Monthly Archives: January 2007

“Blogging everywhere you’re not supposed to go in the Ozarks”

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That’s the intrigueing tag line of the Underground Ozarks Blog.

“… a site all about urban exploration in the Ozarks area. You’ll find information and pictures of abandoned places, sewers and drains, ghost towns, and more. If it’s in the Ozarks area, or just close enough to drive to, and you’re not supposed to go there… We’ll get it on the site eventually.”

The blog is written under the nom de guerre, White Rabbit who, along with pals Hiccup, Memory_machine and others, explore (and photograph) some very cool placess. Falstaff Brewery, Nike (Missle) Battery, Erie Sinkhole, “Albino Farm,” Acid Tunnel… just name a few.

If browsing the UOB makes you want to jump into your waders and explore, be sure to read White Rabbit’s disclaimer first:

Underground Ozarks Blog“Just because I do something stupid, doesn’t mean you need to do it, too. Some of the places listed on this site can be extremely hazardous. Adding to that, many of them are also on private property, which means you could be ticketed or arrested if you go there without permission.

In other words, I’m not responsible for you. I would never tell anyone not to go out and explore, but I sure as hell didn’t tell you to do it either. So if you get maimed, killed, or thrown in jail, don’t come crying to me with a subpoena, because it’s not my fault. I don’t have any freaking money anyway.”

Not a bad Philosophy of Life, if you think about it. [Thanks David]

The Office (Season One)

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The OfficeIt took me a while to become a fan of the U.S. version of The Office but I’m there. It rivals the original UK verson. But I’ve got some catching up to do and started this weekend by watching the entire first season on DVD. Including deleted scenes. The second season DVD is calling to me but I fear if I put it on I’ll watch the entire season in one setting. Comedy this good should be savored.

Nearly half our lives spent with TV, radio Internet and newspapers

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Adults and teens will spend nearly five months (3,518 hours) next year watching television, surfing the Internet, reading daily newspapers and listening to personal music devices. That’s only one of thousands of nuggets of information on Americana and the world in the U.S. Census Bureau’s Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2007.

According to projections from a communications industry forecast, people will spend 65 days in front of the TV, 41 days listening to radio and a little over a week on the Internet in 2007. Adults will spend about a week reading a daily newspaper and teens and adults will spend another week listening to recorded music. Consumer spending for media is forecasted to be $936.75 per person. (U.S. Census Bureau News)

The Good Shepherd

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I think a lot of movie goers will hate The Good Shepherd, a story about the early history of the Central Intelligence Agency, starring Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Alec Baldwin, William Hurt and directed by Robert De Niro (I didn’t recognize Keir Dullea and Timothy Hutton).

I was lost and confused for much of this story. I found the plot very complicated and difficult to follow. But I really liked the movie. I came away with the sense that this is what this world is really like: you don’t know what’s really going on, whom to trust. This ain’t your standard Hollywood spy story. Skip it unless you willing work pretty hard for almost three hours.

I’m still searching for an explanation that will untangle the plot for me.

You Don’t Need to Pick Up Dog Feces Any More!

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“The Doggie-Poop-Catcher is a palm sized portable poop-catcher with a collapsible frame structure which opens up any plastic grocery bag in a second ( patented ). Then, it catches dog feces before the feces falls onto the ground. How do we do it? We take advantage of the dog’s behavior or their body languages prior to defecation, which is recommended as an exemplary method to clean up after the dog.”

Sorry, no can do. Harvesting the load after the fact is one thing… catching a steaming pile before it hits the ground (even in a plastic bag) is too much for smays.

If bitten by a dog, stand perfectly still

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I emailed a story about how to avoid getting bitten by a dog to my blogging vet pal, Dr. T. Everett Mobley, thinking it might be fodder for his blog (it wasn’t). Here is a portion of his reply:

“I have had a few very severe wounds, as well as many minor ones. Fortunately, most dogs in my situation simply want me to go away, so they bite and let go (pretty soon, anyway). The part about not jerking back is absolutely true. However, one’s first experience probably won’t allow you to avoid that reflex. Unfortunately, I am now able to stand still (while yelling at the top of my lungs) until the dog lets go. The crushing is much more painful and damaging than the punctures. Adding a tearing component is certainly undesirable. Afterwards, I sometimes have to lie down before I fall down.”

