Sample the Web

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I just installed the wptouch plugin for WordPress on this blog:

What is WPtouch?

Simply put, it’s a complimentary theme installed as a plugin on your WordPress blog or website that will format your content with this Apple-inspired, full-featured theme when your visitors are using an iPhone or iPod touch.

I just tested it on my iPhone and it looks pretty sweet. Now I just need to customize the icon for the Theme so you can add a bookmark to my blog nicely on your iPhone. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Update: I added a logo (pictured above). And there’s some pictures after the jump for those of you who do not have iPhones / iPod Touches to check out the new theme with…
(more…)

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TechCrunch pointed out that Encyclopedia Britannica Online is allowing web publishers to sign up for free one-year accounts and share the content with their readers via a new program called Britannica Webshare. Well, dear readers, I myself signed up for the service and was accepted. When I signed up, I thought that this would be another very useful resource that I could point to from time to time to add value to whatever I may be blogging about. However, in the process of writing this blog post, I started exploring their site, and quickly found that I didn’t love it. In short, Britannica Online is too similar to Britannica offline. It doesn’t link out. It’s very much a dead-end street on the information highway (albeit, perhaps, as far as dead ends go, it’s more of a nice cul de sac of well-read information). This is not to say that I won’t ever be linking to them. It’s just that I think they could be doing what they’re doing better.

Here’s a link to Britannica Online’s entry for Wikipedia and here’s a small excerpt:

Reliance on community self-policing has generated some problems. In 2005 the American journalist John Seigenthaler, Sr., discovered that his Wikipedia biography falsely identified him as a potential conspirator in the assassinations of both John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy and that these malicious claims had survived Wikipedia’s community policing for 132 days. The author of this information could not be easily identified, since all that is known about contributors is their computers’ IP, or Internet protocol, addresses (many of which are dynamically generated each time a user goes online).

For comparison purposes, here’s Wikipedia’s entry on Wikipedia and an excerpt:

Wikipedia (pronunciation ) is a free,[4] multilingual, open content encyclopedia project operated by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its name is a portmanteau of the words wiki (a technology for creating collaborative websites) and encyclopedia. Launched in January 2001 by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger,[5] it is the largest, fastest-growing and most popular general reference work currently available on the Internet.[6][7]

All the above bracketed numbers are references that I cannot be bothered to link directly from here, but which Wikipedia does link in the actual article. Keep them in mind.

Now, reading the Britannica entry, I’m struck with two things. First, it’s written more stoically. Something about it sounds more like a dictionary than the Wikipedia’s entry. More like I’m getting the definition of Wikipedia from a teacher who has no first-hand knowledge of what a wiki is or what it does. Secondly, they don’t have any references listed with the entry. They do have a short list of related links, but they’re all internal links and they use the following language to introduce the links:

Related Links
Aspects of this topic are discussed in the following places at Britannica.

They’re the Encyclopedia Britannica, so I suppose their ethos counts for quite a bit and we’re supposed to trust that whoever wrote this particular entry for them spent the time to diligently fact check everything.

While Wikipedia definitely has errors, such as the one mentioned by the E.B. article on Wikipedia, that creep up in it from time to time, the facts that are there are thoroughly referenced in most cases. Wikipedia’s Wikipedia entry currently has 141 references at the bottom. If the entry is incorrect, you can double check the references rather easily and carefully weigh any information presented that is not supported by references. On Encyclopedia Britannica, you cannot do that. You must simply trust in the Encyclopedia and know that the knowledge you will gain from it is limited by the knowledge it contains. The fact that the Wikipedia links to all these other resources is what makes it an invaluable resource.

That’s one Web 2.0 lesson that I’d like to see Encyclopedia Britannica learn. It’s more important than their new widgets, their blog, or their Twitter stream (which btw has a bio that really thrusts that ethos down your throat: “Encyclopaedia Britannica Webshare: Links and news from the authoritative encyclopaedia“; emphasis mine; they even use the archaic spelling of encyclopedia to sound more authoritative), because they are treating those technologies as just another form of distribution of their “authoritative” information, rather than as a nexus for communication, discussion, and an information hub linking outward to all the other great information resources online.

