netZoo

Pau Gasol, Derrick Rose Staredown at Staples

Andy Sternberg — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:33:58 +0000

Really wish D Rose followed this up with a dunk in Pau’s face. Was not the case. Great seeing the ‘09-’10 Bulls hang tough against the Lakers last night. The Bulls offense was pretty off the entire game — Rose started 2 for 12 or something — great, explosive drives to the basket but nothing falling. He couldn’t miss in the second half. Nice to see Taj Gibson putting in serious minutes — also looks like James Johnson will be a solid contributor. Joakim Noah is really coming into his own. But the Lakers are the champs and Pau Gasol — who missed the first 10 games with a hamstring injury — completes them. A long and fast team, only injury would keep them from repeating this year. As for the Bulls, I look forward to watching more — exciting team with lots of energy and very aggressive D.

Thanks to @es for taking us to the game in his amazing seats!

Tags: basketball, bulls, derrick rose, lakers, pau gasol, sports, staples

So very tempted to upgrade to the Blackberry Bold 9700. Like right now

Andy Sternberg — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:07:35 +0000

The upgrades from 9000 aren’t HUGE, however, more memory for apps (and I use quite a few — driving my 9000 over the edge) as well as the big kicker — trackpad replacing the trackball — just may be enough. I’m on my 3rd Bold in a year (2 replacements due to failed trackball). Might have to get on the horn with AT&T Premier business and see what we can do!

Posted via email from Andy Sternberg’s posterous

Tags: 9700, at&t, blackberry, blackberrybold, bold, bold 9700, fan boy, smartphone, want

Oxford Word of the Year 2009: Unfriend

Andy Sternberg — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:48:33 +0000

In defiance of “unfriending” I suggest listening to this while reading:

I WIll Follow (Live) – U2

Oxford Word of the Year 2009: Unfriend

Filed in A-Editor’s Picks , A-Featured , Current Events , Dictionaries , Lexicography , Reference on November 16, 2009 | ShareThis

Birds are singing, the sun is shining and I am joyful first thing in the morning without caffeine. Why you ask? Because it is Word of the Year time (or WOTY as we refer to it around the office). Every year the New Oxford American Dictionary prepares for the holidays by making its biggest announcement of the year. This announcement is usually applauded by some and derided by others and the ongoing conversation it sparks is always a lot of fun, so I encourage you to let us know what you think in the comments.

Without further ado, the 2009 Word of the Year is: unfriend.

unfriend – verb – To remove someone as a ‘friend’ on a social networking site such as Facebook.

As in, “I decided to unfriend my roommate on Facebook after we had a fight.”

“It has both currency and potential longevity,” notes Christine Lindberg, Senior Lexicographer for Oxford’s US dictionary program. “In the online social networking context, its meaning is understood, so its adoption as a modern verb form makes this an interesting choice for Word of the Year. Most “un-” prefixed words are adjectives (unacceptable, unpleasant), and there are certainly some familiar “un-” verbs (uncap, unpack), but “unfriend” is different from the norm. It assumes a verb sense of “friend” that is really not used (at least not since maybe the 17th century!). Unfriend has real lex-appeal.”

Wondering what other new words were considered for the New Oxford American Dictionary 2009 Word of the Year? Check out the list below.

Technology

hashtag – a # [hash] sign added to a word or phrase that enables Twitter users to search for tweets (postings on the Twitter site) that contain similarly tagged items and view thematic sets

intexticated – distracted because texting on a cellphone while driving a vehicle

netbook – a small, very portable laptop computer with limited memory

paywall – a way of blocking access to a part of a website which is only available to paying subscribers

sexting – the sending of sexually explicit texts and pictures by cellphone

Economy

freemium – a business model in which some basic services are provided for free, with the aim of enticing users to pay for additional, premium features or content

funemployed – taking advantage of one’s newly unemployed status to have fun or pursue other interests

zombie bank – a financial institution whose liabilities are greater than its assets, but which continues to operate because of government support

Politics and Current Affairs

Ardi – (Ardipithecus ramidus) oldest known hominid, discovered in Ethiopia during the 1990s and announced to the public in 2009

birther – a conspiracy theorist who challenges President Obama’s birth certificate

choice mom – a person who chooses to be a single mother

death panel – a theoretical body that determines which patients deserve to live, when care is rationed

teabagger -a person, who protests President Obama’s tax policies and stimulus package, often through local demonstrations known as “Tea Party” protests (in allusion to the Boston Tea Party of 1773)

