Author: Joe Wilcox

News Media by Joe WilcoxAug 22, 201512:50 am

Responsible Reporting Section 3 ‘What You Must Do’: Chapter IV

Serialization of my ebook Responsible Reporting: Field Guide for Bloggers, Journalists, and Other Online News Gathers is off-schedule ahead of its release into the public domain. So, as an effort to catch up, I present installments today and Sunday, for your weekend reading.

Today’s chapter is among the most important from the book. I discuss the reporter’s responsibility to be accurate. Simply stated: Write what you know to be true in the moment, and expect what you know to change. The chapter is another where establishing and maintaining trust with the audience, and also sources, is foundational to reporting responsibly.

Photo by Joe WilcoxAug 21, 20156:59 am

Flickr a Day 233: ‘Squint Eyed At Casa Coffee’

There is raw energy—emotional charge—behind the street photography of Ryan Raz. His style is unmistakably intimate and brazen. Composition often hides, at first glance, something intriguing on closer examination.

Self-titled “Squint Eyed At Casa Coffee” is unremarkable on quick inspection. But there is something about the motion of life—the women in and outside the shop—and the subject’s all-but-closed eyes that is immediate and unpretentious.

Photo by Joe WilcoxAug 20, 20157:24 am

Flickr a Day 232: ‘An Auspicious New Year — Sex on the Beach with Sweet Bitch’

Clever is how I describe today’s selection. The shot appeals, but surely self-titled “An Auspicious New Year—Sex on the Beach with Sweet Bitch” teaches something. Perhaps it’s the stated topic, or use of “sex” and “bitch”, that racked up more than 158,000 views since Timothy Janecyk shot the black and white on Jan. 1, 2013, using Nikon D700 and 35mm f/1.4 lens. Vitals: f/10, ISO 200, 1/400 sec, 35.6mm.

“When I woke up, I thought it was all a dream or something”, he teases. “What an amazing start to the New Year! Sex on the beach with Sweet Bitch. I couldn’t ask for anything more than that. I am the luckiest guy in the world. I hope your New Year is off to as good a start as mine! Happy New Year!” But Timothy’s escapade wasn’t a woman. Sex on the Beach is a cocktail recipe and Sweet Bitch Moscato Rose is a wine. Not being a drinker, other than a wee bit during my 18th year (legal age in 1977), I wouldn’t know.

Gear by Joe WilcoxAug 19, 20154:20 pm

Acer Chromebook 15 Review

I am not a fan of overly-large laptops, but if I were to buy one, Acer’s 15.6-inch monster would be among my top choices. The Chromebook packs in lots of value, which first and foremost is 1080p resolution to match the large screen, a benefit that is atypical for the price and size class. Screen brightness is no match for the Toshiba Chromebook 2, but the matte finish compensates for dimness by dramatically reducing glare. Meanwhile, the IPS display gives great viewing angles.

The point: Acer doesn’t just offer bigger, but better, among the overall Chromebook category, where dim TN screens are standard fare. That also can be said of competing Windows laptops, where with same size screen in the price range, or even more costly, resolution typically tops out at 1366 x 768. Chromebook 15 is 1920 x 1080. By more than size, the display is a big benefit.

Photo by Joe WilcoxAug 19, 20156:57 am

Flickr a Day 231: ‘The Courage Wall’

First looking at the photostream of Dan Reed, I puzzled over the perspective and subjects, which are unlike anything else yet featured in this series. He shoots streets, buildings, and such from vantage points that are atypical. Then I read his bio. He’s an architect and city planner. Dan looks at things with a dramatically different eye than I would; he sees things in another context that is refreshing and revealing.

Dan shares his insights at blog “Just Up the Pike“, which refers to Maryland Route 29, or Columbia Pike. Our daughter was born when we lived off 29, just outside Silver Spring, which is Dan’s hometown.

Photo by Joe WilcoxAug 18, 20157:03 am

Flickr a Day 230: ‘The Real Batman’

Last night, a Washington Post story compelled me to make a quick change in today’s selection. Lenny Robinson, better known around the Washington, D.C. area as the Route 29 Batman, was struck and killed after […]

Living by Joe WilcoxAug 18, 201512:04 am

This Is Me Then and Now No. 3

Considering how many people are selfie-obsessed, I really should start a Tumblr around this “Me Then and Now” concept. There has to be a meme here somewhere. I posted the first in October 2014, comparing […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxAug 17, 20156:51 am

Flickr a Day 229: ‘Big and Mean in Hazel Green’

I don’t know what best describes the photostream of Pete Zarria—urban decay, rural iconic, or something else. The Davenport, Iowa, native primarily shoots signs and buildings across the U.S. Midwest. They give a sense of […]

News Media by Joe WilcoxAug 16, 201512:56 pm

Discussing Chromebook’s Success

One of the problems with bad news reporting: Those of us who strive to be responsible and accurate are lumped in with the lumps of coal, and the black powder rubs off on us. Illustrative: The excellent exchange I had over at BetaNews to the version of my Dell Chromebook 13 story posted there.

Commenter Joe HTH bristled about bloggers overstating NPD data and making Chromebook’s success much larger than it really is. I agree that this occurred about 18 months ago. But he levels his accusations at my reporting , which I assert correctly stats and interprets newer data that the analyst firm released just a few days ago. What follows is his comment and my response, in red and blue rather than block-quoted. I put story titles to my links, which are presented differently in the commenting system.

Gear by Joe WilcoxAug 16, 201512:20 pm

Dell Chromebook 13 means Business

The strangest, and largely overlooked news, coming out of the tech sector this past week was Dell’s Microsoft betrayal. This isn’t the first time that the PC maker strayed. Linux joined the product stable long ago, and last year an educational Chromebook debuted. But this newer and larger model, which will be available September 17, raises question: WTF?

Dell’s core PC market is business—small, large, and everything between. Windows, and that smattering of Linux, is core, and longstanding loyalty to Microsoft’s application stack. But the Chromebook 13 announcement, as positioned by the OEM and Google, is all about the competing cloud app stack. Interestingly, selling prices rival Windows laptops, which is another head scratcher: $399 to $899, depending on configuration.

Photo by Joe WilcoxAug 16, 20157:34 am

Flickr a Day 228: ‘Two Visitors’

Searching for photos to feature, I come across many stinkers. The worst offenders are those with greatest potential: Composition is excellent, but the image is blurry—perhaps being out of focus or because of camera shake. […]

Web by Joe WilcoxAug 15, 20154:20 pm

I Don’t Trust Travelocity, Should You?

On June 29, 2015, I received email from Travelocity thanking me for creating an account. I did no such thing—or, wait, did I have an account already? Sure enough, I set up one in 2006, according to my archived emails. Why this notification now? I wrongly assumed the thank-you message was a mistake, or even a marketing ploy, to get me to sign into the account. But who remembers a password from 9 years ago? So I clicked the forgot password link and had a new one sent.

I wouldn’t understand until later that someone in Florida created a new account using my email address. But Travelocity never sent confirmation to verify that the email address was valid or belonged to the person who signed up for the service. As such, by resetting the password, I had access to someone else’s account, which, fortunately, contained no personal information (like credit card numbers). But I didn’t understand this circumstance until later, when, in a routine check of my online accounts. I discovered an itinerary for a hotel stay that had just passed.