Blog Guide: Think Articles, Not Posts

Application and web usability expert, Jacob Neilson writes that it is better to write well-researched articles of some lenght, than short blog posts that comment on transient issues.

"Blog postings will always be commodity content: there's a limit to the value you can provide with a short comment on somebody else's comments. Such postings are good for generating controversy and short-term traffic, and they're definitely easy to write. But they don't build sustainable value. Think of how disappointing it feels when you're searching for something and get directed to short postings in the middle of a debate that occurred years before, and is thus irrelevant

My objective and hope is that I ride the line on the side of value-added content. But the time involved, especially in the summer when there are so many other, more interesting things to do becomes a barrier. Witness my upcoming impeachment screed, which still lies in the drafts queue, 70% finished.

My most-accessed posts/articles over the last three or four months are the ones I worked hardest on and are also the longest, most in-depth:

• Building Code Kerfuffle


• The two long background pieces on the economics of ethanol, "Bottom Line Economics on Ethanol," and "Ethanol Market Fundamentals."


• Guide to Taking Your Kids to Chicago on the Cheap

So, it is a case of the old saying, "Quality beats quantity."

Drew Miller is Back In Da' House

Drew Miller is/was one of the early and best Iowa progressive bloggers. He took a year or so off but he's back with a participatory (Kos- or mydd-like) blog called, Bleeding Heartland. I'll be hanging out over there and I suspect that it will become one of the go-to places for Iowa political news.

Welcome back Drew!

Prediction: The Internet Will Defy Prediction.

On the heels of my presentation to the Leadership Institute this morning on the disruptive effects of technology comes this:

Cman Blog muse and inspiration, futurist, Bruce Sterling, pens his final column for Wired magazine today. His final prediction: the Internet will defy prediction:

In coming decades, are people going to vanish into the Net, permanently absorbed by addictive VR-style experiences? The reaction stretches predictably from "You must be nuts" to "Of course, it's happening already." And what's the centrist opinion? If an innovation works, some people will thrive on it, while others who are screwed up to begin with will face severe new problems.

The bubble-era vision of a utopian Internet is dented and dirty. The Pew respondents seem to agree that personal privacy is a thing of the past, and they're split nearly 50-50 on whether the costs will outweigh the benefits. Technophobic refuseniks are likely to carry out violent resistance, and they may have good reason: Out-of-control technology is a distinct risk. The Lexus has collided with the olive tree, and its crumpled hulk spins in a ditch as the orchard smolders.

The future of the Internet lies not with institutions but with individuals. Low-cost connections will proliferate, encouraging creativity, collaboration, and telecommuting. The Net itself will recede into the background. If you're under 21, you likely don't care much about any supposed difference between virtual and actual, online and off. That's because the two realms are penetrating each other; Google Earth mingles with Google Maps, and daily life shows up on Flickr. Like the real world, the Net will be increasingly international and decreasingly reliant on English. It will be wrapped in a Chinese kung fu outfit, intoned in an Indian accent, oozing Brazilian sex appeal.

One upshot is that futurism itself has no future. Once confined to an elite group, the tools and techniques of prognostication are all widely available. As for pundits: The world used to be full of workaday journalists, with just a thin sprinkling of opinion mongers. Now a TypePad account is a license to deliver nose-to-the-pavement perspective with an attitude. The very word futurism is old-fashioned, way too 1960s. Today's Internet-savvy futurist is more likely to describe himself as a strategy consultant or venture capital researcher. That development doesn't surprise me.

As a futurist, I've often licked my chops over rather grim possibilities. But my lasting fondness for the dark side is a personal taste, not an analysis. I'm frequently surprised, and when I consider the biggest surprises, I'm heartened that they were mostly positive. The Internet, for instance, crawled out of a dank atomic fallout shelter to become the Mardi Gras parade of my generation. It was not a bolt of destructive lightning; it was the sun breaking through the clouds.

Everything we do has unpredicted consequences. It's good to keep in mind that some outcomes are just fabulous, dumb luck. So mark my last little act of prediction in this space: I don't have a poll or a single shred of evidence to back it up, but I believe more good things are in store, and some are bound to come from the tangled, ubiquitous, personal, and possibly unpredictable Net.

