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Twitter's Defiance is Good News

I love Twitter, all the more since Eric Snowden’s revelations about the U.S. government’s secret spying program. The company largely stands apart from other techs’ positions, but not completely. In December, I scolded Twitter, along with Apple, Facebook, Google, and a smattering of others for their “disingenuous and self-serving” call for global government surveillance reform.

Today, Twitter tweaks the government regarding an agreement that expands disclosure of information requests, including those that fall under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. In a startling act of defiance, Twitter chooses not to disclose the number of FISA and other national security-related requests, contending they’re scope is an “overly broad range”.

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I Told You So

Sony selling its PC business rocks techdom today. I am in process of writing an analysis for BetaNews and decided to excerpt a portion here, posted sooner, that hopefully will help anyone looking for context.

Additionally, because I work on a book about writing well and responsibly online, there is opportunity to refute long-time accusations leveled by aggressive BetaNews commenters. Yeah, the two are related. With that introduction…

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Anatomy of a Bad Crowdfunding Pitch

Five days ago, I launched a crowdfunding campaign, at Indiegogo, for my forthcoming book Be a Better Blogger. Learning by doing is sometimes a painful exercise, and my progress, or lack of it, is a textbook case of what not to do.

My campaign is off to a much slower start than anticipated, generating just two donations for $60 in contributions. Thank you, both. You’re my heroes. I had hoped the book’s topic would generate interest among bloggers, journalists, and PR professionals at the least. I sent out mass emails to them and contacted family and friends, but too few of the latter.

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Be a Better Blogger

I start off February by launching my first crowdfunding campaign, which seeks to raise money for my forthcoming book Be a Better Blogger. The sorry state of news reporting troubles me, particularly sourcing (or lack of it) and rumormongering—as eloquently expressed four years ago in post “The Difference Between Blogging and Journalism“. Triple B seeks to be a remedy, by identifying the problems and offering tips on writing well and reporting responsibly.

While the title refers to blogging, that is more a naming convention. The book is meant for anyone who wants to write well and responsibly online, applying past principles of good editing, writing, and storytelling to future-now.

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What's This Thing with Llamas?

Saturday Night Live Season 39 Episode 13 includes a llama in the opening monologue. Once again, like four years ago with post “Tweet If You See a Tooting Llama“, I wonder about the apparent fascination New Yorkers have with the creatures. So I did a new web search. July 3, 2013, New York Times story “The Llama is In” explains much.

Reporter Jennifer Kingson says the beasts have an “irresistible quality” and that 115,000 are registered globally. According to the International Llama Registry, there are 634 owners in New York—and that’s not many. California, Oregon, and Texas have the most, with 2,496, 2,084, and 2,036, respectively.

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Better (RED) Than Dead

Super Bowl XLVIII is a real snoozer, with Seattle’s huge lead, and the adverts aren’t much more interesting. Among the few catching my attention: U2 song “Invisible” free on iTunes, with Bank of America donating a buck to (Product) RED. The promotion/donation ends 11:59 p.m. EST February 3.

On Sept. 29, 2006, I posted a quick analysis about (RED), which was then freshly started, to my JupiterResearch blog. The site is long gone, but I have the posts archived. What follows is the original text, complete with the original links, including to MySpace. Facebook was just a wisp seven-and-a-half-years ago. What that brief introduction…