Hi folks -- here's are a few more blogplugs, which are entries that people want to get in front of other people by labeling them with the tag blogplugs:
* Paul blogplugs another edition of CarnivAOL (where you show off an entry of yours that you want to show off); you've got until Sunday to get your submissions in, and they'll be featured on Tuesday over at Carpe Diem.
* Guido had an entry about a politician sacked by blog, but he unplugged it.
* Val over at There Is a Season blogplugs an entry from Krissy that will make you cry.
* Lastly, over Our Beloved Angels, check out a poem on pet loss and more.
If you've got entries of your own or other peoples' that you want to blogplug, just send it to me or use the tag blogplugs.
Thanks -- Joe
Friday, March 30, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Getting Out Just in Time?
Hi folks -- I'm back in the office; looks like I got out of Colorado just in time. ("Heavy snow falls overnight.")
It was apparently part of the same storm that spawned tornadoes across the Plains, killing 3 -- my flight had to divert around it.
I have a lot of great stuff I need to write up about the ICWSM conference I've been mentioning, but unfortunately, it will have to wait a bit -- we have to pack for our office move by 5pm today, which means I have less than 4 hours left to box up 11 years worth of accumulated stuff.
I think I'm going to need some more boxes.
Anyway, today I'm just going to be banging out a few immediate things I need to take care of -- the rest will have to wait until later. Today is just packing day -- tomorrow is the actual move day, so we'll all be working off-site -- that is, at home, squatting in empty cubicles, or in any other Internet-connected workspace.
Thanks -- Joe
It was apparently part of the same storm that spawned tornadoes across the Plains, killing 3 -- my flight had to divert around it.
I have a lot of great stuff I need to write up about the ICWSM conference I've been mentioning, but unfortunately, it will have to wait a bit -- we have to pack for our office move by 5pm today, which means I have less than 4 hours left to box up 11 years worth of accumulated stuff.
I think I'm going to need some more boxes.
Anyway, today I'm just going to be banging out a few immediate things I need to take care of -- the rest will have to wait until later. Today is just packing day -- tomorrow is the actual move day, so we'll all be working off-site -- that is, at home, squatting in empty cubicles, or in any other Internet-connected workspace.
Thanks -- Joe
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Blog High School: Death Threats Amongst the A-List
Hi folks -- John Panzer blogged this, and it's come up in conversation a couple of times here at the ICWSM conference, so I thought I'd mention it:
Kathy Sierra, who blogs over at Creating Passionate Users, canceled a conference appearance this week after receiving death threats on her blog and perceived death threats on other people's blogs [content warning], in anonymously posted entries and comments.
Since I'm supposed to be listening to presentations right now, I haven't been able to take an in-depth look at this, but, honestly, from my outside view, it looks like a battle of high school cliques (the freaks and geeks battling the cool kids), except it's taking place amongst the A-List bloggers, with some bits of disturbing imagery and threats of bodily harm.
Oh, and the police have been called.
(It could also be the revolution eating its own. I'm not sure.)
And, since it's among A-Listers (who love talking about themselves), it's the top item on Techmeme right now and has hit BBC News.
Sides are being taken, accusations are being hurled and rebutted, and a lot of folks are making self-righteous hay.
I'm not going to lay out a full chronology (since I don't know it), but there was a group blog, meankids (it's been taken down), followed by unclebobism (now suspended), which is associated with Chris Locke (who responded to the allegations), one of the principals of The Cluetrain Manifesto.
A certain groups were pitted against another group. Nasty things were said. Now this.
Father of blogs Dave Winer has weighed in, as has Doc Searls; ValleyWag has a contrarian opinion; here's BlogHer's Lisa Stone -- basically, anyone who's anyone in the blogging world is taking the opportunity to weigh in.
Now, the thing that gets me is that, as many of us know, this kind of crap happens all the time. In my role as Journals editor, I've heard many stories of people who went private or deleted their blogs because of aberrant behavior by people (both known and anonymous).
But all of a sudden, it hits the so-called A-List, and suddenly people are falling over themselves railing against anonymity, calling for boycotts and codes of conduct, and throwing "the solution for hate speech is more speech" out the window because it's one of their own.
All because of some poster, who may or may not be sociopathic and who may or may not be associated with other A-List bloggers.
Obviously, if there's a crime here, it should be investigated and prosecuted. But this is not new (have these people not ready any red/blue blog battles lately?), and just because it's occurring in a prominent and insular community doesn't mean it's more important and more deserving of attention than if it happens to the rest of us.
I don't have a stake in this battle (though I'm pretty solidly in the "anti-death threats" camp), but I think some folks need to take a deep breath here.
If you've had your own run-in with anti-social blog behavior (as either victim or aggressor), please feel free to leave a comment -- however, if you try to use my blog as a platform for personal attacks on someone, your comment will be deleted. I'm just saying.
Thanks -- Joe
Kathy Sierra, who blogs over at Creating Passionate Users, canceled a conference appearance this week after receiving death threats on her blog and perceived death threats on other people's blogs [content warning], in anonymously posted entries and comments.
Since I'm supposed to be listening to presentations right now, I haven't been able to take an in-depth look at this, but, honestly, from my outside view, it looks like a battle of high school cliques (the freaks and geeks battling the cool kids), except it's taking place amongst the A-List bloggers, with some bits of disturbing imagery and threats of bodily harm.
Oh, and the police have been called.
(It could also be the revolution eating its own. I'm not sure.)
And, since it's among A-Listers (who love talking about themselves), it's the top item on Techmeme right now and has hit BBC News.
Sides are being taken, accusations are being hurled and rebutted, and a lot of folks are making self-righteous hay.
I'm not going to lay out a full chronology (since I don't know it), but there was a group blog, meankids (it's been taken down), followed by unclebobism (now suspended), which is associated with Chris Locke (who responded to the allegations), one of the principals of The Cluetrain Manifesto.
A certain groups were pitted against another group. Nasty things were said. Now this.
Father of blogs Dave Winer has weighed in, as has Doc Searls; ValleyWag has a contrarian opinion; here's BlogHer's Lisa Stone -- basically, anyone who's anyone in the blogging world is taking the opportunity to weigh in.
Now, the thing that gets me is that, as many of us know, this kind of crap happens all the time. In my role as Journals editor, I've heard many stories of people who went private or deleted their blogs because of aberrant behavior by people (both known and anonymous).
But all of a sudden, it hits the so-called A-List, and suddenly people are falling over themselves railing against anonymity, calling for boycotts and codes of conduct, and throwing "the solution for hate speech is more speech" out the window because it's one of their own.
All because of some poster, who may or may not be sociopathic and who may or may not be associated with other A-List bloggers.
Obviously, if there's a crime here, it should be investigated and prosecuted. But this is not new (have these people not ready any red/blue blog battles lately?), and just because it's occurring in a prominent and insular community doesn't mean it's more important and more deserving of attention than if it happens to the rest of us.
I don't have a stake in this battle (though I'm pretty solidly in the "anti-death threats" camp), but I think some folks need to take a deep breath here.
If you've had your own run-in with anti-social blog behavior (as either victim or aggressor), please feel free to leave a comment -- however, if you try to use my blog as a platform for personal attacks on someone, your comment will be deleted. I'm just saying.
Thanks -- Joe
Monday, March 26, 2007
Some Differences Between Business and Academia
Okay, so I've decided that writing about each particular paper presentation is kind of futile, so I will just try to hit some highlights. But first I want to start out with some of the differences between an academic social media conference and a business-oriented conference. (Not that I've been to tons of the latter, but I know enough to make sweeping generalizations.)
For starters, an academic conference like this is primarily to present papers (all available online) and share research. People talk about the studies they've done, and the methodologies they used to perform those studies, then get to conclusions. There's a lot of talk about datasets and statistical methods. The paper pretty much is the product. (There have been a couple of exceptions to this today, but not many.)
For your typical business blogging conference, it's all about networking, people making pitches and selling stuff -- their companies and themselves (no, not like that).
For example, if someone is presenting research at a business blogging event, they're basically saying, "Look how good our research is. Wouldn't you like to purchase our services?" Definitely less of that here -- the emphasis is more on how the researchers solved the problems they faced, so that people can incorporate that learning into their own work.
At least, that's my perception.
One thing that I noticed immediately is that a lot of the presentations about the papers weren't very polished. In one sense, that means there's no glitz or gloss to distract you from what's being presented, which is a relief.
However, one thing many presentations were lacking was good visual information design, which is bad if you're a layman like me. I won't get nearly as much from staring at tables of data, as compared to a well-designed graph. (Check out the work of Edward Tufte for resources on good visual information design.)
Also, it was a little jarring at first, but it's about the learning, not about trying to pitch an idea for a startup to someone (at least, not yet). Which is probably a good thing, since some of these folks need to work on their elevator pitches.
However, while they may need work on their 30-second summaries, they do know their details about the research. I've seen more Sigmas (Σ) here than on a year on Fraternity Row.
Other than that, it's a very international event -- there are folks from all over Europe, Asia and Latin America. Which makes it interesting when people with thick Dutch accents ask questions to people with thick Japanese accents.
I'll try to get up some more interesting and informational elements up later on.
