I'm working in my hotel room, typing up notes from two days of meetings.
And I actually turned my last.fm off, and turned the TV on.
And there was Jim Vance.
You have to understand that when I was growing up in the Washington area in the 1970s, Jim Vance was the newscaster back then. Of course, his Afro was big, and his hair wasn't white, but he was still around on NBC.
Along with a weathercaster who got a bit of national fame later, in the 1980s - a man named Willard Scott.
So where is Willard today?
He'll be celebrating his 75th birthday on March 7, 2009 (or so Wikipedia tells me). And MSNBC still promotes Scott's centenarian birthday greetings.
Scott's wife died in 2002, resulting in an emotional interview with Larry King in 2003. But, according to PARADE, as of August 2008 he was seeing someone else.
Q Has the Today show’s Willard Scott remarried since the death of his wife? —Melody Perry, Newport Beach, Calif.
A Not yet. “But I have a lady that I squire around a lot,” says Scott, 74, whose wife of 43 years, Mary, died in 2002 from breast cancer. “I like my new lady so much that I bought a house in Connecticut to be closer to her.”
(Let me precede this with an advance warning - this post concerns the Buffalo plane crash on Thursday evening, and some of the reporting of said crash, and gets a bit graphic toward the end. If you are a squeamish person, or if you have a connection to any of the deceased, I recommend that you read some other account of the plane crash reporting.)
I first heard about the Buffalo plane crash via a FriendFeed share from The Music Freak Molly. Unlike Molly, I chose to leave the television off last night. Therefore, the first TV coverage that I saw of the plane crash was this morning, when CNN televised a live press conference at approximately 9:00 am Eastern time.
A few things to bear in mind at the time of the press conference:
It had been less than twelve hours since the plane had crashed.
At the time, no list of the deceased had been released. However, reports at the time were stating that one person on the ground had been killed, and that everyone on the plane had died. Reports had been stating that 48 people were on the plane (44 passengers and 4 crew), but I had also heard an on-the-plane count of 49 (an off-duty pilot).
There was a fire at the crash scene which severely limited access to the site. Except for some NTSB personnel who were permitted to look for the black box, the only people on scene were emergency personnel trying to put out the fire.
The press conference started with a local official, then the NTSB spokesman was introduced. Because of the issues above, the NTSB person was limited to saying what they planned to do later in the day, provided the fire was extinguished.
Then the questions came. Bear in mind that you had people from competing organizations asking questions, all trying to get The Scoop. If you think bloggers are cutthroat, they have nothing on journalists, who have had a few hundred years of practice in this regard.
Taking that into account, the initial questions were intelligent, clarifying points that the NTSB spokesman had made. For example, after one question, he had to clarify that all that the NTSB really knew at this point was that a plane had crashed and hit a house. The NTSB still had to conduct a formal investigation, using information from the site, from the black box, from eyewitnesses in Buffalo, from personnel in Newark (the origin of the delayed flight), etc. It would be inappropriate for the NTSB to begin to draw conclusions until they had actually examined all of the evidence.
Then someone asked a question along the lines of "what exactly did you find on the scene when you arrived?"
And yes, the questioner used the word "exactly."
Perhaps it's just me, and perhaps I'm interpreting it wrong, but that question really drove me up a wall.
All of the people at the press conference already knew that regarding the plane, it appears that only the tail of the plane was really intact in any way. So I don't think the reporter was asking about the plane.
I think - and I'll put it as delicately as possible - the reporter was asking about the people.
For whatever reason, the NTSB spokesman refused to answer the question. But afterwards, it appeared that the NTSB spokesman began to get irritated with some of the questions that were being asked.
Let's face it, this was a "we only have a limited amount of information" press conference. Unless you can trick the spokesperson into revealing something that he or she shouldn't have revealed, you're not going to find out a lot during the question and answer period.
Yet that doesn't stop people from trying to get an NTSB spokesperson to say something on camera about the dead bodies on scene.
Sometimes, we can be a bunch of ghouls.
[UPDATE 8:25 PST - I HAVE SINCE FOUND A VIDEO OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE AT ROCHESTERHOMEPAGE.NET. THE NTSB SPOKESMAN IS STEVE CHEALANDER, AND THE RELEVANT QUESTION - ACTUALLY, MULTIPLE QUESTIONS - CAN BE FOUND FROM 14:00 TO 14:30 ON THE EMBEDDED VIDEO.]Sphere: Related Content
Two of the bloggers that I read frequently are Steven Hodson and Duncan Riley. There are some similarities between the two.
Neither Steven nor Duncan are American. Hodson is from Canada, Riley from Australia.
Both work for The Inquisitr. Well, Riley has a slightly higher position at The Inquisitr than Hodson.
Both hate geotarding.
Geotarding, as the term is often used, refers to the practice of an American company to restrict online content so that it can only be shown to people within the United States. See what Hodson has said about the practice (see point 3), as well as what Riley has said about the practice (namely, why he won't link to an ET story).
In my capacity as an ugly American, I often forget about this. For example, there are often discussions about the pros and cons of last.fm vs. Pandora. To much of the world, the decision between the two services is a no-brainer, since Pandora isn't available outside of the United States. (Too bad for Caroline.)
