tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12353256803489744272012-01-11T10:34:52.983-05:00A blog focused on media issues and trends, technology, and how the digital era impacts human culture. Steve Shoe is currently a web content professional and wary tech convert. He is also a former reporter/web editor, and former archaeologist. "Tangled in wires" refers to the feeling he gets living in the modern world.Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.comBlogger2521100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-22471522438193940662011-10-07T19:57:00.000-04:002011-10-07T19:57:00.594-04:00

Pity a show like this doesn't actually exist. Daring local newspapers should take this idea and run with it. It's a web-video gold mine. This is from the Oct. 2, 2011 episode of "Saturday Night Live," with host Melissa McCarthy.

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-91143087672770947032011-10-06T19:21:00.000-04:002012-01-11T10:34:52.989-05:00

We're all slaves to our technology, whether we're Apple fanboys or not. (Image credit: Unknown) In light of the passing of Steve Jobs on Wednesday, probably paired with my having read this essay at GOOD titled "Why I Dumped my iPhone — And I'm Not Going Back," I had a thought today while typing a run-of-the-mill e-mail. When referring to ourselves in writing, even in the middle of a sentence

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-27371461512333730102011-07-12T19:24:00.002-04:002011-07-12T19:24:01.020-04:00

Image from DesignReviver. I haven't been following my Twitter stream for about a week now. I mean, I've popped in and out, made a few @tweets and replies, followed a few links. But for the most part I haven't checked it as regularly as I had in weeks and months prior. This isn't new behavior for me, and possibly not even the longest stretch I've taken myself out of the loop. But I had a

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-3280651986098038382011-06-16T18:34:00.002-04:002011-06-16T18:34:00.275-04:00

Answer me these questions three, ere the other side ye see. View this scene from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." Ever navigate to a website and immediately get confronted with a popup requesting you take a survey after your time visiting the site? How many times do you volunteer to take the time to answer said useability survey, knowing it's likely going to be several annoyingly-phrased

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-18730098255635011112011-06-15T20:47:00.004-04:002011-06-23T10:20:36.596-04:00

I'm fascinated by the way technology shapes human cultures and societies, from the local to the global scale. Below is a section of text from the end of an early chapter in "God Emperor of Dune" by Frank Herbert that, for some reason, I felt the need to share. If you're not familiar with the original Dune series, I can't recommend the novels enough. I was never really into sci-fi as a reader,

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-20515424844635661272011-06-10T22:59:00.003-04:002011-06-10T22:59:00.704-04:00

So I started a photo blog on Tumblr to post some of the photos I take on my cell phone. For now I'm calling it Shoe's World View, though that's subject to change. I found myself in need of a creative outlet, given some current events in my life (my mother's health). Over the past several months, I've really found enjoyment in using my cellphone (HTC Incredible) to snap photos, using the

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-44123081150851937042011-05-16T19:24:00.004-04:002011-06-23T10:20:18.650-04:00

Planking: Risky even for inanimate objects. See the editor's note below. This one's going straight into my "People are Stupid" file:   "Planking." Not to be confused with the yoga pose. Apparently it's a trend where people take photos of themselves in supine or prone positions to post on their social media network of choice. It's an activity, evidently, in which folks attempt to one-up others

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-8633846694248360942011-05-04T18:56:00.002-04:002011-05-04T18:56:00.609-04:00

Historical record: The real show-and-tell value for any future kids will be the fact that news used to be printed on paper. I went to work Monday morning oblivious to the news about Osama bin Laden. When I saw the headline online, incredulity washed over me. It was the same feeling I had the morning I woke up and saw that Saddam Hussein had been captured. Of all the headlines I expected to

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-77180444700956338382011-04-26T22:32:00.001-04:002011-04-27T11:11:37.830-04:00

A month ago, Conan O'Brien had comedian Pete Holmes on his show, and Holmes touched on something that had been knocking around my mind at the time. The whole segment is pretty good, but I'm referring specifically to the bit he launches into at the 3:50ish mark below: For those with smartphones, be they iTelephones or otherwise: Do you ever find yourself, like Holmes, pondering a question about

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-68667011857224131952011-04-24T21:09:00.002-04:002011-04-25T14:23:43.755-04:00

One of the most irksome statements in any discussion of the future of magazines or newspapers is when someone asserts: "Well, anything I want to know about, I can find online. Why pay for something that is old news by the time it gets to me?" This point of view is woefully ignorant. Either that or I'm fiercely jealous of these people's supposed ability to wrangle all the information worth

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-44828387002990059722011-04-22T19:17:00.005-04:002011-04-22T19:17:00.676-04:00

I love to write. I don't profess to be great at it. When I was in grad school, though, I learned that I love to edit, too. From picking out smaller grammatical mistakes, to hammering overly-complex sentences out into something smooth, to the broader goal of shaping a piece in its entirety, the editor's hat was one I found comfortable. Sadly, so much of what's written these days only gets a

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-1752157216699315702011-04-13T19:18:00.001-04:002011-04-13T19:18:00.135-04:00

That's right, hoard them while you can. Soon those Flip cameras will be artifacts of a bygone era in our digital culture. (Photo by Scott Beale/ Laughing Squid, obtained from the Flickr Creative Commons) Back in January, I wrote a post that called attention to the dangers of free web tools no longer being free. As with many of my entries here, it was written from my perspective as a former