Here’s my unasked for advice for Encyclopedia Britannica and any other old school media publication trying to thrive in today’s new media: It’s no longer about just being a great resource. You have to be a great resource and engage and participate with the other great resources out there. People like this because it gives them more choice while giving them a sense of community. It’s not how many followers you have; it’s how many people you follow. It’s not how many people subscribe to your RSS feed; it’s how many RSS feeds you subscribe to. It’s no longer about having all the answers succinctly stated in one spot; it’s about filtering and processing the best of the plethora of information out there and providing direction to that information without limiting that information.

Update: Just for fun, here’s one of their widgets; it is on American Literature, pre-configured of course, and there is no way that I can see for me to customize it:

I would really *love* this widget, if I could plug any E.B. entry I wanted into it and customize the look of it so that it matched my blog. I should also probably mention that I’d prefer it not to be an iframe, but that’s just me being overly picky. Also, supposedly it’s not always working for people using Internet Explorer. If you’re using IE, you really should download Firefox NOW!

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Who thinks the main text font of my blog posts in this template are too small now? I’m debating bumping it up a few notches. Vote in the comments!

UPDATE: I upped the font size a bit. Thoughts? Big enough or more?

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Andrew Keen was at Mahalo HQ today to talk about his book Cult of the Amateur and what he thinks of Mahalo and what we’re doing. It was an interesting discussion, which you can watch right here (fast forward until about 45 minutes in as we set up the video early and ended up waiting far too long for our lunch to arrive; it was very late):

As you’ll notice from my question for him (which had something to do with citizen journalism, but even more so with the human need to express what’s happened when something happens), I don’t really agree with his stance, because I think it’s too polarized, hyperbolized, and far too oversimplified. He kept mentioning that the book was intentionally polemic and that he was more interested in the discussions that it has created. Discussion is always good, and I did like that he likes what we are doing at Mahalo.

However, having read a lot of books over the years about changes in communication and media (from the transition from oral tradition to writing, the transition from scribes and scriptoriums to the printing press) and even in forms within different media (the rise of the novel and short story), his arguments sound much too much like the same resistance to change that occur throughout history. The pendulum swings and there has to be some loud counter-swing to pull it back in the middle where the balance of the next steps really lie, but that counter-swing always comes across as too far towards the way things were to be effective. Andrew kept talking about how we have to get to Web 3.0, which I agree with, but I really do take issue with calling the entire Web 2.0 movement “monkeys typing away at keyboards” (I’m paraphrasing here from his book); That’s simply not the correct approach, no matter how much discussion it creates.

Here’s Andrew’s blog, which I’ve added to my reader and will be following with interest. He had an epiphany that sent him into his current thought patterns and, normally, people who have epiphanies continue to have them whether they want to or not. I’m curious to see when his next one arrives if he ends up in some much more interesting place.

UPDATE: I realized I took a picture of Andrew’s business card. He specifically referenced it at the beginning of his talk, referencing the label “the antichrist of silicon valley” (which he put there himself and which he pointed out that he put there himself); very self-labeling, very British, and given Keen’s background in working in online music, very very Sex Pistols:

Thinking about this more, positing yourself as an antichrist assumes a christ. In a discussion of evolving cultural norms surrounding new media and online media it limits the discussion to an overly simplistic this or that, two option scenario. That’s what’s great about chaos and anarchy when they apply to invention and cultural change: black and white and even grey aren’t enough to paint an accurate picture. What’s odd about Keen’s argument is that he seems to be warning us against the anarchy, when he is actively labeling himself as an anarchist by the strong association with the Sex Pistols. Hypocrisy or a clever trick of the devil?

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Caption time!

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This is pretty interesting. PicApp lets you embed Getty Images and other normally copyrighted (and therefore unusable by bloggers) images directly into your blog posts like the above picture of Madonna. Whoa.

