February 2008
“The old PR was about communicating messages to an audience. The new PR is about...”
– Joseph Thornley
Andy has done a great job of outlining how The Times Online has been spamming social media sites over the past few months. As Andy says in the comments, the real problem is not that The Times was using the power of social media sites to spread their content — in fact, I would expect that from a good online publication. Instead, the problem is the lack of transparency in the manner that it is...
January 2008
“When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that...”
– Paulo Coelho
Has 'Canadian' become a racist euphemism? →
Some visitors report that in southern states, particularly in rural areas, Canadians are actively disliked - for their liberalism, their gun control, their refusal to support the Iraq war. (via)
Has anyone used Blogo before? I’ve tried other blog editors before, and haven’t been impressed. Blogo looks different.
Reflecting Kensington celebrates the market →
Almost every Toronto resident has memories — fond or otherwise — of their interactions with and adventures in Kensington Market. *Hotshot, a new gallery and exhibition space in Kensington Market, is asking Torontonians to share their Kensington experiences as part of their opening exhibition, Reflecting Kensington.
Three things you can give to strangers →
Six months ago, I noticed a young woman sitting across from me on the subway sketching caricatures of people as they entered the train. I asked to see “me” (it was remarkably good for a 30-second sketch), and we’ve been good friends ever since.
If there’s one thing I excel at, it’s talking to strangers.
When can I get my tickets?
Just to let you all know, I will be waiting in line for at least three days before these Bills tickets go on sale. No tumblelogging during that time, but I know you can forgive me: it’s the NFL we’re talking about.
(If you don’t know, Toronto is hosting one Bills game for each of the next five seasons)
“Throwing yourself at another person isn’t romance, it’s football.”
– Dora Bianchi
Cinema in Brief: Publicizing Oscar Shorts →
This month: Canadian short films score big in the Oscar nominations, and an interview with Daniela Syrovy of ClutchPR.
As you could tell from the barrage of posts on local media websites last week, this year’s Academy Awards nominations were particularly good for us here in Canada. Accolades came for both veterans of the Canadian film scene (Sarah Polley) and relative newcomers (blogTO...
If I may say so, I have to admit that Richard’s new Tumblr theme, Peacock Tail, is remarkably sexy. Congrats Richard, I’m super impressed.
YorkU students rally against racist graffiti →
The racist graffiti that appeared at York University last week raised some eyebrows around the city, but many students at the university still feel that enough isn’t being done to change an environment they feel is rife with systemic racism.
Instapaper →
I’ve been looking for something like Marco’s Instapaper for months. Haven’t had the chance to play with it too much, but so far it is really helpful. Simple, easy, effective. (via)
I'm lonely. Help.
So I just realized that I’m not a member of any Tumblr groups. This is a concern for one main reason: I like groups.
How does one go about finding groups to join? Is there a list of groups out there somewhere? Can someone suggest a place for me to find some belonging?
Twitter Packs →
Chris Brogan just created a wiki which groups Twitter users into ‘packs’ so that Twitter users can find new and interesting people to follow. I think it’s a fantastic idea, but needs to be approached carefully. I completely agree with most of what Dave Fleet has to say about using Twitter Packs in an effective way.
Don't get fooled. Again.
Loved this post by Seth Godin. More people need to read this:
Next time you get an email (copied to all your friends plus people you don’t know) warning you about some horrible computer virus, some sick kid collecting greeting cards or the National Do Not Call List, don’t just blindly follow instructions and then forward to everyone you know.
Instead, go to Google and type in...
Breaking Away the Cycle of Violence →
I spent my early years in Queens, New York, where — just like in the music videos — it wasn’t surprising to see local youth poppin’ and lockin’ to Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa. Break dancing attracts and interests all kinds of crowds because of the sheer athleticism and skill required to complete some of the most standard moves.
“It would cost Paramount a total of $4.6 million to give the writers everything...”
– Striking writers have some fun in Congress
“He insisted that I make a movie, and now four years later, I have now done that!...”
– Jerry Seinfeld, speaking about Steven Spielberg
“I’d really like to work at the Gap just once because then I would get really...”
– Riaz Moola
“We are in the midst of a cultural revolution in which the distribution system is...”
– Fred Wilson
“I love you and I want to spend my life with you. But please don’t make...”
– lonelysandwich
Speaking in tongues
I recently joined the cast for a small community theatre production. As part of my role, I need to spend a good chunk of the production speaking in a Central Asian accent.
If you’ve never tried to adopt a realistic foreign accent before, you’d be surprised how hard it is to learn.
These links came in handy, at first:
Speech Accent Archive
International Dialects of English...
I just started subscribing to nostrich.net. I’ve been following numblr for a while now, but for some odd reason I hadn’t clicked through to Richard’s blog before. It’s absolutely fantastic. Go subscribe and thank me later.
“Losing isn’t everything. It’s the only thing.”
– Chuck Klosterman
Have you ever tried to find Chuck Norris? Well, if you’re looking for him on Google, type in “find Chuck Norris” and hit “I’m Feeling Lucky.” This is what you’ll get as a result for that search.
“I always wonder how different the world would be if kids knew there are a...”
– Scott Adams
Two free web services I WANT to pay for (but... →
Five days ago, Tumblr ran into some downtime because of problems with their web host, Rackspace. While the service disruptions were minimal and the problems were completely out of his control, Tumblr creator David Karp was extremely apologetic about the slowness and outages.
Dear United States Government,
As an honest, loyal taxpayer I would like to register my complaint with this latest “economic stimulus” package. If you would like to stimulate the economy, then quit bombing shit. Take the $150 billion you plan to spend on the war in 2008 and invest that into some decent social programs. I’d rather you do that as opposed to you taking out a big fat loan in my name.
...