Environment

brown state – a US state that does not have strict environmental regulations

green state – a US state that has strict environmental regulations

ecotown - a town built and run on eco-friendly principles

Novelty Words

deleb – a dead celebrity

tramp stamp – a tattoo on the lower back, usually on a woman

Notable Word Clusters for 2009:

Twitter related:
Tweeps
Tweetup
Twitt
Twitterati
Twitterature
Twitterverse/sphere
Retweet
Twibe
Sweeple
Tweepish
Tweetaholic
Twittermob
Twitterhea Obamaisms:
Obamanomics
Obamarama
Obamasty
Obamacons
Obamanos
Obamanation
Obamafication
Obamamessiah
Obamamama
Obamaeur
Obamanator
Obamaland
Obamalicious
Obamacles
Obamania
Obamacracy
Obamanon
Obamalypse

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Technorati Tags: unfriend twitter social media facebook woty word of the year

via blog.oup.com

verbs as “word of the year” in the internet age — unfriend, google, etc… we’re so… ACTIVE!

Posted via web from Andy Sternberg’s posterous

Tags: facebook, lexicon, oxford, u2, unfriend, word

Remember Wayback When Blogging Was Fun(ny)?

Andy Sternberg — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:55:04 +0000

It just struck me that the decade is coming to an end. The most incredible decade imaginable by most anyone’s (born before 1985) standards. It’s also marks a decade of netZoo and WOOZradio. The early days look really funny in retrospect.

2001. Ahhh… the wayback machine.

Just for kicks, let’s take a look at some of the hilarity that masqueraded as my nascent web presence:

Comic Sans — already sick of the limited web-friendly fonts available, I played a silly trick on the world and used the font that never dare say its own name backwards, or, as one friend righteously recently put it: “Comic Sans is the Mark of The Beast. Shit, I even used it back in 2000 when I went with the Message board-blog hybrid approach (or something).

I wanted to have a list of choice links — but I didn’t want to show my hand in the open. Not amid all the other highly SEO’d meta tagged engaging content on my “home page” (joke). After 9/11 I was a bit more willing to lay it all out there, thought not with quite the hyperlinked artistry of some. Basically, to copy and paste, this is how my linkblock –er, brailleroll — looked in July 2001:
:: :::::: :: :::: :: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::: ::: ::: :::

I was already well-rooted as a snobby lo-fi music buff with an emphasis on Chicago indie. BUT clearly inspired from my stint as Smithsonian Folkways webmaster, I decided to profile my then-favorite albums alongside REAL AUDIO clips. Hahahaha. Mind you, before the mp3 renaissance of the late 90’s, Real Audio streams and broadcast.com were the-coolest-things-ever-invented. Surely these songs sounded better in Comic Sans.

By ‘02 I had mellowed a bit. Live365 offered streaming at higher bandwidths and I focused a bit more on WOOZradio (which in its 10+ year existence has yet to break even for a month. I pay to play your music). What I could never do now that I loved doing then was music listings of concerts that I would go to in Chicago (where I lived) if I could clone myself.

contact: e-mail | icq | AolIM: netZoo

Laugh at me now — I hope you had half as much fun as I had looking back into the past. The CRAZY thing is that our Comic Sans’d, hacked-together framed message board history is only a decade old. Come to think of it I should have stuck with the blank slate blogging style (with illustrations) I switched to around New Years Eve 2000. I guess I’ve been blogging for a while (with a few years off in between). We’ll look at those middle-aughts later (the Wordpress years). What a decade its been!

What silly blog skeletons are gathering dust in your archive?

EXTRAS:

One of these days I’ll clean this place up… or… I’ll at least publish more often. One of these days.

Tags: 2000, 2001, archive, bad, blog, blogging, comic sans, decade, design, funny, meta, nostalgia, old, wayback

Tribune Quits AP for a Week, Should Really Quit Paper Itself

Andy Sternberg — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:09:09 +0000

I’d love to see Tribune papers really get some good reporting here, not just from within but from experienced beat-bloggers, city-bloggers, and more comprehensive, microfunded reporting as done by the likes of spot.us.