Assigned Reading: Leadership Institute Media Session 12.13.

The below is required reading for the members of the 2006-07 Clinton Chamber Leadership Institute Class in preparation for the session on Disintermediation that I will be facilitating on 12.13.206.

This reading is required only in the sense that these concepts are driving some of the most important economic innovations happening in the world right now. Hundreds of billions of dollars and the future shape of our society depend on how we understand and make use of these concepts.

• Read the Wikipedia article on, disintermediation.


• Short post by me on Internet video disintermediation.

Also, examine the concept of the Long Tail.

• Wikipedia Entry


• Video explaining the Long Tail


• The Long Tail website for the book of the same name.

Lastly, I'd like for you to read the following two newspaper articles. Although these are political articles, and this is a (sometimes very) political blog, the politics isn't what I want you to look at. Please read the articles as attempts to convey information to you the reader. If you don't take an interest in state politics, pretend for a moment that you do.

Quad City Times: Senate Republicans elect leaders while conservatives walk out

By Todd Dorman – Saturday, November 11, 2006

DES MOINES — Defeated and divided Republicans in the Iowa Senate chose their leaders Friday, but only after a walkout by a disgruntled group of conservatives.
The Senate GOP lost five seats in Tuesday’s election, which gave Democrats a 30-20 majority in the chamber.

GOP members re-elected Sen. Mary Lundby of Marion as their top leader during a closed-door meeting at the Statehouse. But before the vote, eight Republican senators walked out of the session.

“We took an unusual beating in this last election and we must change direction,” said Sen. Paul McKinley, R-Chariton, who led the walkout. “We believe we must get back to the principles that brought Republicans to the forefront 20 years ago when Ronald Reagan ran.”

McKinley was joined by veteran Sens. Mark Zieman of Postville, Steve Kettering of Lake View, Brad Zaun of Urbandale, Nancy Boettger of Harlan, Jerry Behn of Boone, Jim Hahn of Muscatine and incoming freshman Senator-elect David Hartsuch of Bettendorf.
“It’s about getting back to our base,” Zieman said.

He contends the split occurred when conservatives were not allowed to discuss issues before the vote.

The Republicans who remained chose Lundby unanimously. Senator-elect Larry Noble of Ankeny was absent.
“There are a lot of Republicans who are unhappy. I was sorry that there’s been a division at this time,” Lundby said. “We’ll be waiting for them to come back.”
Lundby said she is confident Republicans will put up a unified front.

“We’re good, hard-working, strong Iowans. We all have strong opinions,” she added. “That doesn’t make me a bit nervous.”

Along with Lundby, Republicans elected four assistant minority leaders, including Sens. Ron Wieck of Sioux City, David Johnson of Ocheyedan, Larry McKibben of Marshalltown and Jeff Angelo of Creston.

Leadership elections likely will be more tranquil for victorious Democrats.
Democrats are expected to re-elect Sen. Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs as their leader and Jack Kibbie of Emmetsburg as Senate president.
>
Todd Dorman can be contacted at (515) 243-0138 or todd.dorman@lee.net


DES MOINES REGISTER: Lundby elected to lead Iowa Senate GOP
Eight conservative Republicans walk out of Statehouse meeting

By JONATHAN ROOS, REGISTER STAFF WRITER, November 10, 2006

Mary Lundby of Marion will continue to lead Iowa Senate Republicans, overcoming the protests of a group of conservatives who walked out of a closed-door leadership selection meeting today at the Statehouse.

Sen. Paul McKinley of Chariton led the walkout by eight GOP members. They were calling for change in the party’s direction in light of Tuesday’s election that left Democrats in control of the Legislature and cast Republicans in the role of the minority.

The 11 Senate Republicans who stayed for the rest of today’s meeting gave Lundby a vote of confidence, said Sen. Pat Ward of West Des Moines. Newcomer Larry Noble of Ankeny was unable to attend.

“My hope is we can bring ’em back together and we’ll work for the good of Iowa,” Ward said.

Senate Republicans went into the election tied with Democrats, 25-25. They emerged with just 20 seats.

Democrats also seized control of the House, winning 54 of 100 seats.