Thanks -- Joe
For starters, an academic conference like this is primarily to present papers (all available online) and share research. People talk about the studies they've done, and the methodologies they used to perform those studies, then get to conclusions. There's a lot of talk about datasets and statistical methods. The paper pretty much is the product. (There have been a couple of exceptions to this today, but not many.)
For your typical business blogging conference, it's all about networking, people making pitches and selling stuff -- their companies and themselves (no, not like that).
For example, if someone is presenting research at a business blogging event, they're basically saying, "Look how good our research is. Wouldn't you like to purchase our services?" Definitely less of that here -- the emphasis is more on how the researchers solved the problems they faced, so that people can incorporate that learning into their own work.
At least, that's my perception.
One thing that I noticed immediately is that a lot of the presentations about the papers weren't very polished. In one sense, that means there's no glitz or gloss to distract you from what's being presented, which is a relief.
However, one thing many presentations were lacking was good visual information design, which is bad if you're a layman like me. I won't get nearly as much from staring at tables of data, as compared to a well-designed graph. (Check out the work of Edward Tufte for resources on good visual information design.)
Also, it was a little jarring at first, but it's about the learning, not about trying to pitch an idea for a startup to someone (at least, not yet). Which is probably a good thing, since some of these folks need to work on their elevator pitches.
However, while they may need work on their 30-second summaries, they do know their details about the research. I've seen more Sigmas (Σ) here than on a year on Fraternity Row.
Other than that, it's a very international event -- there are folks from all over Europe, Asia and Latin America. Which makes it interesting when people with thick Dutch accents ask questions to people with thick Japanese accents.
I'll try to get up some more interesting and informational elements up later on.
Thanks -- Joe
Alerts Status Update
Hi folks -- John from the Alerts team says that the problem caused by this morning's Alerts production release should be resolved by now. I've started to get my own test comment Alerts again.
Please check to see if you're receiving your Alerts again; if you're still experiencing any problems with Alerts non-delivery, please leave me a comment below.
Thanks -- Joe
Please check to see if you're receiving your Alerts again; if you're still experiencing any problems with Alerts non-delivery, please leave me a comment below.
Thanks -- Joe
Alerts Status
Hi folks -- in response to some of your reports about Alerts non-deliveries this morning (I've been passing them along to the Alerts team, sorry if I haven't replied individually), here's what John on the Alerts team says:
There was an Alerts production release this morning. There's a problem in it that's causing an outage of Journals alerts for some people. They're working on a patch to fix it ASAP.
Thanks -- Joe
There was an Alerts production release this morning. There's a problem in it that's causing an outage of Journals alerts for some people. They're working on a patch to fix it ASAP.
Thanks -- Joe
International Conference on Weblogs and Social Media: Day 1
Hi folks -- I'm in a conference room in Boulder for the morning session of the International Conference on Weblogs and Social Media:
She gives a good talk, though I've heard most of her points before. In fact, she gave a talk at AOL's Mountain View offices last year that covers a lot of them -- you can hear it here [podcast link, audio streaming file] -- she focuses on how kids and teens use social networking (and the endless cycle of adults responding to that and the teens adjusting to that response).
There were a few good questions and some sound bites I will try to post later.
The first actual paper presented was: QA with Attitude: Exploiting Opinion Type Analysis for Improving Question Answering in On-line Discussions and the News, Swapna Somasundaran, Theresa Wilson, Janyce Wiebe and Veselin Stoyanov
It's about the textual analysis of people's comments/answers when posting in response to posted questions. Question types included Feelings/Sentiment (how do you feel/are you worried) or Arguing (Should...?)
That's about the last thing I understood.
As I'd noted, this is very much an academic conference; I understand the questions, it's just that the presentations are about methodologies behind the analysis. I don't speak that language (I can't even diagram a sentence).
I'm used to business pitches and people talking about how their products are the next biggest thing.
Anyway, that was just the first paper, and part of the point to coming to these things is to find out interesting research that could be turned into real-life applications. I'm already a few papers behind, but there's a few interesting things going on that I will try to summarize.
Thanks -- Joe
Conference organizers.
She gives a good talk, though I've heard most of her points before. In fact, she gave a talk at AOL's Mountain View offices last year that covers a lot of them -- you can hear it here [podcast link, audio streaming file] -- she focuses on how kids and teens use social networking (and the endless cycle of adults responding to that and the teens adjusting to that response).
There were a few good questions and some sound bites I will try to post later.
The first actual paper presented was: QA with Attitude: Exploiting Opinion Type Analysis for Improving Question Answering in On-line Discussions and the News, Swapna Somasundaran, Theresa Wilson, Janyce Wiebe and Veselin Stoyanov
It's about the textual analysis of people's comments/answers when posting in response to posted questions. Question types included Feelings/Sentiment (how do you feel/are you worried) or Arguing (Should...?)
That's about the last thing I understood.
As I'd noted, this is very much an academic conference; I understand the questions, it's just that the presentations are about methodologies behind the analysis. I don't speak that language (I can't even diagram a sentence).
I'm used to business pitches and people talking about how their products are the next biggest thing.
Anyway, that was just the first paper, and part of the point to coming to these things is to find out interesting research that could be turned into real-life applications. I'm already a few papers behind, but there's a few interesting things going on that I will try to summarize.
Thanks -- Joe
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Failure to Shutdown
Hey folks -- today, Saturday, March 24, is Shutdown Day, the day people were asked to step away from their computers for 24 hours.
Well, here I am, and if you're reading this today, you are too.
The folks at Engadget seemed to take offense with the concept, and swore to double their computer usage today, though I won't go that far.
[Update 3/26: Just for the sake of completeness, here's a New York Press article giving the background and some of the controversies around Shutdown Day.]
While I admit that a good chunk of my computer usage seems to exist solely for itself, diverting me from some stuff in the real world, an even bigger chunk -- blogging, social photo sharing, e-mail, etc. -- is to enhance relationships that I have in real life.
So that's why I didn't shut down today. Besides, I don't like people telling me what to do, especially in the service of social gestures of questionable meaning.
Got any thoughts on Shutdown Day? Leave a comment below (tomorrow, if you're observing it).
Thanks -- Joe
Well, here I am, and if you're reading this today, you are too.
The folks at Engadget seemed to take offense with the concept, and swore to double their computer usage today, though I won't go that far.
[Update 3/26: Just for the sake of completeness, here's a New York Press article giving the background and some of the controversies around Shutdown Day.]
While I admit that a good chunk of my computer usage seems to exist solely for itself, diverting me from some stuff in the real world, an even bigger chunk -- blogging, social photo sharing, e-mail, etc. -- is to enhance relationships that I have in real life.
So that's why I didn't shut down today. Besides, I don't like people telling me what to do, especially in the service of social gestures of questionable meaning.
Got any thoughts on Shutdown Day? Leave a comment below (tomorrow, if you're observing it).
Thanks -- Joe
Friday, March 23, 2007
We're on the Move
Sign last night for a group that (used to) sit next to us.
Most of it is due to previous organizational changes, so teams that work together can sit together. This is still super-important, even in the age of instant online communication.
Our own move fun won't happen until next week -- we'll be moving to building CC2 (from CC1, where we've been for a while).
In a different kind of move note, I'll be spending the first half of next week in Boulder, Colorado, for the International Conference on Weblogs and Social Media and Pie. (Okay, I made up the Pie part.)
It sounds like it's going to be a lot wonkier than some of the other conferences I've previously attended, since they're will be a bunch of people presenting papers about different aspects of blogs and social media (they have about 70 papers and posters posted online in PDF format.)
Oh, and social media analysis it-girl dana boyd is scheduled to take a keynote spot, which should be... interesting.
You can see the full program lineup.
My friends in Colorado say that March is the month that gets the heaviest snowfall, but the forecast for next week seems pretty safe.
Now, why go to another conference when I haven't yet put up my notes from the last one? That's a particularly good question. As this point (6 whole weeks after the event), it's pretty much a historical snapshot, but I will try to get them up.
Thanks -- Joe
Friday Blogplugs
Hey folks -- here's another round of blogplugs, which are blog entries that people want to show off, by sending them to me, or labeling them with the tag blogplugs (I see I've missed a few items, because some of you had used "blogplug" [singular] -- I will try to check both from now on, but as far as I know, we're the only folks using "blogplugs", so keep that in mind:
* Deb blogplugs a few of her entries talking about what's she's doing to eliminate her debt, including saving money by comparing local DSL providers.
* Micah and team over at UserPlane talk about the Instant Install Community Page (they're part of AOL; they do Web-based community products) -- I'll have to play around and talk to Stephanie to see if there's anything we can use in Journals and other community areas.
* Celeste is blogplugging a blood drive to help the husband of fellow Journaler Krissy
If you have an entry of your own or someone else's that you want to blogplug, just send it to me or use the tag blogplugs (plural, if you don't mind)
Thanks -- Joe
* Deb blogplugs a few of her entries talking about what's she's doing to eliminate her debt, including saving money by comparing local DSL providers.
* Micah and team over at UserPlane talk about the Instant Install Community Page (they're part of AOL; they do Web-based community products) -- I'll have to play around and talk to Stephanie to see if there's anything we can use in Journals and other community areas.
* Celeste is blogplugging a blood drive to help the husband of fellow Journaler Krissy
If you have an entry of your own or someone else's that you want to blogplug, just send it to me or use the tag blogplugs (plural, if you don't mind)
Thanks -- Joe
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Citizen Journalism: Pitfalls and Promise
This morning, the pretty-new DC politics blog, Politico, reported that John Edwards was dropping out of the presidential race.