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-16446673722332039532011-04-11T18:40:00.000-04:002011-04-11T18:40:00.952-04:00

The Internet can be dumb. Firm a believer as I am that something funny one time will be funny the 500th time, the same is conversely true for stupid or annoying jargon. If it's irritating once, it will be irritating after it's been circulated ad nauseum. The Internet is a very good medium for accomplishing just that. Here are some suggested entries for phrases I find overused and now lacking

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-88034629821101674002011-04-02T00:21:00.000-04:002011-04-02T00:21:03.112-04:00

Did you hear about Google's Gmail Motion? Sure, it's an April Fool's gag, but this is elegant, subtle humor. If the Internet has improved anything, it's April Fool's Day. "To send a message: lick a stamp and place it down." Priceless. Still, how long do you think before we ARE interfacing with our devices like this, be they "desktop" or mobile? The Nintendo Wii, the Microsoft Kinect: I think

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-85853224611094619662011-03-26T22:14:00.004-04:002011-04-13T17:10:31.725-04:00

I've started earnestly playing around with the Evernote app, and have begun to see this being a useful addition to my life. I may never have been a calendar guy, but I'm definitely a note-to-self guy.  This app keeps my pockets and dresser-top free of assorted bits of paper, and I don't need to hunt for that little pocket notebook I keep misplacing. Still, there is something to a hand-written

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-63677277687537371972011-03-23T21:53:00.000-04:002011-03-23T21:53:24.085-04:00

Photo courtesy of NBC. "Outsourced" airs Thursdays at 10:30 p.m. Watch this show! I tend not to delve into the entertainment side of popular culture here at Tangled in Wires (with the occasional exception for video games), but I feel I can justify what follows. If I distilled my intent behind this blog into the broadest-possible subject headings, these two topics would be the result: technology

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-6151826412234313232011-03-22T22:25:00.001-04:002011-03-23T01:16:31.148-04:00

Here's another impact the decline of printed media will have on a large section of the American population, one I've never seen discussed elsewhere: Jay Leno's Headlines bit on "The Tonight Show." I haven't watched a full episode of "The Tonight Show" since Conan O'Brien's last. I just can't put my eyes on Leno — who I started watching shortly after his debut as host in the early 1990s, who was

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-82025681846871685092011-03-17T19:54:00.004-04:002011-03-17T19:54:00.219-04:00

Buddha Bot, contemplating the intersection of technology and faith. In my revised blog description above, I refer to myself as a "wary tech convert." True. However, I recently acquired this t-shirt, which I think expresses my more optimistic views on technology and human society. I like to hope we can achieve harmony with our machines, as opposed to the typical doomsday scenario embedded in

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-69218570409824344992011-03-16T19:34:00.001-04:002011-03-16T19:55:06.942-04:00

Hey, up yours! I'm anonymous! Here's another illustration of why it's a weird time in the transition from anonymous to open Internet. Read yesterday's post here. In an opinion piece on CNN, SI.com columnist Jeff Pearlman tracked down a few folks who left him particularly nasty comments over some pieces he wrote. Confronted, the individuals were not antagonistic or crude; rather, they were

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-91625803697468787182011-03-15T19:21:00.002-04:002011-03-16T15:20:55.646-04:00

A piece published at Slate last Wednesday, written by Farhad Manjoo (now notorious in the post-period double-spacer community) takes up the flag for one of my favorite causes: the end to anonymous online comments. ... Anonymity has long been hailed as one of the founding philosophies of the Internet, a critical bulwark protecting our privacy. But that view no longer holds. In all but the most

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-77465278723401093632011-03-11T22:18:00.001-05:002011-03-11T22:20:25.256-05:00

So the iPad2 was released today, but I'm still laughing at this bit from Conan the other week. I've never made it a secret that I don't like Apple and don't find their products as awe-inspiring as others. Feel free to psychoanalyze me for the reasons why. I had no interested in the original iPad, though I was (and still am) excited for the era of tablet computing. With a slew of Android-powered

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-32888233225549720132011-03-01T19:54:00.001-05:002011-03-01T19:59:35.201-05:00

Regular readers of this blog (all eight of you) have hopefully noticed the new header it's sporting. This is the first header in the history of TiW. If you know anything about my Photoshop skills (minimal), you'll understand this is a major milestone for me. My personality would never allow me to outsource any of this to talented individuals, so it was produced entirely in-house (in-apartment?)

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-10122783131901888312011-02-27T22:21:00.000-05:002011-02-27T22:21:53.464-05:00

BEEP BOOP BEEP: We've come a long way from the days of thumbing the same key multiple times to send a text. I've found myself wondering lately: With the proliferation of smart phones, especially last year, with full physical or virtual keyboards, and with said proliferation expected to increase in the coming years, will the use of "textese," which Wikipedia also references as txtese, txtk, and

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-44261084521976915942011-02-18T19:25:00.002-05:002011-02-18T19:25:00.154-05:00

As always, I thought it would be prudent to have a calendar ordered for me at work. As always, I hardly use it. I did pay my auto insurance on time, though. I'm pleased to report that one New Year's resolution seems to be coming to fruition: I'm becoming a calendar guy. Sort of. Since the time I decided to leave my job puncturing New York state with holes to get a master's degree, it just

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-75110540525431931382011-02-08T18:36:00.002-05:002011-02-08T18:36:00.095-05:00

My obsession with Android figures continues. The four I have are part of a collection designed by artist Andrew Bell, in partnership with Dyzplastic and Google. There were several other designs when Series 01 shipped last year, and initially you could get a box of 16 figures for $116. The Android Series 01 family, which I don't have. Boo. (Incidentally, I pulled this photo from Maximum PC.)

