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Three things to keep an eye on in iOS5

October 14, 2011 in industry news

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JUNE 06: Attendees walk b...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Apple just released the latest version of its mobile operating system, iOS5, which introduced over 200 new features and enhancements.  The past 3 months I’ve had iOS5 running on my personal device as a developer.  During that time I have noticed three key features to keep an eye on over the next year.

One of the biggest features is the introduction to the “cloud.”  Certainly, the concept of the cloud is nothing new as users have been figuring out ways to use other services like Dropbox to sync files and even their iTunes libraries between computers.  As with most things Apple, it isn’t so much the groundbreaking idea as it is the implementation.  iCloud, Apple’s version of Dropbox, is tightly integrated and provides a unified experience across not just the operating system but also across devices – mobile and desktop.

With Apple creating an app “space” in the new version of OSX Lion, this means users can have an app on their phone and their desktop which sync data and information.

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New FREE WordPress theme

April 21, 2011 in industry news

Gabfire, known for making some nice WordPress themes is offering a new theme for free.  The new theme is built on HTML5 and has lots of potential for a newspaper site.  A lot of nice built in features like an advertising module (with category ads), media gallery template and a custom media module which allows “you to display a FLV video hosted on your server or to embed a flash video to your posts.”

I haven’t tested this out myself but since the theme is free, you aren’t out anything for downloading it.  Plus, WordPress makes it very easy to switch between different themes, not to mention some really cool features which allow you to install plugins with out knowing a thing about FTP!  Anyway, you can check it out at GabFire’s website here: http://www.gabfirethemes.com/snapwire/

Gabfire theme being offered for free

Gabfire theme being offered for free

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On twitter & the media

March 5, 2009 in Academics, College Media, Community, General Media, industry news, Twitter

For little over a year I have been interested in this thing I’m sure many of you have heard about called twitter. I started off curious how this, then relatively new, social media tool might be used by college media. It wasn’t until I threw caution to the wind and started tweeting did I really understand why people were using twitter.  I used twitter for myself, not the paper or any attempt to pretend I was a media organization.  While I like twitter, I still see many media and businesses not using it how I, a user, would like it to be used.

I spent the past few months talking to other twitter users, attended a few tweetups and along with my own preferences have compiled a list of things media organizations and companies should do, and not do when using twitter.

1. Do NOT use twitter as an RSS feed! I removed the NYT and both my local papers because all they did was push out headlines to their stories.  Don’t know why but this really bugs me as a twitter user. If all you are doing is pushing your stories you are not using twitter right.

2. Do NOT push out a ton of updates at one time. I greatly dislike getting up in the morning or after a long day coming home to find my twitter feed filled up with a ton of updates from one media or business. I don’t mind it from my friends, they aren’t selling me something or just trying to get my eyeballs on their site. When a media/business does this it comes across as pure advertising. Personally, I think 2-4 GOOD updates a day works for me, though nothing is wrong with just one a day either! It is all about finding balance.

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Viacom/Time Warner battle – just the beginning?

December 31, 2008 in College Media, General Media, industry news

What has only made headlines today is the announcement of Viacom pulling over 18 channels off cable giant Time Warner if a new retransmittal fee is not agreed upon.  Shows like Sponge Bob, Dora the Explorer, Colbert, The Daily Show – basically all Nickelodeon, MTV and Comedy Central shows will no longer be seen by tons of subscribers.

Great, so what does this mean, nothing new right. Certainly not for college newspapers. What you might have missed is why this problem has come up. In a nutshell, decreasing ad revenues is forcing content providers to find other revenue streams. Turning to subscribers is one way to shore up a decline in ad sales.  Cable companies don’t want the increase because they have to pass it along to the subscriber which can cause them to lose customers.

Like an iceberg, this is just the tip. Here in the pacific northwest, satellite provider Dish Network is having a similar battle with Fisher Broadcasting.  Certain local channels have been off air now for two weeks for those Dish Network providers in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, northern Ca and parts of Nevada. Want to watch a playoff game on CBS in Boise? Too bad, KBCI is off air for Dish Network subscribers. Want to watch the BCS bowl games on Fox in northern CA? Will have to go to your local bar for those games if you use Dish. Read the rest of this entry →

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XML – an update

May 5, 2008 in industry news

It has been a while since I wrote on XML. I’ve been pouring over material and thought I would put some new information out as well as ask for some feedback.

First, I need to make clear XML is a markup language, not programming language. It won’t “do” anything. Rather, it is a way to tag your content – words or pictures. So you can’t program XML to display a web page or interact with some database. You would use XML to tag the information for display on a web page or to identify information from a database but not actually to program anything.

How do you “create” XML? Read the rest of this entry →

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CP – the good and the bad

April 23, 2008 in Advising, College Publisher, online software, Websites

Most of you know I have been testing the new 5.0 or polopoly version for College Publisher going on 4 months. I have been getting many emails and questions at the conventions about what it is like but by far the biggest question that gets put to me is in the vien of “we are thinking of switching but want to know what the new 5.0 system has to offer before we jump ship.” Note, this isn’t a direct quote from any one just a general wording.

I think since the problems of the “j run errors” many advisors and students are frustrated with CP and that is why many are looking at other options. Additionally, we all have probably attended or followed sessions on “new media” and our students now want to try some of these great things we have all learned about. Things which may not be easy to do, if possible at all under the current 4.0 system.

At the core however, I feel many advisors are over looking some key points. I quickly broke down what I see as positives and negatives for the CP system. This is a short list and by no means complete. Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments section.

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Online photo request system

April 22, 2008 in Newsrooms, online software, Tech Talk

A few people have asked for screenshots of our online photo request system. Screen shots don’t really do a good job at showing what the system can do so I created this short video.

Video thumbnail. Click to play
Click To Play


click the link to open the quicktime file: APS

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Polopoly purchased

April 11, 2008 in College Publisher

Polopoly has been acquired by Atex, a player in the north american newspaper market.  They have a large list of clients not only in the US but all around the world.

Atex put out a release on the acquisition. They also discuss the view of Polopoly working within the Atex organization.

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Polopoly and XML

March 24, 2008 in College Publisher, Websites

Being involved as the first school to beta test the new College Publisher 5.0, or Polopoly system, I have found there is a real need to get more feedback from other papers to see what they would like in the new system. I also hope this will be a good platform to keep people updated on what is new in the Polopoly system.

I also want to make no promises for those grammarians out there. I am going for the updated content vs best written content. Sometimes you may get ramblings which unto themselves make no sense but hopefully in context of this blog will read coherently.

Let’s get started…

One of the new, and actual working features in Polopoly is XML upload of your paper. This is a huge time saver but takes some planning.

What is XML?

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Multimedia with Flash intro

June 20, 2006 in Uncategorized

I should be writing about podcasting, but we haven’t had the staff to do anything this summer. Another summer term is due to start soon, so I’m hoping we will have something to report about in July.

In the meantime, check out our newest multimedia piece on the making of a piano instructor’s multimedia concert. The piece took student Zeke Hazewinkel about two months to finish (while taking a massive amount of classes this summer) and incorporates a Flash intro and credits with audio and photos. It’s beautiful and I haven’t seen anything like it. We can’t expect something of this caliber from our students all the time, but wouldn’t it be nice…

http://www.ecorsair.com

Click on Multimedia: Carol Wallace Payne Concert under
Multimedia Stories.

Christina Drain
Adviser, The Corsair
Pensacola Junior College

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