Disqus - Latest Comments for Xarker

Re: I am not a newpaper gravedancer, but if ever I was tempted in that way, I know which grave I'd start at

Xarker — Sat, 16 May 2009 10:11:27 -0000

Oh dear.

Re: A Proposal to Organize the Chattanooga Twitterverse with #CHA

Xarker — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 22:12:52 -0000

What's your airport code? What's already in common usage? And short is useful.

For what it's worth, use of the three-letter local code and a four-letter topic code is spreading (to, in this case, Canada): http://bit.ly/w5k2

Re: Blogger of the Year (Scripting News)

Xarker — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 16:52:11 -0000

Rosen has been a great media blogger for years, but most people don't know that he's also the guy behind Dramatic Chipmonk, Angry German Kid and several of the most successful guilds on World of Warcraft. Well played, Mr. Winer!

Re: If you never listen you never learn (Scripting News)

Xarker — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:28:51 -0000

I agree. I'm not trying to explain what it is, but how the disconnect from the discussion works (and not doing a good job of it, either).

For what it's worth, I took a buyout from my company in August and I'm on my own now. Thanks for starting the process of rewiring my head.

Re: like a champion. - can someone tell me what color that is on the...

Xarker — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 11:08:03 -0000

The light color is #66AFA4. The color in shadow is #3D796D. (Really nice color picker for Firefox here: http://www.colorzilla.com/)

Re: If you never listen you never learn (Scripting News)

Xarker — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 10:13:06 -0000

The old system of newsgathering was low-throughput and offered relatively high signal-to-noise ratio. You got information via reporters, and then the organization processed it to improve that STN ratio through a series of deadlines.

The new system of newsgathering is high-throughput and has a relatively low signal-to-noise ratio. Traditional news organizations don't like it because their systems of control -- their methods of improving the value of that signal -- simply don't scale to the size of the task.

To people from the traditional news background, the social media revolution looks like an assault on "news judgment" and "quality," because the when they talk about "journalism," the word "quality" is implied. But it isn't. "Journalism" is a set of tools that can be used well or poorly.

To understand this disconnect, try this analogy: Traditional journalists have a great hand saw and they've been trained to use it, and given the right materials and conditions, they can cut and shape like great craftsmen. Now the amount of material has changed, and the conditions no longer allow them to do things the way they like. But they're continuing to insist that solutions to the "problem" of "too much" must include hand saws. Yes, there are affordable 14v circular saws out there that anyone can buy and use to cut wood effectively, but they can't be trusted, they're not as precise. Yada yada.

The new system will be better. We just have to develop tools that scale to the flow of information, and we need to retire the old executives.

Re: Will this election end in a civil war? (Scripting News)

Xarker — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:52:08 -0000

They won't do this because they can't win if they do this. They've already proven that they're willing to burn down the village in order to save it, which is why victory is so important this year.

Re: Is Obama black? (Scripting News)

Xarker — Mon, 05 May 2008 11:18:04 -0000

"Race" in America is arbitrary to the point of absurdity, but there's a simple way to push back: Most forms that ask you for a racial identification today now offer the option to choose "Other." Well, do it! I officially switched to "other" on my voter registration card a couple years ago, and switched my driver's license back in March.

As far as I'm concerned, the definition of "other" is "American."