Daily Freeman Life Editor Ivan Lajara talks about journalism, living in the Hudson Valley, language, the Web, cats and even politics. But he shouldn't.
2015 is approaching so my resolution is to be less snarkHAHAHAnevermind.
The police in Lowell, Massachusetts, would like you to know that you should not be trying to capture the escaped goat because that's Massachusetts for you. I expect a micro-brew out of this in two weeks.
At least it's not like Britain, which is full of monsters. And that is to say, full of horrible people who write stories for the Daily Star. Drugs are bad, mkay?
Here are 24 tools to try in 2015 if you are a journalist of simply if you are into C O N T E N T. I tried Plague. It's fun and I'm wondering of its journalism applications. If you use it, however, you should lower your expectations. At left is what's on Plague's site. At right, my first post.
One cat AND Google Glass photo:
Yesterday's Internet, Today! is a random experiment in which I throw in a bunch of links I tweeted, faved or saw the day before or in the morning or maybe stuff from Facebook? I also post a cat and a Google Glass photo.
I took a look at the Daily Freeman top posts for 2014 and created some lists for the top news, galleries and features of the year. One of the galleries, Saugerties through the years, was very popular online mostly because of this photo. You figure it out.
The top posts are not to be confused with the Year in Review, which is a nice timeline of regional events.
Yesterday's Internet, Today! is a random experiment in which I throw in a bunch of links I tweeted, faved or saw the day before or in the morning. I also post a cat and a Google Glass photo or apparently a Pinterest board I've forgotten I had.
Yesterday's Internet, Today! is a random experiment in which I throw in a bunch of links I tweeted, faved or saw the day before or in the morning. I also post a cat and a Google Glass photo in case I've got nothing so at least there's a cat and a photo.
Merry Time After Christmas But Before New Year With An Awkward Weekend In The Middle!
I was not quite online yesterday because a large man trespassed into my home and ate my cookies and drank my milk and littered the whole place. I heard it was a spree, too, and it happened even though NORAD was chasing him.
Do you like predictions? Doesn't matter, here's another one: Most things you'll see online from now until the new year will be year-end listicles and, uh, predictions, because everyone's light on copy. Prediction 2: The upcoming New Year's Eve party in Downtown Kingston is only going to get bigger.
I said my piece. But also, stop trying to make 'hicksters' happen. It's not going to happen.
One cat (photoshopped in 5 places in Downtown Kingston):
One Google Glass photo:
Yesterday's Internet, Today! is a quasi-feature in which I throw in a bunch of links I tweeted, faved or saw the day before or in the morning. I also post a cat and a Google Glass photo. This tagline keeps changing because I don't know what I'm doing.
I found some old Photoshops I've done this year. Devoid of context, they can be delicious. How about getting them a caption? Let's see what we come up with. Simply write down your name (or whatever name you want but no cursies!) and a caption. And/Or vote for your favorite one.
That's the late Joe Cocker on the front page of the Freeman in 1994 to the left of the Christmas tree by the newsroom's entrance. The Woodstock '94 festival took place in Saugerties that year .I went to Rome's in '99, but nobody asked me so that's it for me. Merry War on Christmas.
Yesterday's Internet, Today! is a quasi-feature in which I throw in a bunch of links I tweeted, faved or saw the day before or in the morning. I also post a cat and a Google Glass photo. I don't know why, either.
Are you getting a drone for Christmas? The FAA wants you to "fly for fun!" Are you a journalist getting a drone for Christmas? PUT THAT DOWN, YOU!
Also, fixed it for you:
Are you a Kingston resident who received a scary sounding robocall from the mayor of the city on Friday? If you didn't jump off your window screaming, you might want to know it was about this.
Jay Rosen, who was (is?) an adviser for the Freeman's parent company, says if you're a journalist and you don't understand your biz, you should quit. Nick Denton says Jay Rosen is cray. Nick Denton runs Gawker, kind of. This is why I need a drone with lasers.
By which I mean, so you can fly above and escape the maddening plumes of opiate smoke that turn journalists into giggling maniacs:
UPDATE: Thankfully, journo twitter dad Steve Buttry has a thoughtful post about this (the Rosen-Denton thing, not the stoned journo) so now I look bad for being silly. THANKS, OBAMA!
One Internet cat: Catbot 3000 is a Twitter bot that combines headlines with cats. It was baked with love by Patrick Hogan after an errant tweet by a crazy Peruvian life editor who lives in Kingston and whose names escapes me.
The Kardashian gang took a trip down memory lane last night and ended up on Chase No Face
— Catbot 3000 (@catbot3000) December 23, 2014
One Google Glass picture: Downtown Kingston.
Yesterday's Internet, Today! is a quasi-feature in which I throw in a bunch of links I tweeted, faved or saw the day before or in the morning.
Last Friday's post did very well, because you probably thought I was quitting.
I was looking at very old Freeman editions the other day, and the front page ad you see above kept showing up and catching my attention, because child labor for poison sticks.
I feel bad for feral cats that have not yet found a human to train to feed them. They are free, and yet so burdened.
— Henri, Le Chat Noir (@HenriLeChatNoir) December 17, 2014
And here's a Google Glass photo, because cats.
Yesterday's Internet, Today! is a quasi-feature in which I throw in a bunch of links I tweeted, faved or saw the day before or in the morning. Or a long time ago, apparently, because wut.
'Serial' is over, and you'll see many a post around the internets about it. I'm actually on episode 3 so this is all I've got for you:
NO SPOILERS!
'The Colbert Report' is over, and everyone showed up to say goodbye. You'll also see many a post around the internets about it with blah this and blah that, because clicks. It's the Content Wars, after all.