So it was with great interest that I discovered that I, an American, am now the target of a geotarding effort. And I have Steven Hodson's home country to thank for this. NewTeeVee:
Canadians really know what they’re doing when it comes to showing people the Olympics online, it seems. This morning we spoke to Alon Marcovici, vice president of digital media from the country’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium, after reading that “every single moment” of next year’s Winter Olympics would be available live online.
NewTeeVee's Liz Gannes describes the comprehensive online coverage that's being offered - but then notes that there's a catch:
None of these feeds, however, will be available in the U.S. — they’ll be geo-blocked for viewers outside of Canada.
But before I call Joe Baca, Dianne Feinstein, and Barbara Boxer to demand that President Obama invade Canada, I should note that Liz Gannes then mentioned an American company that has an interest in seeing these events be geotarded:
NBC still owns the American rights to the Olympics, and from all appearances they think their on-demand approach to coverage à la Beijing — delaying airing key events until primetime broadcast — is the way to go.
too bad jack in the box missed the end of the game. #sb43 #superbowlads 18 minutes ago from m.slandr.net
pittsburgh wins 6th super bowl. excellent game to final seconds. 20 minutes ago from m.slandr.net
fumble? we'll see. 22 minutes ago from m.slandr.net
i've shushed 2 family members away in last minute. 26 minutes ago from m.slandr.net
ari has 35 sec and 2 time outs to score td. 27 minutes ago from m.slandr.net
review. play stands. pit needs extra point. 27 minutes ago from m.slandr.net
and now i'm seeing hardly any tweets. traffic 29 minutes ago from m.slandr.net
td td td td td ... well, they'll review. 30 minutes ago from m.slandr.net
actually on 7. i stand corrected. inc helped. 31 minutes ago from m.slandr.net
mouth open again. steelers on 5. 33 minutes ago from m.slandr.net
al michaels: it's windy. 34 minutes ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads godaddy enhanced. at least it mentioned the product. 2.5 stars. 36 minutes ago from m.slandr.net
my twitterfeed seems slow. fitzgerald overwhelmed twitter. 38 minutes ago from m.slandr.net
RT @CathleenRitt: Gordon Lightfoot just rescinded his new single "The Wreck of the Larry Fitzgerald" 39 minutes ago from m.slandr.net
@shey i may be wrong on this game. 41 minutes ago from m.slandr.net
uh...my mouth was literally wide open. ari now leading on fitzgerald run. 42 minutes ago from m.slandr.net
according to al michaels, last safety was in super bowl 25. i mean xxv. 44 minutes ago from m.slandr.net
safety. 20-16. about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net
@jack @ev @biz i've only had one brief access problem throughout the entire game. congrats to twitter. about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net
whoops, that was a retweet of an @anamariecox tweet. about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net
@anamariecox: ...Looking forward to FedEx's "maaakin' coopieeees" spot. #sb43ads about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads alec baldwin hulu good sense of humor. 4 stars. maybe i won't visit youtube. about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads thank you ge for supporting your network. (the rainbow connection.) 2 stars. about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads i'm watching on 13" tv. it's not a vizio. 1 star. about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads question - if you don't know who mean joe greene is, what do you think of the coke zero commercial? about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads coke zero takeoff on mean joe greene appreciated by this geezer who remembers original. 3 stars. about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net
some of you may not remember, but jack in the box was was blown up in late 1970s. about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net
@biggjon in los angeles, jack in the box was a local sponsor. the chain is not national. about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net
just realized that jack in the box was not national #superbowlads - it has the most compelling story so far. must check website. about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads before jack got hit by a bus, i was giving infiniti 2 stars. about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads i haven't - oh my god they killed jack (again)! 4 stars. about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads nfl ok. 2 stars. about 1 hour ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads sugar fr- i mean frosted flakes as health food defies reality. 1 star. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads coke ad seemed like pixar rip off. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads to careerbuilder.com - hey dummy, boring commercial. 1 star. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net
@venson pit couldn't score td, kicked fg again. 20-7. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net
arizona's defense may have saved 4 pts. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net
@venson 17 pit 7 ari, penalty against ari on successful pit fg kick, pit may get 7 instead of 3. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net
@MiaD my problem is that i compare all #superbowlads against apple 1984. none measure up. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads witch mtn as action movie w the rock, who has already proven himself in kid's movie. 4 stars. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads the budweiser clydesdales have jumped the shark. 1 star. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads coke would like to teach the world to animate in perfect harmony. 1 star. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads i liked monster.com deer body 3 stars. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads bridgestone jump around ok. 2 stars. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net
@Tad next year a savvy #superbowl advertiser will say "please RT this tinyurl" about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads our local commercial in el-lay was for local furniture chain living spaces. 2 stars. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net
RT @jdickerson: The chills I got from the Boss's performance were the kind associated with awkward rehersal dinner toasts. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net
oooh, rebellion. plugging a disney property on an nbc universal tv show. that's...um...bad. #sb43 about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads lmao clinic gets one star for the acronym. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net
@BradHoward you are correct sir. they are deathly afraid of exposed nipples. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net
oh dear. dialogue, referee actor about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net