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-34004356147711086632011-02-02T20:41:00.000-05:002011-02-02T20:41:00.244-05:00

I admit it. I'm becoming obsessed with Android. It's partly about the operating system itself (of course, I'm no developer, but the more I learn about some of its technical details, the more I appreciate it) and part of it is that darn cute Android character. As you can see, I've added two more figures to my collection — I just couldn't break up the original duo, so I got two more to bring to

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-79380244421188496652011-01-27T20:10:00.002-05:002011-02-02T15:49:13.231-05:00

I've spent the last month playing with a new toy: an HTC Incredible smartphone running Android 2.2. This replaces my old phone, a BlackBerry Storm. Now, I'm definitely enjoying my time with Google's open, multi-tasking mobile operating system and the excellent device running it, but I want to go to bat for an oft-maligned piece of hardware. The Storm has been denigrated by many (in fact, back in

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-27884265569215867212011-01-06T18:43:00.002-05:002011-01-07T01:28:41.426-05:00

"This truly is the cup of the King of Free Web Tools!" Back in the days when I was still in the news industry, as my newsroom was about to embark on the company-wide Ben Franklin Project, a colleague pointed out a service called Drop.io to me. It was a free, simple file-sharing service that allowed users to create a virtual drop box (not to be confused with Dropbox, a file-syncing service) to

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-31029892923597689062010-12-21T23:55:00.002-05:002010-12-22T09:42:06.548-05:00

I hurriedly scribbled a note on a Christmas card Monday night before I left the office, a task I'd meant to do all day. I slid the now-personalized card into its envelope, on which I had placed a stamp earlier in the day (the only bit of forethought I brought to this task), and scrawled out return and sender addresses. Then I tucked the card into my bag and walked to my car, with the intention of

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-58355532316950473292010-12-13T22:01:00.003-05:002010-12-14T09:31:27.216-05:00

It's funny how, in the waning weeks of 2010, I'm listening to the radio so I can follow the New York Giants football game in Detroit. The game isn't being televised in Ithaca -- or anywhere else in New York state outside of the New York City metro and Albany markets (one reason I DO miss Albany) -- after the massive scheduling snafu that resulted from the collapse of the Metrodome roof. Of course

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-46055221210899349482010-11-29T17:12:00.003-05:002010-11-29T17:12:00.123-05:00

I tackled Thanksgiving weekend sans cell phone thanks to my forgetfulness. You know what? It was pretty nice. I'm thinking about doing it more often. Granted, now that I no longer use my device to receive work e-mail, my phone is generally only used for the following activities, in decreasing order of time spent: Making phone calls, checking/posting to Twitter, using the Google Maps app, and

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-26943474383240711262010-11-22T12:34:00.006-05:002010-11-22T12:39:33.439-05:00

As the eight or ten of you who read this know, I used to be the online editor at a small daily newspaper north of Albany. Part of my duty was keeping the website, especially the homepage, updated and fresh. Almost every morning, before I did anything else, I was up to make sure the expected updates had been made overnight and that the site didn't look the same as the night before. Most times

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-67979821088460556942010-11-04T18:58:00.035-04:002010-11-04T18:58:00.553-04:00

A day before this year's elections, I went to check out Saratogian.com (the site of the newspaper for which I worked for almost three years before moving to central New York), and was shocked by what greeted me on the homepage: A giant, expanding banner ad for a political candidate. Before and after photos: No missing this ad. It muscles the homepage content out of the way. After the huge

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-83270653217241817062010-10-28T13:32:00.007-04:002010-11-04T12:18:47.334-04:00

I know I don't work in the media business anymore, but having been at the helm of a newspaper's online operation for almost three full years, I have some pretty solid opinions on how and how not to attract readership and what would make someone want to subscribe to the print edition of a product. Newsweek, I understand the woes you face currently, and the need for revenue to keep your great

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-67300072015553416712010-10-15T17:53:00.008-04:002010-10-15T17:53:00.626-04:00

Still a winning combo: Graphite and pressed pulp. A few weekends ago I bought a checking ledger at Staples, a physical record into which I can scribe my financial transactions. Even more archaic? I paid for it in cash -- with exact change. In today's world of online transactions, online bank statements, and Mint, my sense is most  my age would find a physical ledger an antique and my desire to

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-16684372279510133622010-10-15T17:13:00.002-04:002010-10-16T00:34:33.370-04:00

Here's an article that dovetails perfectly with my last post. It's from the Tech Chronicles blog over at SFGate.com (the San Francisco Chronicle site): "Cars just a pixel in Google's sweeping AI vision" If my last post hinted that I thought IA (Intelligence Amplification) -- as outlined by Vernor Vinge -- would beat advances in Artificial Intelligence to that point in time dubbed "The

