January 2007 – Page 3 – Journalistopia

Downsizing drama at Backfence

Poynter’s Amy Gahran has a good roundup on the bloodletting (that is, the CEO leaving and the big staff cutbacks taking place) at the hyperlocal site Backfence.

Gahran wonders whether an operation such as Placeblogger has a better shot at becoming a nationwide hyperlocal operation. Is that an oxymoron? I’m of the mind that the institution best positioned to encourage community participation is the local newspaper. And really, it’s a critical way to maintain the newspaper’s standing as a vital part of the area’s identity and the reflection of the community it serves.

Nevertheless, it’s likely that an aggregator will emerge to successfully bring together hyperlocal media outlets, much in the way that Google News brings together many local sources of news into one window.

Holy clichÃ© finder! Reporters quiver in their boots

If you’re a line editor, you’ll be happy as a pig in mud when you bookmark the wonderful ClichÃ© Finder and use it with an iron fist. The ClichÃ© Finder does its best to leave no stone unturned when it goes on the prowl for hackneyed phrases through the Associated Press Guide to News Writing. It’s guaranteed to strike fear in the hearts of all reporters and journalism students.

And if you really want to go the distance, here’s another clichÃ© finder, a clichÃ© of the day and clichÃ© collection, movie clichÃ© collection and sports clichÃ© collection.

Big day for the Gators tomorrow

Ah, it feels like Christmas Eve. Tomorrow is the big national football championship game, where the righteous, mighty Florida Gators will take on the abominable minions of Ohio State.

I’m here at the Swamp –Gainesville, that is– to break out the old jersey, yell myself hoarse and hope for a repeat performance of the nightlong street festivities that took place last year following the basketball championship win.

This is like a national holiday here in Gainesville. So …er.. no blogging for a while folks! Be back Tuesday or Wednesday.

[Update 01-08-07: And check out the Alligator‘s coverage of the championship! Nice work guys.]

[Lovely Albert photo by gtmcknight]

Design inspiration: Chihuly glass art

Chihuly glass art
Originally uploaded by DannySan.

I visited Fairchild Botanical Tropical Garden in Miami, Florida over the holiday to see the glass installations by world-renown artist Dale Chihuly. The sculptures, as well as the plant life, were absolutely inspirational.

For creating drama in your landscape that holds up to seasons of use, nothing beats glass garden art. Whether it is lit up at night via solar charged batteries, or simply sparkles on its own, you will find yourself smiling every time these sculptures catch your eye.

Maybe you’ve never considered putting your glass art outside in the garden. It’s a fun way to add extra color, beauty and even whimsey to a flower bed or planter. Many of the pieces we put outside are seconds since they already have imperfections. Seconds also sell at discounted prices, so this can encourage you to display them in less precious ways. You might also consider using some older glass art you’ve lost interest in. Incorporating it with nature can give it fresh life and you a new appreciation for older pieces. If you want to start a new gardening landscaping project, get help from this retaining wall installer near you.

We love to group things together among growths of ivy or clovers. The glass peeking out adds a hint of manmade beauty. You can see at the left how a few glass birds and a beautiful paperweight contribute something fresh and unexpected. You can be strategic with your placement or just put things where you think your garden needs a little something extra. They’ll look beautiful no matter what!

Check out the photo gallery.

Martin Luther strikes back at Joel Stein

Oh, the irony. Joel Stein, in his rant against hordes of opinionated Web users, cited Martin Luther and his theses in arguing that a piece should stand alone without commentary.

And along comes economics/politics blogger Brad DeLong to give Stein a hearty kick in the arse:

Joel Stein:

“Not everything should be interactive. A piece of work that stands on its own, without explanation or defense, takes on its own power. If Martin Luther put his 95 Theses on the wall and then all the townsfolk sent him their comments, and he had to write back to all of them and clarify what he meant, some of the theses would have gotten all watered down and there never would have been a Diet of Worms…”

Martin Luther:

“Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following propositions will be discussed at Wittenberg, under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and of Sacred Theology, and Lecturer in Ordinary on the same at that place. Wherefore he requests that those who are unable to be present and debate orally with us, may do so by letter.”

‘Nuff said.

Many thanks to the very snarky Robin Sloan.

Comics about the Iraq war

Slate has an interesting roundup about comic book creators who are addressing the war in Iraq. These comics are indicative of an increasing willingness among creators to tackle current events. Hopefully, modern-day wartime comic creators will address the subject better than some other stupid attempts in the past.