Personally I think the best way to cut costs is to slowly let the printed version of the paper wither away, until all that ends up at the end of subscribers’ driveways is a stack of obituaries. THEN everyone will finally get the point and take to reading the paper online, on their kindle, their blackberry, Macintosh tablet or anything else that doesn’t turn your fingers black.

Syndicate far and wide, but don’t put all your marbles in one not-so-reliable product…. especially when it ain’t free!

photo by quinn.anya via flickr (CC)

Tribune Co. papers rewiring for experimental week without AP

The Chicago Tribune and other Tribune Co. newspapers plan to utilize as little content from the Associated Press as practical during the week of Nov. 8.
The goal, as the papers review costs and needs, is to see whether severing ties with the news cooperative next fall is a viable option, the Chicago-based media company confirmed Monday.

The trial is scheduled to be conducted almost 13 months after Tribune Co. gave the AP a required two-year warning that it might drop the news service, effective Oct. 15, 2010. Tribune Co. said at the time that it was keeping its options open while weighing what role, if any, the AP would play in its future.

Some content Tribune Co. papers get from the Associated Press, such as sports statistics, will still be published during the experiment. The company also said that if the AP is the only available source for a report considered vital, it will use that AP coverage. But the company wants to see to what kind of void the absence of AP stories and photos would have.
Besides the content provided by the staff of its own titles, Tribune Co. newspapers will draw from such news sources as Reuters, the Washington Post, New York Times, Agence France Presse, Cable News Network, Global Post, Bloomberg and McClatchy newspapers during its AP-less trial. Not all of those sources are normally available to Tribune Co. papers.

Some newspapers have determined that shared wire content that is available to readers from many other outlets is worth less to them than unique, proprietary content, especially online. Coupled with reductions in the space allocated for news in print, papers are weighing whether there’s the same need for Associated Press content as in the past.

“The Associated Press has been working with all members of the cooperative, including Tribune Co., to ensure that the AP news report retains its value to member newspapers and their readers,” AP spokesman Paul Colford said in a statement.

The AP Board of Directors in April announced a new $35 million in rate reductions for 2010 for its member newspapers on top of $30 million in rate reductions for 2009 announced a year earlier. AP expected that the total assessment decreases for papers would average a little less than 20 percent, although it would vary widely for members depending on their services levels.

Tribune Co. TV stations will not participate in the experiment, which falls during the November ratings period. Tribune Co. newspaper Web sites also will not be affected, the company said.

Posted at 07:36:22 PM

in Chicago, CNN, Newspapers, Tribune Co., Washington Post Co.

You might be interested in:

News service picks off another Tribune staffer (ChicagoBusiness Insider)

Chicago News Cooperative begins building its base (Chicago Tribune)

Tribune Co. papers gear for experimental week without AP (Chicago Breaking News)

Chicago News Cooperative hopes to rewire accountability journalism (Tower Ticker)

Tribune, L.A. Times veteran James O’Shea launching news co-op, will supply N.Y. Times Chicago content (Tower Ticker)

2 more recommended posts »

via newsblogs.chicagotribune.com

Tags: ap, associated press, media, newspapers, online, paper, tribune

Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act – Full Text – Don’t Say You Never Saw It

Andy Sternberg — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:27:06 +0000

Sens. Kerry and Boxer introduced the senate’s version of the climate and clean energy bill today. This is ultimately good news as we just finished thanking senators in advance for passing it (With the Love, The Climate Giveaway). The senate now has about eight weeks to deliberate and hopefully pass an effective bill so President Obama can sign it in advance of December’s UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. All 821 pages of the bill embedded below.

Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act –

Posted via web from Andy Sternberg’s posterous

Here’s the SUmmary:

Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act: Summary –

Tags: boxer, clean energy, climate, climate bill, green, green jobs, kerry, senate

Worldwide Views on Global Warming Encourage Action at Copenhagen

Andy Sternberg — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:03:16 +0000

World Wide Views on Global Warming – September 2009 –

Across 38 countries citizens 76 percent of the participants think big, developing economies should reduce their emissions. Results are remarkably alike independently of the country’s level of socio-economic development. From Bangladesh to Belgium and Brazil, a clear 90 percent of citizens say it’s urgent to make a global climate deal at the UN conference in Copenhagen this December. This is the main result of an exercise carried out in 38 countries with very different levels of socio-economic development.