post janet/justin #superbowl halftime shows remind me of when i saw jan & dean in early 1980s. mostly nostalgically unsatisfying. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net
just got back from fftogo - i was checking friendfeed comments on my slandr tweets. about 2 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads i don't have 3d glasses. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#sb43 17-7 pittsburgh at half, but they don't control game. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#sb43 ruling on field stands. touchdown. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net
booth review??????? about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads cheetos got a LOL out of me. 4 stars. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads teleflora good, establishes halfway believable need (flowers w/o boxes). 3 stars. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net
RT @vanhoosear: Yeah, I also noticed no American car companies mentioned in the Hyundai ad. Very smart. #superbowlads about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads pixar looks good. 4 stars. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads hulu.com got the website name out. 4 stars. (but i'll probably go to youtube anyway.) about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads hyundai going for it. claim better than everyone. 4 stars. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#cardinals you're supposed to go forward #sb43 about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net
@badbanana and the show claims the existence of a "hyundai" car and "bud light" beer. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net
RT @nathanchase: did you see that home run? what a shot! can't wait for the 10th frame about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net
@4fthawaiian madden has not flown in decades. he used amtrak, then a custom bus to go to games. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads cars.com got my attention. 4 stars. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads so what IS mission g? 2 stars. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#cardinals good play #sb43 - this is a game. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net
RT @anamariecox: Said it before, will Tweet it again: New Trek movie="Muppet Babies." about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net
@DaveMurr animals, FOREIGN cars, and movie trailers. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads star trek - i watched it twice, but the characters were nearly invisible. 1.5 stars. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads bud horse love yawn. 2 stars. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net
@Jesse why so low on pedigree #superbowlads ? about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads pedigree adoption drive conveyed message well. 4 stars. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads godaddy now predictable, but leading people to product good move. 3 stars. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads loud doritos fun. 3 stars. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads will ferrell 2 stars. "matt lauer can eat it" was good. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net
@CatchUpLady as i watched bridgestone #superbowlads i thought men would like it better. about 3 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads castrol, kept on looking at monkeys. 2 stars. about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#sb43 end of 1st quarter already? about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net
order of magnitude on pittsburgh yards #sb43 about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net
@vdegeorge tell your 5 y/o daughter the story of kurt & ben and their magical pig(skin). about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net
ben r has THE POISE. #sb43 about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net
@ariedana live-blog my twitterstream if you like. about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net
@outtacontext i think you and i are only ones who liked conan sweden #superbowlads about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads conan bud light 4 stars. if it had been finland rather than sweden i would have given 6. about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net
@tiffanypr re companies monitoring twitter. hopefully. about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net
got a 502 error, but it passed. #twittout about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net
@dalecruse failure to score on 4th and 1 could have been psychologically devastating. about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads doritos 8 ball good, painful at end 3.5 stars. about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads pepsi forever young yawn 2 stars. about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads audi 4 stars. foreign car companies taking advantage. about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net
oops, #superbowlads bud light 2 stars. about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#suprbowlads bud light, i kept on thinking: what company serves beer at all meetings? 2 stars. about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net
@mandyg madden-bashing is a patriotic american tradition. about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net
@rondean i go with recent experience steelers in #sb43 about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#superbowlads hyundai again. corgan's voice wasn't too whiny. 3 stars. about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net
curious if matt leinert has been interviewed #sb43 about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net
@vanhoosear did i see that the nfl itself will air one of the #superbowlads in 3rd quarter? about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net
well, hyundai can afford to advertise in pregame #superbowlads about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net
#sb43 derived question - do singers sing soulful versions of "o canada" or "god save the queen"? about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net
yes, world, #sb43 is a religious event. about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net
so are we doing america the beautiful and the national anthem before #sb43 ? (searches for lee greenwood) about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net
hopefully getting payton award before #sb43 kickoff won't mess up kurt warner. about 4 hours ago from m.slandr.net
@Williamblake paris hilton has a british best friend show too? wonder how the american best friend feels. about 7 hours ago from m.slandr.net
@agersh i believe sporting events such as #superbowl get highest viewership as an evening program (east coast time). about 7 hours ago from m.slandr.net
@stevehall i'm a creature of habit. i tweeted to @superbowlads acct last year, so i like the similarly named #hashtag about 7 hours ago from m.slandr.net
