Disqus - Latest Comments for captain flummox

Re: Rethinking The Local Paper

captain flummox — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 21:11:32 -0000

This is a subject near and dear to my heart since my first real job was as a reporter for a tiny-town newspaper. First, Idisagree with the comment that government information is a big yawn. Well, it's often presented in yawnworthy fashion, but the effects of government actions -- zonings, bond referendums etc. become a lot more interesting when your lifestyle, safety, bank account, education of your children or property values are at stake. So even though some of that stuff might seem dry, many citizens will care, at least by the time they're relatively adult. That's valuable not just as information for citizens but as a check on local governments who might behave differently knowing there more scrutiny. Secondly, though reporters don't get paid well, it does require a lot of time and a commitment to some level of objectivity. That's not to say any neighbor couldn't do it, just that every neighbor can't. The NYT has editors, and they've still had plenty of problems in recent years. Finally, and I hate admit this, but just because a community is tight doesn't mean its members should necessarily be trusted more than the general population. I'm a member of our Yahoo neighborhood group and a WOM recommendation I solicited from there turned out to be one of the worst and most expensive consumer experiences of my adult life. As for the tech of it , I agree that, dead simple is the only way to go.

Re: It's A Blog, No It's A Radio Station, Wait It's Something Altogther New

captain flummox — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 09:04:15 -0000

Do you mean Targetspot?

Re: Hitting The Reset Button

captain flummox — Thu, 01 May 2008 19:54:24 -0000

Amazing how many similar techniques are mentioned here -- running, music,new environment. When I need to hit the reset button with 22-ounce wafflehead framing hammer, I'll try all three simultaneously, but you usually the first two work.

Re: Joe The Plumber's Landing Page

captain flummox — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:07:56 -0000

"But the standardization breeds familiarity and trust and encourages more usage." The truth of the statement is rock solid -- and still too often unrecognized.

Re: Great service! (x2)

captain flummox — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 17:22:20 -0000

It's amazing the impact these positive experiences have, and they keep paying off for the company with loyalty and word of mouth. And as a consumer, I look forward to the day when they are not so rare.

Re: Stem to Stern

captain flummox — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 15:25:44 -0000

Oh, man. She went home and kissed someone. You have some interesting sightings. All I get is folks digging so deep in their noses they need a mining permit.Yup. Eyes straight ahead.

Re: MySpace Login Broken

captain flummox — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 05:01:04 -0000

You know, I had similar problems as I toyed with myspace. For whatever reasons, I could make very little actually work there. Obviously, many others don't have that problem, but I feel slightly better knowing I'm not the only one.

Re: When technology hates you

captain flummox — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 17:00:07 -0000

Way to stay nimble in the face of adversity. It's amazing how feedback just brings everything to a grinding halt. I think the military has a similar technology in nonlethal warfare.

Re: My Tabs are out of control…

captain flummox — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 04:01:10 -0000

Information overload is right. I feel overwhelmed not just by content but by the assortment of tools. The packrat mentality isn't a good thing while surfing. Also, it's frustrating when I realize I can't recall the great site I found a few days ago, but the lyrics to Funky Town are always accessible. I wish I could defrag the hard drive between my ears. Sometimes I wonder if eventually culture itself will need some defragging.

Re: Quote of the week

captain flummox — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 07:00:29 -0000

I gotta share a quote from my son, delivered when he was 15 years old as the cut a block of cheddar into cubes. He said, "You know, I have OCD and ADD, so I think it balances out to naormal." Cracked me up, anyway.

Re: Mark Twain Wisdom

captain flummox — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 08:34:12 -0000

He's got a million of 'em, and he's dead. Turns out, most of them keep pretty well.

Re: What’s your kink? Part II.

captain flummox — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 08:15:53 -0000

It's a fine line between weird and individualistic. If you build a big enough community of weirdness, does weirdness become normal? That would explain a lot, and is in itself a little weird.

Re: Old tech is sexy too

captain flummox — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 10:26:56 -0000

It does my heart good to read this kind of post because there are times when I wonder if common sense is dead. I'm glad to see I'm wrong.

Re: Supporting digital culture means supporting the writers

captain flummox — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 11:22:29 -0000

I'm so with you on the rights and value of the writers. The last time writers walked we got reality TV, and personally, I've had enough of that. We need storytellers, and they should be paid well regardless of the ultimate medium in which the story is delivered. I feel the same way about musical artists. I doubt Rod Serling would have kept at his teleplays if no one were paying. My biggest fear is viewers might accept storyless programming, which creates a scenario very much like the one represented in the film "Idiocracy." Yipes.

