What a fantastic headline: (in story context): For Retailers Today Really is the Shittiest Day of the Year. Some journalists squawk at Gawker sites for cheesy, sleazy headlines and content. I see Gawker as a […]
Category: Media
You Belong to the Fifth Estate
My wife and I just returned home from watching “The Fifth Estate“. My problem isn’t the film but the trailer, which makes the movie look more like a political thriller. The film is nothing like […]
Lestat’s West
I am hanging at a local coffee shop while waiting on car repair—stunned by the amount of business going on here: A physical therapist calling clients; what looks like a professor teaching college students; two […]
All This Googlism disturbs Me
Today, Ian Betteridge posts: “One thing that is impossible not to notice on Google+: There’s a very distinct skew towards big Google fans in commenting. It doesn’t matter which tech site’s page you look at, the (in my view, tedious) ‘fanboy’ mentality is hotter here than on any other social network”.
I commented on his post but want to draw more attention to Ian’s observation, to which I concur. I am rethinking my social service presence because of pervasive Googlism. While now immersed in the Google lifestyle, I am not a Google fanboy. But the leanings here are quite strong now, and tipping more all the time. Also, there is increasingly less tolerance for non-Google tech posts and more criticism of those regarding competitors like Apple.
Gladwell Makes Me Sad
One of my pet themes is what I call “David Thinking“, and until today I worked on an ebook espousing the concept as a lifestyle philosophy. Now that’s on hold, and it’s not a choice easily made.
I first wrote about David Thinking here in May 2009 post “Why Apple Succeeds and Always Will“. Writer Malcolm Gladwell’s New Yorker article “How David Beats Goliath: When underdogs break the rules” inspired the concept. He used Ivan Arreguín-Toft‘s research about so-called Davids beating Goliaths as basis for the story. I took the political scientist’s concepts someplace Gladwell didn’t, applying them as a way of thinking differently. I have written about David Thinking often, in posts here and elsewhere.
Black Mirror
Starting last night, I watched the six episodes of “Black Mirror”. What fantastically entertaining television is the program, which isn’t legally available in the United States (although Amazon sells an off-region DVD).
I hunted online for sites streaming both three-episode series. I prefer Series 1, between them. I didn’t Torrent but streamed.
The Beeb Should Know Better Than Source Like This
I expect a lot more than crap-reporting from BBC News. Is this really the sorry state of tech journalism? The story cites absolutely no sources.
Google plans to pull photos from Google+ profiles to accompanying advertising, which would look to some people like endorsements. BBC claims user backlash.
Netflix should be Proud
Classic! Who says newspapers are dead? New York Daily News delivers some of the best tabloid headlines/covers anywhere.
Age of Context
Robert Scoble and Shel Israel are this week’s tech media darlings, with release of their book Age of Context. Robert sent me an advanced PDF copy, which obliged an Amazon review (gladly given).
I reserve the punchier comments for here, if you want to skip past the block quote.
My first Kindle ebook gets a Face Lift
Last night I republished This Book is not a Kindle Single [The Rejected Essay] with the originally-intended title (The Principles of Disruptive Design) and major content updates. The preface and afterword are gone (as they pertained to the gimmick title) and there are updates throughout, the most considerable to the first section.
The updates deal directly with Apple iPhone 5s and 5c nd questions about Apple innovations, or lack of them.
'Comic-Con Heroes' One-Day Sale
My cat wants to know: Why haven’t you grabbed a free copy of my new ebook Comic-Con Heroes: The Fans Who Make the Greatest Show on Earth, before the promotion ends at 11:59 p.m. PDT? […]
My Second ebook publishes
Yesterday, I finally published Comic-Con Heroes: The Fans Who Make the Greatest Show on Earth to the Kindle Store. For San Diego Comic-Con 2013, I interviewed attendees and chose a dozen to profile. Their stories say much about the roles we play and who are the Con’s real superheroes.
I wrote the full-text using Google Docs on Chromebook Pixel, which combined is the best writing platform I have ever used.