Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Frederick News Post to stop printing after 125 years?

The video below that the Frederick News Post produced has me thinking. Are they planning on stopping their print newspaper? Are they going to go all Internet? It's well known that their readership is not keeping pace with their costs and newspapers all over the country are in deep trouble so maybe?? You'll notice in the video that they show the transition through various print versions of the "paper" and then they show their website's homepage. I guess only time will tell.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

L.A. Times To End National Edition


"...paper copy irrelevant."

By Frank Ahrens
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 3, 2004; Page E02

The Los Angeles Times is killing its printed daily national edition at the end of the year, saying the Internet and other electronic distribution channels have made the paper copy irrelevant.

The Times, owned by Chicago-based Tribune Co., prints the national edition in Baltimore and distributes it in Washington and New York. The Times would not disclose how many copies it sells or whether the edition makes money. Like the paper sold in California, the national edition is a broadsheet, but a pared-down version, focusing mainly on political news and other national stories. more

related story

Kris Krug - Photography Tips

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Chevrolet VOLT - Battery Lithium-ion


Reuters has just reported inside sources have confirmed that GM has chosen LG Chem along with Troy, Michigan-based Compact Power Inc. to supply the lithium-ion battery packs for the first generation Chevy Volt.

The contract will be announced in November and the terms are still being worked out.

GM and Compact Power are apparently working out the details of the commercial agreement and how to split warranty costs for the batteries.

GM hasn’t confirmed these reports but an LG Chem spokesman in Korea stated “we were informed that the results are due in November, but we didn’t get any official answer from GM yet. We hope for and expect a good result.”

As we have heard before in a subtle way from GM vice-chairman Bob Lutz, GM was only using one supplier’s packs in the mules. Concurrently, we had heard from Compact Power’s CEO that his batteries were being used in the mules. Sources have now confirmed this is the case and that the mules packs are performing flawlessly.

A123/Continental could still potentially supply Volt packs in the next generation.

Technorati Profile

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Adding "Rich Content" to your website!

One of the first rules in traffic generation is add "rich content" to your website. We also know original content is the best way to go but it's sometimes time consuming to go out and generate the content. Below is an example of rich content that I put together using content that was already on the web and easily accessible. YouTube, in most cases, allows us to embed any of their videos without copyright issues. Same goes for linking flickr slide shows. The result is more rich content for our site users to see and it took me about five minutes to build the article.

See:
http://www.frederick.com/Middletown_Knights_Football-a-475.html

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Herman Miller Embody Chair


If you're going to sit at a desk for hours on end reading the CraigShipp.com Blog you might as well be as comfortable as possible!

The result of six years of design tweaking and reportedly millions in development costs, the Embody (photo right) is due in 2009. This follow up to the Aeron (photo below right) which has earned a reported $1.5 billion in profits for Herman Miller promises to be even more comfortable if that's possible. Improvements include a new system of elastic bands that offer universal suspension, a second layer of plastic coils for additional support, and a third layer of plastic hexagons that can move independently. A mesh-fabric cover allows for air circulation, keeping the sitter cool, while seven controls adjust things like lumbar support and seat depth.

If you’re wondering about all that plastic, the chair as a whole is apparently made from 96-percent recycled materials. It’s also constructed from, or with, nothing that could pose a health or environmental risk; the same is true during customer use and final disposal.

The Herman-Miller Embody will be available to order in 2009, with a choice of 13 fabrics and three finishes. It’ll be priced at $1,595.

If you can't wait for the Embody Chair due in 2009 there's always the Herman Miller Aeron chair. Combining sleek elegance and ergonomic support, the Herman Miller designed Aeron represents the pinnacle of luxury technology. The innovative design makes the Aeron chair ideal for the office, home. Strong Pellicle suspension distributes your weight evenly over the back and seat while forming to your body.

The unique ergonomics of the Aeron relieves pressure on your back, legs, and torso. With a specially designed lumbar support, Aeron is the leader in design and comfort. Your body is ever-changing and adapting to its environment, so should your chair. (unboxing photos on flickr)

FULLY Loaded Model Aeron Chair includes:

  • Fully adjustable arm rests
  • Carbon color with graphite frame
  • Tension control
  • Height adjustment
  • Lumbar support
  • Forward and rear tilt locks
Click Here to buy a NEW Aeron Chair at discount!


Colorfest and Frederick.com Promo

Use short and fun videos to get your brand out. Keeping videos under one minute helps. flickr, for example only allows videos up to two minutes. Also, people are busy and like to watch short videos.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

New MacBook


Cisco Cheng

It's been more than two years since Apple has made any significant changes to the 13-inch MacBook Laptop. Two years of stagnation can hurt even a proven recipe, especially one that has been honed in design alone. Compared to its Windows counterparts, the MacBook's features were beginning to look anemic and the economic downturn has raised questions about Apple's pricing strategy. The MacBook 13-inch (Aluminum) couldn't come at a more crucial time for Apple. It uses a completely new manufacturing technique that begins with a thick slab of aluminum and ends with a lusciously thin and gorgeous product. Design alone could undoubtedly attract Mac fanatics and would-be Windows converts. However, features are still a little weak and the price, well, it's not the $800 MacBook that we were all hoping for.

red arrow Read the Apple MacBook 13-inch (Aluminum) full review

Craig's comments: After reading Mr. Cheng's article and several other reviews I would choose either the entry level aluminum MacBook or the entry level MacBook Pro. The MacBook is $1,299 and the Pro would run $1,999 (Special Note: As far as I can tell at this time only the 15" Pro model has the new design not the 17"). If you're really going to use the device as a mobile computer and not a desktop replacement I would go for the MacBook if this is going to be your only computer and you're a power user get the Pro. Also, if you need an express slot for your cellular modem or a firewire 800 port you will need to get the 15" Pro model as these are NOT included on the MacBook. Firewire 400 is gone on all these new models (why Apple???)

Thursday, October 09, 2008

iJustine with Nikon D90



I think I'm going to wait until next Spring to buy another DSLR that will also take video clips. There seems to be a lot of movement in that sector.

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

UStream Tips


Here are some tips I found on the web for UStream:

The Tools
I used two tools to create the show: CamTwist, to combine graphics with the video 'on the fly' and send the combination to uStream, plus Adobe FireWorks to create the graphics.

If you're on the PC, CamTwist won't work, but WebCam Max will. CamTwist is free. WebCam Max costs $29.95, but is well worth it. Plus their logo is great.

Part 1: The Foundation
In my experience, three things will make or break your show:

  1. Bandwidth: When you broadcast, your outgoing bandwidth will be very important. That's your upload speed. Note that most cable and DSL providers give you high download speed, but lousy upload speed. At my house, for example, I get 4 megabits as my download speed, but only 500 kbps as my upload speed. I won't get all geeky about it - suffice it to say I have a river for a download stream, and a small straw for upload. You can do a uStream show with only 300 kbps, but the video will stop and start a lot. For high-quality video, you'll need at least 900 kbps, and more is better.
  2. The camera: The higher-quality the original video, the better the show. You can use your webcam (Apple's iSight does a great job). But if you have a DV cam, you can use that for far better results. For my show, I got to go one better and get a stream directly from the TV cameras using a DAC converter.
  3. The computer: Really any laptop can handle uStream. I used a MacBook Pro (2 years old). If you're going to use extra tools like CamTwist, make sure you have something fast: A Pentium PC or an Intel Macbook will do the trick. A slower laptop may not deliver the video as quickly as uStream needs it, which again will create stops and starts.
Click Here for the complete article.