On the independence of media
Uno as Die Online Matie
May|9|2007
This is not really about David Bullard, although it does touch on a topic that was close to his argument.
BoingBoing covered the Todd Goldmann issue fairly extensively over here.
In short: Todd Goldmann copied designs (from e.g. Threadless) and then sells them after that. Some are ridiculously similar to the originals.
So this is not really what I’mm getting at. What is important about this whole topic is that Todd Goldmann then sent cease and desist letters to the various sites that hosted the articles that said Goodmann was a fraud (defamation).
From the discussion on theBoingBoing podcast it, the larger conglomerate sites are the ones taht are taking down the articles, while the smaller ones are keeping it up.
Soo, the larger publishing houses are bowing to pressure (from advertisers - I don’t know, but definately elite interest), the smaller publisher are completely free of such editorial bias. They don’t have advertisors telling them what to print and what not to print(remember the Wallpaper* and Rupert saga?).
This is why I think micro-publishing is in times (oh such a wonderful get-out-of-jail phrase!) more credible than big media - They don’t give a shit about that corporate interest.
But going on from that, on the issue of online accountability, Jimmy Wales mentioned in his TED talk (I think it was here) that their most prolifc contributors could publish anything and people would believe it. But the reason they could do that is because they would never do that. So a trust and credibility system is built up around this.
This, Mr Bullard, is why “Blog Sites” matter.
Technorati Tags: online publishing, david bullard, media, online media, big media, micro publishing
Development of a Web2.0 logo
Uno as Die Online Matie, Web2.0
Apr|11|2007
How do you come up with a web2.0 logo? Simple, follow the tutorials! We had started off with this Logo: 
Which then eventually ended up looking like this:
Final product! Click through to follow the entire development. Read the rest of this entry »
Hoekom suig die universiteit se IT struktuur?
Uno as Die Online Matie, Stellenbosch Universiteit
Apr|8|2007
Dit is redelik bekend dat Suid Afrika se web hosting nogals belaglik duur is. Bv ek host hierdie blog oorsee by GoDaddy.com en betaal moerse min. Ek het iets soos $5 betaal vir domain registration en toe daarna betaal ek $3,59/maand vir so 12 maande.
Op die ou einde het ek omtrent so R400 (bietjie minder) betaal vir 12 maande se hosting, en my eie domain. En kry kry snot baie spasie saam met dit. 5gb space en 250GB transfer. Ek sal nooit uithardloop uist spasie nie (ook 10 mySQL databasisse). Check al die specs hierso.
Dis nou international. Ek het nou pas DieMatie.co.za geregister en besluit om Amplehosting.co.za uit te check op Stefan se referral. R19/maand en omtrent R75 vir domain registration. Not ‘n bad option as mens die local support het. GoDaddy het ook miskien ‘n bietjie stadig begin word vir my, of so segt mense wat na my site toe kom.
Nou, Die Matie is die studente koerant van die Universiteit Stellenbosch en sal graag local wil host. Daar is egter 2 groot probleme met die IT struktuur op Stellenbosch:
- Moerse heavy firewall.
- Jy mag nie adverteer op jou site nie.
Nou as ek reg kan onthou, dan kan jy nie op die IT bladsy kom tensy jy deur VPN connect. Wat beteken dat jy nie hierdie site sal kan sien nie.
Die eerste probleem is van ‘n tegniese aard, en die 2de een is so bietjie tegnies, en dan grootliks beleid.
Eerstens, die US is agter ‘n helse firewall wat verstaanbaar is. Dit beteken dat jy net toegang tot items binne die netwerk kan kry as jy op ‘n VPN opgestel het, of binne die netwerk is. Die probleem wat hierdie skep is dat jy nie enige external content op jou site kan host nie. Links na ander sites tel nie meer nie en enige aggregation is useless. Akismet Spam Filter werk ook nie (of, ek kon dalk net nog nie kry dat dit sou werk nie). Dit kom daarop neer dat jy glad nie fotos van bv Flickr kan wys nie, content trek van Del.icio.us accounts, enige ander content aggregate etc. Verder sal jy geen stats kan volg sienende dat enige van die embedded code nie sal werk nie (en dink nou aan Google Analytics, Amatomu en Afrigator). Dit skep ‘n groot probleem vir ‘n interaktiewe webwerf soos Die Online Matie.
