Disqus - Latest Comments for Nokware

Re: If You Want to Be Married Young, You Should Marry While Young

Nokware Knight — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:04:12 -0000

Thoughtful post.

Re: Departures Cont.

Nokware Knight — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 17:10:36 -0000

As simple as it was, this post just read... right. Said so much with so little.

Re: How Business Expertise Translates Into Politics - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic

Nokware Knight — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 21:56:41 -0000

And I meant "type of employment", not "unemployment"

Re: How Business Expertise Translates Into Politics - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic

Nokware Knight — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 21:54:24 -0000

The private equity and auto industry discussion was always odd to me. Obama thought Rommey was unfit because of Bain and Romney criticized him for the auto bailout. I thought the government essentially did Romenys job and did it well. They bought a majority stake in the business and cut it down.

For me what separates Romeny and Obama in terms of business and government are the results in the deficit and employment.

I'd actually expect Romney to see the country as a sort of USA Inc and do a better job of cutting the deficit and improving GDP in the short term and maybe long term. Where Obama wins, for me, is the type of unemployment and recovery we'd expect to see. I get the impression that under Romeny a lot of the long term unemployed who don't have money and connections to fall on may remain unemployed for longer than many would be able to recover from during the working careers. I'd expect that Obama might not make for as healthy a balance sheet fr USA inc, but he's get more people employed than otherwise would not be. And of course governments main purpose is to serve the people.

Re: How Business Expertise Translates Into Politics - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic

Nokware Knight — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 21:43:28 -0000

I accidentally posted without finishing... Anyway, I think finance was not too long ago one of the biggest industries in the u.s. outside of healthcare. When an industry that is supposed to be a middle man becomes bigger than industry itself, a lot of it on borrowed money, that's a problem. You probably don't want an investment banker or trader runnin the government and telling you about cutting debt. Now the CEO o a tradtiomal retail bank? Maybe at least to me....

Re: How Business Expertise Translates Into Politics - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic

Nokware Knight — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 21:38:31 -0000

I've watched this blog for years without ever commenting. You all are smart people, almost intimidating. But here's my uninformed opinion.

When people mention this in relation to our most recent election a few talking points immediately come to mind: private equity, the auto industry, employment, GDP/economy, and the financial services industry.

I'm not sure I see anything inherently wrong with financial services in itself except that it overstepped its bounds. I've always see it as a conduit for funding businesses an transactions

Re: Great Writing Comes Out of Great Ideas - Arthur Applebee - The Atlantic

Nokware Knight — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 07:32:21 -0000

Clarified, understood, and appreciated. Thanks. I'll check out the original post.

Re: Great Writing Comes Out of Great Ideas - Arthur Applebee - The Atlantic

Nokware Knight — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 20:10:20 -0000

When I read the comments here, all I can think is "context matters." Don't think I'm picking on anyone here in my response. I'm just thinking out loud. And I say all this more as a reading enthusiast than a professional writer. One of the commenters mentioned:

"But if you can't cobble together a straightforward paragraph that
expresses the idea concisely, demonstrates a bit of evidence, and then
ties the idea back to a larger thesis, you are sunk. As a writing
teacher, I can't tell you how many times I saw perfectly good and
develop-able ideas hidden in the tangle of my students' run on
sentences, fragments, and misguided punctuation and grammar. "

I think, it all depends on what you are writing, who you are writing it for, why, and what impression you'd like to leave in getting it across. I see the generic writing as a start, a reference point. Something to use, compare, or contrast to.

The New Yorker is a prime example. I've read the magazine on and off for maybe a decade now. From my perspective, it abuses the use of run-on sentences, commas, semi-colons, and colons more than just about any major publication I know of. Probably not at all straight forward by traditional standards or what we are taught in K-12. Yet, it is broadly recognized as the gold standard for writing excellence. And rightly so. Partially, because it is concerned for what the writing does for the reader.

New Yorker style's writing, however, probably won't fly at The Sun, Monocle, or traditional news organizations that use the upside down pyramid scheme (in itself important when you need a standardized why to ensure the quality of a ton of new stories). Those are all places where brevity makes the writing better. All are excellent publications and all of them are correct. They serve different purposes for different audiences. Their writing standards are made with their readers in mind.

Sometimes technically incorrect sentence fragments can be the better choice compared to commas, colons, and "full sentences." That is, if you are writing with the reader in mind.