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-19187153911790916212010-10-13T00:11:00.002-04:002010-10-13T00:16:29.325-04:00

I've been thinking alot about a concept known as "The Singularity" lately, which I confess I know only a little about currently. I became aware of this concept officially after reading an article in Wired a few years ago, but my familiarity with it goes back to the pop culture of my youth and young adulthood. Whether people know it or not, it is a recurring theme in many of our modern mythologies

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-79481874290568999842010-10-11T12:25:00.000-04:002010-10-11T12:25:13.057-04:00

The New York Times has a piece today putting Howard Kurtz's move from The Washington Post to The Daily Beast in the broader context of so called "brand-name" journalists who migrate from traditional media to digital platforms. It also looks at the difference between the old print world and the online blah, blah, Internet changed the news game, blah blah making money online is hard, blah, blah ad

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-86628183392277712862010-09-28T17:17:00.039-04:002010-09-28T17:17:00.743-04:00

Just wanted to share this photo, sent to me via MMS last week (cropped and lightened a bit by me). It shows off the Associated Press award I share with former colleague, friend, Polish brother, Southern Tier native and lover of Cortese pizza. This event was back in May, when I was still the web editor at The Saratogian. Congrats again, Stan! A couple pies to celebrate next time you're in

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-881137496648927322010-09-27T18:08:00.002-04:002010-10-01T14:20:55.137-04:00

In my previous post (read it here) I shared a snippet of e-mail I sent to a friend and former colleague in the newspaper business regarding shifts in how people use the Internet. In his response back to me, my friend wrote: "I wish this whole web thing happened a long time ago so that we'd be recovered from the damage it did. Everyone talked up web 1.0 and 2.0 as disruptive technologies.

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-51819300947040742692010-09-22T18:44:00.002-04:002010-09-30T15:03:46.096-04:00

A hundred years from now, when my great-grandchildren are in their U.S. history classes, they'll learn about great capitalist barons and moguls that shaped the society and civilization they find themselves in. No, it's not Rockefeller, Morgan, Carnegie et. al, to which I refer, but Zuckerberg, Jobs and others who have and continue to reshape the ways we use the Internet and are amassing their

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-53407122368108457332010-09-20T18:48:00.001-04:002011-03-01T12:17:52.881-05:00

Hi folks. Some noticeable cosmetic tweaks to the blog now that I'm no longer in the employ of The Saratogian: a new layout and color scheme using Blogger's new template designer. Turns out the feature was a bit more robust than I initially thought (the mistaken impression due to my missing a scroll arrow that led to more options. Oops!). I'm most happy I was able to adjust the pixel width of the

Steve Shoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02400066537412249261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-75755329033262501072010-08-30T00:44:00.010-04:002010-08-30T22:48:34.234-04:00

When I began work at The Saratogian in early December 2007, the default password to log into the first level of our system and access my computer's desktop ended with a 1. Between then and now, I've periodically been prompted to change that password; always I used the same word and just changed to the next consecutive number. Currently I'm on 17. There, it seems, it will stay. After Tuesday,

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-70429759895345485322010-08-24T13:42:00.003-04:002010-08-24T13:49:27.835-04:00

How this guy knew we'dwin is beyond me. Belated congratulations to my colleagues here at The Saratogian for some awards recently announced by the New York Associated Press Association for the 2009-10 excellence contests. You can read full details on the awards here, including links to some of the articles, but an especially big congrats to Mareesa Nicosia, for her series that examined

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-7908988060904873872010-08-23T14:53:00.002-04:002010-08-23T14:56:35.723-04:00

I navigated over to the Times Union site a few minutes ago and was struck by the triumvirate of photos displayed on the homepage, awaiting my click. I thought: "How crafty those people at the TU are! They know what attracts page views." As can be seen in the screen shot (click to enlarge), the selections zeroed in on some of the most basic motivators of the male brain: silly humor, attractive

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-13804117482590428272010-08-11T12:42:00.000-04:002010-08-11T12:42:10.418-04:00

"Pearls Before Swine" from Aug. 10, 2010:

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-19211574993673119072010-08-10T14:52:00.005-04:002010-08-10T15:43:05.455-04:00

As I write this, I'm observing a phenomenon worthy of the study of my friend, the anthrotechnopologist Flickinger Dockstader. So I'm sitting at operation central for The Saratogian's social media campaign, watching tweets pop up via TweetDeck when I notice several touting some new outfit called Heello. Curiosity aroused, I clicked on the provided link and was taken to Heello's homepage. Pretty

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-73411425308232370012010-07-29T13:05:00.004-04:002010-07-29T13:14:01.723-04:00

My how the time flies. I started writing the first part of this post on Aug. 26, 2009 but never published it. In looking through unfinished or half-formed drafts, this one seemed worth buffing up and putting out in the blogosphere.  I slipped into a bit of nostalgia Tuesday on my drive into work as I thought about the bygone days of VCRs and 8-bit Nintendo systems, when suddenly my mind cast

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-70064451601757443452010-07-29T12:02:00.000-04:002010-07-29T12:02:14.947-04:00

My counterpart in Troy at The Record, Tom Caprood (who sports a cooler title than me: He's the 'digital specialist' to my 'web editor,' but it amounts to the same position) has a new blog. Tom was recently selected to be part of Journal Register Company's IdeaLab. Fifteen of my colleagues across the company will be outfitted with a laptop, an iPad and an iPhone (don't hold the left side!) or

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-35457629006888815052010-07-23T18:19:00.003-04:002010-07-23T18:23:19.860-04:00

I won't lie (or be modest): I rock the pink ensemble. I'm not a polo shirt kind of guy, personally, but, you know: You do what you gotta. Good luck at the track, everyone.

