The new website & RSS to HTML widgets

As you know, I am currently building my website. I am going to have the lastest blog posting on my homepage, so anyone who stops by can read it.

To post my blog on my website, I am taking the RSS feed that Blogger creates and parsed it using Magpie, which spit it out as html. I did run into a couple of problems, but all-in-all after I got started it took me about 2.0 to 2.5 hours to get it set-up and running. I am not sure how long, because I spent some time looking at various RSS to HTML tools.

There are other ways of parsing RSS to HTML:
&bull Google Search on 'RSS to HTML'
&bull Google Gadgets
&bull SpringWidgets (Brought you by Papa Mudoch.)

There is a trade off by using most of these tools. The easier it is to use and set-up, the less control you have over styling and branding. Usually, the first thing that you have control over is the styling. While, I didn't go through every tool, I noticed all but Magpie left there stamp on the page. Uncle Rupert's tool was the easiest to you, but you practically lose complete control.

Later on, when I get some time, I am going to mess with the script to grab RSS feeds from various locations that I have work published.

Sorry about the test posts

Sorry about the test posts. I am creating a widget for my new site that will post a feed from my blog.

Education and technology

Something to think about...
From Prof. Michael Wesch and students at Kansas State University:

New Site Launched

NICAR's Uplink is now a completely online publication! Now I am moving onto tackle the mothership.

Social Network News

Google picks up Jaiku. Visit the link for a Q & A section on Jaiku's site. A couple of hours later, Google's stock hits $600 a share. Google is worth about $190 billion.

Steve Rubel predicts, via Twitter, Yahoo will pick up Twitter within 45 days.

"A social network for two" is a song that was written and posted by Ze Frank today.

2008 Election Coverage

These are election coverage tactics that peaked my interest. For good or bad they are listed in no particular order. If you know of others, please post them to the comments.

Candidate match game - USATODAY.com
    This is really well done.

2008 Election Collection Widget - Washingtonpost.com
    About, News, Campaign Events, Funds
    This is a fun widget. Click on the more on Campaign Events and they use Google maps to show the location of the event. There is a lot of good information, but the numbers are hard to translate, because there are no side by side comparisons on specifics.

Election Guide 2008 - NYTimes.com
    Candidate finance (Flash), Schedules, Calendars, multimedia, quotes about issues
    Overall this is a pretty nice package, but it has a little room for improvement. I feel like over all the site could be more visual. There are just a lot of database driven lists, but they aren't as informational as the Washingtonpost.com's lists.

ElectionVine - Newsvine.com
    This is a super cool toy. Newsvine created a voting widget that people can place on other sites. Then when people vote from other sites, the info is brought back into newsvine. Newsvine gives an overall picture of who is in the lead according to their poll, and then breaks it up by website. (See this in action on this blog. I have it in the right column.)

Campaign 2008 - CBSNews.com
    This is a good idea, but it is very flawed. A lot of the visuals are simple, which makes them easy to understand, but after you are done consuming it once, you are done forever.
    The navigation is horrible. It took me a second to figure out how to get around, and some how I switch multimedia and found myself looking at the 110th congress and not the election. I had to retype the url to get back to the start.

AP Content
Campaign Finance
    I don't think anyone is doing anything that is this comprehensive. Too bad I had multiple errors that read "Error loading XML file." One of the errors appeared when I tried to load the map. The thumb of the map on elections page looked much like the NYTimes thumb.
Race '08 where the candidates stand
    Clean and start forward chart of where the candidates stand. Only problem - I can't figure out why it was made in Flash. Flash lessens accessibility. This could have easily been made with HTML and CSS.

The Truth-O-Meter - St. Pete Times
    "A scorecard separating fact from fiction." This project looks at what candidates say in comparison to how true it is.

New additions:
10.09.07 4:34 p.m.
Candidates + issues matrix - MSNBC.com
    This combines both the candidates and the issues. You have the ability to agree or disagree with the candidate. It's a pretty neat project, because it combines more than one layer, but it is slightly confusing and takes forever to load.
This project needs a simplified overall summary of all users. If you click on the all users' ratings tab, you will see a sea of green and red. While you can zoom in to get specifics, I think the checker board is a little overwhelming.

10.10.07 2:19 p.m.
Candidate Schedules - NYTimes
    This maps out where candidates have been and how many visits they have made.

