One Forward-Looking News Organization

It seems as if so many news outlets are stuck in the past. Here's one that's really looking ahead:

Future: News From The Year 2137 Trailer

A Great Wedding Video

The setting's amazing. Most of all, though, this is a Wedding Story amazingly told.

Wish I'd done it.

Jim

Facebook: Changes, Access, Service?

I don't know how much longer I'll have the old-ish Facebook layout, but I'm reading and hearing bad reactions to the new design. It feels like Facebook changes its look (and mind?) every few months. By the time we users are comfortable with a new look and navigation, it seems they come out with a new one. (And occasionally there's something like the confusion between "News Feed" and "Live Feed" which for millions of users still isn't really resolved.)

While it may take me a little longer to find people and apps in the days and weeks following a redesign, the sudden and frequent changes can be especially disorienting for many people who have come to rely on Facebook for contact and support while they limited in what they can do - homebound during illness, unable to respond quickly to change, etc. Online communication and community has become a life raft for millions of people, and Facebook's practice of frequent - and poorly announced, if at all - changes is a serious issue.

I hope that Facebook's leaders will actively and seriously review their practices in light of users who may have temporary or permanent physical or cognitive limitations, ones that enable the these persons to be very alive and valuable members of society, able to make valuable contributions to the online community, but need stable, consistent, familiar physical and online environments. These people, their families and their friends would then be able to remain active members of the Facebook community.

From a public service and accessibility standpoint, implementing an option to keep using an older Facebook design would be a significant service to these people, and from a business standpoint would help advertisers trying to reach this audience, including family and other caregivers. Otherwise, much of this audience will be lost.

Jim Coyle

Frontline on PBS: Digital Nation

Frontline, a PBS documentary series, examines the Digital Nation in a program premiering February 2, 2010. Here's a trailer about the show:

Jim Coyle

Music and an Online Player

Div Share hosts large files and includes players and other resources for sharing. Here's a student music project from Fall, 2008:



The music was submitted by John Sacca as an Intro to Mass Media class project.

Jim Coyle

Time Lapse: Building Conan's Set

Video from NBC showing the construction of Conan O'Brien's new set for the Tonight Show.

What's Twitter?

Here, in plain English, is your introduction to Twitter:

This video should give you a good idea about Twitter's basics, but it's a services with many ways to get lost in time and cyberspace - or to find people and ideas that are helpful and socially enriching. I've been using it lately to follow trends and events in a couple of areas, and along the way have been getting to know more about how "cyber friends" spend their day. Hint: We don't usually post what we've had for lunch, etc.


I've added a display of my recent Twitter posts - called Tweets - to the right of this page. Click on the follow me on Twitter link over there Or Here) to go to my Twitter page and see my current feed. And follow me on Twitter.


Jim Coyle

A Video Worth Our Time and Attention

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDeaAOqagww

Weirton Steel Main Office - The Past

Basic Tutorials on Audio Podcast Editing with Audacity

Here's a behind the scenes look at the way I edit the Spirit and Life Podcast using the Audacity audio editing program. I've divided the process into a series of 15 short videos, concluding with publishing on the Web.

The audio is clear in all the videos, but there is a significant improvement when I switch microphones in segment 9 or so.

Jim Coyle

The Future of Television News

The Wall Steet Journal's website posted this video on January 23, 2009, looking at the future role of television news.

Campus Office Internet Connection Much Slower Now

Here in Egan Hall, the speed of the Internet connection in my office is significantly slower than before the University switched to another internet service provider during the Christmas break. I sure wish I'd saved the earlier test results. Here's a test a ran a couple of minutes ago:

The download speed is about what I've been getting since the semester started - and it's slightly slower than my typical DSL download speed at home. The upload speed here at the office is much faster than my home connection, but today's result is about 1/3 of the upload speed I've gotten in a dozen tests during the past week.

My office connection used to be really, really fast. I hope this is just a temporary problem.

Update: Here's the speedtest for my connection at home "later that same day..."

President Gerald Ford's Talk to the Nation After Taking the Oath of Office

In my lifetime there have been two out-of-the-ordinary times when a person took the oath of office and became President of the United States. One of those times occurred because of Watergate and the resignation of Richard M. Nixon in 1994. Here is how Gerald Ford began his talk with the nation immediately after taking the oath of office.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

As MSNBC has made sure we know, they're the source of this clip. It's part of their coverage of this year's Presidential Inauguration events when Barak Obama will become the 44th President of the United States two days from now. As recently announced, we can visit MSNBC and not only read stories and watch and listen to video and audio clips, we can also read transcripts of many videos and jump to different parts of the talks by clicking on that part of the transcript. And as I've done here, we can select clips to embed on other websites.

Watchable Videos on YouTube?

YouTube Contest Challenges Users To Make A 'Good' Video

A Clear Case of Media Bias

Weather Channel Accused of Pro-Weather Bias

Consider, of course, the source.

Hollywood - Bollywood - and now Nollywood

Check out this story about the world's 3rd largest movie industry center:

Here's the video's home location: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/franco_sacchi_on_nollywood.html

Traverse City's Beauty

Capistrano Films was producing commercials and information videos for the Cherry Tree Condo Hotel in Traverse City, Michigan. I had a chance to take some photos of the area near the hotel, but there's so much more!

Production Shots - Traverse City, Michigan

We followed Capistrano Films during location shooting in Traverse City, Michigan in May, 2008. Capistrano's Antonio Soave was producing and directing commercials and information videos for the Cherry Tree Condo Hotel. Here are some behind-the-scenes photos.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

The Role of Civic Media in the 2008 Presidential Election

Henry Jenkins presents this talk, part of the MIT Museum Salon Series. Presented October 22, 2008.

Conceding with Class