February 25, 2007
Watching Podcamp Toronto
Just for the heck of it, I tried to open all four live video streams from Podcamp Toronto. And it worked! Now I have to pick one. Actually the bottom two are diff angles from the same room.
February 19, 2007
Chris Brogan on making money with new media
Chris Brogan has written a valuable essay on the economic issues surrounding trying to "monetize" your blog/podcast/etc.
He makes some good points. It's a good read.
To his ideas I would add, that another way to think about what Chris calls "scarcity" vs "abundance", is to consider what the actual product and customer are in those two cases.
In the first case, the product is the actual content -- the blog, podcast, etc. -- and your customers are the audience. But in the second case, the product is the audience, and your customer is the advertisers.
You are putting yourself in very different businesses in these two cases. And I think one should be clear in their own mind which they have chosen, because it will have a big impact on your tactics, success, and satisfaction.
February 18, 2007
Yes, I am a Geek
Over on Twitter a few of us have been comparing notes on what defines a Geek.
(OK, I guess that talking on Twitter on Sunday morning just about says it all...)
But here's another example:
I was craving a bagel, so I packed up my MacBook and headed off to the local Brueggers, where they have both bagels, and free WiFi.
SCORE!
February 17, 2007
Good info on "megapixels" in digital camera
David Pogue, and his readers, have accumulated some good info in a series of posts recently.
My column in The Times last week, about the general irrelevance of megapixels in consumer cameras, stirred up an enormous volume of feedback.
Most of the 700 e-mail responses, including many from experts and engineers, agreed that megapixel count has been promoted (by camera stores and camera companies) as a misleading marketing gimmick for years. My argument—and my test—maintains that 5 or 6 megapixels is plenty for enlargements up to, say, 16-by-24 inch posters.
February 14, 2007
Woz's New Toy
Sometimes I worry that one day Woz will run into people (or a group) who don't get his oddball sense of humor, and he's gonna end up in jail.
InfoWorld heard that Woz was to be the recipient of a prototype RFID spoofer...it can be used to read the security codes transmitted by RFID "swipe" cards manufactured by HID, one of the largest makers of smart cards.
BarCampBoston2 Session
I just proposed a conference session for the upcoming BarCampBoston.
"Inventing the un-unconference: What's next?"
March 17-18 in Cambridge.
More about Twitter
I wrote a little piece about twitter over on the MacCast website.
February 10, 2007
It's the Experience, Stupid.
Restauranteur and Author Danny Meyer Reveals His Recipe for Restaurant Success.
Meyer said his business strategy is built on both good service, defined as the technical delivery of a product, and “enlightened hospitality,” which is how the delivery of that product makes its recipient feel. He argued that hospitality is the distinguishing factor for success in this new, service economy. In the information age, competitors know how to offer the same products and services, but the culture and experience companies create for their customers will help them stand out. “It’s all about how you make the customer feel. You must make customers feel that you’re on their side,” he said.
I've always thought, if I ran a restaurant, people wouldn't return for the food, they would return for the "experience".
February 09, 2007
Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us
[via The Long Tail]
Flash Embedding Cage Match
More info than you thought you needed about the hows and whys of putting Flash on your webpage.
“How can you best embed Flash content?”
It should be a simple question, but is likely to evoke a lot of different opinions and arguments, as each of the many available embedding techniques have their own pros and cons. In this article, I will look into the complexities and subtleties of embedding Flash content and examine the most popular embedding methods to see how good they really are.
ImageWell is awesome
For the past couple weeks I've been using ImageWell to post pics for use on my blogs. It's amazing how it has simplified the process of grabbing, editing, uploading, and including pics in my blog posts.
Highly recommended.
Trying out Twitter
Merlin Mann tipped me over the edge into trying this thing. I'm running Twitterific and trying to post snippets throughout the day.
My twitter name is jackhodgson. Add me to your watch list. And send me your name, I'll watch you. comments@techpopuli.net
February 07, 2007
NYC to make inattention a crime
New Yorkers who blithely cross the street listening to an iPod or talking on a cell phone could soon face a $100 fine.
New York State Sen. Carl Kruger says three pedestrians in his Brooklyn district have been killed since September upon stepping into traffic while distracted by an electronic device. In one case bystanders screamed "watch out" to no avail.
Kruger says he will introduce legislation on Wednesday to ban the use of gadgets such as Blackberry devices and video games while crossing the street.
My mother taught me to always look both ways before I crossed.
February 06, 2007
Higher megapixel camera make for lower quality pics
More is less.
The basic concern is that smaller pixels on camera sensors means less sensitivity to light, leading to image noise such as off-color speckles or rough edges, worse performance in dim conditions, and the loss of finer tonal gradations such as the subtle shadows of a white wedding dress. Point-and-shoot cameras, with their small sensors, are the chief culprits.