Blog on Twitter and Court Reporting

I found this really interesting blog  entry on Twitter and its use in court reporting: http://spj.org/blog/blogs/tech/archive/2009/02/26/21931.aspx

It talks about how Twitter may be a breakthrough in reporting on federal court trials, which ban audio, video, photography and sometimes cell phones from the courtroom.

Pick your favorite

Pick your favorite based on what you learned last class. Cast your vote using PollDaddy.

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Connecting to the server using a PC laptop

this is a message from It:

If the student is trying to access the server on a laptop via wireless, this
will not be possible.  If they connect their machine to the ASU network with
an ethernet cable, they will be able to access the server.

The process for connecting on a windows machine is the following:

1. Click on “Start -> Run”
2. Type two backslashes then the name of the server so
“\\journalism.asu.edu” and click OK.
3. This should prompt for username/password, type in the correct information

I hope this answers your question.  Please let us know if you have any
additional questions.

Twitter intertwined with social media

As you now know, Twitter is a micro-blogging tool that acts like a human search engine. Twitter can be used to monitor people or topics in real time, which is a useful reporting tool.

Here are some highlights of the recent Pew/Internet Report on Twitter.

• 11% of online adults use Twitter
• Users skew younger, median age 31
• Twitter is intertwined with use of blogs and social network sites
• Twitter users consume blog content; 21% read someone else’s blog “yesterday” and 29% have created a blog

MediaPost also commented on the recent report. Maxine also shared with me the NY Times story Dr. Gilpin mentioned in class.

“The Elements of Twitter,” a less traditional style-guide

I just found an article detailing the release of a “style-guide” for twitter users.

The guide claims to address and standardize the not-so-subtle challenges of style in a 140-character-limit composition. It will be interesting to see what conventions come up for shortening words while not shorting meaning.

It’s also worth noting the book will not be published traditionally.  It’s set to release on iTunes.  That in itself comes as an interesting turn of events.  Promoters claim the digital release will “reduce the need for a major investment upfront,” possibly serving as a testing ground for public interest.  Will iTunes become a primary-release publishing tool?  This story holds many implications for the future of print/online’s relationship.

Thornton- Twitter is a reporting tool

Check out the screencast.

Tues Feb. 17th Class

For class, you will have to team up with a classmate and check out a Sony Handi-cam, battery, and cable to bring the pics into the computer before class on Tues. You can check out the equipment on the 6th floor, RM 608. Bring your ID. The next weeks we will focus on multimedia content, and you will need to check out equipment before class.

Twitter assignment and info for you

Here are some useful twitter sites, tips and applications that can make the tweeting experience more enjoyable. I want you to search for people in your profession or related to your blog topic to follow.

I want to tweet your latest blog post, follow some people, and explore Twitter.

1. Go to Settings > Notices > change to @Replies: Show me all @ all replies. This will make it easier for other Twitter users to find you. Also, check boxes for “E-mail when someone starts following me” and “E-mail when I receive a new direct message.”

2. Keep your messages shorter than 140 characters. This way people can retweet your message. To retweet, add it to the person’s message “RT@originalsender. Try to thank those who retweet you.

3. To keep your URLs short, copy and paste URLs to Tiny URL or Bit.ly.

4. Twitter Patterns is a place to find backgrounds for your site.

5.  Complete your bio and upload a pic. This encourages people to follow you. Otherwise, you may look boring, don’t know what you are doing, or spammish.

6. Avoid saying what you are doing. Instead, contribute interesting thoughts, questions or URLs.

7. Tweet Beep is the Google Alert for Twitter.

8. Use Twitter search to find tweets and people who use Twitter.

9. Here are some journalists you can follow.

10. And here are some PR people you can follow:
@kamichat – A PR professional in Texas
@heatherhuhman – An internship/entry-level job placement specialist
for PR (great resource)
@prprof_mv – A PR professor at Clemson University, specialized in
social media and PR
@KarenRussell – A PR professor at UGA (the profs are often good
sources not only of info, but connections to PR students across the
country, for peer networking)
@staceyshaw – VP of Barclay Communications, here in Phoenix
@PRjobs – Lindsay Olson, a recruiter specialized in PR
@iabc – International Association of Business Communicators
@prsa – Public Relations Society of America

Purchase your external hard drives

It is time to buy your firewire external hard drives that are compatible with both Mac and PCs. You are required to purchase at least a 100gb drive, however it is difficult to find them that small anymore. Most are at least 250gb. I would also keep in mind the physical size of the drive. Some of you may want to buy a smaller one to carry in your backpacks.

Maxtor STM310004OTA3E5-RK OneTouch 4 Plus 1TB External Hard Drive

Maxtor STM307504OTA3E5-RK OneTouch 4 Plus 750GB External Hard Drive – USB 2.0, FireWire 400

LaCie 500GB Triple Interface External Hard Disk

LaCie 750GB Triple Interface External Hard Disk

LaCie 250 GB Rugged Hard Disk with FireWire 800, FireWire 400, and USB2.0 (amazon has several sizes: (500gb, 750gb, 1tb)

LaCie Hard Disk 500 GB FireWire 400/USB 2.0/eSATA External Hard Drive

Newspaper new media director speaks to class

The director of new media for the Detroit News, Mark Hinojosa, is a visiting Hearst professional at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He discussed the idea of the reader-centric newsroom and evolving business models. Students live blogged Feb. 10th. Check out their conversation by clicking the link.
Mark Hinojosa visit