'The Interview' is over and not coming out in any format so of course scenes are leaking out. The Telegraph has the Kim-Jung un death scene. SPOILER ALERT! He dies. #sorrynotsorry. It's not like you can go see the movie anyway. And no, you can't see 'Team America' at the theaters, either.
No comment.
I have no comment about SantaCon Kingston taking place today in Uptown starting at 4 p.m.
I made a tutorial (for myself, mostly) on how to post emojis from a desktop PC (works better in Firefox). The Washington Post needs it for 💩. No comment.
Yesterday's Internet, Today! is a quasi-feature in which I throw in a bunch of links I tweeted, faved or saw the day before or in the morning. Plus other things, because why not? Anyway it's over now. NO COMMENT.
I have always worked under the impression that 'hipster' was kind of of derogatory term and that if you see one in real life, you have to throw holy water at them and scream "THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU!"
But maybe I'm wrong.
Yet another important listicle from an important publication I've never heard of because it's likely just a marketing thing has categorized the Hudson Valley as a place to travel in 2015, because of its 'hipster charm.' I wish I was kidding.
This is all Sari Botton's fault. I'm pretty sure she knows this.
Silver lining: Fodor said it's a place to travel in 2015 and it's still 2014. So, to paraphrase Sari, Get off my lawn.
I was looking for a Clint Eastwood 'get off my lawn' gif but this one's better.
A photo posted by - Hamilton The Hipster Cat - (@hamilton_the_hipster_cat) on
Hipster Google Glass photo
Are you still reading this? THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU!
Yesterday's Internet, Today! is a quasi-feature in which I throw in a bunch of links I tweeted, faved or saw the day before or in the morning. This one is not one of those times. Blame the hipsters.
I've seen this question pop up more than once, and I've wondered about this myself because those are important questions in journalism circles, apparently. Mac users have to just press Comand+Ctrl+Space to access the emoji keyboard. PC users are not so lucky.
I have an emoji keyboard on a mobile device, so I sent myself an email with all of them.
The long way to do it right now is to type the emojis on your phone, send yourself an email, and then send the emojis via your browser, and this won't work in every browser. SO:
Copy and paste the ones you want while using your PC and send them. They will display differently depending on the device. If your device or browser doesn't support them, you see some garble. Here's a daring thing: Even if it doesn't display on your device, it will display on others, but you won't know what you're sending. Let's just hope you can see the 💩s.
To celebrate this unlikely milestone, today's #DFMchat will revisit the very first topic covered then, to then be able to highlight how far we've come.
SO! We're talking what worked for this year; what didn't! (share the pain, so we don't have to go though the same); and hopes and wishlist for 2015. Bring your links!
The feed is posted below. You can also check out past chats over here.
If you want to chime in, post a comment in the container or a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.
To whomever's got 22 tabs open on my blog from Merck And Co. in Woodbridge, NJ., I can help you find what you want if you ask?
— Ivan Lajara (@ivanlajara) December 16, 2014
You know what can be torturous sometimes?: Online comments.
But let's just put this out there: If a news site tells you they care about your comments and then they close comments, they don't care about your comments.
A great publication would be The Racket. So of course it doesn't exist.
Randomness in gif:
The other day I sent an old gif to a stranger.
You can have it too:
Randomness in winter
There's a new 'Game of Thrones' teaser trailer but I can't seem to get it. Maybe you can.
Winter is coming, indeed. To the Hudson Valley. In quiz format.
Randomness in Twitter cat:
My cat is sad because he is looking directly into your soul, and rigorously evaluating everything it contains. pic.twitter.com/4FPIFRfpfx
— WHY MY CAT IS SAD (@MYSADCAT) December 16, 2014
Randomness in Google Glass photo:
Yesterday's Internet, Today! is a quasi-feature in which I throw in a bunch of links I tweeted, fave or saw the day before or in the morning. I have an ifttt recipe that puts all the links on a spreadsheet to make this easier and that's the reason I'm writing these: To see if I can eventually make sense of what I push out on a daily basis.
Yesterday's Internet, Today! is a quasi-feature in which I throw in a bunch of links I tweeted, faved, or saw the day before or in the morning. Or the weekend. My gf says this makes no sense.
Welcome to 'Yesterday's Internet,' a new and probably soon to be discontinued feature in which I pass on to you the links I ran into yesterday on the twitters and try to string them together like the Downtown Kingston lights seen above.
Can this be done coherently? Of course not! But this is the Internets, so:
Journalists, members of Digital First Media and pretty much everyone else who wants to - are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat at noon, Eastern Time.
Today we are talking experimentation in journalism. "I don't have time!" You say. Nobody does! So let's figure out how to do it in a manageable way while getting the most out of it. Also, expect some failures! "So why?" Good question! BRING IT! Also, bring your other insights, links and your #REALTALK.
The feed is posted below. You can also check out past chats over here.
If you want to chime in, post a comment in the container or a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.
Well, yes, if the operative word is potential. And no, if you're looking for current device applications.
Let me explain.
Google Glass is very much a beta tool today, even after many updates and upgrades — and the current version will likely stay that way. It's clunky looking and still has a poor battery life (though that's being worked on, according to the Wall Street Journal).
But hilarious "Daily Show" takedows aside, as a journalist, my real concern is with the device's usefulness for doing and consuming stories and experiences, along with whatever ethical implications that might arise from them. Read more »
Journalists, members of Digital First Media and pretty much everyone else who wants to - are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat at noon, Eastern Time.
Today's chat tackles links and linking as ethical journalism. (h/t Steve Buttry). How do you encourage the practice to your journalists. How does it help? What are the best practices? BUT! How much is too much? (or, is there even such as thing as too much linking?)
Bring your insights, links (obvs) and your #REALTALK.
The feed is posted below. You can also check out past chats over here.
If you want to chime in, post a comment in the container or a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.
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