The story got picked up by bunches of the online mainstream media.
The story was also wrong.
NetworkWorld has a short analysis piece (link via Fark), though it's all the usual suspects: time-pressures of the 24-hour news cycle, using a single anonymous source (even a "reliable" one), the desire not to be scooped, the willingness to run anything as long as you say "it was reported that...", etc.
However, don't lose sight of the potential of citizen journalism. Remember, citizen journalism is not about mainstream media sites choosing quotes and comments to showcase on their Web sites -- it's about people, alone or in groups, getting out there and doing reporting and analysis.
A prior example, of course, was "Rathergate" -- the scandal around the alleged documents about President Bush's Texas National Guard service, which was largely uncovered and driven by right-wing bloggers.
Yesterday gave us another example, when the New York Sun reported that readers of lefty politics group blog TPMMuckraker.com banded together (or "swarmed around") to sort through 3,000 pages of documents related to the U.S. Attorney firings, released by the Justice Department in the middle of the night.
Previously, it's been common Washington practice to try to bury bad news by releasing it late at night, or on Friday afternoons (especially in the summer), on the fringes of the normal news cycle.
With the distributed power of online media, though, that might have to change.
Page 2 of the story lists out some potential pitfalls (duplication of effort or misinterpretation), as well as other possible uses -- poring through spending bills for pork, perhaps.
For another recent development in the world of citizen journalism, check out Assignment Zero, which is a shot at "Pro-Am" journalism. What's Pro-Am? From their site:
Thanks -- Joe
The story got picked up by bunches of the online mainstream media.
The story was also wrong.
NetworkWorld has a short analysis piece (link via Fark), though it's all the usual suspects: time-pressures of the 24-hour news cycle, using a single anonymous source (even a "reliable" one), the desire not to be scooped, the willingness to run anything as long as you say "it was reported that...", etc.
However, don't lose sight of the potential of citizen journalism. Remember, citizen journalism is not about mainstream media sites choosing quotes and comments to showcase on their Web sites -- it's about people, alone or in groups, getting out there and doing reporting and analysis.
A prior example, of course, was "Rathergate" -- the scandal around the alleged documents about President Bush's Texas National Guard service, which was largely uncovered and driven by right-wing bloggers.
Yesterday gave us another example, when the New York Sun reported that readers of lefty politics group blog TPMMuckraker.com banded together (or "swarmed around") to sort through 3,000 pages of documents related to the U.S. Attorney firings, released by the Justice Department in the middle of the night.
Previously, it's been common Washington practice to try to bury bad news by releasing it late at night, or on Friday afternoons (especially in the summer), on the fringes of the normal news cycle.
With the distributed power of online media, though, that might have to change.
Page 2 of the story lists out some potential pitfalls (duplication of effort or misinterpretation), as well as other possible uses -- poring through spending bills for pork, perhaps.
For another recent development in the world of citizen journalism, check out Assignment Zero, which is a shot at "Pro-Am" journalism. What's Pro-Am? From their site:
"The "ams" are simply people getting together on their own time to contribute to a project in journalism that for their own reasons they support. The "pros" are journalists guiding and editing the story, setting standards, overseeing fact-checking, and publishing a final version."Wired News is a participant. It's an interesting model (they mention "crowdsourcing" a lot. The "wisdom of crowds" + "outsourcing" = "crowdsourcing"). Let's see what happens when they start breaking stories.
Thanks -- Joe
Taped Eyeglasses and Business Blogging
So, Journals Product Manager Stephanie is up at the BlogHer Business conference (which is targeted to women bloggers, though open to all); she'll be on tomorrow's keynote panel about why businesses should blog.
I was looking through the speaker bios, when I saw Stephanie's bio (about five down) and started laughing.
The reason? I took the photo that's in her bio -- it was at an AIM Pages launch party last year:
And it's the pic they're using in her bio. Stephanie says she'd sent a couple of photos, and that's the one they chose.
(That's also the photo note I mentioned from my last entry.)
Of course, the BlogHer organizers are blogging the event, if you want to follow along.
While I'm on the subject of business blogging -- Hugh MacLeod (that guy who draws cartoons on the backs of business cards -- he's also a Web 2.0/social media marketing guy) gave a talk to public relations company Edelman -- he blogged a cartoon and his speaking notes:
He also references the Cluetrain Manifesto, which gives you insights on what companies are being influenced by.
(I've been involved in a few discussions recently about Cluetrain -- I generally feel that it's a bit too breathless and hasn't aged very well [it's about 8 years old now], but I agree with its general sentiment, and it's at the core of a lot of the current thinking -- that by flattening hierarchies and letting people talk to each other (employees to each other, customers to employees, customers to customers), the Internet has fundamentally changed the way business gets done. The whole book is available online for free -- check it out.)
Now, I think MacLeod's airline thesis is a bit silly in its oversimiplification, but the rest of looks like a good talk. (Link via Susan Mernit.)
It's kind of funny that he has to give this talk to Edelman; another famous, A-List PR blogger-type is Steve Rubel, who also works for Edelman. Which made it even more surprising that Edelman was involved with a dustup around a "Working Families for Wal-Mart" fake blog last fall.
Anyway, if you're not interested in any of this, it don't make you a bad person (though it may make you a bad businessperson).
Thanks -- Joe
I was looking through the speaker bios, when I saw Stephanie's bio (about five down) and started laughing.
The reason? I took the photo that's in her bio -- it was at an AIM Pages launch party last year:
And it's the pic they're using in her bio. Stephanie says she'd sent a couple of photos, and that's the one they chose.
(That's also the photo note I mentioned from my last entry.)
Of course, the BlogHer organizers are blogging the event, if you want to follow along.
While I'm on the subject of business blogging -- Hugh MacLeod (that guy who draws cartoons on the backs of business cards -- he's also a Web 2.0/social media marketing guy) gave a talk to public relations company Edelman -- he blogged a cartoon and his speaking notes:
"Tired of being a lowly-paid hack for a large media company, Eric quit his job and became a BLOGGING CONSULTANT! 'Trackbacks are good. That'll be $3,000'"
He also references the Cluetrain Manifesto, which gives you insights on what companies are being influenced by.
(I've been involved in a few discussions recently about Cluetrain -- I generally feel that it's a bit too breathless and hasn't aged very well [it's about 8 years old now], but I agree with its general sentiment, and it's at the core of a lot of the current thinking -- that by flattening hierarchies and letting people talk to each other (employees to each other, customers to employees, customers to customers), the Internet has fundamentally changed the way business gets done. The whole book is available online for free -- check it out.)
Now, I think MacLeod's airline thesis is a bit silly in its oversimiplification, but the rest of looks like a good talk. (Link via Susan Mernit.)
It's kind of funny that he has to give this talk to Edelman; another famous, A-List PR blogger-type is Steve Rubel, who also works for Edelman. Which made it even more surprising that Edelman was involved with a dustup around a "Working Families for Wal-Mart" fake blog last fall.
Anyway, if you're not interested in any of this, it don't make you a bad person (though it may make you a bad businessperson).
Thanks -- Joe
Meet Some More AOL & AIM Product Bloggers
Hi folks -- here's another look at some of the AIM and AOL folks who blog in support of some of our products:
There's a lot of AOL & AIM folks blogging out there in both official and non-official capacities, so one of the things we're working on is finding ways to make sure everyone's linking to each other, aware of what other people and groups are doing, and most importantly talking with each other and the people who actually use the products.
Here's who's who:
Top Row:
* Elisa, heads up the AIM Product Design Group blog. They're involved with User Interface and Visual Design for products. (She also says she doesn't like that picture, though I think it's fine.)
* Kevin, is the principal behind Ficlets, as well as a general evangelist for all things social media. (Photo by Kevin, from a go-cart outing.)
* Stephanie, the Product Manager for AOL Journals, blogs over at BamBam! (I'll have more notes on that photo for my next entry.)
* John is a Sr. Tech Manager involved in Journals; he also talks a lot about OpenID and other technologies in Abstractioneer (I even understand some of them. Sometimes.)
* Will, is one of the bloggers over at the AOL Pictures Blog. He also uses blogs internally to communicate to his team and interested parties.
Bottom Row:
* Mia blogs over at the Discover FullView, which is the official blog of AOL Search with FullView.
* Allie, at AOL Search With Fullview Hot Searches, is also a search blogger, but her blog focuses on hot search terms and trends.
* Micah blogs in support of Userplane On AOL (they do Web-based community tools -- I also have a note on his photo below)
* Erin is one of the bloggers over at the AIM Buddy Blog, which is one of those blogs that covers both programming and product (Community stuff has always been like that, and now you're seeing it everywhere)
* Ryan is a few cubes over blogging for the AOL Community Info Blog.
Okay, now when I asked for photos from people, UserPlane's Micah asked first if he could use this pic here:
The last row is intentionally cut off, because of the layout of the promo space on People Connection.
There's a lot of AOL & AIM folks blogging out there in both official and non-official capacities, so one of the things we're working on is finding ways to make sure everyone's linking to each other, aware of what other people and groups are doing, and most importantly talking with each other and the people who actually use the products.
