The New York Times Expected To Launch Local Blog Network On Monday (Confirmed)

The New York Times Expected To Launch Local Blog Network On Monday (Confirmed)

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Short Post Test

Just a short post to see what the layout looks like with the calendar at the bottom. Could be a problem since I'm only displaying one entry at a time. Which is worse: a big gap at the bottom in the story column or a big gap on the right?

I'm Thinking Blog

Well this is going well. The Google Maps API is very well documented and there is a strong developer community, too. But, as I think about the presentation and use of this tool, it's not the map functionality that is most important. The blog seems to be the thing that will keep the interest up. I like the way the map features provide quick geographic reference to whatever neighborhood news is published, though. And, it's so easy to get sucked into touring the neighborhood through the street view that it must have some marketing value. That said, to keep an audience interested enough to come back, there always needs to be fresh content, and that's where the blog comes in handy.

I could see the blog working like the newsletter except that it isn't published as an edition periodically. Stories would be published as they are completed. That might be a problem, actually. There may be some folks who know when to expect their accumulated news. I personally don't wait on pins and needles for my next issue of Huffman Highlights, but I do read the entire thing immediately whenever it arrives. Would I miss it if it were gone? Maybe. Probably. Would I look for neighborhood news elsewhere? I don't know.

I think as print publications fall by the wayside, people will start to use online tools to receive their news. Though, there is some value in periodic publication of news. Frankly, it's just more organized. Is there a way to receive accumulated news periodically in an online fashion? Certainly. Email newsletters would serve this purpose, but the production is basically the same as a printed newsletter and they still require readers to check their email regularly. Regular email checking seems to be something people have become used to, though. So, maybe we're not far from reading our news online through content aggregators. But, the ease of producing blog posts is hard to ignore especially when you're talking about volunteer editors.

At any rate, I think the benefits of using the blog format outweigh the negatives. There are already a lot of ways that individuals can choose to receive their online content. Once a standard evolves as it has for email, the direction we need to take should become clearer. Until then, we should keep an eye on trends and evaluate them on their merits. I think the key is to not be too cutting edge, but to remain informed on technologies enough to be able to implement them when we think the time is right. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Write me some comments.

Google Maps API Progress

Wow! You can really do a lot with Google's map API. I'm not a natural coder so I take a long time to troubleshoot my own mistakes, but so far, even slow progress has been very rewarding. Notice the neighborhood boundary. I had to come up with points of latitude and longitude for each corner. We should think about all the different uses for the map. A neighborhood site based around a map makes a lot of sense to me. If we are nothing else, we are a spot on the map. I'd like to link the blog stories to the map somehow, but I'm not sure how that will work. Remember Mike Hawk's cat story? I could chart the cat's path around the 'hood in the map to illustrate the story. Chad Snoke's panoramas could be shown as points of interest on the map. What about historical photos and stories. Before and after pictures by address? There's so much that could be done.

Huffman Historic and Neighborhood Web Communication

Hi. I'm Joel. I live in Dayton, Ohio USA. But, I really live in a great old neighborhood called the Huffman Historic Area. My community is defined by my neighbors, and we all live in Huffman - like it or not. We each have our own lives which are very different from each other. Yet, we all interact and live under the influence of those nearest by. Consider this post an introduction to me and my neighborhood. Hopefully, with a little work, my neighbors and I will be able to turn a blog such as this one into something that shares our stories with the rest of the world. We don't know if anyone else will care, but we will. So let the thought, discussion, and arguing begin.

Mary in the Trees Video Test

I shot this video for use on the Uniersity of Dayton web site. The section it was meant to be uploaded into never came into being. I've been using it and others shot for the same purpose for various video testing purposes. Hope you enjoy.