Restroom Automation

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Restroom faucets, soap dispensers and towel dispensers are now equipped with motion detectors. Scott Adams is anxiously awaiting the next innovation in restroom automation.

“I assume developers are already working on the last mile: A robotic arm to unzip my pants, grab my unit, then do the holding, shaking, and repackaging. I’m too busy to do that stuff for myself.

The Autopee device (it needs a name) would be problematic because every guy is built different. Somehow it would need to know the dimensions of what’s behind your zipper so it didn’t accidentally neuter you. …You’d also have to tell the Autopee how much shaking you want, ranging anywhere from two quick flicks to a happy ending.”

If you are not reading the Dilbert Blog, you are missing some of the smartest, funniest writing anywhere.

Internet access in your car

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It’s early days but it is here. And Mark Ramsey looks (not so very far) ahead at what it means for radio stations:

“In the world of mobile radio, our distribution is currently both universal and exclusive. But when “the box” belongs to a third party, we are assured of neither easy distribution nor universal access. The “box owners” will do what Apple does with iTunes: Yes, anyone can post a podcast. But a very few are “featured” while most are not. The “filters” control the value. And in this scenario you and I are no longer the filters.”

I think it’s just very hard for most radio folks to believe that their listeners would listen to another station if they could. If a market has three radio stations, one might be pop…another country…and one doing news/talk. The listening pie is nicely divided, everybody gets a pretty good slice.

When all cars have high-speed net access (and they will), your station won’t be one of a hand full of listening options, it will be one of hundreds.

Newsroom New Year’s resolutions for 2007

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A few nuggets from Lost Remote Managing Editor Steve Safran’s Newsroom New Year’s resolutions for 2007:

Start thinking of the web as more than our newscast online
Your website is a new channel, not just a new way of repurposing your news. If you were magically given a new TV channel, you wouldn’t populate it with your newscast over and over, would you? So why are you doing that online? … Think of the website as a new channel instead of a news site.

Integrate blogging into our newsroom
I know, change is painful. It’s additional work, yes. Not a ton, but some. Get over it. Workflows change.

Prepare my site for the 2008 elections
Now’s your chance. There will be a lot of money going into online advertising for the election. And you can get it. But only if you can make a compelling case that your site deserves it.

Never allow the words “added value” in my shop again
As long as you are training your advertisers that the web is added value, you are telling them it is NO value.

Existing newsies need to know the painful truth: we have to work on more platforms as part of our jobs now. If we don’t want to, that’s fine. Younger people who will work for less will be graduating this June. And next June. And the following June…

I started flogging this mule almost ten years ago. And I couldn’t fill a teacup with the progress I’ve made. But then, June is just around the corner.

Why social media is important to marketers

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I don’t know how old this info is (or how accurate) because I can’t find the original post, which is somewhere on the Church of the Customer Blog. Bart Cleveland includes these factoids in a recent post at Small Agency Diary (AdAge.com) to underscore why social media is important to marketers:

  • By March 2006, 84 million Americans had broadband at home, a 40% jump from 2005 figures
  • By March 2006, Pew estimated 48 million Americans were regular online content creators
  • By the end of 2005, 139 million people in the world had a DSL (broadband) connection
  • In 2005, $6.7 billion worth of digital cameras were sold in the U.S.
  • About 41% of all cell phone owners use them as content tools
  • By the end of 2005, just over 1 billion people were online — that’s 1/6th of the world
  • Asia represents the world’s most populous online segment
  • By July 2006, 50 million blogs had been created and their number was doubling every 6 months
  • About 7,200 new blogs are created every hour
  • By 2006, 10 million people were listening to podcasts in 2006; by 2010, it’s expected to be 50 million people
  • About 100 million videos are viewed every day on YouTube; about 65,000 videos uploaded every day
  • In 2006, MySpace had over 100 million registered members, most of them from the U.S.