Why look into comics? I’ve said it before: sequential art elements can invigorate your storytelling as you try out new formats for using narratives online through graphics and photos.

Making CSS redesigns practical

Web designer Mani Sheriar has written a brilliantly easy-to-understand piece on ThinkVitamin.com about making your Web pages flexible in their design. If you’re looking to understand the good practices of making your site stand up to the test of a stylesheet redesign, this is the article to start with.

Just yesterday, I was thinking about how impractical it usually is to redesign a site without touching the HTML. The trick, Sheriar writes, is to code your HTML first without thinking of the design and simply provide enough places (with plenty of tags and class attributes) to “hook” your styles, much in the way the CSS Zen Garden was originally built. Sheriar has given me some of my hope back. Print this out. Tack it to your cubicle.

(And in case you missed it, here’s another great Vitamin article to tack up on the convoluted cubicle wall. This one is about online community building.)

Jimmy Wales on ‘crowdsourcing’

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales summed up the spirit of working together online in an e-mail to folks working on the new Wikia search project. In part of his message, he wrote:

“One of the things that I believe in passionately is genuine human communities, as opposed to ‘crowdsourcing.’Â What do I mean by that? I mean, people who get to know each other, over time, as real human beings, and through that process, gain a sense of trust and responsibility for each other and for the task at hand.Â Â So for me, if we are to succeed here, this is the first place we need to focus attention…”

Wales summed up the key to creating a successful local community online. Sure, having a bunch of people hollering on a message board is a kind of community. Every message board has its regulars. But message boards become more of a cacophony, as opposed to a group of citizens working together toward a harmonious cause.
The people participating in citizen journalism efforts locally should be made to feel like a team dedicated to a clear goal, not just a bunch of faceless contributors creating page views.

Digital photography tutorials galore

I ran across this great list of digital photo how-tos as I was poking around the Lifehacker archives. Being that I’m a bit of a Photoshop gimmicks enthusiast, I’ll create a tutorial one of these days of my favorite Photoshop speed tricks.Â Also, I am looking forward to maybe turn my most favorite shots into one epic photo book. Thanks to PrintedMemories for making it possible But in the meantime, enjoy this Lifehacker list:

Remove red eye in Photoshop
Get started on Flickr
Convert a photo to black and white in Photoshop (FYI, another cool way to do this is to open up your channels, test them out, and delete the ones you don’t like. Then convert to grayscale.)
Sharpen your images
Take better digital photos at night
Fix an underexposed photo in Photoshop
Batch resize photos
Create a photo background for photos of small objects
Create panoramic photos
Turn a photo into a cartoon
Create a stop-motion film with your pictures
Process a digital photo
Print your photos on the cheap
Use a digital SLR camera
Compose a photograph

[Photo by Bien Stephenson]

Joel Stein doesn’t care what you think

Writing for the L.A. Times, Joel Stein has unleashed a haymaker to those who worship blogs, social networking and message boards in his latest column, ‘Don’t E-mail Me.’

He writes:

“I get that you have opinions you want to share. That’s great. You’re the Person of the Year. I just don’t have any interest in them. First of all, I did a tiny bit of research for my column, so I’m already familiar with your brilliant argument. Second, I’ve already written my column, so I can’t even steal your ideas and get paid for them.”

Instead of e-mailing him, he tells people to rant on opinion.latimes.com and suggests that:

“…maybe on this site, one brave person will write about how I’m right to stand up against this world of false, easy community, where columnists pretend they think their essays are no more valuable than yours, and friendship is a stranger who thanks you for the MySpace add.”

I can practically hear the sounds of thousands of blog-hating editors tacking Stein’s column to their cubicle walls.

Box model got you down? Try the CSS cheat sheat!

Boy, do I wish I had this nifty CSS cheat sheet when I was burning the midnight oil trying to figure out what the heck an inline element is. Yet another wonderful nugget brought to you by Lifehacker. (And thanks to Matt for pointing it out to me.)

Anyone know of a CSSÂ hacks cheat sheet? *evil grin*

Software for starving students

Being not far from my Ramen noodle-eating, credit card-maxing days, this neat software package really captured my heart. Software for Starving Students is a package of free applications designed to help you get through school without plunking down change for expensive Microsoft products.