haven't decided on other #hashtag - i like #sb43 and it's short, but everyone is using #superbowl instead. i may do #sb43 anyway. about 7 hours ago from m.slandr.net
my #hashtags for today? #superbowlads rather than #sb43ads and #superads09 about 7 hours ago from m.slandr.net
RT @mattearley: I propose that the hashtag for Super Bowl 43 should be #SB43 . If you agree, please retweet. about 7 hours ago from m.slandr.net
@vanhoosear 2008 #superbowlads were rated on a 1 to 5 star scale. about 7 hours ago from m.slandr.net
@vanhoosear i think there was a rating system for last year's #superbowlads (tweets to @superbowlads acct). have to dig it up. about 7 hours ago from m.slandr.net
@mvavrinak thx for tweeting about @spotcritic - hadn't heard about it. about 8 hours ago from m.slandr.net
And here are my replies from that period:
dcfemella @oemperor Shush! 9 minutes ago from FriendFeed in reply to oemperor
davidsinger @oemperor seems to have clobbered their server about 1 hour ago from Twinkle
MiaD @oemperor LOL! I m sure it's been all downhill since :) about 2 hours ago from Tweetie in reply to oemperor
goblinbox @oemperor LOL about 2 hours ago from TwitterFon in reply to oemperor
dcfemella @oemperor I said the same thing! Super cute about 3 hours ago from FriendFeed in reply to oemperor
mvavrinak @oemperor @vanhoosear smart and also pointed... few American brands are actually true luxury worldwide about 3 hours ago from web in reply to oemperor
DaveMurr @oemperor good point about 3 hours ago from twhirl
vdegeorge @oemperor I tried to get her to watch, but she's not interested because neither team is wearing pink. Sigh. about 4 hours ago from Tweetie in reply to oemperor
outtacontext @oemperor No, I saw other tweets who agreed. about 4 hours ago from TwitterFon in reply to oemperor
mandyg @oemperor LOL ...I think my own personal hell would be having to listen to Madden and Lou Holtz about 4 hours ago from web in reply to oemperor
vanhoosear @oemperor Heh. Do they have to pay for their own spots? about 4 hours ago from twhirl
RanchoVibe @oemperor - from one Canadian here - the answer is yes. about 4 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to oemperor
ScotMcKay @oemperor Should energize him, I'd say. about 4 hours ago from Twittelator in reply to oemperor
agersh @oemperor makes sense that #superbowl gets highest viewership as an evening program actually. about 5 hours ago from web
Williamblake @oemperor You can imaging now!!! ;) about 7 hours ago from web in reply to oemperor
stevehall @oemperor #hashtags for today? #superads09 and #sb43ads rather than #superbowlads :) about 7 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to oemperor
mvavrinak @oemperor welcome!! Hope to see you as part of the stream! about 8 hours ago from Tweetie in reply to oemperor
Now I just have to write up a history of Jack in the Box. A number of the commercials in the Super Bowl relied on historical precedent, and Jack was one of them. [8:20 PM - I'VE WRITTEN THE HISTORY, WHICH IS AT EMPOPRISE-BI.]
Oh, and I need to check that SocialToo survey. My 4 star commercials were the following:
Audi
Conan Bud Light (Sweden)
Pedigree adoption drive
cars.com
Hyundai ad that trumpeted how Hyundai was better than other car manufacturers
Earlier Hulu spot
Pixar movie
Cheetos with the bird
Witch Mountain movie
Jack from Jack in the Box being hit by a bus
Alec Baldwin's Hulu spot
For the record, my favorite commercials last year were the following:
So my highest rated ads were Diet Pepsi Max (What is Love), Budweiser (wine & cheese), FedEx (giant pigeons), Tide (the talking stain), the GMC Yukon (Sisyphus), and Coke (parade).Sphere: Related Content
"I like wisdom that comes with age," Pitt said in an interview...."I wouldn't trade it for youth any day."
Of course, Brad Pitt is just a kid. But what about being 47, as Welshman Peter Black became almost two years ago?
Today I am 47. Nothing remarkable about that except that I am told 47 is another one of those numbers that has some significance in the world of pop culture.
Once one reaches a certain age, one doesn't necessarily want the latest gizmo for Christmas. I can honestly tell you that the first item on my Christmas list this year was socks. Thankfully, I got them, and I also got some other very nice things that weren't even on my Christmas list.
But I can truly give thanks for the fact that there were several things that I DIDN'T get this Christmas. Now perhaps a few of you would actually like some of these items...but I wouldn't.
A singing telegram from Andrew Fletcher, performing an acoustic version of "Pleasure Little Treasure" (even just acoustically, this is IMHO the worst song the Depeche Mode has ever recorded)
Some "Number 2.0" from twins Matthew and Sarah (perhaps their parents would like it, but not me)
A white Christmas (yes, I was born in Chicago, but that was a long time ago - having lived in southern California for over a quarter century, snow is pretty much foreign to me)
A front-row seat at a taping of "Oprah" (the prospect of being surrounded by the You-Go-Girl nation puts fear in my heart)
A one-on-one counseling session with Donald Trump (if he were so successful, why the hair?)
A day with Woz (I like Woz and find him inspirational, but I fear that I probably couldn't understand half of what he talked about - and anyway, it's my wife who is the former teacher)
Mika Brzezinski, one of MSNBC’s morning news anchors, was mugged on her way to the studio this morning....
Brzezinski said the man walked across the street toward her and asked for $20, telling her if she handed over the money, nothing would happen. Brzezinski handed the man the $6 in cash she had, she said.
While the incident occurred in Washington, DC, it just as easily could have occurred in Atlanta, or San Francisco, or Ontario, or Guin. (You probably haven't heard of Guin, but it could have happened there.)
Remember my previous post about Loren Feldman's and Julia Roy's participation in the recent Izea promotion? Well, when people weren't taking sides in this weekend's Loic Le Meur/Michael Arrington dispute, they were waxing prolific on Izea and Chris Brogan.
The recent flap over Chris brogan's involvement in a Kmart social marketing campaign is bringing the payola word back into vogue.
In my mind, the difference between payola and payperpostola is that, at least recently, the latter has involved full disclosure.
Boyd makes this distinction:
If the author is intentionally promoting a product or service in exchange for money that they otherwise wouldn't comment on -- because of incentives from the sponsor, or by self-censorship in order to retain the financial supports -- then that fine line is crossed, and the ethics of the situation go sideways.
As I noted previously, it was understandable that Loren Feldman would blog about video equipment, or that Julia Roy would blog about apartment items.
Boyd's solution:
1. Kmart could have run a sweepstakes, and selected five individuals -- not bloggers -- to get $500 gift cards and shopping sprees.