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-28508010667584542162010-07-21T16:11:00.000-04:002010-07-21T16:11:21.526-04:00

I just updated our saraTechian blog with a post about how some classic reporting methods still work well in the modern news environment. You don't necessarily need laptops, smart phones and wi-fi to get the latest breaking news and developments out to the public:   saraTechian: Still room for old tech, old techniques in news gathering.

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-50665120433752035712010-07-04T03:22:00.003-04:002010-08-30T14:51:21.031-04:00

The journalism industry is changing, and The Saratogian, along with its corporate owner Journal Register Company, want to help evolve the business model that is failing traditional news operations. To that end, we undertook a project we hope will turn out to be revolutionary for both the industry and the people who consume our product — that is, you, our readers. Today, July 4, is the

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-77808544481480212092010-06-29T12:53:00.002-04:002010-06-29T13:01:39.332-04:00

So I'm faced with a purchasing decision and I don't know what my best option is. As part of the Journal Register Company transformation, I've been trained to ask "What would Jeff Jarvis do?" (Jarvis is on JRC's board of advisors.) Thanks to that training, I know that Jeff Jarvis would ask "What would Google do?" And I now know the answer to that question is a little buzzword I like to toss

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-39887312742428308432010-06-25T13:23:00.002-04:002010-06-28T11:41:47.975-04:00

Do you utilize geolocation social networking sites like FourSquare or Gowalla or geolocation features on Twitter or other platforms? If so, I'd like to speak with you for an upcoming piece. Leave a comment here, send me an @ tweet (@steve_shoe) e-mail me at sshoemaker [at] saratogian [dot] com or, heck, pick up the phone and call me at (518) 583-8729 ext. 221. Update: Monday, June 28, 2010;

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-32222443031954551362010-06-22T16:35:00.000-04:002010-06-22T16:35:57.968-04:00

My favorite reader's comment of the day (ever?), left underneath the article "State Park Police arrest 68 during Phish concert weekend," and courtesy of user Saratoga01 (emphasis is mine): "This behavior is sickening. Saratoga has gone downhill every year as more people from this generation grow up and become adults. Disgusting is what it is. Walking their dogs on Broadway, talking on their

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-33045976264948435702010-06-21T11:32:00.000-04:002010-06-21T11:32:50.305-04:00

Friday night I shut my cell phone off and didn't turn it back on until this morning. There were one or two itches to turn it on and check work e-mail, messages or find out what was going on via Twitter, but really, they weren't that strong I love going without the cell phone when I can: It makes me feel like a pioneer crossing the continent in a covered wagon.

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-29745623711373550802010-06-18T15:05:00.003-04:002010-06-22T12:47:28.175-04:00

Earlier this week YouTube launched a video editor based entirely in "the cloud." It's really quite basic and if you've got a propriety program like Final Cut Express, iMovie or Adobe Premiere Elements that you're comfortable using, this early version of the program isn't going to impress. Still, for quick and dirty edits when you're on the go and away from your usual rig, it could be a

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-60467828789508393262010-06-15T22:32:00.001-04:002010-06-15T22:35:11.349-04:00

A remake of a 13-year-old video game based on a movie that's part of a film franchise -- based on novels -- that's had six actors play the title character over its decades-long run in the cinema? YES PLEASE! GoldenEye 007 at IGN.com Proof that gaming peaked in the mid-90s? Sorry. I know this doesn't thematically jive with most of this blog, but the Nintendo fanboy in me rejoices. Still

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-37295898680678641482010-06-15T10:55:00.002-04:002010-06-15T14:57:33.929-04:00

I was going to play around with Twitter Places this morning, the social networking site's new-ish foray into geolocation (read more at Mashable), but instead I got this:  As mysterious and captivating as the ancient cave paintings of Lascaux. A mild inconvenience, for sure (and Twitter has been having some problems for going on a week now). As I sat and pondered the iconic image, though, I got

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-13041330854258764332010-06-14T11:45:00.005-04:002010-06-25T14:01:56.412-04:00

I'm playing around with Twitter maps this morning. These are maps that show the latest tweets in a geographic region or more specific topic trends in an area, based on geo-tagged tweets. So far I've put in a little time with two, Trendsmap and Bing. Trendsmap looks impressive when it first loads up, and I suppose if we lived in a major metropolitan area like New York City, Boston, San Francisco,

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-31407964289190024022010-06-07T14:56:00.000-04:002010-06-07T14:56:20.625-04:00

I'm not anti-Apple enough not to acknowledge that the iPhone is one slick piece of gadgetry. With today's unveiling of the iPhone 4, the revolutionary device gets even slicker. Here's a live blog from the Yahoo! Working Guy tech blog covering the Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference in San Francisco today. It's amazing how much one can accomplish with a gizmo that fits in their pocket.