Here's who's who:
Top Row:
* Elisa, heads up the AIM Product Design Group blog. They're involved with User Interface and Visual Design for products. (She also says she doesn't like that picture, though I think it's fine.)
* Kevin, is the principal behind Ficlets, as well as a general evangelist for all things social media. (Photo by Kevin, from a go-cart outing.)
* Stephanie, the Product Manager for AOL Journals, blogs over at BamBam! (I'll have more notes on that photo for my next entry.)
* John is a Sr. Tech Manager involved in Journals; he also talks a lot about OpenID and other technologies in Abstractioneer (I even understand some of them. Sometimes.)
* Will, is one of the bloggers over at the AOL Pictures Blog. He also uses blogs internally to communicate to his team and interested parties.
Bottom Row:
* Mia blogs over at the Discover FullView, which is the official blog of AOL Search with FullView.
* Allie, at AOL Search With Fullview Hot Searches, is also a search blogger, but her blog focuses on hot search terms and trends.
* Micah blogs in support of Userplane On AOL (they do Web-based community tools -- I also have a note on his photo below)
* Erin is one of the bloggers over at the AIM Buddy Blog, which is one of those blogs that covers both programming and product (Community stuff has always been like that, and now you're seeing it everywhere)
* Ryan is a few cubes over blogging for the AOL Community Info Blog.
Okay, now when I asked for photos from people, UserPlane's Micah asked first if he could use this pic here:
- We're going for transparency here, so no avatars or stuffed animals or the like -- just actual pictures of real bloggers.
- The photo is... well, it's kind of creepy. With that hoodie, it kind of looks like the Unabomber.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Wednesday Status Update: Alerts, Pictures, E-Mail
Hi folks -- here's a few updates on stuff related to Journals:
* Alerts: In response to some of your reports of Alerts nondeliveries, John from the Alerts team reports: There was a problem yesterday, and they worked to resolve it late last night. They should be fully recovered by now, but if you're still having Alerts problems, please let us know via comment or an e-mail to JournalsEditor@aol.com
* Problems With AOL Pictures in E-Mail and Journals? I've gotten some reports that some people are experiencing hanging, freezing, or even crashes when they're trying to insert pictures into their AOL E-mail or Journals, while using the AOL software.
Typically, they'll see the AOL Pictures loading bar (with the animated green dots), then boom.
I've asked the Pictures and Mail folks to take a look; if you're experiencing this problem, it would help if you could tell me:
* The Power of Screen Names: Reminder -- if you know someone's Journal address, you know their screen name, because their screen name is part of their blog's URL -- http://journals.aol.com/journalseditor/magicsmoke/ -- JournalsEditor is my screen name, which means you also know my e-mail address: JournalsEditor@aol.com.
Whether someone answers or accepts your e-mail is a different story -- I answer mine, though I admit I rarely sign on to IM as JournalsEditor (I'd never get anything done, if I did, unfortunately. So if you want to reach me, send me e-mail.)
Because AOL & AIM screen names are usually used in our community products, that means you can see my other public stuff pretty easily; just look at the address format and see where the screen name goes. For example:
* My AIM Pages profile: www.aimpages.com/journalseditor
* My AOL Pictures public gallery: pictures.aol.com/galleries/journalseditor
* My UnCut Videos: uncutvideo.aol.com/users/journalseditor
* My Ficlets: ficlets.com/authors/journalseditor
All this stuff is publically available, though I have the option of making elements of each of those things private (all AOL Pictures public galleries are public, but you can still create private, shareable albums).
Thanks -- Joe
* Alerts: In response to some of your reports of Alerts nondeliveries, John from the Alerts team reports: There was a problem yesterday, and they worked to resolve it late last night. They should be fully recovered by now, but if you're still having Alerts problems, please let us know via comment or an e-mail to JournalsEditor@aol.com
* Problems With AOL Pictures in E-Mail and Journals? I've gotten some reports that some people are experiencing hanging, freezing, or even crashes when they're trying to insert pictures into their AOL E-mail or Journals, while using the AOL software.
Typically, they'll see the AOL Pictures loading bar (with the animated green dots), then boom.
I've asked the Pictures and Mail folks to take a look; if you're experiencing this problem, it would help if you could tell me:
- What version of the AOL software you're using:
- In the top menu bar, click "Help"
- Select "About America Online"
- You'll get a screen with your version information, like this:
America Online 9.0 Security Edition
SE
for Windows 98, Windows Millennium, Windows 2000 and Windows XP
Revision 4184.5361 - Highlight the info with your mouse, then right-click and choose "Copy"
- Paste it into an e-mail and send that to me.
- If you've tried clearing your footprint -- I say this a lot; there's a reason. For example, I was having a problem yesterday with commenting in a Journal (kept getting asked to sign in, even though I was signed it), until I cleared my footprint.
- If you still have problems with Pictures when you use a standalone Web browser
* The Power of Screen Names: Reminder -- if you know someone's Journal address, you know their screen name, because their screen name is part of their blog's URL -- http://journals.aol.com/journalseditor/magicsmoke/ -- JournalsEditor is my screen name, which means you also know my e-mail address: JournalsEditor@aol.com.
Whether someone answers or accepts your e-mail is a different story -- I answer mine, though I admit I rarely sign on to IM as JournalsEditor (I'd never get anything done, if I did, unfortunately. So if you want to reach me, send me e-mail.)
Because AOL & AIM screen names are usually used in our community products, that means you can see my other public stuff pretty easily; just look at the address format and see where the screen name goes. For example:
* My AIM Pages profile: www.aimpages.com/journalseditor
* My AOL Pictures public gallery: pictures.aol.com/galleries/journalseditor
* My UnCut Videos: uncutvideo.aol.com/users/journalseditor
* My Ficlets: ficlets.com/authors/journalseditor
All this stuff is publically available, though I have the option of making elements of each of those things private (all AOL Pictures public galleries are public, but you can still create private, shareable albums).
Thanks -- Joe
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Batter-Dipped, Cheese-Filled, Bacon-Wrapped Slushpile
First off, happy first day of spring. I'm hoping that means we won't see anything more like the slushpile photo from last week, which is just a leftover mound of snow on a rock garden in a weird little space between HQ and CC1 that I took a few weeks ago:
* Blogs turn 10--who's the father? -- Blogs will be about 10 years old soon, though the exact date will depend on your definition of what a blog is.
The article goes through some potential candidates (blogger John may be "the Blogfather," but he's not the father of blogs, even if he is older than dirt), as well as other milestones in blogging history (including some bloggy pre-blog behaviors).
* A Little Too Dangly for Me -- Today was the opening ceremony for the Grand Canyon Skywalk, which is a glass-bottomed walkway that juts 70-feet out over the Grand Canyon.
The canyon floor is a long way down -- about 4,000 feet. Yikes.
* Batter-Dipped, Cheese-Filled, Bacon-Wrapped Hot Dogs -- Enough said. [link via Fark]
Thanks -- Joe
Wider crop of the slushpile, which I'd actually posted first.
* Blogs turn 10--who's the father? -- Blogs will be about 10 years old soon, though the exact date will depend on your definition of what a blog is.
The article goes through some potential candidates (blogger John may be "the Blogfather," but he's not the father of blogs, even if he is older than dirt), as well as other milestones in blogging history (including some bloggy pre-blog behaviors).
* A Little Too Dangly for Me -- Today was the opening ceremony for the Grand Canyon Skywalk, which is a glass-bottomed walkway that juts 70-feet out over the Grand Canyon.
The canyon floor is a long way down -- about 4,000 feet. Yikes.
* Batter-Dipped, Cheese-Filled, Bacon-Wrapped Hot Dogs -- Enough said. [link via Fark]
Thanks -- Joe
Tuesday Blogplugs
Here are some more blogplugs, which are entries that you want to get in front of other people and have sent to me, or have labeled with the tag blogplugs:
* Dee over at Crocheting With Dee blogplugs Margaret's My Hooks and Needles.
Actually, she was passing along a layout problem (I haven't yet figured out what's making her blog show up too wide -- I'm still working on it), but it counts as a blogplug.
* In lieu of giving Irene a Guest Editor shot (not sure when or if we'll be doing them again), here's her blog: My Thoughts.
* Journals Product Manager Stephanie reports that the winning theme of the AOL Blogs 2.0 code-name contest is: The Muppets
* Paul over at CarnivAOL announces that the results of the 35th edition of CarnivAOL are up on Guest CarnivAOL blogger Gina's No More Appetite for Destruction (I neglected to blogplug the call for submissions for this one, but you can always click the blogplugs tag to see what people are plugging)
* Guido over at Norther Trip talks about his style and method of reading and commenting on other people's blogs.
[Personally, I don't see how people can keep up with over 100 Alerts (even when they're not having problems, which I hope have subsided by now); it would drive me nuts. Though my feedreader situation is a mess, too. Nothing's ever as easy as it should be.]
* Kris, over at Sour N Sweet has a request -- her roommate's friends were involved in a house fire in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend and lost everything they have (including another friend who perished in the fire); you can read the account in her blog, which includes a link to a paypal donation site (the Lewis Mountain Fire Relief fund) if you'd like to help show some kindness to some random strangers you read about on the Web.
* Finally, best get well wishes to Jeannette over in the UK, who had cancer surgery this week; daughter Becky is blogging in her stead.