2. The could have videoed the sprees.
3. They could have created an ad program, or sponsored posts (like Techmeme has) that could have been placed on Chris Brogan's and others' blogs. For a fee. And even better, written by others, like marketing folks from Kmart.
But this week they made a goof of sorts, and can't really be blamed for it.
Every Monday, the Fox Soccer Report shares a "Topic of the Week" on Monday. The show solicits answers from its viewers throughout the week, closing the submissions late Thursday evening. On Friday, the show picks three viewer answers, reads them on the air, sends valuable junk to the viewers, and then lets resident analyst Bobby McMahon weigh in on the topic in question.
So, here's the topic that the Fox Soccer Report shared on Monday:
Time's up? After bringing Sunderland back from the dead in the Coca-Cola Championship two seasons ago and restoring the club to its Premiership status, former Manchester United star Roy Keane is beginning to feel the managerial strain that comes with high [expectations] and a few big-name signings. Last year it was all about survival and Keane did an admirable job, but this year the Black Cats expect much more than to be fighting relegation just before the Boxing Day fixtures. Is it time for Roy Keane to move on from Sunderland?
They've been pumping this question every night, and on Wednesday night one of the anchors (possibly Derek Taylor) added the comment, "...or should he just shave the beard?"
Well, the beard may be the only thing left for Fox Soccer Report viewers to comment on, because I just read a report in EPL Talk Thursday morning (Pacific time) stating that Roy Keane has resigned.
The Thursday edition of the Fox Soccer Report will air seven hours from now, and they'll obviously need to address this question. No, they won't close the Topic of the Week submissions, but the later submissions will obviously have a different tone.
CAZ048-260945- SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTY VALLEYS-THE INLAND EMPIRE- 1036 AM PST TUE NOV 25 2008
FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM PST THIS EVENING THROUGH WEDNESDAY EVENING
REST OF TODAY PARTLY CLOUDY WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS. HIGHS 64 TO 72. LIGHT WINDS BECOMING WEST 15 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON. CHANCE OF MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION 30 PERCENT.
TONIGHT RAIN AND SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. RAIN MAY BE HEAVY AT TIMES OVERNIGHT. LOWS 49 TO 57. LIGHT WINDS.
WEDNESDAY RAIN AND SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MORNING...THEN CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AFTERNOON. RAIN MAY BE HEAVY AT TIMES IN THE MORNING. HIGHS 60 TO 65. WINDS SOUTH 15 MPH IN THE MORNING BECOMING LIGHT.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT MOSTLY CLOUDY IN THE EVENING...BECOMING PARTLY CLOUDY. CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. LOWS 47 TO 53. LIGHT WINDS. CHANCE OF MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION 50 PERCENT.
THANKSGIVING DAY PARTLY CLOUDY WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. HIGHS 61 TO 66. LIGHT WINDS. CHANCE OF MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION 20 PERCENT.
THURSDAY NIGHT PARTLY CLOUDY. LOWS 46 TO 52.
FRIDAY PARTLY CLOUDY. HIGHS 64 TO 70.
FRIDAY NIGHT PARTLY CLOUDY IN THE EVENING...BECOMING MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS 45 TO 52.
SATURDAY MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS 66 TO 72.
SATURDAY NIGHT MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS 46 TO 54.
SUNDAY MOSTLY SUNNY. WINDY. HIGHS 68 TO 75.
SUNDAY NIGHT MOSTLY CLEAR. WINDY. LOWS 45 TO 54.
MONDAY MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS 69 TO 76.
Now this is the point when the rest of the country laughs at our local news stations as they go into "Storm Watch 2008" mode. Here is the popular perception of how our local stations cover this earth-shattering event:
PAUL: OK, we're going to go out to Amanda Jones, who is live on-scene just outside our Burbank studios.
AMANDA: Paul, can you hear me?
PAUL: Yes, we can hear you, Amanda. What are the current weather conditions?
AMANDA: Well, Paul, I just felt a drop of water on my nose.
PAUL: A drop of water? We'd better toss it over to Fritz for expert commentary.
FRITZ: Well, Paul, if you take a look at our Universal Super Dopplr Map 4000, you can see these big blobs of green. One of those blobs generated the water drop which hit Amanda.
PAUL: Yes, you heard it here first. Stay tuned for all of the late-breaking news related to...
JAMES EARL JONES: STORM WATCH 2008.
To be fair to us, there are some ramifications here that don't necessarily affect people in other parts of the country.
First and foremost, Southern California is desert. I know it doesn't look like it's desert, but it is. This means that when it rains hard, the ground can only absorb some of the water. And the water that can't be absorbed ends up running all over the place, causing people to drown in the streets. I'm not kidding.
Second, you may have heard that we had some fires here over a week ago. So there are various areas with nice, denuded hills with no vegetation and a lot of ash. Picture what happens when storm water starts running THERE.
However, in my case I have a more personal concern - namely, the fact that my driveway slopes downhill toward my garage.
Let's jump back to the thrilling days of Saturday Night Live. Back before the woman with the glasses - whoops, sorry - did the news, there were all sorts of people that sat behind the Weekend Update desk. Of all of these luminaries, my favorite in that role was Brad Hall. He didn't smirk his way through the news like Chevy Chase, Dennis Miller, and some others did, and he didn't show us his bra like Jane Curtin did (not that I would have cared). Brad Hall just delivered the news, looking serious and professional, which heightened the contrast between his behavior and the so-called news he was reporting.