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-11082351212327260032010-05-25T13:16:00.000-04:002010-05-25T13:16:42.814-04:00

I never met Jay Gallagher, and I certainly never worked with the long-time Gannett veteran covering New York State politics. I came across his blog at the Times Union only recently (I think it was after my boss, Barb Lombardo, mentioned something about it a few months). I read several recent posts at the time with interest, from the perspective of a son whose mother has been fighting, recovering

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-50141186801087256142010-05-20T16:12:00.002-04:002010-05-20T16:17:37.818-04:00

From Bill Amend's FoxTrot comic that ran on Sunday, May 16, 2010 (click to enlarge).

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-64096437863822602862010-05-18T14:38:00.000-04:002010-05-18T14:38:46.394-04:00

The recent virus snafu on our website, combined with a need to restore my personal laptop to its factory setting* last week (basically erasing all my accumulated data and reverting the machine to the state it was in when I took it out of the box five years ago), got me thinking about Internet security. There's a myth out there that Macs never get infected by computer viruses or malware. I use

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-77165919696017346722010-05-07T11:46:00.000-04:002010-05-07T11:46:39.304-04:00

I'm happy to report that the viral issues affecting our website and some users has been resolved. I don't have any more details to share right now, but click here for a statement from our publisher.

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-20106991677794405592010-05-06T16:16:00.006-04:002010-05-06T19:50:07.339-04:00

We've gotten numerous reports today that our website is spreading a virus. Here's what I know:Over the last few days, our server space with our site provider was compromised and corrupted. It appears to be a problem across all/many/some Journal Register Company properties (our corporate owner). The company is working diligently with our site provider, TownNews, to correct the issue as quickly as

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-85145426608574665342010-05-05T19:07:00.002-04:002010-05-06T12:40:38.844-04:00

You know something's hot when the military wants a piece of the action.On Tuesday, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute announced a $35 million, multi-disciplinary center to study social networking; $16.75 million of that money is coming from the Army Research Laboratory for the first five years.RPI will partner with Northeastern University, the University of Notre Dame, IBM, Harvard and MIT to help

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-30596900880735582972010-04-29T23:54:00.006-04:002010-04-30T00:02:48.286-04:00

I just saw that Saratogian.com has once again pulled in over 1 million page views for the month (April). The milestone was crossed some time today (Thursday).Last month marked the first time that metric hit and surpassed the million tally, so it's great to continue that momentum.I don't think there will be cake this time, though.

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-24926811893552681412010-04-28T20:17:00.001-04:002010-04-28T20:18:53.530-04:00

A few posts back I mentioned some new Facebook policies that, basically, opt all users of the social networking giant into an arrangement to share their information with several sites, including Amazon and Pandora, unless they jump through several hoops to opt out.Turns out in the wake of that development, New York Sen. Charles Schumer and several others have petitioned the Federal Trade

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-30332256453900734482010-04-27T23:12:00.000-04:002010-04-27T23:38:52.413-04:00

Today I attended a workshop put on by the Associated Press of New York on social media and why news organizations need to be taking advantage of these tools.What I really took away from the day was reinforcement of how much news consumption habits have changed: People no longer come directly to news organizations for their content (such as subscribing to a newspaper); rather, they want the

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-83157379305763385742010-04-26T12:08:00.004-04:002010-04-26T12:42:24.454-04:00

On Saturday night I was at a house warming party, and in the kitchen I heard a debate about Apple products raging. From what I could gather, some foolhardy soul took the anti-Apple stance and was being soundly flogged for the position.Oh how I would have liked to sidled into the group to observe the discussion, but alas: I was tethered by a conversation in the living room and didn't want to be

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-70540582443986439472010-04-23T19:26:00.005-04:002010-04-26T12:07:43.586-04:00

Addendum (April 26, 2010; 12:07 p.m.): I should point out that this post doesn't reflect a disdain for social networking; rather, it disparages certain practices of the most prolific social networking tool currently utilized.Just in time for the weekend, I came across this: Another reason to beware Facebook. From the article:Now that Facebook is loosening its data-sharing policies with

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-87581146178108970062010-04-20T16:28:00.000-04:002010-04-20T16:28:25.503-04:00

Many folks in the community have already noticed our partnership with SeeClickFix, as the widgets have been on our site for several weeks, but today our corporate owner, Journal Register Company, made an official launch across the 18 daily news operations it owns.What is SeeClickFix you ask? Well, it's a tool that allows the community to call attention to problems in their neighborhood: potholes,

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-32289422550209072682010-04-17T09:30:00.003-04:002010-04-19T16:28:05.161-04:00

My last post was about the decline in anonymity on the Internet and how it relates to online comments left under news articles. There's a lot of discussion about ways to moderate the conversation taking place on media platforms.The problem, of course, is that the anonymity commenters think they have is what degenerates the discussion and turn these kind of forums into cesspools of thought.

