Thursday, April 28, 2011

The Royal Wedding 2011








The Royal Wedding 2011

Ulster County Reapportionment Maps


Tuesday, April 26, 2011

'Marwencol' airs tonight on PBS

The film "Marwencol" by Jeff Malmberg, which tells the story of Kingston resident Mark Hogancamp, airs on PBS at 10 p.m. tonight.



In 2000, Hogancamp was violently attacked outside a bar in Kingston. After nine days in a coma and 40 days in the hospital, he was discharged with little memory of his previous life. Unable to afford therapy, he decided to create his own. In his backyard, he built Marwencol, a 1/6th scale World War II-era town that he populated with dolls representing his friends, family, and even his attackers.

You can watch clips and see more here: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/marwencol/

P.S. In the film, Uptown is described as Downtown.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

JRC Chat at noon talks about comments

It's Wednesday! And that means that members of the Journal Register Company's Idealab - and anyone who wants to - are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat at noon.

Today we will be talking about comments (so your comments are welcome). Since we're undergoing a fairly new experiment in journalism with live coverage of a murder trial here in Kingston, we'll also talk about best practices for live coverage of such and other events.


The live feed is posted below. But you can also follow the chat here or here or also here. And you can also check out past chats over here.

If you want to chime in, just post a tweet with the hashtag "#jrcchat" so it can automatically appear below, or post a comment in the field at the bottom of the chat box.

As always, you are welcome to participate at anytime you want.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

JRC Chat at noon on collaboration, 'Journalists on Facebook'

It's Wednesday again! (it seems to happen every week). And that means that members of the Journal Register Company's Idealab - and anyone who wants to - are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat at noon.

Today we will be collaborating and talking about, um, collaboration! We'll bring some tutorials for journalists and bloggers, produced by us and from all over, with the goal of get them all in one single space for easier access.

We're also going to be talking about the recently unveiled "Journalists on Facebook" page and what can we get out of it.

The live feed is posted below. But you can also follow the chat here or here or also here. And you can also check out past chats over here.

If you want to chime in, just post a tweet with the hashtag "#jrcchat" so it can automatically appear below, or post a comment in the field at the bottom of the chat box.

As always, you are welcome to participate at anytime you want

Monday, April 4, 2011

Toddler 1, parents 0

Every now and then, my 2-1/2-year-old daughter has a strange look on her face. This usually happens when she's about to do something that she knows she's not supposed to do, like spreading Legos strategically so that unsuspecting fathers always end up stepping on them when they're barefoot.

On a particular Saturday morning, however, the look seemed augmented.

And then, it began...



I'm looking at her in disbelief. But before I could even ponder where she got this from, before I could even fathom how was it that she knew it was a bad word, she started running while repeating the word over and over, in a sheer and heavenly moment of hellish toddler joy.

  I call her name. I ask her to stop. I call her name again, loudly.

Mom joins in. "Stop." "Don't say that." "That's a bad word." "Please stop." "STOP RIGHT NOW!" This only serves to encourage her. She knows the word is forbidden. Now she's giggling while she is saying it. She runs around the house, ever loudly. She's discovered the forbidden fruit of words and she won't stop.

"IF YOU KEEP SAYING THAT, YOU GET A TIME OUT!"
Nothing
"NO LEGOS!"
Nothing.
"GO TO YOUR ROOM!"
Nothing.
"NOW!"
Nothing.

Visibly upset, I sit on the couch, pondering how to admonish her while making her understand.

She stops and looks at her defeated and demoralized Mom and Dad.

She hasn't said it since.

Friday, April 1, 2011

GroupOn buys April Fools

Now, when you think of Groupon Presents April Fools’ Day™ (the holiday's officially sanctioned title), you'll think of Groupon—because you and your favorite corporate entities are barred from creating or participating in any April 1 prank without the express written consent of Groupon

Bronx Zoo Cobra features the 6 sexiest snakes

Now safely in captivity, the Bronx Zoo Cobra takes over Ryan Seacrest's site and ponders dating sexy snakes.


Bronx Zoo Cobra inks deal with Animal Planet

"Featuring never-before-seen footage, this renegade cobra’s home movies and personal disclosures about why she slipped town will offer the real story behind the cobra's escape and solo adventures through New York City. "



General Electric aims to cure sock loss



Don't forget to report your missing socks.

Says the site: "L.O.S.S. (Laundered and Orphaned Sock Society) was formed to find the real cause of “sock loss” and effect a solution to this, one of society’s oldest problems. And after years of intensive research, we’re proud to say that we have."

Deals for Hipsters

Nothing is more important to us than taking your money and spending it on material goods of our own.

Among the feature items are a pair of lensless frames and tight purple pants.

Go, hipster, go!

Google introduces Comic Sans for everyone

Says the company:
We’ll therefore be rolling out Comic Sans as our default font across all Google products on April 4, 2011.


This is great and an amazing compliment to last year's Google AdSense Windings:

Huffington Post launches paywall for New York Times employees

Writes Arianna Huffington: "Today marks a significant transition for The Huffington Post Media Group, as we introduce digital subscriptions for employees of The New York Times."

Floating Ashokan Reservoir casino one step closer to reality


The Watershed Post is reporting that, "The Tuscarora tribe has entered into a secret deal with Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg to build a floating luxury casino on the Ashokan Reservoir."

Rebecca Black takes over 'Funny or Die'

It is now "Friday or Die"


LinkedIn has some strange professional suggestions

This is what shows up in "People You May Know":

The Guardian changes course, supports British monarchy

But Prince William has shown that he can be a new kind of king. That is why, in a significant change of course, we today pledge our full-throated support for the British monarchy.

Hulu, now in low-definition

The entire site goes back to 1996s, full with "X files videos," low-res images, frames, counter, parts under construction and all the aberrations from horrible web design of the time.

Klout now measures your Text Messaging influence


After many months of meetings and negotiations, we are proud to announce that we have made a deal with all major carriers to access 90% of text messages throughout the continental United States. We will analyze these messages to better understand your influence.


Journal Register Company gives out more tools to Idealab

Google Docs also has a Motion function

Over 10,000 supported gestures!

Easy charts!

Being a Google Autocompleter

That's right! Google is hiring autocompleters!

Introducing Gmail motion



Try it!

IKEA unveils doggy high chair

Shock Top app lets you taste beer on your iPhone


Get the app!

YouTube marks 100 years shocasing top viral videos of 1911





See what was trending then.

ZDnet discovers the screenless Blackberry

"Blackberry announced its latest business smartphone today, but with a twist: it doesn't feature a screen."

Irish airline Ryanair introduces child-free flights

Ryanair, the world’s favourite airlines, today announced that it will introduce ‘Child Free’ flights from October (winter schedule) after a Europe-wide survey of 1,000 passengers showed that half would pay higher fares to avoid other people’s children.

The floating bus has finally arrived

Australian site brisbanetimes.com.au "can reveal amphibious buses are being considered as the next addition to the city's public transport fleet."

The Sunday Morning Herald reviews the BMW pickup truck

''It’s also the first BMW M3 to come with a tow bar hitch."

The Sun: Gorillas get iPads to aid alertness

"We thought they would bang them on rocks but they carry them round as if they were babies."

Software company develops 'Angry Nerds'

Adblock develops sunglasses that block billboards and commercials in real time

The company that helps block unwanted web ads has developed a new product.


"Introducing the beta version of AdBlock Freedom: augmented reality eyewear that detects and removes ads from the world in realtime."

The first Twitter pen has arrived

"a revolution in Twitter communication"