But I'm not talking about Brad Hall. I'm talking about Rich Hall - whoops, sorry - who was on in a later season. I never heard of him again.
Not everyone likes to arrive at a page and be surprised by a video playing on screen... more importantly if the user has been surfing non-rich media content for a while he has also forgotten what the volume his notebook/pc speakers is. Sometimes when a video autoplays it causes the user to be startled as he might be in a cafe/library/office, and does not want to attract too much attention.
Therefore I think you should convince the client that it might not create the best user experience to have the video in autoplay mode.
And there are other offenders. G. Jason Head:
The first example that came to mind to me is ESPN.com. I visit the site daily as a user (i/e I leave my developer hat off when I get there). They have a video box on their main page that always starts automatically - and I absolutely hate it. Reasons being - I'm busy reading whats new on the front page and the video is always a distraction.
Will Evans:
90% of the time, I work, surf, write with my headphones on, with the music playing. Autoplay overides what I am listening to, usually at a volume much more than my music, and in somecases have literally cause pain in my ears - that is why I will never go to MySpace - ever.
Where did Sarah Palin learn how to non-answer a question?
From one of her alleged accusers, Nicolle Wallace.
First, let's establish the background. Here's a Fox News video in which Carl Camerson said several things (h/t The Inquisitr):
Among the things stated by Cameron:
Palin didn't know which countries were in NAFTA.
She thought Africa was a country, rather than a continent.
She didn't accept preparation for the Katie Couric interview.
She was hard to control emotionally and had temper tantrums.
This news, of course, spread like wildfire. Now here's what happened when Matt Lauer interviewed Nicolle Wallace later:
You'll see that Matt Lauer asked the following question:
It's getting hard to just brush this off as routine post-election defeat bickering, isn't it?
Wallace then talked about sparring with the Obama campaign on the Today show, congratulating Senator Obama, talked about McCain's graceful concession speech, then said:
Unfortunately, it's a sad tradition when you come out short...certainly heartbreaking when the candidate you believe in and you work for isn't going to make it to the White House.
But it is a sad and unfortunate tradition of losing campaigns.
Lauer then quoted from a Los Angeles Times article (interestingly, Lauer didn't cite the Fox interview; apparently this TV person thought that newspapers were more reliable than TV) that named three aides (including Wallace) were "flabbergasted" by Palin's spending.
Top McCain aides Schmidt, Rick Davis and Nicolle Wallace were flabbergasted by the magnitude of the spending as the receipts began trickling into the Republican National Committee, aides said.
And here's Wallace's response:
I've never been flabbergasted by anything I've seen in politics....Governor Palin did nothing wrong....The campaign provided some clothes, made them available to Governor Palin. She is perhaps the most un-diva politician I've ever seen. The only thing I've ever seen her ask for is a diet soda.
From the Straight Talk Express, this sounds like a lot of platitudes. And Lauer failed to got around to asking about NAFTA or Africa.
I propose that we punish the FOX Network for its hatchet job on Sarah Palin.
For one week beginning at 3:00 PM today no one tunes them in. We will demonstrate the power of conservatives when their ratings plummet dramatically.
Will you join me?
Ironically, many of the conservative commenters said that they would not join the boycott - they had already turned off Fox News for months or years.
Here's a sampling of some of the other responses veritas2002 received:
Send this to FOX. I am DONE until the hatchet job on Sarah Palin stops being tabloid journalism in place of news. Maybe longer.Tell [Bill O'Reilly] he’s no better than the “smear merchants” and “bombthrowers” he holds in such contempt. Allowing Carl Cameron to spew unmitigated hearsay and garbage without one shred of supporting evidence or fact makes O’Reilly just as bad as the supermarket tabloids.What’s the purpose behind these attacks on Sarah Palin from Fox News correspondent Carl Cameron?
It’s not a secret that Rupert Murdoch donated to Hilary Clinton’s campaign.
It’s not a secret that 81% of Fox News reporters and employees donate money to the Democratic party - that’s a crazy high number for an allegedly conservative TV channel.
Since that original post, veritas2002 has posted additionalitems endorsing his/her boycott. The last updated stated:
There has been an overwhelming response to the call to BOYCOTT FOX because of their trashing of Sarah Palin on their various programs, especially by Carl Cameron and Shep Smith.
The one-week BOYCOTT began yesterday - Thursday, at 3:00 PM EST. While some of you remarked that you had already tuned them out, many of you agreed to begin doing so.
To broaden the BOYCOTT, post this on as many conservative blogs that you can. The Nielsen ratings might not relfect the BOYCOTT but you can be sure that FOX's sponsors will not be happy, and it's all about money baby.
After the ratings tumble all the other hosts on FOX will be putting pressure on Cameron and any others to cease becoming part of the 'drive-by media' crowd.
So far over 15,000 have viewed the call for the BOYCOTT!
Yes, but if 15,000 people view naked pictures of Paris Hilton, that doesn't mean that they've had sex with her.
Of course, the infighting on the right is amusing people of other political persuasions. Wonkette:
The real story now is the new post-election Cold War that’s rapidly developing between McCain aides, Palin aides, conservative bloggers, conservative teevee hosts, conservative columnists… basically any GOP operative with a half-decent Rolodex and a certain moral flexibility. They are all shitting on each other. This is the greatest Cold War we’ve ever had the pleasure of covering.
