1501 East Hennepin Avenue | Minneapolis, MN 55414
posted on 6/1/05 by Sharyn Morrow
There's been some buzz lately about 'Whatever' Radio - with San Francisco's KMAX 95.7 recent format change, moving to play music like an iPod on shuffle. Unfortunately it may just be "oldies wrapped up in new wrapping paper and a new bow" in their case. But Houston's KPFT is doing Random Radio for real. They kicked off their first session early this morning (4am-6am), by bringing in a blogger/listener, and plugging his personal iPod into their mixing board for two hours of random play. It was a good first step. But a good next step? How about moving the sessions to a time slot when more listeners are awake... Continue Reading | 1 Commentposted on 6/6/05 by Michael Opperman
Jupiter Research predicts that by 2010, 8 out of 10 online homes will have broadband access. (Not 8 out of 10 homes.) The other notable prediction is that 73% of US households will be online by 2008. With a conservative prediction of 3.3% growth over the next 3 years (not a statistician, so bear with me), the population is likely to be around 300,000,000. That means roughly 81,000,000 people, depending upon constitution of 'household' (27% of households) will NOT be online in 2008. And we know that this is predominantly a class divide. I'm going back to my Veblen. Continue Reading | Add a Commentposted on 6/6/05 by Martin Grider
MozillaZine has a nice roundup of recent articles about Greasemonkey, a firefox extention that allows you to change the content of a website to suit your own tastes. Wired news reports that greasemonkey users have: "... added a delete button and permanent search folders to Gmail, made their browsers show only print pages of online news stories, reconfigured all the content on a popular music website and removed Reuters stories on the Michael Jackson story from online newsreader Bloglines." Greasemonkey adds a whole new layer of customizability to the web-browsing experience that was previously more difficult to obtain. Unfortunately, using the extention seems fairly archaic and may prove quite daunting to the average end-user. Continue Reading | Add a Commentposted on 6/13/05 by Meghan Wilker
I'm a big fan of Trillian on my work PC, but at home on my iMac I've been stuck running multiple chat clients. Until now. My husband recently found Adium (with the Napoleon Dynamite sound set, of course) and can't stop raving about it. So, I downloaded it tonight, and indeed it's the Trillian of the Mac world. Me likey. Now I can finally run a single IM client at home and at work. Flippin' sweet. Continue Reading | 3 Commentsposted on 6/17/05 by Meghan Wilker
BMW and Fallon Part, Account Goes Into Review This is the part where we all sit back and wait for the huge layoff announcement. And we check the mail for Fallon resumes. Continue Reading | Add a Commentposted on 6/21/05 by Chuck Hermes
Turns images that you have uploaded into “Polaroids†by putting white space around them, you know, like a Polaroid. Check this image of Doris. Polaroiderize something. Continue Reading | Add a Commentposted on 6/22/05 by Andy Wright
Screw Google—when it comes to the Web's most incredible resource, my vote goes to Australia's National Public Toilet Map. For those times when you feel the urge Down Under, every second counts. So when in Sydney, doo as they do and make that quest for relief all the quicker with these robust search tools! There are also loads of helpful continence-related links and helplines for the especially desperate (but if it's really that bad, I'd say hang up and call 911.) Continue Reading | Add a Commentposted on 6/23/05 by Sharyn Morrow
This morning I'm excited for two reasons: 1) I've consumed too much coffee and 2) today the StoryCorps MobileBooth rolls up to Peavey Plaza, on the Nicollet Mall, and will be parked there through July 11th. StoryCorps is about giving regular people an opportunity and a place to interview each other and share their experience, their stories and their knowledge. That's much of what I love about blogging (text, audio, photo and video), and programs like This American Life. The immediacy of connecting with everyday people. People like us (and not). Last year Minnesota Public Radio came up with their own way to tap into this collective stream of consciousness, which they've dubbed "Public Insight Journalism" - the centerpiece of which is the Public Insight Network, a group of thousands of Minnesotans who have agreed to help MPR cover the news. Join up with them here. Or find out how to record a StoryCorps interview here. Or make audio posts from your phone here. Or find out how to start vlogging here. The possibilities are endless... Continue Reading | Add a Commentposted on 6/23/05 by Nancy Lyons
According to the blog, Between The Lines, on ZD Net, Sun President, COO and chief blogger Jonathan Schwartz recently gave an interview in which he suggested that blogging was 'essential for leadership'. The article is a decent read. My favorite aspect of the piece is Schwartz's assertion that blogs are the cornerstones of 'reaching out and cultivating community'. In my opinion, that's the real value overall on the web. Community. Connections. He suggests that blogs must be authentic - no ghost writers allowed. I'd argue that anything that represents a brand or a brand position, that is published in the web space, requires authenticity for success. Blogging requires a certain amount of courage. Authenticity requires courage. Traditional business culture contrasts the most powerful aspects blogging. In business we learn to 'position' brands. Oftentimes we mistake 'positioning' with 'posing' and in the process we lose our authentic voice. Blogging may be essential to leadership because it is a breeding ground for the truth. You can only pose for so long in the blogosphere. After a while, every story must come to an end. But a really good blog is a reflection of the truth, and that goes on and on. Continue Reading | Add a Commentposted on 6/27/05 by Michael Koppelman
Even though I have an iPod I wanted something to use as a voice recorder for podcasting. Many podcasters use the iRiver and, lucky me, my wife got me one for Father's Day. It is really cool. While its capacity is a fraction of a decent iPod, it has other advantages: 1. It has a built-in microphone for voice recording. 2. It has a built-in FM tuner so you can listen to and record the radio. 3. It is super small and super lightweight. 4. It runs on a single AA battery which seems to last a damn long time. 5. It's cheap! < $150. I got this one. Continue Reading | Add a Commentposted on 6/30/05 by Nancy Lyons
Developing websites for business allows us a glimpse at how people think about communicating with customers. Usually the first website is something they embrace, because it will mean less customer hassle, or it is something they resist, because it will mean less customer contact. I am constantly telling people -- what happens on the web should never be INSTEAD OF customer contact, it should be IN ADDITION TO. It's a way to enhance your process, your work product, your deliverable. But it shouldn't take the place of real-time, human-centric customer service. I recently ordered a vintage clock from a small, low budget website. The clock was a gift for a friend. I moved through the entire process online and anxiously awaited the arrival of my item. But when I tracked the package to my hometown, I was troubled to learn it had been misaddressed and was being returned. I immediately accessed the customer problem area of the website and filed my complaint. Within 12 hours I received a phone call from a rep who explained and offered to overnight the package. That short exchange made me feel confident in their brand and my purchase. And it illustrates how the web really compliments good customer service. It should never take the place of a real-time exchange. But it helps when a human isn't available. Continue Reading | Add a Commentposted on 6/30/05 by Michael Koppelman
Apple just released a new version of iTunes which supports podcasts. Podcasters all over are reporting huge increases in traffic. Apple, once again, gets there first. Continue Reading | 1 CommentJun 2005
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