January 2009
27 posts
2 tags
Jan 28th
13 notes
1 tag
You're Going To Be Talking About This: Citigroup... →
(Image via Bill Barfield / Flickr) Judging by this New York Post article, Citigroup has trained its employees very well on how to not talk to reporters about its new, $45b, taxpayer-funded corporate jet. Bravo to Citi’s crisis comms folks. And now, writing as a taxpayer: Die. Inna. Fire. (Via)
Jan 26th
56 notes
1 tag
Was (Allegedly): $10.50. Is (Currently): $300. →
“An acrylic and oil painting of Gawker Media entrepeneur Nick Denton with pancakes on his head.” The e-bay auction ends in nine days. I’m betting it goes for two grand. (Via)
Jan 23rd
80 notes
1 tag
Jan 22nd
1 tag
The Importance Of Obama's Inclusion Of...
The Kimberly Hotel in mid-town treated about 100 supporters last night to a recast of President Obama’s inauguration last, some watching more attentively than others. Having missed it during the day, I was of the latter crowd. (Note: Thanks to Alyson Campbell of Amp 3 PR for organizing.) My thoughts, for whatever they’re worth: Obama didn’t have a sound-bite-worthy moment yesterday. No: “I...
Jan 22nd
1 tag
In Which I Correct Young Manhattanite:
youngmanhattanite wrote: If you are on a social network, Matthew W. Caldecutt will hunt you down and friend you. Unless you are on Tumblr. Then, notsomuch.
Jan 21st
2 tags
One Person's Reasons Why She Doesn’t Like Tumblr. →
Chris Faile wrote: First, I must say that Sarah Morgan is a dear friend whom I adore and is a wonderful writer who I enjoy reading— but who I disagree with quite a bit on this singular post. Half of her complaints are things that can be modified by each user (ie. comments and open RSS feeds— things I don’t have); the other is something that appears on my browser. One point she definitely...
Jan 21st
8 notes
1 tag
New Administration Putting New Media To Work.
The Obama administration’s first blog post is worth reading in its entirety. Who’da thunk that social networks would be included heavily in contemporary politics? Oh, wait, …. inothernews wrote: Last line of para seven - interesting. Welcome to the new WhiteHouse.gov. I’m Macon Phillips, the Director of New Media for the White House and one of the people who will be...
Jan 20th
33 notes
1 tag
Jan 16th
1 note
2 tags
“Filmmakers sometimes use dark skies to convey impending doom. But right now,...”
– Our new issue is out. I wrote the cover story and some of the case studies for a client of mine, its publisher.
Jan 15th
1 tag
Jan 14th
1 tag
“The economist Dean Baker is a strong advocate of a financial transactions tax....”
– The New York Times op-ed columnist, re: a financial transaction tax. I’m a proponent. (Via)
Jan 14th
1 tag
Jan 13th
1 tag
Jan 12th
8 notes
1 tag
Monday Mourning.
Me: They’re making a big deal again about these pirates having a spokesperson.
Colleague: Hmm. Is it Ronn Torossian?
Jan 12th
1 tag
Polls Results: Newspaper Bailout In 2009?
Some caveats from my question earlier today: / This is nowhere near a scientific analysis. // I don’t predict newspapers will receive a bailout in 2009; what I predict is some papers will ask for one. /// I do realize that this already happening in the media sector, with General Electric, which owns media company NBC Universal, seeking TARP funds. //// A strange request in...
Jan 9th
1 tag
One-Question Survey: Newspaper Bailout In 2009?
Using Twtpoll, an application that’s built on top of Twitter’s API, to either support the prediction that some newspapers will look to the Fed for loans/a “bailout” in 2009 or expose myself as a complete fool. Respond if you’re into such things and I’ll stream the running results later on. (For the Tumblr dashboard: static link to survey here)
Jan 9th
2 tags
“Here’s a new holiday cocktail for you: Combine one part bailout seasoning...”
– Reason’s Matt Welch on bailing out the newspaper industry. I’m on the record in several different places about how this could actually happen.
Jan 9th
1 tag
Great Moments In Ad Buying.
(Via Mike Keliher)
Jan 8th
1 tag
“We’ve been conditioned through movies and the media that love stories, our...”
– Tiffany Berryman, doing her best Tyler Durden.
Jan 8th
2 tags
Jan 7th
3 notes
1 tag
Is This How To Do The Xzibit Meme?
Given this, what I’m thinking right now*, after a colleague put his phone near my desk so we could do a conference call without going into the conference room, is: “’Sup dawg we herd u like to work so we put two telephones by ur computer so you can work while u work!” Someone, feel free to ‘shop this. BrianVan, you reading? * Yes, I just bitched on Tumblr about being busy. No, but really, I...
Jan 7th
1 tag
WatchWatch
Scott Heiferman’s hand-on-MacBook swearing-in of Nate Westheimer as organizer of New York Tech Meetup last night. Seven applications built on top of the Twitter API gave their elevator pitch to about 400 people. My favorite app that I saw was StockTwits.
Jan 7th
1 note
1 tag
My Plea For A ‘Sarcasm Mark’.
Shamefully, the most-read story I wrote in 2002 when I was on staff a campus/regional alt-daily was about punctuation; specifically, what are now, aggravatingly, called emoticons. This was before everyone had phones with full keyboards and when, because HTML wasn’t used en masse, “/sarcasm” meant nothing. These simple smiles and frowns were not enough for e-mail and instant messenger users,...
Jan 6th
1 tag
Report: This Is A Report.
brianvan wrote: Any headline that begins with, “Report:” is not entirely unlike someone prefacing, “I’m going to say this:”. Though it’s not self-referential, the idea is that if something is worth reporting, and you’re reporting it, it does not need to be headlined that the original info is sourced from a report. It’s a routine matter to pass along info this way, and it has nothing to do with...
Jan 6th
2 notes
1 tag
Jan 5th
1 tag
“Venture capitalists say one sector of the economy that technology has not yet...”
– Interesting, but I don’t get this biz model. Would love an example from someone who knows healthcare. Sarah Morgan, you reading? (Via)
Jan 5th