Wonkette noted the Free Republic boycott in passing, along with a lot of other pre-election squabbles.
But it turns out that Carl Cameron and Fox aren't only being vilified by the right. Andrew Sullivan:
Look: I understand that information given strictly off the record cannot be used. I am a stickler for that myself and there's stuff I know that I cannot tell Dish readers because of those rules. But at the same time, my commitment to you is never to bullshit my opinion that reflects that information. And the reporting of Palin fell into that category at times. I became convinced very early - just from public information - that she was obviously a disastrous choice, made on a whim, and obviously not ready for prime time....
But actual reporters were soon finding this out for themselves - and not even conveying the gist of that to their viewers and readers. Why not?
They kept taking Palin seriously as a veep candidate when she didn't come close to even minimal standards for passing a citizenship test. I'm sorry but I think this is a terrible failing, and it is a reason the mainstream media are imploding. They let the rules of the game over-rule their duty to tell the American people the truth as they began to discover it.
And then there's Palin's future. In FriendFeed, I've speculated that Palin wouldn't necessarily survive an entire Republican primary season, in which a half dozen or more eager politicos were gunning for her. So I figured she'd be more likely to go to the Senate. But a Senate run wouldn't be decided by us in the lower 48. For those of you who think that Palin and Ted Stevens are the only two dunces in Alaska, they have competition:
Palin could challenge the state’s other senator, Republican Lisa Murkowski, in the primary when her seat comes up in 2010.
In 2002, Palin was disappointed when she was passed over for appointment to the seat by Murkowski’s father, then-Gov. Frank Murkowski, who had vacated it to serve as governor. Instead, Murkowski tapped his daughter, prompting a nepotism controversy that Palin wielded to unseat Frank Murkowski in the 2006 GOP gubernatorial primary.
But it would be tough for Palin to unseat Lisa Murkowski in an election, asserted Ivan Moore, an Alaska pollster whose surveys have shown Palin’s approval ratings dropping from a high of 89 percent in mid-2007 to 64 percent in his most recent poll.
“It’s gotten to the point now where Sarah and Lisa’s numbers are really quite similar, so it’d be competitive,” he said, adding, “There was a time when there wasn’t anyone in the state who could take Sarah on and survive.”
Part of the problem, according to the article, is that McCain wasn't the only person who changed his early message to something different in 2008:
Palin hinted she was considering repackaging herself for her next foray onto the national stage by hewing closer to the image of good-government pragmatist that she projected here, rather than the fire-breathing partisan that emerged on the presidential campaign trail.
“You know, if there is a role in national politics, it won’t be so much partisan,” Palin told reporters. “My efforts have always been here in the state of Alaska to get everybody to unite and work together to progress this state … it certainly would be a uniter type of role.”
Incidentally, I recommend this article, Palin's Tricky Path Back, for anyone who wants to seriously examine Palin's post-McCain alternatives.
One thing for certain - Palin won't hire Nicolle Wallace as her spokesperson.
Sphere: Related Content
Vicki Lawrence was discovered by Carol Burnett in a manner that has become show business legend. Lawrence was still a high school student in Inglewood, a small city surrounded by Los Angeles, when she wrote a fan letter to Carol Burnett remarking on how people thought they looked alike. Burnett examined the enclosed photograph and agreed. She surprised the younger woman by telephoning her and agreeing to attend the Miss Fireball pageant which Lawrence went on to win. Realizing that Lawrence had some performing experience (she had appeared with the Young Americans singing group for three years), Burnett and her husband, Joe Hamilton, signed Lawrence to appear as a regular on Burnett's CBS variety series, primarily to portray Burnett's younger sister in an on-going skit.
Well, Lawrence held her own when she made it to the show, and was certainly capable of engaging in the show's favorite activity - namely, cracking everyone else up.
The hologram...was a throwback to Star Wars, complete with the hunched-over, I'm-talking-to-a-droid body posture...
So why did CNN do this? To keep people glued to the dial. News coverage is competitive, and always has been:
Going all-out is a TV news tradition, since at least 1960. That year, NBC transformed Studio 8H (now home of "Saturday Night Live") into a vast election center, with anchors David Brinkley and Chet Huntley presiding over dozens of correspondents and banks of numerical displays.
Though impressive in scale, the coverage (which can be glimpsed on YouTube clips) had no holograms, nor any reference to red or blue states (for one reason, it wasn't aired in color yet).
This video shows the 1960 technology, including the summary board (ooh!) and the RCA 501 computer (aah!). Much time was spent on explaining the operations of the RCA 501 computer, which took incoming vote data; used stored statistics on farm, labor, and other voting blocs; and used this data to extrapolate election results.
The clip is from the beginning of the broadcast. So what happened? Tech.Blorge:
Once 10% of the results are in, the computer predicts John F Kennedy will beat Richard Nixon by 51.1% to 48.9% in the popular vote, a forecast it sticks to throughout the night.
The network proudly proclaims that RAC-501 is the only computer which at no point predicts a Nixon victory; says one NBC anchor, “If they ever teach this machine to talk, we’re out of business.” (The actual vote results are slightly different because RCA-501 doesn’t include third-party candidates; of votes cast for the two leading candidates, Kennedy prevails by 50.1-49.9%)
As the networks recognize, the stakes are impalpable but high. Thus when Chet Huntley and David Brinkley scored for NBC in 1960, NBC magically swept past CBS to become the top network in most other respects as well.