Natuurlik is die ander kant ook dan waar - Indien ons buite die firewall host sal ons studente vervreem want hulle moet nou eers hulle Inetkey oopmaak en vervolgens moet betaal vir die content. Net so moet enige joernaliste ook betaal om content te upload (ek dink spesifiek aan arme Ryk wat foto’s moet upload!). So ‘n situasie kan nie werk nie, maar nou moet mens begin afspeel wat belangriker is - content, of die bedrag wat jou gebruikers moet betaal om die site te gebruik. In my oe sien ek content, maar aan die ander kant kan ek sien hoe studente glad nie die site sal gebruik as hulle inetkey moet oopmaak nie. Hopelik sal ons genoeg geld kan maak om te kan betaal vir om ports oop te maak na die US netwerk.
Dan die 2de element, wat bietjie insluit by die eerste tegniese probleem: Jy kan nie adverteer nie want jou advertensies kom nie deur nie. As jy agter ‘n firewall sit dan wys jou GoogleAds ook nie. Die hele proses om dit toe te laat is ook ‘n helse proses, want jy moet dan sekere sites toegang gee en seker sites nie (en dan betaal vir die data).
Dit sou seker maklik oorkombaar wees as dit nie was vir die beleid probleem nie.
Jy MAG NIE op ‘n universiteits’ webwerf adverteer NIE. Behalwe as dit deur die regte kanale etc etc gaan. Die beleid is so gestruktureerd dat as jy jou content host op die Universiteit se servers dan is die US aanspreeklik vir dit (is Wordpress aanspreeklik vir al die content op die blogs daar? en 24.com?) wat mynsiens ‘n baie ou manier is van kyk op hoe die internet en eMarketing nou werk. Die US is bang dat iemand adverteer HotMom4U, of iets soortgelyks. Verder is hulle bang dat daar beeldskending kan kom as bv Dagbreek ‘n Mochacho’s bannier hang op hulle site. Of Klipdrift. Die gevolg? Koshuise, verenigings etc mag nie hulle JOOL borger etc op hulle sites adverteer nie. Hierdie is natuurlik een van die exposure elemente wat die borg voor vra. Op die oomblik word hierdie reel gelukkig nie streng toegepas nie, maar die moontlik bestaan dat webwerwe summier gestop kan word.
So hoekom sal ons nou besluit om Die Online Matie erens anders as die US te host?
Wel, journalistic ethics sekermaar. Die Matie kan op enige tyd stil gemaak word deur die Universiteit deurdat hulle sommer net die server blok, of die site delete. As ons nou by Amplehosting.co.za, of iemand anders host, dan sal ons natuurlik baie meer autonomiteit geniet. Die flipside hiervan is dan dat ons ook al die content kan aggregate, Flickr gebruik as photo sharing site (en die groot community en searching etc gebruik om content verder te versprei). So vir nou eers gaan Stellenbosch Studente ongelukkig maar die R0.50c/MB ongelukkig moet opdok. Sorry ouens!
Los asb enige comments oor hoe julle voel hier onder.
Technorati Tags: Die Matie, stellenbosch, universiteit, matieland, koerant, afrikaans, hosting, amplehosting, godaddy
Mans het ‘n male-crotch fixation?
Uno as Afrikaans, Die Online Matie
Mar|15|2007
Hierdie is ‘n moerse interessante artikel…
Die foto hier onder wys waarna verskillende geslagde die langste kyk.
Die volle artikel is oor Eye tracking en online newspaper design, of enige web design eintlik. Basies, waarna kyk jy as jy na ‘n website kyk?
Lees die volle artikel hierso. Dit het interessante gevolge vir die manier wat webwerwe ontwerp word.
In the case of Web design a picture isn’t always worth
those thousand words. According to Coyne users treat pages with
superfluous images like obstacle courses: The images create barriers to
content. Moreover, Nielsen and Coyne concluded that images appearing
unneeded, at least peripherally, will be erroneously tuned out.
Technorati Tags: eye tracking, design, afrikaans, die matie, ontwerp
update:
haha! lyk my ek lees heeltemal te veel BoingBoing. Hierdie artikel het daar ook gefeature, en sonder dat ek dit gelees het, het ek tot presies dieselfde gevolgtrekking gekom as hulle. Ek moet van die internet af klim…
Blogging Policy
Uno as Die Online Matie
Mar|12|2007
I’m on the lookout for some policy for blogs. At the moment I’m reading through the Weblogs at Harvard Law which seems pretty straightforward, but of course we’d like something more in line with Die Matie and Stellenbosch University. I don’t just want to replace Harvard with Stellenbosch.
If anyone can point me into the right direction it would be much appreciated.
Technorati Tags: blog, policy, guideline, terms of use
Conversation Tracker
Uno as Die Online Matie, Ideas, Online
Dec|7|2006
This is quite an interesting little addition to a website. I stumbled across the Conversation Tracker on Newsvine while doing some research.
