Monday, October 26, 2015

Happy trees everywhere


It's been a breathtaking season so far, and the analog world is telling you to turn your things off, and look up. Look up before you miss it.
The expansive vastness can't be captured with a screen, even though we keep trying to wrap the world in the palm of our hands.


Thursday, October 22, 2015

The sun also sets


The future was here the other day, and there were many a hot take about what we've accomplished and what we didn't and all that fun stuff. It was a neat collective exercise, like a societal self-evaluation.
What grade would you give to society today?

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

DFM chat on journalistic applications for virtual reality


Journalists, members of Digital First Media, sometimes students who for some reason are told to do this and the public are large are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday at noon, Eastern Time to talk about all things journalism.

Today is #BacktotheFutureDay and we are talking about virtual reality applications in journalism! Did you know you can already create some content for it? But should you? And what kind of content can journalists create that can further journalistic goals? Or is it just a gimmick? What are the ethical implications of virtual reality? Bring your Google Cardboard viewer, your ideas, links and your #realtalk.

If you want to chime in, post a comment in the container or a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

How to create a virtual reality 3-D panorama with your phone for Google Cardboard, for free


I'm sharing this 'tutorial' in the hopes of improving it with your input and because I googled this very thing and I couldn't quite find what I needed, so I'm trying to figure it out.

The concept is simple. Panorama and 3-D apps have been around for a while. With the advent of Google Cardboard, a lot of these images can now be seen in virtual reality. The idea then is to construct an image and making it available for others to see as panoramas, but mostly in virtual reality. The challenge is to do it for free. Sure, it'd be nice to have a 3-D rig with 16 GoPro cameras for 3-D video, but lol newsroom budgets.

On that note, the New York Times, The Washington Post, Vice and others are exploring virtual reality photo and video storytelling and their efforts are worth watching.  The Times is even giving away cardboard to support their upcoming VR app.  It's very early, still and everyone is still trying to figure things out.

So let's jump in and do it ourselves.

Monday, October 19, 2015

Stupid, explained


Kingston is a place where new meets old and not so old and not so new, and you can still see the mixing of flavors taking place. Sometimes it's messy, but it's delicious.

Thursday, October 15, 2015

The future is here and I want my money back


At least we have cool murals in the future that is today.
Has the Internet become what you thought it should? I know, so much potential swallowed by fleeing outrage and disposable takes, covered by autoplaying ads and crawlers on your computer and your phones. On the Internet, everyone already knew you were a dog, after all.

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

DFM chat on fair use and copyrights


Journalists, members of Digital First Media, sometimes students who for some reason are told to do this and the public are large are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday at noon, Eastern Time to talk about all things journalism.

Today we are talking about fair use and copyrights in the wake of Twitter suspending Deadspin and Sbnationgifs for posting gifs of NFL plays. Was that right? Was it ethical? What about reposting and embedding? It's going to get murky. Bring your #realtalk hoses, links and gifs!

If you want to chime in, post a comment in the container or a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.


Monday, October 12, 2015

Fall is here, hear the yell



The O+ Festival took place this weekend, along with the Forsyth Fall Festival and the Italian Festival, and that was just in Kingston.
The greater Hudson Valley and the Catskills, meanwhile, are having their own fall colors festival
and admission is free.
The colors are here, and they are all around you.
 No Instagram filters are needed.


Friday, October 9, 2015

Murals and bees

Kathleen Griffin works on "The Eye of Your Storm" on Monday afternoon on North Front Street in Kingston The mural is one of six that are part of the O+ Festival. 
It's been a weird week in content-land. But the weekend is here, so let's relax and check out some content.

***
~content~ 

Play your own adventure John Boehner is a thing.
and is not something you'd find in abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz DOT COM.
because content hell is real.
But what happens when the world doesn't end?

More content. That's what.
So if you've ever wondered how the New York Times would NYTimesplain  Nicki Minaj, wonder no longer.
You are welcome. 

***
One video: Football is now adorbs.





The Four:
* The O+ Festival murals are very impressive this year. *Slow clap Citizen Kane Grumpy Cat gif*
Zombie bees in Hurley.

One cat: All up in your New York Times content.




Yesterday's Internet, Today! would like to find a survival kit for the zombie bee apocalypse.

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Can you answer these Hudson Valley questions, or are you a terrorist?



Every so often, an entertainment ranking in the form of a listicle that mentions the Hudson Valley or the Catskills is created by a ~content~ producer.
These articles seem to be created for the purpose of simply being passed around on Facebook, and for virality’s sake.
The latest is a ranking that puts Kingston as the No. 1 drunkest city in New York State, by reputable news organization Road Snacks and using criteria that is totally irrelevant if you read the article’s summary graph: “This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as info-tainment. Don’t freak out.”

WE ARE FREAKING OUT!

The criteria — tweets, geography, some random numbers (divorce rate? really?) —  gives the writers a guide to pretty much do anything (and you can do it for any state!)
Further, change the hashtags and you’ll get different results, so you can even tailor stuff to get what you want.
But it doesn’t really matter, because it’s created, really, simply for clicks.

Here's my twist.
I'm not here to tell you not to click.
Click all the things. It's your time. Enjoy it.

So to make it a bit more entertaining (and maybe throw in a little news?) I made this, just for you.

After all, listicles, quizzes and terrible comparisons to Brooklyn are here to stay. 







Yesterday's Internet, Today! threw you a curveball today because of the quiz format. But fear not! There is a cat in here. You're just going to have to look for it (or ask me in the comments if you're felling lazy). If you sign up to my terrible newsletter. you'll know where the cat is. 

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

DFM chat on how to ethically gather news through social media


Journalists, members of Digital First Media  (maybe? Hello?) and members of the public are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday at noon, Eastern Time.

Today we are talking about how to ethically gather news through social media, especially during breaking news. But wait! How do you even know it's true? How do you approach using user-generated content?

If you want to chime in, post a comment in the container or a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.

Sunday, October 4, 2015

O+RLY?



The O+ Festival in Kingston is just around the corner and the signs are literally everywhere. Keep an eye on six locations as the festival approaches. It takes place in Kingston Oct. 9 to 11, but you can get your blood going with the murals that you'll see cropping around the city.

via GIPHY


The murals are curated by Baltimore-based muralist Gaia, and I'm pretty sure you've noticed his Artemis in Uptown from two years ago at the back of BSP, where the Woodstock Film Festival Maverick Awards ceremony took place Saturday. Don't say nothing happens in Kingston.

The locations are the Seven21 Media Center on Broadway, Barcone's Music, also on Broadway (by the underpass) in Midtown and Keegan Ales on St. James Street.
Also be on the lookout for a story about Keegans' bees soon. I'm just writing that so I can post this:



The other locations are Milne's Fabrication Factory across from the Kingston Library and 35 North Front St..
The main mural, by Gaia, will be of Sojourner Truth and John Vanderlyn at The Stuyvesant on the corner of John and Fair in Uptown. I'm pretty sure people will have all the feels about this.

Of course, there will be a parade and tons of music everywhere, and we'll keep you appraised.

Check out http://opositivefestival.org/kingston/ for more information about this year's event.