10.10.07 2:20 p.m.
Issue Coverage Tracker - Washington Post
    See which issues the candidates have been covered the most for. View by candidate or by issue.

Internships, jobs and interviews, OH MY!

I always wondered if recruiters knew that with a single phone call they could crush you.

I hang up phone and think to myself:
“Why did I say that?”
“They probably think I am an idiot. Was I over zealous?”
“Did I say too much? Did I not say enough?”
“Did I over sell? Under sell...”

In the days that follow, I check my email and sometimes there is something and sometimes there is nothing.
“Do write back?”
“How often?”
“When is the appropriate time?”

I am not dating. I am looking for a place to do my professional project.

This is not new to me. I have been through them before with my first two internships.

I can remember the Sun-Sentinel’s phone call so vividly. The Director of Photography at the time, Tim Rasmussen, called me on my cell. I was at my mother’s house in Florida. I can remember covering the mouthpiece of the phone and jumping up and down on the couch like I was Tom Cruise on Oprah.

While I am no longer jumping on the furniture, I still go through the same set of emotions.

For students who may be reading this, I recommend taking a few minutes to breath before your interview and checking out some online dating guides for tips to help you through the process.

Here are some from Datingtips.com
Intend to go on your date
Emphasize on mutual interest
Talk about activities you could do together
Avoid asking them out while drunk

.....

As for employers, I only have three recommendations. These are from my own person experiences.

1. Take the time to form relationships with runner-up candidates. You don’t know who or where they will be in two years, five years or ten years. You may want them on your team later on.

2. Do not use students as idea machines. They can sense it, and it will leave a bad taste in their mouth. That bad taste will be associated with the company, not with you.

3. Do not talk interview someone unless you are seriously interested in them and have something to offer them. (This goes along with tip 2.)

AOL, Yahoo, Google predicted to beat Myfaceborkutspace

How the Portals Will Win the Social Networking Wars (From Steve Rubel Lifestream)
"Every time I make a prediction, there's a better than 90% chance I am going to be wrong. But this one, you can take to the bank. The portals - AOL, Yahoo, Google, Windows Live, all of them - will be big winners in the social networking wars..."

Print writers protected from mass exposure

New Time Inc. contract wouldn’t require web work - Lost Remo...

"..The Newspaper Guild and Time Inc. would not require any online writing - and wouldn’t penalize writers who turn down online writing..."

New Site Launched

New website launch:
Missouri Photojournalism

I helped a former student, Amanda Lucier, launch the new Missouri Photojournalism website. The design is hers. I helped on the tech side of things. We also had an impromptu teaching section.

While there are somethings that can be improved with the site, I believe the basis of the design is nice. If you can believe it, the photojournalism website prior to this launch was all text and no photos. In comparison to what existed before, this is a 100% improvement.

Yeah for Amanda Lucier! Congrats on a job well done.

Video graphics

Dow Jones (WSJ) video animation showing the growth of Walmart stores.
This is an awesome use of video for a graphic.





Wall Street Journal Online

Net News

Beta allows users to embed ESPN video - Lost Remote TV Blog
Some question issues with syndication content.

Last week, Belo announced that they made an investment in Mochila, an online syndication company. Today Belo announced they are splitting into two companies. Their newspaper publications will split off into a pubically traded company. As the end of the day, their stock goes up, but their bonds are considered "junk."
That's a lot of changes in a short period of time.

About a month ago, I was sure that the News Aggregation for Dummies had been written when MySpace jumped on the bandwagon. I must have missed the announcement for the last dummies publication, because I am now certain that Starting Your Own Social Network for Dummies has to exist.
This week's new social networks hosts are iWon and AskANinja.com.

During the 2007 SXSW festival, Ask a Ninja made a special delivery, where the Ninja declared social networks to be untrustworthy.
The Ninja said, "Big thing over the last 10 years, we have seen the transition from reality TV to online social networking or as I like to call it.. LIES and BETRAYALS!"
Watch the video to learn more.



In response to the news Steve Rubel's link of the day is a wiki on how to quit facebook.

Study says partner up with Yahoo. Newspapers that partner with Yahoo could see a 20% to 40% growth in the second half of 2008.

USA Today launches "Play the 'Candidate match game'."