction variety) check out twitter for a week and see if it hasn’t proven invaluable on at least one occasion.

Read the whole thing. TechGOnzo breaks it down very well.

I talk a lot about being in a rural part of the state and some of the limitations that go with that. I work at a place that doesn’t even subscribe to a newswire.

I’m finding I don’t need one with Twitter who continually keeps beating mainstream media cable networks in breaking the news. Many times it needs verification, don’t get me wrong, but then it creates a dialogue. The conversation flows and you have instant feedback.

If you don’t give two hoots about Twitter, I’ll give you a picture of a kangaroo drinking a beer

Ivy alerts us to a Twitterer giving regular updates on the earthquake in Japan.

Once again, I’m amazed.

I wrote a couple of months back about Ron Sylvester who twittered the murder trial of a 14 year-old girl.

He writes about it this morning at his blog, Technolo-J.

I had started using Twitter during jury selection, as a solution to some problems we’d had with trying to file live updates during the trial. We wanted immediacy, and we got it.

One day, I cut and pasted all my “tweet” updates into a traditional story file. It measured 80 inches. Now, I don’t think anyone would have read an 80-inch story from the newspaper on this trial, as compelling as it was. My editors certainly wouldn’t have run a story that long. But what I found is that people will read an 80-inch story, given to them a paragraph at a time, 140 characters long.

He certainly is right. Most editors wouldn’t print an 80 inch story. That’s a huge hunk of newspaper real estate. But what he did was offer news in one of the most immediate ways available and for those of us who followed his tweets on the murder trial were given the heart wrenching story of a girl who’s life was cut short.

One of the most fascinating things to me was the jury selection. If you have ever covered any kind of trial, it honestly can be tedious. Sylvester, 140 characters at a time, made it fascinating. As jurors had to vote on life in prison or the death penalty, there was a great deal of emotion tied into what each interviewed juror would do.

I thought this was cool. The immediacy was really amazing.

I say it at least once a week. Delivering news is changing. I think it is good.

Today, other than the usual non-virtual world making me do crazy things like work, I’ve been watching certain trends.

I found this story on FriendFeed from Ryan Sholin who shared it on Google Reader.

Harrisonburg is a small Virginia city with a population of less than 50,000. The town wasn’t exactly Happenstance until Brent Finnegan decided to liven things up by supplementing his alternative newsblog, Hburgnews.com, with a communal Twitter account. He called on his readers to text in news and soon he and his cronies outpaced the regular news media covering breaking news.

Needless to say, if you are in news, I’d be paying attention to items like this.

As Twitter has been hiccuping and burping through a database crash of astronomical proportions and that the pagination feature, which is something I like so I can keep up with you wahoos, I have found myself gravitating over to FriendFeed quite a bit.

I’ll let them explain it.

FriendFeed enables you to keep up-to-date on the web pages, photos, videos and music that your friends and family are sharing. It offers a unique way to discover and discuss information among friends.

I sign up for new programs all the time. Some of it I use, other times I don’t.

The thing I personally like about FriendFeed is that I’ve been able to access older Tweets from some of my buddies over there while pagination was down. Another thing is that I’ve seen some of the people I’ve friended share things to the site from their Google Reader, when someone adds photos from Flickr I know immediately and it is pretty comprehensive of sharing what you want to or what you don’t. You can add pretty much anything you want to.

Just sharing a new geek thing I like. And I have seen a lot of benefits from FriendFeed.

You may also want to check out this.