Media

On Google’s Super Bowl Advertisement.

Posted by Andrew Graham | 02.08.10 | Comments

Google had, by far, the best Superbowl ad last night. For one thing, it wasn’t based around rank hatred of women. For another, it managed to be poignant and touching in the space of 30 seconds.

Ezra Klein at The Washington Post echoes my sentiments exactly. I loved the spot, while — to use an understatement meant to preserve some degree of professionalism — not-loving the others that were compelling enough to commit to memory in the first place.

For those who missed it, the full spot, “Parisian Love,” is after the jump. (Note: It was a minute-long spot, not, as Klein indicates, a 30-second one.)

Click through to continue reading

Tags: ,

Energy

20-Year ‘Battery’ Shown To Last 20 Years, Not Be Battery.

Posted by Andrew Graham | 02.08.10 | Comments

To summarize my reaction to today’s prevalent stories about the supposed 20-year battery: No, no, no, mainstream media.

The English version of the product page doesn’t mention batteries, but rather capacitors. Capacitors are different things. The difference, according to HowStuffWorks:

A battery is a can full of chemicals and metals. The can could contain something as simple as lemon juice along with a copper strip and a zinc strip, although modern batteries tend to be a bit more sophisticated than that. An electrochemical reaction produces voltage and current. If the reaction is reversible, you have a rechargeable battery. If not you have a disposable battery.

A capacitor is a can full of thin metal sheets held very close together but separated by an insulator. You pump electrons in to charge up the plates, and then the capacitor can pump electrons out again to power a circuit.

(via Ars Technica)

Tags: ,

Politics

People Still Not Shutting Up About Ayn Rand.

Posted by Andrew Graham | 02.08.10 | Comments

In spite of the public wailings of some, The Cato Institute went ahead with a series of articles that seeks to debate the moral and political philosophy of Ayn Rand. It reflexively asks: “What, if anything, should we take into the future from Rand’s moral and political thought, and what, if anything, should we leave behind?”

I’ll table writing an actual opinion about Rand’s Objectivism until I’ve re-read Atlas Shrugged and the respective views of the Cato contributors. (So, in a couple months’ time or so.)

Tags: , ,

Writing

Lawyery Person Scores Points For Truth-Telling.

Posted by Andrew Graham | 02.08.10 | Comments

I have an opinion. It’s controversial. It’s definitely the minority position. It will undoubtedly subject me to ridicule amongst my peers. And it may even cost me some business. Nevertheless, I can’t shake myself from it.

Et cetera, et cetera. Sure, it’s a blog post about the relative importance of search-engine optimization in marketing plans for law firms, which doesn’t strike me as too controversial. But one could apply the lede as a boilerplate to most pieces of self-published copy. Unless, of course, the copy in question is oriented toward refuting multiple contrarian views of the conventional wisdom.

Which (actually) is what the post linked above does. How meta!

Tags: , ,

Media

And My Bill Is In The Mail.

Posted by Andrew Graham | 02.08.10 | Comments

Note that if the target doesn’t respond, then the troll moves on immediately. Yeah, this flowchart is pretty well-done.

(via Marketing Conversation)

Tags: , , ,

Politics

Some Reporter On The Politics Beat Should Write This Story.

Posted by Andrew Graham | 02.04.10 | Comments

Tags: ,

Linkdump

News Of Varying Degrees Of Importance.

Posted by Andrew Graham | 02.04.10 | Comments

Some starred items on my Google Reader:

  • The New York Times maps out the proposed federal 2011 budget, interactive-style.
  • Location-based mobile platform Foursquare might just know how to make some money.
  • “Spray-on liquid glass is about to revolutionize almost everything.”
  • Oregon voters want to recoup state’s comically large deficit by taxing the hell out of its richest residents.
  • Media-people infighting: Newspaper Death Watch disagrees with Alan Mutter’s plea to writers who give away their content.
  • Live in New York? Prepare to freeze your ass off this weekend.

    Tags: , , , , , ,
  • Politics

    Corporation Will Run For Congressional Seat. No, Really.

    Posted by Andrew Graham | 02.01.10 | Comments

    I don’t have a lot of commentary to add to the situation the Supreme Court created in the matter of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which held that companies have the same rights as do humans under the free-speech clause of the First Amendment.

    But I can simply observe that already, an organization has asserted its [apparent] Constitutional right to run for office. Not the head of that organization, or even any one person, but rather the organization itself. Public-affairs firm Murray Hill, Inc. said it will file to run on the Republican ticket in Maryland’s 8th Congressional District, according to a statement.

    The campaign’s designated human, Eric Hensal, will help the corporation conform to antiquated “human only” procedures and sign the necessary voter registration and candidacy paperwork. Hensal is excited by this new opportunity. “We want to get in on the ground floor of the democracy market before the whole store is bought by China.”

    Yes, it’s a piece of self-serving spectacle and, yes, it will probably be on the ballot. And, yes, I’ll gladly link to its first campaign video, which appears after the jump.

    via PRNewser

    Click through to continue reading

    Tags: ,

    Media

    For Free, Original Content, Publishers Should Make Concessions.

    Posted by Andrew Graham | 02.01.10 | Comments

    Media consultant Alan D. Mutter has a worthwhile read on his blog, Reflections of a Newsosaur, about why writers and journalists should stop giving away their content for next-to-nothing. Mutter, perhaps ironically, then gives away a servicey template (right) that freelance writers can use to calculate fees.

    On the broader issue of sourcing content, he writes:

    Quality journalism takes training, time and tenacity. Although it’s easy to fill space with words, pictures and videos that are produced quickly and on the cheap, down-and-dirty “journalism” is the intellectual equivalent of empty calories.

    The more empty calories you consume, the unhealthier you get. It won’t be good for our democracy – let alone our self-esteem as journalists – if we attempt to nourish vital local, state and national conversations with the journalistic equivalent of Ding Dongs and McNuggets.

    Of course, he’s absolutely right to stick up for journalists who are exploited by publishers that want good content without having to pay for it.

    Click through to continue reading

    Tags: , ,

    Banking

    ‘Why Don’t You Start Calling Me Gordon?’

    Posted by Andrew Graham | 01.29.10 | Comments

    This isn’t a movie blog, but it’s Friday, so what the hell. Watch the trailer for the Oliver Stone-directed sequel to Wall Street, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, and start planning your day for April 23, its alleged release date.

    The Internet Movie Database has plot details.

    Tags: ,
    « Previous Entries