[via GigaOm]

ps—What is Madonna pointing at and why? *raises eyebrow*

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Check out this comment by Noli Novak in reply to the comments left on a post I wrote back in 2005. Here’s an excerpt:

Crap hit the fan the day I decided to launch my own website. Everything stated in it then and now is nothing but true, but KS was (is) pissed for one simple reason: when I launched my website, his monopoly of the online hedcut presence ended, and the whole KS clan targeted me like a pack of hungry wolves. For Sharpie to say I’m branding the style as my own is utter nonsense and I challenge you to point to a link, a sentence, a line ….. anything to prove I ever said something remotely close to that! After all, KS made sure his claim to the throne of hedcut holy fatherdoom is etched in the online annals for the rest of times, but even I still pay my respects, mind you. For instance, I spent hours helping Ann Goodyear of the NPG putting the online hedcut exhibit together (link prominently displayed on KS’s site) and it was me who insisted that he be a part of the story (oh, you’re welcomed!). Maybe he expects the rest of us WSJ illustrators to quit stippling altogether? Not after we toiled over the technique and reinvented it many times since he left the paper over 20 years ago!

Noli sent me an email too, apologizing for the comment thread and her need to defend herself on my blog. No apologies necessary, Noli.

In any case, I have nothing to do with this skirmish, and no desire to be involved in it, but it is an interesting view into an apparently competitive and politically charged field. I just thought it was interesting how conversations like this can find a life in the comments to a blog post that was largely me thinking nostalgically about the choices I made in pursuing English over Art. The comments have nothing to do with the and have a more vibrant life thanks to having nothing to do with me.

Also, check out the last paragraph of Noli’s comment. Pass the popcorn; it’s like watching reality TV.

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Marc Orchant died this afternoon:

It is with great sadness that I report that Marc Orchant, Husband to Sue, Father to Rebecca and Jason, and friend to so many, passed away just a short time ago. I was notified by Marc’s brother Craig.

His family and closest friends were at his side and his favorite music was playing. Craig said that Marc’s passing was as peaceful and easy as anyone could have hoped and he left this world surrounded by love from so many people that he couldn’t possibly have failed to know how many people cared for, appreciated and respected him.

My thoughts and prayers are with Marc’s family during this difficult time. I didn’t know Marc well, but I counted him as a friend and knew him well enough to know that he was a good man and that this virtual online space where we all meet and write and twitter and blog is a lesser place without him.

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Found this via Jordan Running’s twitter earlier today. Marc Orchant Updates and Information can be found here, including a letter from Sue Orchant, Marc’s wife, updating us on how Marc is doing:

In this past day we have seen some baby steps of improvement. He has some response to stimuli and his oxygen levels and heart rate have improved. I am guardedly optimistic. He still has not regained consciousness but we will take things minute by minute.

I’m still praying and thinking about Marc and his family. I hope these first small signs of improvement are the first signs of a recovery on the horizon.

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Sad news to wake up to on a Monday morning:

Currently Marc’s immediate family as well as his brothers and parents are in or on their way to Albuquerque to be with Marc. Sue has asked me to keep Marc’s colleagues and friends in the technology community updated as information becomes available. Please do not contact Sue for updates. I will publish any information that I have in multiple venues to keep people informed of any changes in Marc’s condition.

For those of you that wish to send flowers, cards, or other gifts, Marc is at:
Presbyterian Hospital
Cardiac Care Unit Bed #3
1100 Central Ave SE
Albuquerque, NM 87106

the hospital switchboard number is 505-841-1234.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Marc and his family in this difficult time. Marc is one of the finest human beings that I have ever had the good fortune to know and I pray that Marc makes a full and speedy recovery.

Marc and I worked together at Weblogs, INC back in 2005 and met at the first large group meeting (WINStock 2005) after the sale to AOL. Since then we’ve always stayed in loose contact, commenting on each other’s blogs from time to time, and following each other’s tweets on Twitter. He is a great guy, very positive, and a force for good in the tech-blogging community. My thoughts and prayers are with Marc and his family today.