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-88772875410724482162010-04-16T17:25:00.001-04:002010-04-19T16:26:25.146-04:00

Longtime readers of this blog know my mixed feelings about reader-submitted comments under our articles at Saratogian.com (if you don't, click the "comments" label at the bottom of this post to bring up past entries). It's a topic that our parent company, the Journal Register Company, has taken up anew in recent weeks and one that's been a source of discussion in newsrooms across the country.Here

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-28267453567668511452010-04-13T17:37:00.004-04:002011-01-27T12:34:39.900-05:00

I tried writing about Twitter in this space a few times in the last year and a half. My most recent attempt was just over a year ago, on April 10, 2009. Here's what I've had stored as a draft since that time: Here's my thoughts on Twitter: oversaturated techno-gimmick. When I first heard about it, a year, year and a half ago, it sounded stupid: Express yourself in only 140 characters! Forced

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-6553088671732454122010-04-13T12:19:00.003-04:002010-04-13T12:33:52.143-04:00

Twitter announced today that it will be introducing paid tweets. Click here to read more. Can I be the first to try and coin a catchy phrase? Noun: "Advertweetments." Or perhaps: noun, verb: "Advertweet."Or better yet: noun: "Entweetment." verb: Entweet."Sample sentence: "With a new multi-million dollar campaign, the box store retailer will utilize social networking/micro-blog site Twitter to

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-57905891805236542462010-04-12T14:29:00.009-04:002010-04-26T12:43:26.416-04:00

This will hopefully be my last post about the iPad for awhile, but a pair of final things to share as I ride the topic into the ground:First, the Albany Business Review has been running a survey the last several days asking readers "Are you likely to buy an iPad?" I answered this last week via my phone after seeing the question in the daily e-mail edition and was surprised by the results. I just

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-67730898937249383702010-04-04T21:44:00.005-04:002010-04-26T12:42:46.709-04:00

From CNN: Mario Armstong (his credits appear in the video) has a well-rounded take on the iPad.I don't doubt that the device will be successful, but as he points out (and I pointed out in one of my comments during the discussion resulting from my previous post), second generation iPads with improved functionality and features will be here soon enough; and once again (these are my words) Apple's

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-37925388910019319732010-04-01T16:55:00.003-04:002010-04-26T12:43:12.801-04:00

The cover story of this week's Newsweek, penned by tech editor Daniel Lyons, is a love letter to the Apple iPad, which comes out Saturday.I don't think I've ever gone on the record with this on the blog: I highly dislike Apple and their products.I understand why they're popular for people who just want something that does what it's supposed to do, and I get they are easy to use (though I've never

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-57050267691088143762010-03-31T14:09:00.006-04:002010-03-31T14:36:17.481-04:00

On Sunday, The Saratogian reached a milestone for the first time in its digital incarnation: 1 million page views for a month.We've been trending this way for awhile and may well have hit it in February — if February manned up and demanded its fair share of calendar space.As of this writing on this last day of March, the page view count stands for 1,124,454, while unique visitors for the month

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-61410819155314485952010-03-25T13:18:00.010-04:002010-03-25T17:13:24.900-04:00

Note: This post reflects my personal opinion and is not to be construed as the opinion of The Saratogian or its affiliates. I just had to weigh in on this because I can't believe some of the uproar over an article we published today. In fact, it's inspired a new caption for the photo of Obama and Biden in my previous post:Biden: "The stick up the ass of some in the Saratoga Springs community

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-80132629847013165462010-03-23T12:30:00.005-04:002010-03-23T12:40:03.914-04:00

This photo is just too good not to play a little game of "Caption This." Leave your suggestions in the comments.Original caption: President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden react to cheers as they arrive in the East Room of the White House in Washington,Tuesday, March 23, 2010, for the signing ceremony for the health care bill. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)(Editor's note: Creative and

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-75951859969596824332010-03-23T11:16:00.003-04:002010-03-23T11:22:12.494-04:00

I'm linking to this because I just really love the term "chili grenade.""Weaponized Pepper" would be a sweet band name.

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-35814678201767724552010-03-15T21:43:00.000-04:002010-03-15T23:43:32.556-04:00

Earlier this month I and several colleagues here at 20 Lake Ave. attended a forum organized by the Times Union and held at the College of Saint Rose in Albany. Titled "How blogs shape the conversation," it was meant to highlight how the blogosphere is shaping the media ecosystem and how news outlets like the TU (and this humble news operation) can harness those changes.It was a decent start, and

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-4679500257441695312010-03-12T16:21:00.002-05:002010-03-12T16:36:09.125-05:00

A silly addenda to my "Cut this story! - But how?" post from Thursday, courtesy of StuffJournalistsLike.com (thanks for the forward, Mareesa!):http://www.stuffjournalistslike.com/2009/06/inches.html

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-8454957701356989222010-03-12T12:41:00.003-05:002010-06-18T15:08:09.140-04:00

I'm working feverishly to finish a video for an upcoming community meeting The Saratogian will hold on March 22. Details on that below. The footage in the video will be a combination of shots taken with our professional Sony HDV camcorder that's become my favorite newsroom toy during my time here, and our new Flip Mino video cameras. I'm liking the Flips and the work our reporters have been

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-29192900527991009602010-03-11T14:31:00.004-05:002010-03-11T16:26:28.929-05:00

