Friday, October 31, 2008

Market Perspective

Market Perspective
View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: big perception)
I've discovered the joy of slideshare this morning. I've been watching them for a while now, but finally decided to do one on my own.

I threw this together in a matter of minutes because the mood took me. I'll eventually make it more "official" and include it as part of my "Big" offerings. Or maybe I'll change the name of those all to "Perspective", since that's what they are all about.

For now, here it is. Subject to change as I dink around. But it's nice to see how fast you can do something when an idea strikes.

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Obligatory Halloween post

Five O'Clock Shadow 88Image by evo_terra via FlickrHalloween is my favorite holiday. Well, truth be told, it's really the only holiday I still celebrate. Don't get me wrong -- I have nothing against celebration. I just sorta forget about the rest of them.

But there won't be much to this year's Halloween. My entire family has been packed with things to do recently, and none of us bothered to think too much about the holiday this year. Or last year... or the year before that.

Hrm. Guess I don't really celebrate this one, either. I need new holidays.

See you at PodcampAZ tomorrow, RIGHT?

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Thursday, October 30, 2008

Reading The Indie Band Survival Guide


If you are serious about new media, I highly recommend this book, The Indie Band Survival Guide.

No, you don't have to be a musician in an independent band. Yes, it was written with them in mind, but there are a huge numbers of takeaways.

Props to the boys at Beatnik Turtle for craning out an enlightening and enjoyable book that cuts through the bullshit and tells you -- specifically -- what it takes to navigate the waters of independent media production.

The section on copyright is fascinating. This book gives it all the weight the topic deserves, but explains it simple enough to allow anyone to grok the concepts. Kudos to them for carrying the conversation over to Creative Commons licensing as well.

Podcasters: you need this book.

Video producers: you need this book.

Vloggers and Bloggers: you need this book, too.

Get it.



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Monday, October 27, 2008

Things aren't so fun right now

Insomnia album coverImage via WikipediaIt's 12:32am, and I have to be up in less than five hours. Insomnia. Sucks.

Part of it is the coffee I had this afternoon. I shoulda known better.

But a larger part of it is fear and uncertainty. I don't know if you've noticed, but it sucks out there right now. No, not a lot of fun to be had.

So... I'm nervous. I own no parachute. I've not planned for the worst. And so far -- luckily -- I'm OK. I have paying clients for some long-term (months, not years) projects. I've accumulated plenty of debt, but it's a manageable issue. As long as the paychecks keep coming. I think Sheila's job is stable, though I have no idea if NJ will be able to get financial aid next year when he starts school.

Yeah yeah... things are tough all over. I'm nothing special. In fact, I'm better off than many I know personally.

So I'm not whining. I'm just up, have plowed through all of my RSS feeds, even knocking out some of the articles I'd saved for later. And I'm not getting any more tired. Which... sucks. Because I have to get up at in less than five hours and do it all over again.

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Saturday, October 25, 2008

Exploring new spaces

New, Improved *Semantic* Web!Image by dullhunk via FlickrI've signed up for two new social media sites today:

I don't know enough about either to give any opinion yet. But I do know these things work best when many of us connect. If you're a reader of my blog and a user of either of these systems, please add me as a contact.

Also, I'm using something new called Zemanta when I make blog posts. I'm keenly interested in the semantic web and I hope this tool can increase the value of the posts I make here -- and other places.



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Friday, October 24, 2008

WHAZZUP commercial for 2008

Remember those asinine "WHAZZUP" commercials for some rotten beer some eight years ago?

No?

Remember that funny parody someone did by mixing the audio of that dumb-ass commercial with visuals cut together from the Superfriends?

Yeah, I thought you would. Geek.

Here's a modern version done to cover all the shitty things that have happened/are happening in 2008. There's a serious political slant at the end, but it's funny regardless of who you are voting for.



You are voting, right?

Friday, October 17, 2008

Socializing Senior Photos


My son NJ recently did a photo shoot with the incomparable Tyson Crosbie. NJ is a senior in high school this year (yikes). Because he's my offspring, he doesn't like to do things the normal way. So sitting with Olan Mills didn't set too high on his priority list.

Enter Tyson, creator of the soft edit experience. His soft edits were already a big hit with the social media scene in Phoenix. Would it work as well for high school students? Maybe. Probably.

There were challenges. Tyson has a process he takes his clients through as he tries to match how they see themselves with how the world will see them through his lens. As you might imagine, the younger set finds it hard to pick three words that describe themselves. Though I think mine did an admirable job.

What do you think? Tyson's soft edits are all about getting the at-large world to come and comment on the photos, as everyone has their own unique perspective on each shot. Join in on the fun!

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Maybe you shouldn't vote.

I am quite possibly the worlds most apathetic voter.

But did you see the key word in that phrase? Voter.



But hey, maybe you shouldn't vote.

Passing on from Matt Selznick.