Remember, if you have an entry of your own or someone else's that you want to blogplug, just send it to me or use the tag blogplugs
Thanks -- Joe
* Dee over at Crocheting With Dee blogplugs Margaret's My Hooks and Needles.
Actually, she was passing along a layout problem (I haven't yet figured out what's making her blog show up too wide -- I'm still working on it), but it counts as a blogplug.
* In lieu of giving Irene a Guest Editor shot (not sure when or if we'll be doing them again), here's her blog: My Thoughts.
* Journals Product Manager Stephanie reports that the winning theme of the AOL Blogs 2.0 code-name contest is: The Muppets
* Paul over at CarnivAOL announces that the results of the 35th edition of CarnivAOL are up on Guest CarnivAOL blogger Gina's No More Appetite for Destruction (I neglected to blogplug the call for submissions for this one, but you can always click the blogplugs tag to see what people are plugging)
* Guido over at Norther Trip talks about his style and method of reading and commenting on other people's blogs.
[Personally, I don't see how people can keep up with over 100 Alerts (even when they're not having problems, which I hope have subsided by now); it would drive me nuts. Though my feedreader situation is a mess, too. Nothing's ever as easy as it should be.]
* Kris, over at Sour N Sweet has a request -- her roommate's friends were involved in a house fire in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend and lost everything they have (including another friend who perished in the fire); you can read the account in her blog, which includes a link to a paypal donation site (the Lewis Mountain Fire Relief fund) if you'd like to help show some kindness to some random strangers you read about on the Web.
* Finally, best get well wishes to Jeannette over in the UK, who had cancer surgery this week; daughter Becky is blogging in her stead.
Remember, if you have an entry of your own or someone else's that you want to blogplug, just send it to me or use the tag blogplugs
Thanks -- Joe
Obey the Machines: Update Your Blog
Following up on my previous entry on Web
comic strips, here's today's Toothpaste for
Dinner, which has a blogging theme:
computer and peripherals were sentient and could actually talk (we're
getting there, don't kid yourselves).
Thanks -- Joe
comic strips, here's today's Toothpaste for
Dinner, which has a blogging theme:
"We've been
talking... and we all think it's time you updated your
blog."
computer and peripherals were sentient and could actually talk (we're
getting there, don't kid yourselves).
Thanks -- Joe
Free Online Image Editing Tools
Hi folks -- here's an item on free online image editing tools that you might be interested in, courtesy of.... BloggingStocks?
Well, I guess financial-types need to cut photos too.
They're all simple, Web-based tools for when you have to do a quick resize or cropping of an image -- like when you take a big photo (say, 800x600) and squeeze it into a smaller space for your blog (like 500x375).
Remember, if you use a full-size image and just mash it into your page, it can look funny. Plus, for really big files -- like the ones you download off your digital camera -- if you just put them into your page as-is, you'll slow down your page loading for no real benefit. (For example, my camera is set to 3.2 megapixels -- the photos come off the camera at 2048x1536, and a whopping 748k, or about 3/4ths of a megabyte of file size. That adds up, even over high-speed.)
Anyway, take a look at the article for some free suggestions (Note: I haven't tried them yet, and they probably work best if you have the Firefox browser) -- it should hold you over until Adobe gets around to putting up a free, online version of Photoshop later this year.
Also, I've been promising an entry about adding photos you've uploaded via File Manager, which I will get to this week, but there will also be some improvements to the way you add photos and video to your blog entries in the next release (within a few weeks.)
Thanks -- Joe
Well, I guess financial-types need to cut photos too.
They're all simple, Web-based tools for when you have to do a quick resize or cropping of an image -- like when you take a big photo (say, 800x600) and squeeze it into a smaller space for your blog (like 500x375).
Remember, if you use a full-size image and just mash it into your page, it can look funny. Plus, for really big files -- like the ones you download off your digital camera -- if you just put them into your page as-is, you'll slow down your page loading for no real benefit. (For example, my camera is set to 3.2 megapixels -- the photos come off the camera at 2048x1536, and a whopping 748k, or about 3/4ths of a megabyte of file size. That adds up, even over high-speed.)
Anyway, take a look at the article for some free suggestions (Note: I haven't tried them yet, and they probably work best if you have the Firefox browser) -- it should hold you over until Adobe gets around to putting up a free, online version of Photoshop later this year.
Also, I've been promising an entry about adding photos you've uploaded via File Manager, which I will get to this week, but there will also be some improvements to the way you add photos and video to your blog entries in the next release (within a few weeks.)
Thanks -- Joe
Monday, March 19, 2007
Comics Are Serious Business
Hi folks -- I'm up to my armpits in alligators right now, so this is just a quick filler; I will try to have some Journals-related content tomorrow.
Local DC blog DCist reports that the Washington Post has shaken up its comics page lineup (at least, in the print edition -- all the comics are still available online); here's the word from the Washington Post:
They're taking out comic strips Mary Worth, Cathy and Broom Hilda, and also taking out panel cartoons The Flying McCoys and The Other Coast.
In their place? Brewster Rockit, Brevity and Agnes.
Now, people tend to be irrationally attached to their comics, even if they haven't been funny since the Carter administration (or in some cases, have never been funny). They're kind of like comfort food that way.
Usually, whenever there's a change like this, there's big hue and outcry, and comics page editors sometimes find themselves backtracking.
This is largely because people who still read the dead-tree editions of newspapers don't usually read comics online (Which is a generalization, I know. And yet.)
Because there's limited space in a print newspaper, but unlimited space online, that's kind of where the future is headed; otherwise, there's bunches and bunches of talented new comic strip artists who would never get the chance to get picked up and syndicated, because they're crowded out by ossified, unfunny, but established comics.
For example, Brevity (which, to be honest, I don't find particularly funny) started out as an online comic -- I think I first heard about them on Fark (they're members), and they made the jump over to syndication and print.
If you care, here are some of my comics reads online (I never read a print newspaper in the morning):And here are a few Web-only comics; many of them are not-quite-daily; most are edgy, tasteless, really geeky, or use profanity, so be warned:
If you want to share some of your favorite comic reads (don't worry, Mary Worth and Mark Trail fans, we won't laugh), please leave a comment below and let us know what they are.
Thanks -- Joe
Local DC blog DCist reports that the Washington Post has shaken up its comics page lineup (at least, in the print edition -- all the comics are still available online); here's the word from the Washington Post:
They're taking out comic strips Mary Worth, Cathy and Broom Hilda, and also taking out panel cartoons The Flying McCoys and The Other Coast.
In their place? Brewster Rockit, Brevity and Agnes.
Now, people tend to be irrationally attached to their comics, even if they haven't been funny since the Carter administration (or in some cases, have never been funny). They're kind of like comfort food that way.
Usually, whenever there's a change like this, there's big hue and outcry, and comics page editors sometimes find themselves backtracking.
This is largely because people who still read the dead-tree editions of newspapers don't usually read comics online (Which is a generalization, I know. And yet.)
Because there's limited space in a print newspaper, but unlimited space online, that's kind of where the future is headed; otherwise, there's bunches and bunches of talented new comic strip artists who would never get the chance to get picked up and syndicated, because they're crowded out by ossified, unfunny, but established comics.
For example, Brevity (which, to be honest, I don't find particularly funny) started out as an online comic -- I think I first heard about them on Fark (they're members), and they made the jump over to syndication and print.
If you care, here are some of my comics reads online (I never read a print newspaper in the morning):And here are a few Web-only comics; many of them are not-quite-daily; most are edgy, tasteless, really geeky, or use profanity, so be warned:
- Toothpaste for Dinner
- Alien Loves Predator
- Sinfest
- Cyanide and Happiness (this one gets its own content warning)
- xkcd (I have a separate blog entry about this one lined up, about AIM Profiles)
- Indexed (this one just got picked up by the BBC News Web site).
If you want to share some of your favorite comic reads (don't worry, Mary Worth and Mark Trail fans, we won't laugh), please leave a comment below and let us know what they are.
Thanks -- Joe
Friday, March 16, 2007
Is This Actually My Secret Slushpile?
Hi folks -- I've talked about my blogging slushpile a few times, but have I ever shown you a picture of it?
So if that's not my slushpile, what the hell did I take a photo of? A giant powered donut? A melty golf-ball? Leave your best interpretation in the comments.
Here's some stuff from this week's pile:
* In Defense of Ultragrrrl [some language] -- a Village Voice article about blogger turned music tastemaker Sarah Lewitinn -- no, I've never heard of her, but I have heard of some of the bands she's discovered, highlighted or supported, like the Killers, My Chemical Romance, and Franz Ferdinand.
AOL Search factors into the story, oddly enough -- it's how she met future My Chemical Romance bass player Mikey Way, and Spin music journalist Marc Spitz. And the rest is history...
* The Ol' Bait and Click -- this article from the Washington Post talks about how scammers on eBay and other sites "game" reputation and feedback tools to establish good reps, then later use them to take advantage of people for high-value items. One warning sign? A string of positive feedback given for low-dollar value transactions.
* Wired News' Resdesign -- They redesigned. They shared some feedback. My opinion? Still have to give it some time, but I think it looks an awful lot like the now-evergreened Sploid main page, which is not necessarily a good thing.
* Sinbad Is Not Dead (Yet) -- in another one for the "can't-believe-everything-you-read-on-wikipedia" file, actor/comedian Sinbad was falsely reported as dead. I'm not going to make the obvious joke, because that would be mean.