Last night I came across an article in the January/February edition of The Atlantic Monthly that got under my skin.In a column titled "Cut this story!" Michael Kinsley takes to task reporters who use too much verbiage. Ok, not a bad thing, and certainly a valid point. I've certainly stared at my share of New York Times articles and felt guilty and lazy for not wanting to read so much copy.But

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-65153663009488980602010-03-10T13:38:00.002-05:002010-04-19T15:49:22.136-04:00

One thing I like to do is keep track of our site analytics: page views, unique vistors and such. I especially like to track the numbers of our staff blogs.I fell behind in updating these numbers in the waning months of 2009, but we now arrive at December, the month that marked my two-year anniversary at The Saratogian.To view past entries in this series, click the "by the numbers" label below the

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-55949925241437185772010-02-23T23:40:00.008-05:002010-02-24T00:01:23.079-05:00

Being a reporter or editor in the news business is one of those careers — like politician, police officer, sports coach or teacher — of which everyone else knows how to do your job better than you.I came across this passage in Dexter Filkins' book "The Forever War" awhile back and think of it often. It's good for both a light chuckle and a reassuring nod of understanding. Filkins, reporting for

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-11660944633132504862010-02-22T16:52:00.007-05:002010-04-19T15:48:36.838-04:00

One thing I like to do is keep track of our site analytics: page views, unique vistors and such. I especially like to track the numbers of our staff blogs.And yes, you read the title of this post correctly: I'm finally getting around to posting our blog traffic for November of 2009. I'll be catching up on December and January's numbers this week, too, in advance of next week's look at February's

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-54335705249171702852010-02-16T11:43:00.002-05:002010-02-16T12:00:59.777-05:00

I just signed up for a forum about blogging being sponsored by the Times Union at the College of St. Rose in Albany early next month. It's going to be moderated by the TU's Steve Barnes. Featured panelists include the TU's Kristi Gustafson and the former AlbanyEye.It'll be interesting to see where the discussion goes, and hopefully I'll get some good hints and tips to incorporate into this

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-53125007604779079172010-02-12T11:51:00.003-05:002010-02-12T11:54:59.543-05:00

Congrats to my colleagues for their work that earned The Saratogian nine awards in the Suburban Newspapers of America 2009 Editorial Contest. It's a great testament to their efforts.Click here for details on the awards and links to some of the award-winning entries.

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-76272283985687420712010-02-11T13:59:00.001-05:002010-02-11T20:26:41.928-05:00

Editor's note: The following passages come from the field journal of Flickinger Dockstader, anthrotechnopologist-at-large, conducting independent research on H. sapiens interconnectus. Dockstader will file occassional dispatches for The Saratogian via this blog. What is it about this Internet that seemingly reverts full grown adults of the species to the mentality akin to that of a juvenile of

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-77357197511921908162010-02-10T15:52:00.004-05:002010-02-10T16:33:02.282-05:00

I can't take credit for the cheeky play on words that is the title of this post.As many may have discovered already, The Saratogian launched itself onto the social media bandwagon this past week. You can now fan us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. And I urge you to do so.My own point of view on social networking is known to long-time readers of this blog (or even recent readers), as it was

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-55722002075770922122010-01-20T12:56:00.002-05:002010-01-20T18:52:56.744-05:00

The New York Times announced today that in 2011 it will start charging frequent readers of their site.A certain number of articles will be accessible for free before readers are prompted to pay a flat rate for unlimited access; subscribers to the print version of the paper will have full run of the site (to echo sports writer Stan Hudy's battle cry: "Kill a tree, get it for free!").Click here to

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-23969509584084115922010-01-15T17:53:00.004-05:002010-01-15T18:22:08.216-05:00

The corporate parent of The Saratogian is the Journal Register Company, and last week they named a new chief executive officer, John Paton. Click here to read more.Now, I like to consider myself someone who doesn't drink the Kool-Aid, but I will say that this appointment is very encouraging because in all I've read about and heard from the man (during a conference call in which he made a

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-2288578801913210532010-01-15T11:36:00.005-05:002010-01-15T13:05:57.258-05:00

Today's the first new moon of the year, which seems like a perfect day to discuss the story of Luna. Good newsman that I am, I thought I'd weight in on the case of the deaf pitbull that went missing for several days after escaping from a veterinary clinic in Colonie. Afterall, it's only two or three days AFTER the story peaked. I like to be fashionably late.Actually, I'll just point you toward

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-43779097269322671882010-01-11T13:53:00.003-05:002010-01-11T14:24:27.460-05:00

Here's an item we received in our general e-mail inbox today that I'm presenting primarily as discussion fodder (it's not a new topic, but one always worthy of discussion). I hope to expand on this and related topics this week, hopefully starting tomorrow, but your thoughtful comments will help (is this mic on?).It comes to us in the form of an essay or editorial, but that's really just a guise

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1235325680348974427.post-59933110250272023892009-12-31T15:02:00.000-05:002009-12-31T15:02:00.235-05:00

Here I am, blogging on another significant "Eve" and just as anxious to get out of the office and enjoy a long weekend with loved ones.Another year is just about over and in terms of both my personal and professional lives, what a doozy. I'll save the reflections for myself, however.I won't make any New Year's resolutions about becoming a more prolific blogger here, but with luck that goal will

Steve Shoenoreply@blogger.com0