Re: Eisner: Writers strike is stupid

captain flummox — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 10:52:04 -0000

If the writers are asking for a percent of profits from new media, then the not-yet-profitable argument doesn't make sense to me. A percent of nothing is nothing. A percent of something should be factored in when they negotiate with Steve Jobs. What's the problem? The writers, it seems to me, are just being smart be preparing themselves for the future when the big bang of convergence happens. (Let the record reflect I buy CDs because I don't trust hard drives.)

Re: Rapid Fire - Sunday, November 25

captain flummox — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 08:30:13 -0000

Such a truism. Without it, much art (in the broad sense of film, music, literature, etc.) would have an expiration date.

Re: What’s wrong with this?

captain flummox — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 11:25:28 -0000

Question mark as ampersand?

Re: Does expertise create hypocrisy?

captain flummox — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 08:34:06 -0000

Admittedly, I haven't dug into the specifics of this one, but I have to say Jeremy's term is a keeper! Secondly, just based on human nature, I would tend to agree with your protectionist premise from a psychological point of view. There's such a drive to become a "thought leader" that maybe some don't recognize if they're becoming thought dictators.

Re: The value of simple solutions and human hands

captain flummox — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 08:33:59 -0000

I love the idea of the disemvoweller. I want one for some actual real-time conversations.

Re: You’re selling the wrong thing

captain flummox — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 08:52:01 -0000

Inclusion and exclusion are core editorial techniques, but I'm not sure they're the entire value of a newspaper. In as much as inclusion or exclusion of a story serve objectivity in a newspaper's reporting, I think there's increasing value there because overall objectivity as a goal is becoming harder to find across all media. I think another critical purpose of newspapers is to own the concept of local - to be an indispensable resource for the community. Newspapers can provide a common ground among neighbors in a fragmented world, and I think in this age of fragmentation and echo chambers, some will crave that. Of course, whether the newspaper is physical or virtual -- I think that's a technological and lifestyle issue beyond content.

Re: What “viral” really looks like…

captain flummox — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 16:28:34 -0000

Just like the old advertising truism. You can't go too far wrong with babies (or animals.)

Re: What the Flip!

captain flummox — Sun, 04 May 2008 08:53:58 -0000

Communication modes like Tumblr and Twitter are training us to think tight, to get to the meat of the matter, and as you point out, the Flip does that for video, making you do the editing in the camera. I think that might be considered a benefit and a public service.

Re: The era of @POTUS arrives tomorrow

captain flummox — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 10:16:31 -0000

http://snipurl.com/568mw

Re: Facebook Is The New AOL

captain flummox — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:13:09 -0000

One of the twitter people I follow said he was trying not to think of social media experts as the new hobo culture, which I thought was pretty funny. I wonder if it also applies to the populations at the networks themselves. Sometimes it feels as if there are herds all moving to the next water hole. When there's a quorum, the herds moves on.

Re: TV Is Dead. Long Live TV

captain flummox — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:51:58 -0000

The passive nature of TV is the draw, I think. The net is for interaction, and when that reaches the fatigue point -- to the tube!

Re: A conversation with IBM’s top intellectual property lawyer

captain flummox — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 07:50:00 -0000

Isn't it "not our father's Oldsmobile?" Was that trademarked? Heads will roll!

Re: Rapleaf wants your email address

captain flummox — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 07:12:50 -0000

Social media is a miracle for marketers. The information we willingly give to complete strangers about ourselves is on a level never dreamed of in the days of focus groups behind mirrored windows. I'm beginning to think people should have a spam identity, an utterly fabricated name and address, plus an identifying email, just for tracking the spam that ensues from each registration.

Re: Guinness At Last

captain flummox — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 10:19:25 -0000

That was just great visual storytelling. The announcer gets the day off, and account guys get to say "product as hero." Checks all my boxes anyway.

Re: Twitter: Where Nobody Knows Your Name

captain flummox — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:56:52 -0000

I can think of no more convenient way to be updated when Jonathan Coulton is stuck at an airport or tending to a child's illness. Twitter does seem to fill a space between the IM and the blog or forum, and the 140 character limit might actually help people write tight. But I am surprised how many tech savvy people I know haven't warmed to it yet.