Say you make a point and have seven specific examples you want to briefly mention. But you want each individual example to stand out and leave a lasting impression on the reader. Pushing them all together with commas can create a run-on sentence. And the reader may brush over it very quickly without considering each of the individual seven. Creating full sentences around the examples may bury the emphasis you meant to convey under more words than you need. The sentence fragments can get your message across to the reader in a way that does the trick. But it might get you marks off in a classroom.

Again, it's not say that generic writing skills are wrong. It's that the purpose, vehicle, and readership of any particular piece are probably a better determinant of what is correct than said standard. Having said all that, I think the following comment is spot on:

"The basics of critical thinking can be transferred - I would not say
"taught" - in literature class or science class, but it needs to be
reinforced in both. When teachers agree that this is the foundation for
strong writing - along with basic grammar and syntax skills - then
students will figure out that success in every class requires critical
thinking."

I should be done, but as an aside, I'd like to add one more thing. I think one of the common arguments I hear about science writing is that it can't be literary form. I think it's incredibly lazy for brilliant minds to say something like that. Much of science is written in technicalities and statistical terms. In reality, scientists have the benefit of being able to explain with a solid deal of certainty things none of us can see. It's like writing a human interest piece in which you can read the minds of all the people involved (characters, if you will) and be pretty confident you understand their motives. I can't speak for the science community. But I hope they are not caught up in the idea that there is one "right way" to explain things that existed well before human languages came to be. The world would benefit if they did not.

All in all, in instances where the "wrong way" makes things much clearer for the reader, then I think the wrong way should be used. The purpose of writing is, after all, to get your point across to the reader as clearly as possible. And, some would argue, also to entertain or hold their interest long enough to make sure they get through the entire piece.

That's my uninformed rant for the day. I'm going back to my hole. :)

Re: A Look at Quartz, the New Business Site from The Atlantic

Nokware Knight — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 16:35:49 -0000

Looks odd from the website. Think it looks good on the phone. Truly made for the mobile device.

Re: Blueprint: “Q” of WorldStarHipHop.com

Nokware Knight — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:19:33 -0000

Turned down $20 MILLION???

Re: Black Web 2.0 Introduces Blueprint

Nokware Knight — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:33:41 -0000

Looking forward to this.

Re: BET’s Web Series “Buppies”: Off to a Rough Start

Nokware Knight — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:33:11 -0000

Can't hate on Tatiyana. That's my wife to be, lol...

Re: Audio: Interview with Vibe’s Chief Content Officer Danyel Smith

Nokware Knight — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:47:02 -0000

Candid Q&A is a good thing. There are agreeable and abrasive ways to address issues, but its most important that the questions actually be asked. Everyone, especially the audience/community, comes away learning more than they might have otherwise.

The most interesting thing about the Q&A on this site is that top players at these media companies seem to actually feel accountable for their answers and Markus and Angela ask the important questions. That is something you don't seem to get much of on sites like allthingsd.com or bnet.com, despite how good they may be. That only benefits the community.

Re: Audio: Interview with Vibe’s Chief Content Officer Danyel Smith

Nokware Knight — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 20:15:46 -0000

Damian, Liz, and Wise_Diva bring up some very important points. Many of the high-traffic online magazines get as much attention as they do because they converted a portion of the audience from print brand or other old media to their websites. Vibe, YBF, National Geographic, etc. are great examples.

From what I remember the most is only being printed twice a year. Even if the print magazine isn't a success it can do wonders to draw traffic to the website in ways other blogs can't. And if the real focus is on the coupling of the website and magazine or the website and not the magazine, they don't need to make a ton of money off a print version. If they make money, great. If they break even or lose money, it can be seen as a marketing write-off for the website. No biggie if it's managed right. And if they make money off a marketing vehicle for the more frequently updated product (the website) then they really come out on top. How many other companies do you know that get their customers to pay them to advertise other products to them? If this works, it will make Danyel and the rest of the Vibe/The Most team look pretty good.

There are some advantages that print has over web in terms of content. One is there is far more time between print editions than web updates. Another is successful magazines can often bring in relatively higher gross profits (though smaller margins) than websites. This means that magazines often have the time to do more in-depth, well-investigated pieces than websites and sometimes actually have the money to pay writers to do so. The Most can use that to their advantage and offer something that no other blogs can... More detailed and unearthed insights related to the same things everyone is already talking about. It's one of the most notable reasons why some print mags still have legs despite all the free content on the web.