* People Can Be Really Mean in Comments -- Two weeks ago, a 420-pound woman gave birth just 2 days she realized she was pregnant. The story hit the media, and generated a lot of comments -- many of them nasty ones. The OC Register did a followup story about those comments, and some of the things media Web sites are doing to maintain their open commenting. (Link via Obscurestore.com)
There's a lot more stuff in my slushpile, including a double-amputee who may soon compete against regular runners and more Money Origami, so check it out.
Got anything else you want to see added to the slushpile? Leave a comment or send me mail and let me know.
Thanks -- Joe
My slushpile or...
So if that's not my slushpile, what the hell did I take a photo of? A giant powered donut? A melty golf-ball? Leave your best interpretation in the comments.
Here's some stuff from this week's pile:
* In Defense of Ultragrrrl [some language] -- a Village Voice article about blogger turned music tastemaker Sarah Lewitinn -- no, I've never heard of her, but I have heard of some of the bands she's discovered, highlighted or supported, like the Killers, My Chemical Romance, and Franz Ferdinand.
AOL Search factors into the story, oddly enough -- it's how she met future My Chemical Romance bass player Mikey Way, and Spin music journalist Marc Spitz. And the rest is history...
* The Ol' Bait and Click -- this article from the Washington Post talks about how scammers on eBay and other sites "game" reputation and feedback tools to establish good reps, then later use them to take advantage of people for high-value items. One warning sign? A string of positive feedback given for low-dollar value transactions.
* Wired News' Resdesign -- They redesigned. They shared some feedback. My opinion? Still have to give it some time, but I think it looks an awful lot like the now-evergreened Sploid main page, which is not necessarily a good thing.
* Sinbad Is Not Dead (Yet) -- in another one for the "can't-believe-everything-you-read-on-wikipedia" file, actor/comedian Sinbad was falsely reported as dead. I'm not going to make the obvious joke, because that would be mean.
* People Can Be Really Mean in Comments -- Two weeks ago, a 420-pound woman gave birth just 2 days she realized she was pregnant. The story hit the media, and generated a lot of comments -- many of them nasty ones. The OC Register did a followup story about those comments, and some of the things media Web sites are doing to maintain their open commenting. (Link via Obscurestore.com)
There's a lot more stuff in my slushpile, including a double-amputee who may soon compete against regular runners and more Money Origami, so check it out.
Got anything else you want to see added to the slushpile? Leave a comment or send me mail and let me know.
Thanks -- Joe
Thursday, March 15, 2007
What Do the Irish Really Think of St. Patrick's Day in America?
Irish AOLers Conor, Adam, Leona, Brian, Emer and Diarmuid
"Patty," they'll say, "is a girl's name!"
I mentioned this last year, and I also said that "St. Patty's Day" is part of the AOL Style Guide and it's pretty universal over here, so they'll kind of have to grit their teeth. (PattyPattyPattyPattyPatty.)
Here at AOL, we've got a bunch of Irish folks over from Ireland. And I'm fortunate to count a bunch of them as my friends. But why are so many of them working here?
High tech has been big in Ireland since that whole Celtic tiger economic boom in the 1990s. (It helps that they speak English. Mostly. Sometimes they'll use Hiberno-English idioms and we'll be like, "What?")
So, about 10 years ago, AOL established a call center in Ireland, and then a few years back, they set up the Dublin Tech Dev Center, which has a bunch of programmers and developers.
Because of those established relationships, there's been a good amount of crossover, as people who started in Ireland transferred over to the States.
Now, seeing as how that whole St. Patty/St. Paddy thing is one thing that sets us apart, I asked some of the Irish folk to share some of their thoughts about St. Patrick's Day, and especially how it's celebrated over here.
Here's what Adam, in Portal Services, says:
"The most obvious difference is the fact that St. Patrick's day is not a public holiday here, which would tend to limit the occasion unless it falls on a weekend.For the first time since I arrived in the US (2004), the day will fall on a weekend, so it will be interesting to see the difference in terms of celebration levels. Besides the Paddy vs. Patty thing (which you already know about), I find that the US version of Patrick's day is pretty cool, and it's certainly a good time to be from Ireland and living in the US.
Though on that note, actually getting people to understand that you are actually Irish (as in born there) as opposed to being Irish and from Pittsburgh or wherever can be a bit of a challenge, particularly as the night wears on and people get more 'merry.'"
_______________________________
Did he say St. Patrick's Day is an actual, day-off holiday? It only feels like one here.
This is what Conor, in International Product Management, says:
"I always felt it was celebrated more by expats than at home. Despite recent efforts to festival-ize Paddy's Day (please don't call it Patty's Day), it's really just another day off work and for the kids, a break from their Lenten fasting. However, this year it's all about the Rugby!
Oh, and keep those green lattes away from me!"
_______________________________
Incidentally, that picture is cropped from a wider shot -- it's of Conor kind of... well, he says it's dancing. I'm not sure, myself.
This is from Brian, in Core Services:
"Now that I live in the US, I finally get to see people celebrate St. Patrick's Day. I still think my favorite St Patrick's days have been in Charm City :-)Ooooh, and it's called Paddy's Day, not Patty's Day.
The best part of St. Patrick's Day in Ireland is the parade. Once people go to see it, you can get a good seat in the pub. Then you dont move until the pub closes :-)"
_______________________________
I like the way he thinks. And if you don't know, Charm City is Balmer (spelled "Baltimore"), hon.
And here's Leona, Journals Technical Project Manager, who was inspired by my questions to write more in her own blog entry:
How St. Patrick's day is celebrated in the US has always amused me -- here are a few of my observations:* The wearing of the green. Getting pinched for not wearing green is an American thing. In Ireland we traditional wore sprigs of shamrock on our jackets, or the kids would wear St. Patrick's Day badges.
* One thing I definitely would not eat on St. Patrick's day is corned beef and cabbage. When I was growing up in Ireland, we usually would make an extra special dinner that day, but it would not be corned beef. We do eat corned beef and cabbage on a regular basis, but it would not be made on Patrick's day dinner. What I would love to eat this Saturday is some fresh Irish spring lamb!"
_______________________________
See more of Leona's musings on Irish breakfasts, Irish brown bread, the San Francisco St. Patrick's Day Parade, two cute red-headed nieces and more in her blog entry.
Here's a couple of late additions. First, here's Emer, a Technical Project Manager:
"Washington, DC has so many St. Patrick's Day/Night events it promises to be full of Irish fun and frolics on one of the best holidays of the year!March is for St. Patrick's Day, but it's also time for the Six Nations Rugby Championship and NCAA college basketball.
I'm hoping to spend the day with fellow expatriates and my American friends for some green beer, Irish food, live music, and good times as we watch one of bracket-buster games."
_______________________________
So it looks like Emer is going to enjoy her St. Paddy's Day (she also wants you all to support Ireland in tomorrow's Six Nations Rugby Championship)
Lastly, this is Diarmuid, who works on AIM Pages; he's in the Dublin Tech Dev Center, and went above and beyond with his thoughts on the attributes of the Irish that stand front and center on St. Patrick's Day -- the following is an excerpt; I've posted the full entry on my AIM Pages blog:
"We (the Irish) are well known for a few things, all of which come to the fore on our Saint's day (who ironically enough was not even an Irishman). I'll take you thru a few of the better known attributes.The first thing we're known for is probably the amount we drink of the auld sup (alcohol). Our favourite brews are of course Guinness and Irish Whiskey (not that Scotch stuff). The word whiskey comes from the Irish "Uisce Beatha" which means "water of life" and we certainly do drink like its water ;-) . In fact, drink ten pints of Guinness in one sitting (no mean feat) and the Irish Foreign Department issues you with an Irish passport! [Editor's Note: I really hope it doesn't need to be said, but that's a joke.]
The important thing to remember is why we drink, not for sorrow but for joy, which brings me onto point two, enjoyment. We're also very well known for enjoying ourselves or having the craic (pronounced the same as the word crack). This word/phrase "having the craic," has unfortunately often produced much confusion in the US when we go around looking for some Craic :-\ or when we say things like, "We had some great craic last night."
[...]
Slán agus beannacht (goodbye and blessings)
Diarmuid"
________________________________
See the rest of Diarmuid's musings on the Irish gift of gab, welcoming natures, and what it takes to be honorary Irish, in his full blog entry.
So, those are some thoughts from some of the Irish at AOL. As I was editing their words, I noticed that they didn't always capitalize the "day" in "St. Patrick's day." They also refer to it as "Patrick's day," which I've never seen here -- it's always "St. Patrick's Day." But they're generally good people.
Many thanks to Adam, Conor, Brian, Leona, Emer and Diarmuid for their observations.
If you have your own thoughts to share about how the Irish, Americans, or any else celebrates St. Patrick's Day, please leave a comment below.
Happy St. Paddy's Day, everyone!
Thanks -- Joe
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
People Connection Looks to the Future
Hi folks -- As I've been threatening to do, here's a photo from the morning after last, um, month's, launch of the new People Connection redesign:
Since I did not have to be on the launch call, I took to calling them the Headset Crew.
Now, in tandem with the redesign, we're also trying out a bit of a new strategy: Rolling out new niche community sites to cover (the en vogue term is "superserve") areas that people are interested in.
