Disqus - Latest Comments for ryancoleman

Re: Yes, Twitter is a source of journalism

ryancoleman — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 04:28:06 -0000

It's all fine and dandy to point to the marriot example, except when you step back and realize that CNN/IBN were reporting, for hours, that the Marriot had been bombed.

On 9-11 I remember the networks talking about a mysterious 5th plane that was still up in the air somewhere.

I think the reality is, when it comes to chaotic situations like these - where even the MSM are falling over themselves trying to cover it there's going to be some misinformation & confusion.

The real problem is a almost total lack of critical thinking from a huge majority of the population when it comes to digesting this information. Anything I take in in a breaking news context (regardless of source) gets taken with a grain of salt and I usually try to keep track of things in the days that follow as a more realistic picture emerges. But for every one of me there's probably 10 people who heard CNN's resident chief make shit up on the fly correspondent Miles O'Brien say something and it gets etched in their heads as fact.

Re: davehyndman.tumbl - from Ryan Coleman

ryancoleman — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:22:35 -0000

I've been photographing that statue for 4 years... first picture of it that's really worked! (noisy background in the city, always something ruining the composition) - thx for posting it!

Re: When base-jumping goes wrong

ryancoleman — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:02:02 -0000

Actually I'm pretty sure in a lot of places you do get the bill for your rescue costs...

Re: Online fiction, Facebook and transparency

ryancoleman — Fri, 02 May 2008 13:42:44 -0000

I see both sides of the coin and was sitting behind Eden (& next to someone with an even stronger reaction).

I wasn't bothered by it but there was a difference between myself and Eden... I'd encountered the story before and discovered the Facebook profiles as part of meandering through the "story".

Where I think Jill screwed up, and I told her this later, was having the characters proactively "friend" people on facebook who we're not engaged in the story. When people got the friend invite, many of them checked to see if they had mutual friends & many did because many people who were engaged in the story had Added the characters as friends.

The difference though, was that the engaged people ADDED proactively - rather than an unsolicited, uncontextualized invitation.

Re: Slideshare

ryancoleman — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:37:29 -0000

12 Hours sounds extreme... I've had it take 30 min - an hour at the worst of times.

My biggest beef is it's font issues... I find it really hard to get a deck to upload without having some sort of font problem.

It's otherwise a great site...

Re: Loren Feldman vs. Shel Israel

ryancoleman — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 22:28:16 -0000

oh, and as for the domain... I can't imagine how Shel never registered his name.com ... complaining now about someone else grabbing it is just strange.... I'd kill to get myname.com. (had to settle for .ca)

Re: Loren Feldman vs. Shel Israel

ryancoleman — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 22:25:50 -0000

Joe: I get the "crosshairs" notion... there's been a few times I've had the back of the mind thought "I'm so glad I don't even appear on Loren's radar" as I've watched some of this stuff unfold.

That said, I largely agree with Matt's sentiment - while it comes across as "mean" Loren tends to keep it at a place where he's only calling people on the points where they're being unauthentic (unauthentic?) to what they preach ... but at the same time he delivers it in his usual style of keeping one last toe on the line so he can claim he hasn't stepped over it (the child hood equivalent of "I'm not touching you!!!).

Sure Loren puts it over the edge from time to time, but that's Loren. Personally I think he's a good barometer to have around the 'sphere to keep egos in check in a edgy & funny way.

Re: Which is worse: piracy or anonymity?

ryancoleman — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 18:22:57 -0000

I almost agree with that sentiment except for one minor modification:

"the biggest problem for the music business is THE GROWING NUMBER of people who not only don't download music, but never buy it in any form and probably never will."

What they have to recognize is that freeloaders will always exist - there is no solving that particular problem.

What I would argue is that the tactics they are employing today to try and squash that minority are actually alienating a large portion of the people who sit on the fence and increasingly pushing them into the download/don't buy category. Stop trying to squash the deadbeats and focus on delivering value to the people who actually represent a revenue opportunity.

Re: Which is worse: piracy or anonymity?

ryancoleman — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:53:38 -0000

Clearly what is needed is a tax on blank paper...

Seriously though... (are they?) When you look at how books are shared/sold/consumed I can't see how internet piracy is anything bigger than a tiny, tiny blip on their revenue radar.

Libraries, Sharing/loaning, Used book stores, Amazon's Used Book service - the written word has long been exchanged in forms that provide no further compensation to the original author.

I think what any producer needs to acknowledge is they have NEVER, ever, ever received revenue for every single person who has consumed their "product'. The Internet has just made it easier to acknowledge and track.

They also need to check their def'n of "losses" - the reality is, most stuff (music, books, movies) etc. I've consumed for free (via any channel) are usually things I wouldn't have bought/rented. The reality is though, much of the stuff I've "borrowed" has led to follow on purchases.

i.e. years ago someone loaned me a copy of a Harry Connick album - that "loss" for the recording industry led me to acquiring just about every album he produced. Likewise, the first Stephen King book I ever read was a loaner... etc etc

Re: Moving The Goalposts

ryancoleman — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 15:26:54 -0000

"but the question is how do you make a living as a songwriter who doesn't tour? ... it should be my choice, not the fans/"

You have the choice of how you try to make money but ultimately the fans/customers have the choice about whether or not they choose to give you money.

Tour/Merch has long been recognized as a place where musicians have the opportunity to make a lot of money - If you choose to ignore/avoid that model then I think you need to decide whether you're doing this for the money or as a hobby - Consumers have no obligation to provide a business model for you.