Disqus - Latest Comments for rommiej

Re: Mother Jones magazine on Tumblr - It take 5.4 gallons of water to grow one head of...

rommiej — Fri, 28 Feb 2014 23:15:37 -0000

By some credible estimates, it can take as much as 1,300 gallons for a hamburger, but, yes, broccoli is the real problem. Well done, Mother Jones.

Re: http://blog.sasquatchmedia.com/post/19294946508

rommiej — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 17:37:04 -0000

This is *exactly* what happened at my paper. We talked the talk, and then we went back to doing the stuff we'd always done. You know, the stuff that wasn't working? That was driving readers away in droves? Or, at least, not engaging them enough to make them stick around? Yeah, that.

Our corporate bigwigs said, "We're an online-first newsroom." Our publisher said, "We're an online-first newsroom." Our executive editor, managing editor, assistant managing editors, audience editors, assignment editors, etc., etc., all parroted the same line.

But in reality? We were nothing of the sort. Reporters came back from their assignments and they *might* file a quick-and-dirty "brief" for the website (a static, text-only brief with zero innovation in either form or function), but then they settled in for the real important work, which was, of course, the print version of the story.

At the end of the day, it really seemed to come down to this: If you ignored the print product, there would be a big empty white space on the page the next morning; if you ignored the website, nobody would know what they were missing.

We never figured out how to fix that, but I maintain it's only because we didn't really try.

Innovate? Innovate?! (Read that in your best Jim Mora voice.) You've gotta walk before you can run. Our corporate culture -- like most print newsrooms, I'm guessing -- was a decades-old tangle of routines and sub-routines that not only failed to incentivize "walking," it borderline punished it.

Godspeed, Doreen. As much as I hate to admit it, I still love the whole big stupid tired grey mess. It needs people like you if it's ever going to thrive again.

Re: http://hurtling.tumblr.com/post/7802157100

rommiej — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 19:14:05 -0000

Hahaha. Swear to god I came *this* close to using that instead.

Re: Kinect is the worst word ever, also.

rommiej — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 15:53:00 -0000

Also, I don't see the shovelware being as big of an issue for Kinect as it has been for the Wii. The main reason there have been so many poorly-conceived, half-baked, barely playable titles rushed to market for the Wii is because of its massive install base among "casual gamers" (i.e., people who are too stupid to know better). I don't think Kinect will land in nearly that many living rooms, and as an Xbox peripheral will -- on average -- probably belong to a slightly more sophisticated class of gamer. Yeah, the early titles for Kinect definitely appeal to that casual/family demographic, but hopefully they'll move away from that over the lifespan of the technology.

Also, on your other post about the technology (camera hardware in particular) being downgraded, that's absolutely the case and the effect is quite noticeable. I played with Kinect (then called Project Natal) at E3 in 2009 and my experience then was infinitely smoother and more impressive then that what I've seen so far in my living room. Back then, I thought the technology was genuinely mind-blowing and revolutionary. What I have in my home now? It's a novelty item, but it's a novelty item with a lot of potential to become more than that.

Hopefully they capitalize on that when it becomes feasible. Economics have probably killed Kinect more than anything.

Re: http://whatimplaying.tumblr.com/post/1003629947

rommiej — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:46:48 -0000

Annie and I are on Raptr, but it's so-so (and almost nobody's on there). I don't play online much, either, but I love making fun of my friends when I find them playing Uno at 4 a.m.

Re: http://whatimplaying.tumblr.com/post/1003629947

rommiej — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:05:35 -0000

I'm spokesthing on Xbox Live. Just added you. Had no idea you kept a gaming Tumblr!

Re: http://ohheygreat.tumblr.com/post/1297025709

rommiej — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 16:40:22 -0000

Holy shit. Just ... wow.

Re: Truthful Tuesday

rommiej — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 00:17:18 -0000

Thanks, Janet.

Re: http://hurtling.tumblr.com/post/812142090

rommiej — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:35:27 -0000

Hahaha. Well, hello there, K. You found my hiding place. Shhh!

Re: Batman: the Least Believable Superhero

rommiej — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 17:31:02 -0000

Awesome post.

I hate to be that annoying Self-Promotional Guy, but it kind of reminds me of something I wrote a really long time ago:

http://hurtling.tumblr.com/...

Yours is better, though. Great stuff.

Re: http://hurtling.tumblr.com/post/692197277

rommiej — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 21:02:58 -0000

Hey, thanks. I'll try to make that my first and last post about cat-sitting. She's giving me the evil eye as I type this, but it may just be that I'm eating a slice of pizza with cheese on it.

Re: http://hellnope.tumblr.com/post/673641689

rommiej — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 15:43:55 -0000

This is an exceptional book.

