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Monthly Archives: October 2004

Writing & Editing Grab Bag, Oct. 31

October 31, 2004 – 5:04 pm

Here’s a collection of items related to writing and editing that have caught my attention lately. TOP OF THIS LIST: “Buzzwordify, by Eric Rice, Oct. 21. Recoiling in horror from yet another buzzword-laden web page, Rice suggests a blogger rebellion. I’m with you on that, Eric — and I’m doing my part right here! (Read the rest of this list…)

By Amy Gahran | Posted in Amy's Grab Bag (quick notes), Real World Writing | Comments (2)

Tools Grab Bag, Oct. 31

October 31, 2004 – 4:06 pm

Here are some cool tools that I wanted to tell you about. TOP OF THIS LIST: NewsGator Online is now free. I know several people who use and love Newsgator, a service that bundles an online feed reader with other neat features and integrates with Microsoft Outlook. I’m not a Microsoft person, so I haven’t been inclined to pay for NewsGator so far. However, now that the online version is free, I might give it a try. I’ll see if it gives Bloglines a run for the money. (Read the rest of this list…)

By Amy Gahran | Posted in Amy's Grab Bag (quick notes), Resources | Comments (1)

Podcasting Grab Bag, Oct. 31

October 31, 2004 – 4:04 pm

I recently started writing about a new way to distribute audio content online called podcasting. Here are some more items related to this emerging field that have caught my interest. TOP OF THIS LIST: It’s a tie: “Podcasting: Not Ready for Prime Time” (by John C. Dvorak, PC Magazine, Oct. 25) and its counterpoint, “John C. Dvorak Trashes Podcasting and IT Conversations” (by the incensed Doug Kaye Blogarithms, Oct. 25). It a little bit of “Crossfire,” right here in the blogosphere. (Read the rest of this list…)

By Amy Gahran | Posted in Amy's Grab Bag (quick notes), Voices: Blogs, etc. | Comments (1)

Webfeeds Grab Bag, Oct. 31

October 31, 2004 – 3:18 pm

Here’s a collection of items related to webfeeds that have caught my attention lately. TOP OF THIS LIST: “A culture of feeds: syndication and youth culture,” Apophenia weblog, Oct. 10. Danah Boyd cuts through some of the webfeed hype. Excerpt: “Sitting in at Web2.0 for 20 seconds, I was intrigued by the ongoing hype of RSS. …For this audience, I think that it is certainly true. But I’m wondering if that’s really true beyond the info-nerds.” (Read the rest of this list…)

By Amy Gahran | Posted in Amy's Grab Bag (quick notes), Feeds (RSS) | Comments (1)

Blogging Grab Bag, Oct. 31

October 31, 2004 – 3:13 pm

Here’s a collection of items on the topic of blogging that have caught my interest lately. TOP OF THIS LIST: “Comment Spammers: internet pigs and how they feed,” by Steven Streight, “Vaspers the Grate” weblog, Oct. 29. A brilliant manifesto! (Read the rest of this list…)

By Amy Gahran | Posted in Amy's Grab Bag (quick notes), Voices: Blogs, etc. | Comments (1)

Wiki Grab Bag, Oct. 31

October 31, 2004 – 2:53 pm

This is a collection of wiki-related items which have caught my attention recently. TOP OF THIS LIST: “Journalism’s Future May Be Wikipedia,” by Peter Tupper, “The Tyee” weblog, Oct. 22. Excerpt: “Wikipedia.org, an online hypertext encyclopedia to which anybody can add and edit information, could be the future of journalism. Wikipedia is not only a reference work, it also makes a pretty good newspaper.” (Read the rest of this list…)

By Amy Gahran | Posted in General | Comments (1)

Net & Society Grab Bag, Oct. 31

October 31, 2004 – 2:43 pm

This is an assortment of items that demonstrate how the internet is affecting or reflecting society — including free speech issues. TOP OF THIS LIST: “My FactCheck.org RSS Project,” NetNerds, Oct. 23. Finally, someone has created a good scraped webfeed for FactCheck.org, just in time for the election. (Read the rest of this list…)

By Amy Gahran | Posted in Amy's Grab Bag (quick notes), Net Effects on Society | Comments (2)

Media & Journalism Grab Bag, Oct. 31

October 31, 2004 – 2:12 pm

Here are some items on the theme of media, news, and journalism that I’ve been meaning to write about. TOP OF THIS LIST: “From Pull to Point: How to Save The Economist and The Journal from Irrelevance,” by John Battelle’s “Searchblog,” Oct. 11. Excerpt: “Why, I wondered, were these two august bastions of journalism falling off my reading list? …Both require paid subscriptions, and therefore, both do not support deep linking. In other words, both are nearly impossible to find if you get your daily dose of news, analysis and opinion from the blogosphere.” (Read the rest of this list…)

By Amy Gahran | Posted in Amy's Grab Bag (quick notes), Media Musings | Comments (1)

E-Learning Grab Bag, Oct. 31

October 31, 2004 – 2:05 pm

Here’s a few items that have recently caught my attention on the theme of e-learning. TOP OF THIS LIST: “Categories of eLearning,” eLearnSpace, Oct. 18. Whenever I tell people that I’ve gotten involved in the e-learning field, most of them give me a blank stare — or think I’m only referring to college courses that you can take online. This excellent primer by George Siemens describes and differentiates each of the main types of e-learning. (Read the rest of this list…)

By Amy Gahran | Posted in Amy's Grab Bag (quick notes), Learning Online | Comments (2)

What Is Podcasting and Why Should You Care?

October 29, 2004 – 2:27 pm

As I mentioned earlier, I’ve recently discovered a very intriguing new online media channel. The good news is that I think it holds considerable promise for creative, diverse, and useful audio programming that can serve a wide variety of audiences and purposes. The bad news is that it’s saddled with a rather unfortunate name: podcasting. Let me explain a bit about what podcasting is, how to use it, and why I think it’s pretty important…

By Amy Gahran | Posted in Media Musings, Voices: Blogs, etc. | Comments (7)