Thursday, January 27, 2011

Mean Obama wants to make John Boehner cry



This is all in the spirit of fun and games, since no serious news organization would ever spend precious time or resources examining the crying by Speaker of the House John Boehner, right?

WRONG!!

And here's the rest of the State of the Salmon address. Wait, whaaa?

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Milan cartoonist Liza Donnelly spreads ideas worth, uh, spreading

New Yorker cartoonist, Milan resident and Twitter person  Liza Donnelly (who's eating turkey meatloaf tonight) was a recent speaker at the TEDWomen conference in December. TED has recently posted the video of her talk about how humor can empower women to change the rules. Lots of funny cartoons are featured too.

"While many of the other speakers were serious with touches of humor, I was humorous with an underlying note of serious," she wrote. "My favorite way to be."

Mine too.

TED, as you know, stands for Ideas Worth Spreading. Wait. What?

The Freeman profiled Donnelly recently, about her ideas and her book, "Where do the Serve the Wine?"

Video after the jump. Wine at the winery.

State of the Union, the slideshow

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Hudson Valley tweeple react to State of the Union: Salmon! Boehner almost cried! Al Franken!

State of the Union excerpts, word cloud

I'll update the cloud with the final speech for comparison purposes.



Excerpts from the State of the Union Address 2011

Here's the full text.

And here's the word cloud for that:

President Obama delivers the State of the Union Address

JRC Chat live at noon

Members of the Journal Register Company Idealab (yours included) and anyone interested are going to be holding our weekly Twitter/CoverItLive chat at 5 p.m.

Today's topic will be about successful implementation of web tools for maximum impact, and other corporate speak.

If you are interested in the future of news, you might want to check it out.  The feed is also posted below. 

Don't forget to bring your links.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Kingston video goes viral because people like to see Corvettes on fire

Featured blogger Clark Richters' video from last year of a Corvette bursting into flames at the 2010 Envy Frenzy car show in downtown Kingston has gone viral on YouTube.

The reason (other than the fact that it's a Corvette going up in flames)? Popular car websites around the country began picking them up.

Watch it burn:

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

My desk, in 3D



Why am I showing you my desk? Because of the possibilities this tool, Photosynth, offers. (It uses Microsoft Silverlight, by the way, in case you can't see it).

We could (can!) give you 3D renderings of crime scenes, fires, concerts, fairs, protests, etc. You can also annotate highlights.

Even better, soon it will be able to be done with an iPhone.

Community Media Lab: Freedom of Information class

The Freeman's sister paper, The Register Citizen in Torrington, Conn., is offering a free Freedom of Information class at 11 a.m. today. The free class is free, in case I hadn't mentioned the free-ness of the free class previously. Free.

You can watch the class and participate in the chat below.



Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Etsy to open customer service center in Hudson

Etsy founder and CEO Rob Kalin announced in a forum post that the social commerce website for handmade goods will be opening a customer service center in the city of Hudson. (It was first suggested here.)

He wrote:
Yep, it's true. My family is from New York and I know the Hudson Valley well. I've backpacked most of the paths through the Catskills.

We'll be sharing more about this soon. Yes, we'll be hiring locally. If you're reading this here and are interested, feel free to convo me. Otherwise, stay tuned for more info.

Why Hudson? It's a great town, we found a fantastic building, and I know so many good people up there.
 (emphasis mine).

 Kalin is from Brooklyn, so you could say that, technically, Hudson is the new Brooklyn!

The hiring news comes on the heels of layoff announcements of the photovoltaic and explosive kind.

But this is good for Hudson, so yay!

Now if Etsy could stop selling things like these...

Saturday, January 15, 2011

This week in the Hudson Valley bloggosphere

I scrape the web for the most insightful and/or irrelevant post around the Hudson Valley so you don't have to.