In the early metered market report ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC combined for a 26.5/37 (household rating, share). ABC led with a 9.3/13, followed by NBC with an 8.5/12, CBS with a 4.7/7 and Fox with a 4.0/5.
I'm not sure how much a ratings point is worth financially, or how much of CBS' low performance is due to the Couric effect, but if Couric is the cause of the low ratings, that hire was more expensive than first believed.
And at CBS News, the decision was made to forgo the fancy high-tech trappings and emphasize the human element, with Couric anchoring and commentators Bob Schieffer (vigorous and helpful) and Jeff Greenfield (the proverbial fuddy-duddy) helping. The 2008 campaign, especially in recent months, marked a genuine comeback for Couric, who has been much maligned since moving to the evening news; she did the best of all network interviews with vice presidential candidate Palin.
Perhaps Couric should have interviewed Edward R. Murrow as part of the proceedings. That might have gotten CBS some additional viewers.
The other high profile Republican incumbent who lost a Senate seat is a little more problematic than Sununu. Tonight, much of the controversy about Elizabeth Dole's loss in North Carolina centered on an attack ad against her opponent, Kay Hagan.
When [Jesse] Helms retired in 2002 and Salisbury native Elizabeth Dole was elected to take his place, voters here breathed a sigh of relief. Surely Dole would not stoop to the racial appeals that marked too many N.C. elections and soured so many people on politics. It just wasn’t her way. While she might be every bit as conservative as Helms, her style was not divisive. She did not demonize her opponents.
Until now. In a new TV ad that must have the late Sen. Helms smiling and cheering from the great beyond, the Dole campaign has attacked her opponent, Democratic state Sen. Kay Hagan of Greensboro, as “godless.” Hagan attended a September fundraiser in Boston sponsored by dozens of people and co-hosted by two persons associated with a group called Godless Americans PAC. Dole’s ad says Hagan took “godless” money. Hagan’s campaign says she did not receive money from the PAC, though she did get money from one of the co-hosts. She has demanded Dole halt the ad.
Then the editorializing began:
The Dole campaign stepped across a broad line, portraying Hagan as not Christian and suggesting she does not believe in God. The Dole ad shows a picture of Hagan while a woman’s voice, not Hagan’s, intones, “There is no God.”
This is indecent. It is...a lie born of Dole’s desperation in a race in which she has trailed for weeks. It is also a deliberate attempt by Dole’s campaign not just to distort the truth, but to shatter Hagan’s admirable record as an elder for more than a decade in Greensboro’s First Presbyterian Church, as a Sunday School teacher and a volunteer in her church’s fundraising campaigns, worship services and community service programs.
But this is presumably not the sole reason why Dole lost, since she was already apparently trailing in the polls before she aired the ad. The Wilson Daily Times, while glossing over the negative ads by both candidates (similar, in fact, to the negative statements in the New Hampshire Senate race), chose to concentrate on more substantive issues:
Dole was elected by North Carolinians in 2002 with high hopes that she would use her vast political experience to become a force for the Tar Heel state in the [Senate]. She had served in both the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations and been the president of the American Red Cross.
With that kind of resume, voters assumed that she would quickly rise up the ranks of the Senate. Those dreams, however, have not come to fruition.
Dole has played a role in some major issues affecting the North Carolina, most notably for this area the federal tobacco buyout program, but on many others her voice has been absent from the table.
And, more disturbing to many North Carolinians, has been her absence from many parts of the state. Most voters expect their senators to remain a visible presence in the state, but Dole has been content to spend most of her time in Washington....
Hagan’s record in Raleigh is that she has moved through the ranks to become one of the most powerful legislators in the N.C. Senate. She has co-chaired the Senate’s appropriations committee and was listed as one of North Carolina’s 10 most effective senators by the non-partisan North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research. Among the issues she has been a part of is raising teacher salaries and increasing funding for higher education.
What sets Hagan above Dole is the fact that she has spent most of her life living and working in North Carolina. She has served her constituents in Greensboro well and has assembled a team that will work to represent the interests of all North Carolinians. During the campaign, she has been far more visible than her opponent, and we hope that visibility will continue if she is elected to office.
Oh, and by the way, Elizabeth Dole resopnded to criticism about the ad...by airing another ad. Her website links to the blip.tv version of the ad (which is also on YouTube:
Incidentally, I couldn't find the first ad (see above) on Dole's website. I had to go to YouTube to find it.
Perhaps Dole gave the No on Prop 8 "Mormon invasion" ad a run for its money; I'll have to find the Dole ad.
And I'm forced to agree that the Dole ad is more hateful than No on 8's Mormon Invasion ad which I discussed earlier. Dante Atkins, you've been bumped to second place; your ad demonized fictional representations of people, but Dole's people demonized a real person.
If you watched my ontarioemperor FriendFeed account and oemperor Twitter account, you know I've been monitoring my MSNBC widget and KFI and KNX radio as Obama heads toward victory.
Now I'm watching TV: CBS 206-135 ABC 207-135
No network will count California's 55 votes for Obama until 8:00 pm PST.
All politics is not local
-
I write about ESRI in this blog on occasion - most recently, in March 2016.
And ESRI just made the news again - not a local news outlet, and not a geo
news...
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