The concept isn't really new, though we've got more community and social media tools available to us now (including blogs and group blogs, social profiles, etc.)
One thing that's important to note, is that although group blogs are at the core of each community, they're not just group blogs -- blogs just happen to be the most convenient way to publish and manage all the separate elements of an online social community (including boards, polls, chats, and galleries), plus you get all that great bloggy stuff like living, searchable archives, feeds and comments.
Here's what we've got currently:
* Animal Hubbub -- Replacing the previous Awwwww Factor blog and Pets community hub, it's a group blog that focuses on furry and not-so-furry pets.
Also, AOL Journalers should check out the blogroll links to see some familiar names.
* Comics Alliance -- Considering that even my mom called me to ask me about Captain America's demise, perhaps comics books aren't that niche any more, but this is a community built around comic books, graphic novels, and the fandom associated therein.
* QueerSighted -- Editor Kenny Hill takes his previous Worth Repeating blog and has mashed it up with the old Gay & Lesbian area on AOL to make a Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Trangender (GLBT) community group hub.
* Lastly, as blogger John mentioned, there's Ficlets, which is a niche community built around microfiction -- Really, really short fiction. Like paragraph-short. This one is even more notable since it's built around the ideas of social collaboration and serial writing, and the group blog component is only a small piece of it, so it's really illustrative of the notion of using the right tool for the right job.
I'll blog about it more (it's been getting some positive writeups lately), especially after I get a chance to play around.
Thanks -- Joe
The People Connection Headset Crew look to the future: Back row: Amy, Kelly, Jen; Front row: John, Jason & Chris.
Since I did not have to be on the launch call, I took to calling them the Headset Crew.
Now, in tandem with the redesign, we're also trying out a bit of a new strategy: Rolling out new niche community sites to cover (the en vogue term is "superserve") areas that people are interested in.
The concept isn't really new, though we've got more community and social media tools available to us now (including blogs and group blogs, social profiles, etc.)
One thing that's important to note, is that although group blogs are at the core of each community, they're not just group blogs -- blogs just happen to be the most convenient way to publish and manage all the separate elements of an online social community (including boards, polls, chats, and galleries), plus you get all that great bloggy stuff like living, searchable archives, feeds and comments.
Here's what we've got currently:
* Animal Hubbub -- Replacing the previous Awwwww Factor blog and Pets community hub, it's a group blog that focuses on furry and not-so-furry pets.
Also, AOL Journalers should check out the blogroll links to see some familiar names.
* Comics Alliance -- Considering that even my mom called me to ask me about Captain America's demise, perhaps comics books aren't that niche any more, but this is a community built around comic books, graphic novels, and the fandom associated therein.
* QueerSighted -- Editor Kenny Hill takes his previous Worth Repeating blog and has mashed it up with the old Gay & Lesbian area on AOL to make a Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Trangender (GLBT) community group hub.
* Lastly, as blogger John mentioned, there's Ficlets, which is a niche community built around microfiction -- Really, really short fiction. Like paragraph-short. This one is even more notable since it's built around the ideas of social collaboration and serial writing, and the group blog component is only a small piece of it, so it's really illustrative of the notion of using the right tool for the right job.
I'll blog about it more (it's been getting some positive writeups lately), especially after I get a chance to play around.
Thanks -- Joe
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Reporting Problems With Alerts
I've gotten several reports recently from Journalers who haven't been getting New Entry or Comment Added Alerts. In talking to the Alerts team, it looks like there have been some problems with one or more of the back-end Alerts delivery servers (there are a bunch of servers involved in the delivery of Alerts).
Not all servers and users are affected, so your reports will help them fix any problems.
If you're having problems with Alerts non-delivery, before you report a problem, it would help if you can check the following things first:
Thanks -- Joe
Not all servers and users are affected, so your reports will help them fix any problems.
If you're having problems with Alerts non-delivery, before you report a problem, it would help if you can check the following things first:
- Go to http://alerts.aol.com (where you can see and manage all your Alerts subscriptions):
How many Alerts do you currently subscribe to? It should tell you in the Quickview, which shows your 4 most recent Alerts subscriptions, and the number of your total subscriptions. (I have 17 right now.)
If you have more than 200 Alert subscriptions, that would be a problem -- there is apparently a soft limit of 200: If you have more than 200 Alerts, you'll need to get them down under 200. - Next, click the My Alerts tab, which will take you to a screen that shows all of your Alerts:
You'll see the Alert name, followed by a status button (that will be green for "On" or red for "Off"). If you get Instant delivery, you'll see an AIM icon, and if you get E-Mail delivery, you'll see a little envelope icon. (People who set up Mobile delivery will see an icon for that, too.)
Make sure the status of your Alert shows the green "On" button, and the delivery method you want (usually e-mail) has an icon next to it. To make changes to your delivery method, click the blue pencil "Edit" Icon. - If your status is "On" and the delivery methods you want are on, try resetting the Alert by turning the status Off and On again.
Thanks -- Joe
73 Is Much Nicer than 33
Here's a quick weather report before I get on to more useful stuff:
Thanks -- Joe
Woo-hoo, 73!
Thanks -- Joe
These Are the People in Your Neighborhood
Hi folks -- here's an image I did that shows some of the people who blog for AOL (I call them "Editors" as a generic term, though it's not official):
That listing is just a partial listing -- as anyone who's done a directory or listing of any sort, maintaining one is kind of like herding cats. Even something like a wiki (where anyone can add or edit content) only mitigates the problem -- even if people can update their own listings, you usually need someone to crack the whip to make sure everyone does, and that their stuff is correct and up-to-date.
As to the who's who?
Top Row:
* Victoria, one of the bloggers at Animal Hubbub
* Angela of AIDS: 25 Years & Counting
* Ames (TixGirl) of TixGirl's Kickin' Concerts & Live Music for the Masses
* Joe, one of the AOL Community Info Bloggers
* Dan, environmentally-focused blogger of Down to Earth
Bottom Row:
* Kelly, the Common Sense Diva
* Kenny, lead blogger of QueerSighted
* Felicia, of More Than Words
* Me (like you don't already see enough of me)
* John, of Comics Alliance
(There looks like there's a third row that got cut off, but that's only partially true -- the bottom part of the image will have the text box partially obscuring it, anyway, so I just, um, excerpted the Better Body Bloggers).
As I said, this is only a partial list, and even the sidebar listing on the Blogs main page is a partial list. I haven't even included any of the product bloggers in this go-round, and there's lots and lots of other AOL & AIM bloggers that I want to highlight (you can see more blogs on the incomplete-in-a-different way AOL Editors Blogs listing).
I also need to talk more about the People Connection blogs and how they fit into the broader strategy, but that will have to go in another entry.
Mostly, I just wanted to make sure that the graphic I put together would have a life beyond the hours that it's on the PC main page tomorrow...
Thanks -- Joe
That listing is just a partial listing -- as anyone who's done a directory or listing of any sort, maintaining one is kind of like herding cats. Even something like a wiki (where anyone can add or edit content) only mitigates the problem -- even if people can update their own listings, you usually need someone to crack the whip to make sure everyone does, and that their stuff is correct and up-to-date.
As to the who's who?
Top Row:
* Victoria, one of the bloggers at Animal Hubbub
* Angela of AIDS: 25 Years & Counting
* Ames (TixGirl) of TixGirl's Kickin' Concerts & Live Music for the Masses
* Joe, one of the AOL Community Info Bloggers
* Dan, environmentally-focused blogger of Down to Earth
Bottom Row:
* Kelly, the Common Sense Diva
* Kenny, lead blogger of QueerSighted
* Felicia, of More Than Words
* Me (like you don't already see enough of me)
* John, of Comics Alliance
(There looks like there's a third row that got cut off, but that's only partially true -- the bottom part of the image will have the text box partially obscuring it, anyway, so I just, um, excerpted the Better Body Bloggers).
As I said, this is only a partial list, and even the sidebar listing on the Blogs main page is a partial list. I haven't even included any of the product bloggers in this go-round, and there's lots and lots of other AOL & AIM bloggers that I want to highlight (you can see more blogs on the incomplete-in-a-different way AOL Editors Blogs listing).
I also need to talk more about the People Connection blogs and how they fit into the broader strategy, but that will have to go in another entry.
Mostly, I just wanted to make sure that the graphic I put together would have a life beyond the hours that it's on the PC main page tomorrow...
Thanks -- Joe
Monday, March 12, 2007
Slushpile: Icy Sandwiches and Online Dating Coaches
Hi folks -- hope you had a good weekend. Enjoying that extra hour of daylight?
Here are a few items from my slushpile links that I didn't get to last week:
* From the blog of the local free alternative weekly Washington City Paper, here's an item about the Good Cold Sandwich at Roy's Place, a sandwich shop in Gaithersburg, MD. It consists of ice cubes on a sub roll, which is apparently about as appetizing as you can imagine.
On the plus side, it's only $1.235, and it gives you an excuse to crunch your ice.
* The Sunday New York Times featured online dating coaches, who help people with their online dating photos, profiles and strategies, at rates from from $49 all the way to $2,000. That's some good coin, although I suppose the downside would be dealing with all the unlovable lonelyhearts out there.