Lundby, considered a party moderate, replaced Stewart Iverson of Clarion as Senate Republican leader in a Statehouse shakeup that occurred late in the 2006 session.

Senate Democrats and Republicans shared power during the 2005 and 2006 sessions because of the 25-25 tie. Now, Lundby becomes the minority leader. Sen. John Putney of Gladbrook was chosen today to serve as the party whip. Assistant party leaders will be Sens. David Johnson of Ocheyedan, Jeff Angelo of Creston, Ron Wieck of Sioux City and Larry McKibben of Marshalltown.
>
The 2007 session starts Monday, Jan. 8. Members of the new Senate Democratic majority meet Sunday and are expected to keep the party’s leadership team intact with Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs assuming the title of Senate majority leader and Jack Kibbie of Emmetsburg serving as Senate president

;

Now, answer the following questions for yourself: What specific issues divide the GOP senators? What specifically led to the walkout? What sort of "change in direction" do the dissident senators seek? What do I know now about the state of the Iowa Republican party that I did not know before reading these articles?

Now, read the following article from the very partisan but also very plugged in blogger, Krusty Konservative.

Lundby Elected Minority Leader after Konservatives walk out

After receiving 11 votes from here Republican colleagues, Mary Lundby was elected Senate Minority Leader. However there is major rift in the Republican Kaucus in the Senate.

Before the vote was taken, Senators, McKinley Zieman, Boettger, Zahn, Hahn, Kettering, Behn and Senator-elect Hartsuch walked out of the meeting after their request that the leadership elections be postponed until Senators have a chance to regroup after the election and so that all Republican Senators could be present.

Senator Paul McKinley (District 36, Chariton) said, "Business as usual is over. Senate Republicans have to start representing the interests of Iowans by providing Republican solutions to Iowa problems. It used to be that social conservatives could work side by side with social moderates, because we all agreed on the principles of limited government and fiscal responsibility.

We have to start dealing with the issues--- taxation, letting people keep more of their own money, protecting safety and fighting crime, charting the course for alternative energy, revitalizing our rural communities and staying true to our family values."

Senator Mark Zieman (District 8, Postville) said, "I view this as a battle of Republican values. By not allowing a discussion of the last election before a leadership vote, it tells me the leadership didn't want the majority to know the facts!”

Senator Nancy Boettger (District 29, Harlan) said, "If you want to build unity in the party, you have to have open discussion."
Senator Brad Zaun (District 32, Urbandale) said, "Bottom line is-- that with such a close election for leadership we needed all members present to vote in this very important election."

Senator Jim Hahn (District 40, Muscatine) said, "This is the same scenario that they ran past us last spring, I didn't get any information before they had this vote-this is the same thing that happened now. They won't let us talk about what happened in the 2006 elections, what went wrong, how money was spent. I think we need to have an opportunity to discuss that and find out what went wrong and what we need to do to correct it.”

Senator Steve Kettering (District 26, Lakeview) said, "Clearly Democrats out organized us, out fundraised us, developed better ads and in general ran a much better campaign in this last election than Senate Republicans. It is vital that as we select leadership for the future that we have an informed discussion of what occurred in what was a disastrous election for Republicans. They didn't allow that today.”

Senator Jerry Behn (District 24, Boone) said, "Without all 20 of us there, it is not a true representation of the full caucus. There is no reason not to postpone the vote. We need to have an open and free discussion of our Republican principles and who would be the best face of those principles to Iowa.”


Dr. David Hartsuch (Senator-elect, District 41, Bettendorf) said, "Before we could consider any leadership votes, we needed to consider the significance of the Democrat tsunami so that we can determine the best course of action which reflects the will of the people. Unfortunately that didn't happen."

Can you better answer the above questions after reading the blog post? Again, pretending for the moment that you actually care for the nuances of state politics, does the fact that you know that the blogger in question is very partisan affect whether or not the article is informative? After reading it would you be more or less likely to find out additional information on this story or this topic? How much does the known (or unknownd) political position of the writer affect your decision?

Definitely be prepared to discuss in class. Feel free to start the discussion here in the comments.

Witness the Awesome Might of The Internet

From a personal muse and hero of this blog, Bruce Sterling comes this photo. Probably taken in Serbia where Sterling currently resides. As Sterling says, "Just look at it swaggering over those crumbly Tito-era structures."