Would the magazine turn a profit and sustain a whole lot of interest and anticipation for their bi-annual gossip publication? Who knows? The better question is is that even of much concern to Vibe. If they see the print mag as a marketing expense for the website, they shouldn't care. And in the end, the focus does not seem to be on making the print version of The Most a success on its own, but seeing how the bi-annual magazine and daily website can work together to support each other, offer a mix of content that is of value to the consumer and differentiating from competitors, is cost effective (which is easier with a 2X/year print mag with a coupled website than a 12/X a year print mag with a website that just copies and pastes what is already in print), and ultimately profitable.

I really need to work on making my comments shorter....

Re: VIBE Expands Online Offerings

Nokware Knight — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 22:07:35 -0000

I am loving their innovation. Not scared to take a chance. I'd bet on Vibe in the long-run based on their commitment to their audience, despite the print magazine's financial issues.

Re: Interactive One Names Napster CTO David Wolfe as Chief Product and Operating Officer

Nokware Knight — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 22:02:51 -0000

Interesting. I wonder if this means that BP will focus more on developing its music product. BP has come a long way and made a lot of improvements over the last few years, and music is one of the few places that it hasn't seemed to make real leaps and bounds.

Re: Smooth Mag Blog Struggles

Nokware Knight — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 20:57:16 -0000

The thing I find most interesting about smoothblogger.com is its disconnect from Smooth magazine, as far as content goes. Despite what you anyone may think about scantily clad women, I always thought that quality Smooth Magazine's content was pretty good, dear I say underrated. (Like BlackAgencyGuy said, "there is a market for high end booty and the lifestyle that surrounds"). It's not phenomenal or quite on the level of King, but Smooth generally had fairly well written pieces that identified with their audience.

Smooth should already know what its audience likes from Smooth Magazine. It doesn't seem like it would take much to package similar themes into bite-sized blogs on smoothblogger.com. But, like DJ Hyjack pointed out, most of the current smoothblogger.com posts consisted of "filled with post about hot bags, heels, and oscar dresses. " Besides that, a lot of the current content is the gossip found on the likes of The YBF, MediaTakeOut, and Concrete Loop. Before that, smoothblogger.com seemed to take a good bit of content from 50 Cent's website. But neither quite encompass Smooth's audience.

I'm only making assumptions here based off of what I see, but it's as if smoothblogger just takes content from the most popular sites in black online media. The problem is, that content isn't necessarily of interest to Smooth's readership. It's a matter of paying attention to the audience and getting a little more focused, creative, or less lazy when it comes to content, whichever it may be. I only can decipher so much since I am not behind the scenes.

Re: Conserving Jet and Ebony in The Digital Era

Nokware Knight — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 19:42:22 -0000

Not to beat a dead horse, but I found a pretty relevant post on Racialicious.com. I hope that all this is taken as an opportunity to adjust to the real needs and desires of Johnson Publishing's readers and the advertisers who want to reach them, not an attack on the magazine itself.

http://www.racialicious.com...

Re: Inside Look at MediaTakeOut.com

Nokware Knight — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 19:05:37 -0000

We've actually reached out to them a couple times. Once we get a response, we'll have something for you guys. Feel free to let us know if there is any BW20 site or digital business you want to learn a little more about.

Re: Conserving Jet and Ebony in The Digital Era

Nokware Knight — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:38:47 -0000

And to be clear... I am not on the "print is dead" bandwagon. I am actually a fan of the monthly print channel because content is often better written, more thought out, and less redundant than what is offered on the web. Also, when a person is reading a magazine that is all he/she is reading at one time, and so advertisers have more of their attention for longer. Advertisers on the web have to compete with shorter attention spans of readers who can click through pages and websites at lightning pace.

Where print cannot beat the web is speed and frequency, again which is partly what Jet has depended on to separate itself. It is only dailies with enormous resources like the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, or USA Today that can compete with the internet in that respect, because they are of somewhat similar speed but of much better quality. And even those businesses are having tough times.

Okay, I think I'm done rambling for now... I hope your answer is somewhere in there.