* A commenter on Ulster County Legislator Michael Madsen's blog laments that Democrats won't have former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele to kick around anymore because, we guess, that's  Ulster County business.
* Kingston Alerwoman Andi Turco-Levin has a beef with some city property owners, which is a good thing, because I don't own any property in the city.
* Kingston Alderman Bill Reynolds has 610 words to say about Kingston Mayor James Sottile in a post titled, "One Word about Jim Sottile." I have one word about the title of that post: FAIL.
* Kingston resident Clark Richters posts videos about a consideration to move Kingston Public Access' studio to the town of Esopus. Meanwhile *hint* Rifton-based company Big Guy Media will adopt the public access vision *hint* "and take it to the next level" *hint*. Just sayin'
* The coffee people at the coffee place has some excellent coffee advice. Sucks for you, tea person.
* Over at Dorothy Wills-Rafter's blog, AWWWW. 

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Daniel Hernandez at memorial service

Daniel Hernandez, the 20-year-old intern credited with saving the life of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, receives a standing ovation during the memorial service at the University of Arizona’s McKale Memorial Center in Tuscon, Ariz., Jan. 12, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

American Dialect Society's Word of the Year: App

American Dialect Society 2010 Word of the Year

YourBGM.tv launches Jan. 21

Rifton-based company Big Guy Media Inc. will launch a new website, YourBGM.tv, "to deliver high-quality, entertaining TV shows exclusively showcasing the Hudson Valley" on Jan. 21.


The network will launch with five core original shows:


* Good To Go: In Good To Go, host Brittany Oat will explore all of the great places in the Hudson Valley where you can get a quick bite to eat, including cafes, delis, and hot dog stands.

* Just A Minute Joe: Lucky, the host of Just A Minute Joe, shows you where to you can get a great cup of coffee . . . all within a minute.

* 48 Hour Design: 48 Hour Design, with designer Laura Angelini, will take you into the lives and homes of area residents as their living spaces are made over in just 48 hours with some help from their friends.

* Paranormal Valley: Crawl inside the minds of real-life ghost-hunters as they work in teams to track down and investigate reported hauntings in the Hudson Valley.

* Signature Dish: Join our host Dylan Kennedy and learn how to cook your favorite dish from your favorite restaurant.

JRC chat live at 5 p.m.

Members of the Journal Register Company Idealab (yours included) and anyone interested are going to be holding our weekly Twitter/CoverItLive chat at 5 p.m.

Today's topic will be about live coverage of breaking events, in the wake of the shootings in Arizona.

If you are interested in the future of news, you might want to check it out.  The feed is also posted below.  Don't forget to bring your links. (And yes, I'm copy-pasting from last week's post).


My Morning Jacket, Bela Fleck to play Mountain Jam

Gov't Mule and a gazillion artist will be playing at Mountain Jam in Hunter in June, Warren Hayes and Radio Woodstock have just announced - in a video!



The festival will take place June 2 to 5 at Hunter Mountain.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Snowmageddon!



I'll be adding more as they become available.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

How Saugerties High School grad Jimmy Fallon got to be on the cover of Rolling Stone

Tattoos! And having a show or something.



U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on 'The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Kirsten Gillibrand
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full EpisodesPolitical Humor & Satire BlogThe Daily Show on Facebook



Had a great time on @TheDailyShow last night. Plsd to be able to thank #JonStewart for giving voice to our 9/11 heroes: http://bit.ly/ezM3rcless than a minute ago via web

Before the show, Sen. Gillibrand presented Stewart with an American flag that flew over the U.S. Capitol on December 22, 2010, the day the 9/11 health bill passed, and a jacket from the FealGood Foundation, a leading advocacy group for 9/11 first responders.

SUNY New Paltz cheap, expensive magazine says

The State University of New York at New Paltz ranked 36th in Kiplinger's Best Values in Public Colleges 2010.

New Paltz climbed from 78th on the top 100 list two years ago and 53rd on last year’s list by Kiplinger, which is $5.95 an issue (or free online!).

“Our climb in the Kiplinger’s ranking parallels the continuing increases in our graduation and retention rates, reported in other recent news,” said Donald Christian, Interim President at New Paltz. “We are honored by the rankings and recognition. But we are most proud of the underlying student success, which is at the core of the mission and purpose of the College.”

The report, "comes on the heels of this summer’s rankings in the 2011 edition of 'America’s Best Colleges' by U.S. News & World Report where New Paltz is 7th among the best public universities and 33rd among both public and private universities in the North," according to the college.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Media about Friday's rally at Belleayre

Local officials joined with county, state and federal lawmakers Friday at the foot of Belleayre Mountain Ski Center to send a message to Albany that the facility should be removed from the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s control. Here's the whole story.