Does anyone in Clinton even know or remember who Josip Broz Tito was?

Most of you readers grew up in a world riven by the Cold War and the underlying struggle between market democracy and state capital. Difficult to believe now as we watch the works of the Last Stage of History crumble into dust a mere seventeen years after 1989. Rising triumphantly from the ashes is what is certainly the Next Stage of History - The Internet Age.

Keep in mind that the Internet too will fall into dust. And probably in less than the seventy-two years (1917 - 1989) that it took Communism.

Media Disintermediation

I'm assuming that most people who read this site have at least once or twice visited YouTube. You probably went there to view some disgusting or amusing clip. If that's all you think of it as you are doing yourself and injustice and you are missing some interesting and very important trends in the media. YouTube and similar services, especially The Democracy Player/Project and Current TV are beginning to pry eyeballs away from the media conglomerates and to so-called user-generated (or amatuer) content. And a lot of that content is very, very good.

Channel Federator collects animatated shorts and classic cartoons in weekly episodes of a quality only seen in art house cinema.

New Hope Seattle is a Gospel Church in Seattle. Their vlog documents their work building up their community and their new church.

Make Magazine is the weekly vlog of Make Magazine, the hobbist's guide to... making stuff. Very cool.

Entertainment abounds. The Tiki Bar provides an ongoing storyline while teaching how to make a different exotic drink each episode. Siren is "an action/adventure seires in the tradition of the old movie serials. It is the story of a beautiful and mysterious industrial thief with a talent for marital arts and a taste for revenge." Think Alias meets Buster Keaton.

And of course there is lots of stuff on politics and current events from prog-fave Media Matters to Willie Nelson

So, based on all that there is some alarm in the DIY Video community about news that Current TV owner, Al Gore (Yes, that's, what he's been doing when he's not hectoring us about global warming.) has signed a deal with Rupert Murdoch to carry Current TV on BSkyB extending Current TV's viewership to 8M households in the U.K. and Ireleand.

The pair have now come together to promote user generated content in the UK and Ireland. Current TV’s agreement for the channel to be carried on BSkyB’s satellite platform is its first international move outside the US.

Mr Gore said that the channel was one of the few on the cable network to break even in the first year and was looking to make profits in the second year. He rejected suggestions that viewer created clips was about gaining cheap content.

The deal with BSkyB brings Current TV to some 8m households. In the US, it is available in nearly 30m homes through cable and satellite television. With Current TV, viewers and producers upload their clips on to the channel’s website, where content which gets the most votes is broadcast on its television channel.

Mr Gore compared Current TV to the introduction of the printing press in the 15th century, which led to enlightenment. He said: “The television medium for 50 years has had the depressing effect on the conversation of democracy by excluding individuals. But the new affordable digital tools of both cameras and digital video cameras and laptop editing systems now make it completely feasible for individuals with accessible training to participate in the conversation.”

Mr Murdoch said that Mr Gore’s channel TV was “an elegant way” to marry user-generated content on the web to the broadcast medium. He said: “Current TV is bringing the web’s sense of empowerment to television for the first time.”

Current TV is already broadcast on a number of cable systems. But that's not the point. Current TV or Democracy (which is where most of the content listed above is aggregated through), don't care whose network they ride to the end user. It isn't about the delivery mechanism, satellite, cable or internet. At the end of they day they are all the same. At least right now.

The important thing is that fresh, open and interesting content become more accessable; the most voices avialable to the most people. The end result is (hopefully) more local programming, a less mallebale mass media and (probably least "important" but most "interesting") better quality entertainment.

Long Tail Video

Busy weekend puttering around the house, working on some sideline projects and pointedly ignoring the outside world. Here's for your Monday morning though.

If you are unfamilliar with the theory of The Long Tail and how disintermediation is working to shape our economy, then click on those links for some interesting reading.

I'm looking at you realtors. How long do you think it will take Zillow.com to begin slurping down data in Clinton, IA? Would that be before or after you plan on retiring? Just asking... although if zillow.com is anything like cell phone and Starbucks that will be P+1 year where P = the approximate time to complete market domination.

Anyhoo, this is a fun movie.