A study conducted by The Danish Board of Technology. More at results.wwviews.org

Posted via web from Andy Sternberg’s posterous

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On the Ground: Video From G20 Pittsburgh Protests 9/24/09

Andy Sternberg — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:16:02 +0000

Over the past few days I’ve come across a wide variety of video documenting the run up to the G20 meetings in PIttsburgh as well as events, coverage, and commentary from the meetings and surrounding areas. Any large scale meeting of the world’s most powerful leaders is grounds for protest at various levels. And when police are prepared in riot gear trouble often tends to break out. That’s just how it is and will always be.

Tags: g20, pittsburgh, video

Using Social Media for Positive Reinforcement: #lovetheclimate giveaway

Andy Sternberg — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:47:25 +0000

Over the past few weeks of completely ignoring this blog and much else outside the scope of my work with Live Earth I’ve been swirling in social media madness surrounding our #lovetheclimate giveaway. It’s Global Climate week and we wanted to come up with a fun, positive way to get the word through to U.S. Senators that we need to pass a comprehensive climate bill. And soon. Preferably before the UNCCC in Copenhagen this December. Below are segments of my posts on the giveaway — I’d love it if you could share something. Either way, you’re welcome to enter.

—–

Enter to win great prizes in our “Love, The Climate” Giveaway by Friday, September 25!

We’ve received hundreds of incredible submissions answering the question: “What would the climate have to say if it were happy and healthy and had a voice?” and thanking our senators from a bright and sunny future for creating a world full of green jobs and renewable energy.

Here’s what you can do:

	Post to the Facebook Page
	Tweet a message to your friends with the hashtag #lovetheclimate
	Upload a video
	Add a photo to our Photo pool

Leave a voicemail at 347-422-6392 or click the Google Voice widget, enter your number and our voicemail will call you!

You AND the environment can WIN!

U.S. Senators are returning to work and the climate is back in the limelight. Join in our “Love, The Climate” Giveaway before the Climate Bill goes to the Senate floor.

You could win the Grand Prize: a 2010 Schwinn NX7 Commuter Bike! 10 First Prize winners will receive a “Climate Love Pack” — one Inconvenient Bag stuffed with practical and fun eco-friendly goods including: An EcoStrip; samples from Chivas Skin Care; a 33oz, stainless steel EcoUsable water bottle; a Lucky Earth Waterless Car Wash kit; a Solio hybrid charger and case; a To-Go Ware set; a Wally One from the Woolly Pocket Gardening Co.; and a Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook.

Click here for more info and to enter.

NOTE: You must fill out an entry form by Friday September 25 11:59pm PT to be eligible for the grand prize or ten first prizes!

Recent Submissions

LOVE, THE CLIMATE VIDEO:

Click here to add YOUR video!

LOVE, THE CLIMATE FLICKR POOL:

LOVE, THE CLIMATE VOICEMAILS:

“Love, The Climate” Loves…

Click here for “Love, The Climate” Giveaway rules.

Click here to tell your friends about the Love, The Climate Giveaway!

Tags: climate, green, live earth, meta, socialmedia, work

Clinton Global Initiative 2009 Streaming Live and Climate Week!

Andy Sternberg — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 01:09:15 +0000

You don’t have to be in New York City to be a part of the many meetings, seminars, and discussions taking place during Climate Week. The Clinton Global Initiative is focusing on climate change, sustainable energy, and other global issues this week in its Fifth Annual Meeting, which is webcasting live. You can even ask question for the daily Plenary sessions via Twitter. Watch CGI09 live below (click here for the schedule).

Clinton Global Initiative via Livestream.com
Today’s UN Summit on Climate Change was webcast live by the UN at un.org/webcast. Video of speeches by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and others are archived here.

Check out tcktcktck.org for more live video and visit Live Earth Video to watch dozens of videos from Global Climate Week and the Global Wake Up Call.

Global Climate Week video at Live Earth Video

Tags: bill clinton, climate week, clinton global initiative, global climate week, live climate change, tcktcktck, twitter, un, UNCCC, United nations, video, wake up call

netZoo

Pau Gasol, Derrick Rose Staredown at Staples

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