Videos of the rally after the jump.



JRC Chat live at 5 p.m.

Members of the Journal Register Company Idealab (yours included) and anyone interested are going to be holding our weekly Twitter/CoverItLive chat at 5 p.m.

Today's topic will be about improving digital efforts and sharing in newsrooms.

If you are interested in the future of news, you might want to check it out.  The feed is also posted below.  Don't forget to bring your links. (And yes, I'm copy-pasting from last week's post).

Shadowland Theatre breaks records in 2010

The Shadowland Theatre (yes, theatRE) in Ellenville has announced that the actors’ equity theater filled 91 percent of its seats, sold out 47 percent of performances and grew single-ticket Box-Office sales in 2010.

Shadowland’s 2010 summer season was a success for the sixth year in a row, said Brendan Burke, producing artistic director and the board of directors of the venue.

In a press release, Burke said:

"For 2010, the 148-seat theater saw a 6% rise in total box-office sales over 2009’s record-breaking season; 47% of the June to early October season’s performances were sold out; and overall attendance for the season was at 91% of total seating capacity, a new high for Shadowland. Private and corporate donations also saw a dramatic rise, increasing 123%.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Parting shot

The following picture is of Liam Berger, great grandson of Sonnie Howe, taken Friday at 173 Hurley Ave., Kingston.. Liam is 20 months old and the son of Katie and George Berger of Bloomsburg, Pa. The family was visiting over the holidays.

Photo provided by Howe.

A Double Rainbow conversation with Ulster County Executive Mike Hein (audio)

I received a mysterious call from the office of Ulster County Executive Mike Hein last week, saying that he wanted to speak to me. So I called back today to see what was this all about. In my mischievous manner, I decided to try to include as many quotes from the viral video "Double Rainbow".

My list included:
Oh my God;
So intense;
What does it mean;
All the way;
Across the sky;
It's full on;
Wow;
Bright and vivid;
it's so beautiful;
It's too much.

Here's what I could squeeze in, in this massively edited audio track (And yes, I asked for permission to post the audio).



...

Earlier in the day, I had announced, publicly on Twitter, that I was going to do this:

I'm going to talk to #Ulster County Exec Mike Hein in an hour and will try to say as many Double Rainbow quotes as possible #SOINTENSE! #fbless than a minute ago via TweetDeck




That prompted a reply from Dan Shapley of The Daily Green:

@ivanlajara Funny about #sointense! but ask him how NY layoffs are affecting Ulster unemployment, specifically at the DEC.less than a minute ago via TweetDeck



So I did. Hein said that there is a disconnect at the state Department of Environmental Conservation, that there was a disproportionate number of cuts at Belleayre and went as far as questioning whether the DEC should be running Belleayre at all.

Discuss!

...

I also try to con, I mean, persuade the county executive into doing Livestreams. And although he courteously declined, he did promise to provide media for us media people. So we'll keep you posted.

Ulster County Executive Mike Hein talks about layoffs as they relate to the DEC and Belleayre

Meryl Streep, Lisa Kudrow wish Vassar College a happy sesquicentewhatchamacallit

Community Media Lab's lessons, goals highlights and insights

If you missed last week's Daily Freeman  Community Media Lab introductory meeting, here's the whole replay. And here are some highlights:





We've got a pretty nice idea of what to do, and those at the CML meeting (physically and in the cloud) seem to be game for it.

The short term plan is this:

* Help with traffic.

When a featured blogger has a new post, we're notified. If it's worthy it ("I ate burritos today" doesn't warrant a highlight), we'll put if atop the site under "Featured" for a limited amount of time, say, two hours.

* Develop a network with them and better communication.
The partnership we've envisioned involves bloggers hooking up with one another, to add value to their own sites. Guest hosting, cross promotion, the works.

* Guidance.
Using a blog or lessons and livestreams from postings within our parent company, Journal Register, we want to help bloggers improve their skills through cloud training. We could theoretically host a meeting while the session is going on and brainstorm new ideas after that.

* Rewards. 
 Print the best highlights in the newspaper.

That's pretty much it — for now. We'll grow as time and resources allow.