Here's a freebie, before you plunk down any money: For the love of gosh, at least pick a good photo. Preferably one of you, well-lit, in focus, and not from a group shot where people can't tell who you are (this is doubly-true if your friends are better-looking than you).
The article also gives some other freebies, including setting yourself apart by avoiding generalities (giving examples of what makes you _______, instead of just saying "I'm _______"), and not being too picky in your initial selection criteria.
To that, I would add: Avoid cliches at all costs. I was one of the folks who went through AOL Rate-a-Buddy submissions a while back, and I swear that 90% of people said "I like hanging out with friends" or "I like having a good time."
Gee, as opposed to all the folks who hate hanging out with friends or having a good time?
Also, on Washington DC's Craigslist, there used to be something of a sport of making fun of people (actually, I think it was just women) who used the phrase "looking for a partner in crime." People, people: Unless you're robbing banks and need a getaway driver, please never ever use this phrase.
(Also, does anyone truly like long walks on the beach? Walking in sand makes my calves hurt.)
Thanks -- Joe
Here are a few items from my slushpile links that I didn't get to last week:
* From the blog of the local free alternative weekly Washington City Paper, here's an item about the Good Cold Sandwich at Roy's Place, a sandwich shop in Gaithersburg, MD. It consists of ice cubes on a sub roll, which is apparently about as appetizing as you can imagine.
On the plus side, it's only $1.235, and it gives you an excuse to crunch your ice.
* The Sunday New York Times featured online dating coaches, who help people with their online dating photos, profiles and strategies, at rates from from $49 all the way to $2,000. That's some good coin, although I suppose the downside would be dealing with all the unlovable lonelyhearts out there.
Here's a freebie, before you plunk down any money: For the love of gosh, at least pick a good photo. Preferably one of you, well-lit, in focus, and not from a group shot where people can't tell who you are (this is doubly-true if your friends are better-looking than you).
The article also gives some other freebies, including setting yourself apart by avoiding generalities (giving examples of what makes you _______, instead of just saying "I'm _______"), and not being too picky in your initial selection criteria.
To that, I would add: Avoid cliches at all costs. I was one of the folks who went through AOL Rate-a-Buddy submissions a while back, and I swear that 90% of people said "I like hanging out with friends" or "I like having a good time."
Gee, as opposed to all the folks who hate hanging out with friends or having a good time?
Also, on Washington DC's Craigslist, there used to be something of a sport of making fun of people (actually, I think it was just women) who used the phrase "looking for a partner in crime." People, people: Unless you're robbing banks and need a getaway driver, please never ever use this phrase.
(Also, does anyone truly like long walks on the beach? Walking in sand makes my calves hurt.)
Thanks -- Joe
Friday, March 9, 2007
I'm Going to Be an Hour Late to the End of the World
In case you forgot, Daylight Saving Time (in the U.S., natch) was changed by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, so we start earlier and end later.
(As I heard on NPR today, if Standard Time is about 4 months, and Daylight Saving Time is 8 months, what's so standard about Standard Time?)
Okay, so what's the big deal, other than the fact that golf course operators and candy companies stand to make a bundle? (More daylight means more tee times and more Halloween candy.)
Remember that little Y2K thingy a few years ago? Well, it's kind of back. Computers are kind of simple-minded, so if you start changing how the calendar works without letting them know about it -- well, they don't really like that.
(Wikipedia lists it as the Y2K7 problem, though I don't know anyone who actually calls it that -- it didn't take off like the "Y2K" bug.)
Anyway, after the doomsday scenarios failed to appear in the 2000 switchover, people seem to be a bit a little calmer this time around. Not to say that software folks around the world haven't been busy. But the worst-case scenarios seems to revolve around missed appointments, instead of nuclear reactors melting down and airliners falling out of the sky.
This whole big dealio could have been avoided if we'd just left well enough alone, of course. I mean, I like an hour of extra daylight as much as the next guy. But it seems kind of ahassle for something of somewhat dubious utility (the jury is still out as to what kind of energy savings, if any, we'll see out of this).
Also, I can't shake the feeling that all this could have been avoided. There's that whole "Y2K, all over again"-deja vu feeling.
As someone once said:
"There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."Anyway, I'm going to check out Doug Ritter's Equipped.org blog to make sure my disaster preparedness supplies are in order, but otherwise, I'm going to try to enjoy the weekend and hope for the best.
How do you feel about the Daylight Saving Time switchover? Are you from a state that doesn't even participate in such foolishness? Do you insist of calling it "Daylight Savings Time" (like me) instead of "Daylight Saving Time?" Leave a comment below.
Thanks -- Joe
Final Call for Code-Names and More Friday Blogplugs
Hi all -- here's another round of blogplugs, which are entries that people have labeled with the tag blogplugs (you can see everything else that shares that tag, just by clicking the tag link):
* Journals Product Manager Stephanie reminds us that you have until midnight tonight to submit your ideas for AOL Blogs 2.0 code names.
It looks like some of you are a little unclear on the concept -- we're not looking for a motto or slogan -- we need a new naming convention for the AOL Blogs product releases in 2007, and we're looking for your help.
In the past, Journals releases (which is how we roll out new features, changes, etc. -- they've been happening around every 6-10 weeks) had unimaginative names like R9, R10 & R11.
So, instead of R12, R13, and R14, we're looking to actually give the upcoming releases names (they're just internal code names, so they won't show up anywhere in public -- just on internal docs and schedules and stuff like that), and we want themes for those names (there have to be at least 3 names for each theme).
Stephanie used the example of a Top Gun-theme: In that scenario, the Journals product releases would be code-named "Goose," "Maverick," "Iceman," etc.
So, for example, a theme could be your kids' names (assuming you have at least 3 kids). If your kids' names are Susan, Rasheed and Rumpelstiltskin, the first AOL Blogs release would be code-named "Susan," the next release would be "Rasheed", and the third would be "Rumpelstiltskin."
You can suggest anything, as long as there are at least 3 names in the series. NASCAR drivers. States. Norse gods. Favorite body parts. Presidents. Donuts. Anything you want.
If you have your own suggestion for code-name themes, don't tell me -- leave a comment in Stephanie's blog entry by midnight tonight, ET. We'll highlight 10 finalists and put up a poll.
* Journals Technical Project Manager Leona shows off the Journals & Polls teams sporting some really loud t-shirts.
* Paul says to check out the results of the 34th edition of CarnivAOL, which is being guest hosted over at The Light's On...But No One's Home.
* Indigo is a self-described outspoken deaf Cherokee woman who blogs about topics ranging from animal cruelty to domestic violence over at Raven's Lament.
If you have an entry of your own or someone else's that you want to blogplug, just send it to me or use the tag blogplugs
Thanks -- Joe
* Journals Product Manager Stephanie reminds us that you have until midnight tonight to submit your ideas for AOL Blogs 2.0 code names.
It looks like some of you are a little unclear on the concept -- we're not looking for a motto or slogan -- we need a new naming convention for the AOL Blogs product releases in 2007, and we're looking for your help.
In the past, Journals releases (which is how we roll out new features, changes, etc. -- they've been happening around every 6-10 weeks) had unimaginative names like R9, R10 & R11.
So, instead of R12, R13, and R14, we're looking to actually give the upcoming releases names (they're just internal code names, so they won't show up anywhere in public -- just on internal docs and schedules and stuff like that), and we want themes for those names (there have to be at least 3 names for each theme).
Stephanie used the example of a Top Gun-theme: In that scenario, the Journals product releases would be code-named "Goose," "Maverick," "Iceman," etc.
So, for example, a theme could be your kids' names (assuming you have at least 3 kids). If your kids' names are Susan, Rasheed and Rumpelstiltskin, the first AOL Blogs release would be code-named "Susan," the next release would be "Rasheed", and the third would be "Rumpelstiltskin."
You can suggest anything, as long as there are at least 3 names in the series. NASCAR drivers. States. Norse gods. Favorite body parts. Presidents. Donuts. Anything you want.
If you have your own suggestion for code-name themes, don't tell me -- leave a comment in Stephanie's blog entry by midnight tonight, ET. We'll highlight 10 finalists and put up a poll.
* Journals Technical Project Manager Leona shows off the Journals & Polls teams sporting some really loud t-shirts.
* Paul says to check out the results of the 34th edition of CarnivAOL, which is being guest hosted over at The Light's On...But No One's Home.
* Indigo is a self-described outspoken deaf Cherokee woman who blogs about topics ranging from animal cruelty to domestic violence over at Raven's Lament.
If you have an entry of your own or someone else's that you want to blogplug, just send it to me or use the tag blogplugs
Thanks -- Joe
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
This Better Be Winter's Parting Shot
More snow.
We're only supposed to get an inch or two (or that's what the liberal weather media establishment would have you believe), so if we get snowed in, I'll tell you right now: I have half a sub in the fridge and a plan for raiding candy from people's cubicles, but if it comes down to cannibalism, remember: The weak and the slow are the first to go.
I took this opportunity to try to get some falling snow photos. I haven't had much success; it's hard to pick out the snow flakes so that they look like more than just "noise."
At the suggestion of my cow-orker Jason, I lengthened the shutter speed and turned down the exposure levels, and this is what I got:
The hallway on the left leads to HQ.
Signs at the traffic circle.
Flagpole shot.
1. I don't have a lens hood to protect the camera from falling snow.
2. It's really cold outside.
Thanks -- Joe
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