Re: Conserving Jet and Ebony in The Digital Era

Nokware Knight — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 23:58:42 -0000

And Ebony is a whole other story. If managed right, I expect magazines like Ebony, Essence, Giant, Vibe, etc to flourish once the economy picks up. But they will be different publications than the media boom times in the 90s and still somewhat sane business in the earlier 2000s. Instead of depending on more short articles, you'll need more features and lengthy, but still entertaining reportage to separate these print magazine. Think more Conde Nast than Maxim. So I will say I dont see why Ebony shouldnt still do well in the future. It's just Jet that really needs re-evaluate its purpose (and entire print existence) in the context of the online world we lived in.

Re: Conserving Jet and Ebony in The Digital Era

Nokware Knight — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 23:52:23 -0000

I think Markus pretty much hit on my point.

I have always known Jet as an information source more than anything else, something that I used to catch up on things that was not being covered by other media outlets. Aside from its content and target audience, newsworthiness, timeliness, and frequency were always at the cornerstone of what made Jet different and unique.

The question I was looking to raise it now that much of what Jet offered is available on the internet on demand, is it even relevant in its weekly form? I don't think things like the cost of mailing has nearly has much to do with the publications difficulties as the internet does. Even if mailing cost half of what it was now, how does that make a weekly version of Jet more relevant to the reader who not only can get information for free online, but more importantly, nearly as fast as it happens?

Think about it. It's the print sources that depend upon frequency and being the first to deliver news with no true differentiation in terms of content that has suffered the most. It has been the tabloid magazines and the newspapers that have have gone down first for that reason.

I don't know any other way to say that oftentimes what I read in Jet is old news by the time I see it. I'm not sure how its a viable business offline as a weekly magazine. And the information delivered does not seem to be altogether different than what's available on other websites. Jet can counter this by reducing the delivery time of content down to a day (which would require the internet) or delivering much more focused content to a more specific audience, which would in turn still reduce its circulation numbers anyway, so you are back at square one.

Also, as you have more generations accustomed to getting their news online by the second, the less relevant a weekly information source like Jet will be in its current form. It's not just about the cost, but how long the content takes to get delivered when we are talking about news. Even local papers will struggle unless they are of good quality, cover the same and more content than what is available on the internet (as relevant to their audience), and/or are daily. Keeping up when you are talking about frequency and newsworthiness being what separates you from your peers becomes a game of who is the best reporter, who can get the best and most relevant information out there the fastest. And that takes resources and a lightning fast response. As I see it, it's nearly impossible for Jet to offer the information as quickly as can be done on the web. That again, is less about cost and more about time. If a time-dependent print publication like Jet could deliver quality news faster than it's peers on the internet, then this would be a different conversation altogether. I am just not sure it can be done.

I agree that the solution requires a multi-channel effort that includes web, services, print, etc. Where I disagree with your article is that the internet really is a top, if not the, deciding source and factor of why a magazine like Jet is falling.

Re: Smooth Mag Blog Struggles

Nokware Knight — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 14:14:52 -0000

Janu. - You are right. Compete is not the only source available and should not be used as such. But it is still is a reputable tool that should be used and not ignored, especially when the traffic is directly measured,. I agree that it should be used with responsibility and in context of whatever else is available.

In this case we did use Quantcast as well. At the time of the post Quantcast and Compete has similar numbers. The only difference is that Compete allows for comparison on a single graph at once. The only thing thing that has changed since this post is that dimewars.com is now measured directly on Quantcast. They have much more traffic than originally estimated by Compete or Quantcast. But again this was after this entry was already posted.

It's also the reason that we use other ways to evaluate media properties. In the case of smoothblogger, this included number of members, active members, content on the site, and interaction between members.

But please feel free to share whatever tools you may find. The input is always appreciated and I for one always look to provide readers with the best information available.

Re: Robert Johnson scolds Alfred Liggins for FCC Complaint

Nokware Knight — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:02:02 -0000

Ouch. That's quite a tongue lashing. But Johnson's argument sounds fair, to say the least. It sounds as if Liggins is asking for a legalized monopoly. Not exactly the American way.

Re: Honey’s Sweet New Redesign

Nokware Knight — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 10:51:35 -0000

Honey's lack of syndication tools may not be an oversight at all. If they limited syndication and put walls around where shared content can go on purpose, that may actually be a very smart move. Fans who want to view the content are more likely to visit honeymag.com to do so. It ensures that the community is initially built around the website content originated from.