Re: R.I.P., my friend

rommiej — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 03:15:48 -0000

Thanks, Janet. <3

Re: http://inthefade.tumblr.com/post/421873885

rommiej — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:09:08 -0000

Robin Zander lives (for at least part of the year) across the bay in St. Petersburg now, and I run into him at least a few times a year at concerts, bars and restaurants. He is an extremely cool guy.

To this day, any time a friend dismisses Cheap Trick as a one-hit wonder or '70s novelty, I put on "Southern Girls" and change their minds. Works every time.

I once had a party where half the crowd consisted of indie/hipster music-scene friends and the other half were mainstream/professional work friends and my worst fears were confirmed when they split up into two separate groups in two different rooms. But then I put on "Live at Budokan," and I swear to god it was like flipping a switch. All of the sudden, everyone's spirits lifted, people started to mingle with strangers and the whole night took off.

Cheap Trick brings people together.

Re: http://davislove.tumblr.com/post/420569749

rommiej — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:28:23 -0000

RE: "B Cups & Kisses" ... I totally LOL'd.

Well played, Davina. :)

Re: http://hurtling.tumblr.com/post/420462554

rommiej — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:44:18 -0000

Thank you! I'm actually doing OK, but I definitely have my moments of face-yank-worthy craving. I appreciate the encouragement. Congrats on going 7 months!

Re: http://notactuallyme.tumblr.com/post/409598144

rommiej — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:57:34 -0000

"Look, mommy! The dog is sharp!"

It's amazing how many times we can recycle that joke.

Re: http://hurtling.tumblr.com/post/409948923

rommiej — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:30:27 -0000

This is all because I follow that team from North London, isn't it?

S'okay. Because "handegg"? I like that. A lot.

Re: http://blog.sasquatchmedia.com/post/408261925

rommiej — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 23:24:46 -0000

Good thoughts. Thanks for sharing.

It's easy to read this news from the perspective of a dyed-in-the-wool old-school journalist and hear the sound of a death knell for the Fourth Estate. But it's also possible to see it as a step -- an infinitesimal, barely adequate, and probably half-assed step, but a step nonetheless -- in the right direction.

This -- exactly this -- is why your research is so important. Because if the extent of our efforts to "give the public a greater role in journalism" is merely allowing them to vote with their mouse-clicks, we will surely get what we deserve.

For over a hundred years, journalism has been a one-way monologue from on high, and that's no longer viable -- nor does it have to be. But analytics, while employing modern technology, is little more than a mirror image of that archaic model: ultimately, it's a monologue in the opposite direction.

Like you pointed out, analytics may be used to inform rather than determine coverage, but even that -- in and of itself -- is not enough. I'm a proponent of a "transparent newsroom" concept, which not only uses information gathered from the public (be it through analytics or actual, real-life conversation with living, breathing humans) to inform news judgment, but then goes a step further by making that information openly available to the public and explaining -- in many cases even in real-time -- how it was used to shape the news agenda.

You know, sort of like having a conversation.

So, I don't know. It's a step, but there's such a long way to go. We may get there, we may not. I will hate it if we don't, but I would hate it more if we didn't try.

Re: http://nicky36.tumblr.com/post/405121704

rommiej — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 19:32:58 -0000

Holy CRAP, I love this picture.

Re: "going out for fried pickles"

rommiej — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:06:03 -0000

Fried pickles are one of my favorite things. Next time you're near Williamsburg for whatever reason, you should try the ones at Dumont Burger, which I think might have been the best I ever had. There are only a couple of places in the Tampa area that serve fried pickles at all and they're both just so-so. How do you even do that?! The only thing that's shameful about fried pickles is when some lousy kitchen figures out a way to make them mediocre.

Re: http://jas508.tumblr.com/post/395312370

rommiej — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:30:27 -0000

This is awesome.

I have a hard time imagining Mark as being anything but humble. He constantly made me look like a fool on the soccer field, but he was always incredibly cool about it even though he could totally have afforded to be a dick.

Good lord that was a long time ago.

Re: this is the worst song in the world

rommiej — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 02:20:04 -0000

I have a disturbingly similar story about this song, a pool hall, a co-worker and the single most embarrassing thing I've ever seen. I never want to hear it again.

Re: @KyleKoehler is about to meet @spam.

rommiej — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:53:57 -0000

Great idea, and I may follow suit. I don't think you can add people to lists after they've made their tweets private, but if so, @devzor plagiarized me and @sween a couple of weeks ago. I sent him a polite note and he never responded, then locked his page down.

Re: http://smartasshat.tumblr.com/post/393066929

rommiej — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:23:31 -0000

Great idea. I don't know if other such lists exist, but I may make one, too. I don't know if you can add users to lists after they've made their tweets private, but if you can, @devzor plagiarized both me and @sween a couple of weeks ago. After I sent him an @-reply about it, he locked his page down with no response.