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So, I finally managed to get my blog’s new design to fully validate. Check it out. It took a little bit of combing through the code, but I managed to squash all the validation errors.

The most problematic of the errors was one caused by Blip.tv’s embed code. If you want to embed Blip.tv videos without breaking validation, simply find the part that says:
allowfullscreen="true" id="showplayer"
Cut those two little bits out of the embed code that Blip.tv gives you and you should have videos that work and complete validation.

Related: How to Embed YouTube and Google Video without Breaking Validation!

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So I’ve settled on a new design for this blog. It’s Cutline by Chris Pearson with a slight bit of tweaking (mainly with the picture). For some reason, I cannot get the template’s built in Archives to work, so I removed that page. When I tried to turn it on, it pointed to a seriously old archive of early iterations of this site that weren’t in WordPress and are sitting static over here. I tried moving that directory and then creating a blank archive page per the instructions to the template, all to no avail. The sitemap link down at the very bottom is also non-functioning, so I need to pull it still. I seem to have some old cobwebs in my .htaccess file that are mucking things up a bit. I deleted a few bits that were interfering with the layout of this design (which was odd in the first place; pulling old CSS from the old 404 page and applying it to this new design), but if I tinker too much with that file it starts throwing other things like my RSS feeds out of whack.

In any case, I am liking the new look, and especially the room for more content. I now have 3 columns and am cramming them full of Twitter, Flickr, Del.icio.us, etc. Best thing about it, it doesn’t look crammed to me. What do you all think? Good redesign? Anything else you’d like to see?

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Here’s another one: How Pam Beesly got her groove back - TV Squad

This is so cool. I’m so proud of Kristin, blogging it up!

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Kristin has started blogging for TV Squad!!! She’s going to be internet famous! Check out her first post: Top seven extenders of reality TV fame - TV Squad

Here’s a random picture from the weekend to commemorate the event:

w00t!

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My pal Damien is back to blogging again. And he’s hatched a kid! Check it out:

A big part of my return has been the birth of my son, Casey, three weeks ago. This won’t be yet another DaddyBlog, but I will periodically have a post about my boy. As I said, this will be a return to the traditional nature of blogging–a place for my voice. I’ll post about things I’m interested in: Apple, Mac OS X, technology, books, and now, babies.

w00t! Congrats!

Consider this vote number 1 for bringing back the archives, Mr. Barrett.

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I’m a longtime fan of Doc Searls’ blogging (I had the pleasure of meeting him last year at an Unconference), and I was surprised to see that he moved his blog: Doc Searls Weblog · Same old blog, brand new place. However, I’m overjoyed that he did, b/c now his feed comes through in pieces rather than multiple revisions of the same day long post. So much better for reading. Thanks for the change, Doc!

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How the heck is this legal: (Book VII) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? Scribd? Full text of the book scanned in AND an audio version of the entire book. Found via this awesome post.

UPDATE: Double holy Harry! You can embed it:

ps—Harry Potter sucks. That is all. :-b

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I spotted Jason’s post where he is begging Joseph Ambeault and Joe Savage for Verizon Fios and I thought Yeah, I want Fios, too, but then I thought of a different approach:

Dear Verizon Marketing Department:

Hook me up with free Verizon Fios in Chester Heights 10708 (and wherever I may move to in the future), and I’ll make you the official sponsors of my blog, give you a modest banner ad space announcing the relationship at the top of the site (no pop-ups; no crazy flashy things that are rude to my readers), and I will blog about my experiences with Fios, very honestly and transparently. If your product is good, it will be great PR. If your product has problems, it will be great user testing and feedback.

If you’re interested, feel free to shoot me an email. ck at sampletheweb.com.

Cheers,

C.K. Sample III

ps—If you want to throw in a free USB-based EVDO solution for my laptop when I’m on the go, that would be a great opportunity for more PR and user testing.

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…I turned off the incessant Twitter daily update posts on this blog. If you miss them, you can still see what I’m twittering in the bottom of the right-hand column, or over here (if it’s up).

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