The Conversation Tracker provides you an easy way to keep track of discussions in comment threads. When a new comment is left on an item you are tracking, you will see the number of such comments on in the Conversation Tracker (located in the green header at the top of the screen). Items in your own column and items you comment on are automatically added to the Conversation Tracker. You can also add an item without commenting by clicking the “Track” button underneath the comment text box. You can clear new items in your conversation tracker by clicking the “x”, or you can remove items (and not be further notified of any new comments) by clicking the “stop” icon. There are three types of notifications you’ll receive in the Conversation Tracker: Comments left by others on content in your column, comments left on conversations you’ve commented on elsewhere around Newsvine, and comments left by your friends.
Which of course seems like a relatively simple concept. I’ve highlighted the sections that I find important. Now the power with this can come in when you obviously want to track the development of a story. Say for e.g. on a central topic (the new rector) you would have clicked on “Track this conversation”. The user is automatically updated with any info that is related to that topic, sent out as an alert everytime something new happens. This would be if someone comments on a posting, you are automatically notified. If there is an update, it is automatically done.
Then of course for the journalist it means that they can see (through the backend) how many people are following their stories. It can also be used as a tool to sift through to the “most interesting journalist.” i.e. the journalist who has the most subscribers. It can also create incentive for journalists to write new follow-up stories.
The real test to know if bloggers are journalists
Uno as Die Online Matie, Ideas
Dec|2|2006
I think the true test to know if bloggers are real journalists is to see if they can get a media-pass for events.
If you can get into places for free because you talkalotofkak then that’s it. You’re a journalist. Well done. None of this crap of publishing standards, that whole shebang. Plain and simple media-passes are the true test.
That’s it.
Crowdsourcing
Uno as Die Online Matie, Ideas, Online, Web2.0
Nov|26|2006
Ek het pas op ‘n baie cool site afgekom. Dit is so half iets wat ek al vir jare aan dink, so ‘n plek waar jy jou idee na toe bring dan vertel iemand vir jou of dit gaan werk of nie. Nou hierdie is so ‘n plek.
Shit dis hot.
You think it
Most aspiring entrepreneurs and armchair innovators have more ideas
than resources. Why let the fruits of your genius languish on the vine?
They’re yours to grow. Put them in play.
Crowds test it
But don’t buy that Mercedes just yet. Before we greenlight production,
your freshly baked ideas run the consumer gauntlet. Flourish or
flounder? The market decides.
Crowds build it
So the people have spoken, and they love your idea. With the help of the worldwide development community,
we turn it into reality. Contributors can take their pick of exciting
projects, and in return, they get a piece of the royalty pie.
We sell it
Show time! YourIdea 1.0 hits the virtual shelves with all the marketing power of Cambrian House behind it and with a little help from Chameleon.
Every contributor – including you – has a vested interest in helping
the product shine, because every contributor benefits from its success.
You profit
When we say “every contributor benefits,” we don’t mean warm and fuzzy feelings. We mean real money. When you collaborate with Cambrian House, you get Royalty Points. That means as long as the product generates profit, so will you
Nog info van crowdsourcing:
Wikipedia
Wired (wie die term gecoin het)
Smartmobs
Technorati tags
Nog Die Matie Features
Uno as Die Online Matie, Online, Web2.0
Nov|26|2006
Een van die features wat ek hou van Modern Life is Rubbish is die handy “Also in this section” wat dan vir jou ander artikels wys, wat moontlik ook oor sport handel. Regtig nie ‘n moeilike ding om in te bou nie, maar nogsteeds iets om te onthou
Verskillende News Skils
Uno as Die Online Matie, Online, Web2.0
Nov|3|2006
Traditional Skills Most Important in Online Newsrooms
The Online News Association has released a study of job skills needed in online newsrooms. The research was conducted a little less than a year ago by C. Max Magee during his master’s degree studies at the Medill School of Journalism, where I teach. More than 400 people working in online news, from big companies to blogs, filled out the survey. Managers were asked about skills they were looking for in a job candidate; content producers were asked what skills they use most in their job.
- The most important skills/qualities in online newsrooms are not related to technology or the Web. They are things like attention to detail, news judgment, grammar and style, multitasking skills, communication skills and ability to work under time pressure.
- Less than half the producers and managers said reporting original stories was part of the job expectations for online newsrooms.
- HTML, Photoshop, use of a content management system and Web usability are the most important tools and technologies for online newsroom workers.
Download die file hierso