tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77429080175909481362024-03-08T14:37:26.833-05:00Sacking the LlamasAdventures in Student Journalism in Tampa Bay!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998439523426808985noreply@blogger.comBlogger129125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7742908017590948136.post-11454904864630059922015-08-11T07:00:00.000-04:002015-08-11T07:00:10.819-04:00One Year After Going Google - How'd It Work Out<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TFmpPX091Xo/Vcl12VpTpUI/AAAAAAAA5oU/7GclcQGLAw8/s1600/DSC_2580.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="427" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TFmpPX091Xo/Vcl12VpTpUI/AAAAAAAA5oU/7GclcQGLAw8/s640/DSC_2580.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's been a profoundly mixed bag, but lets start with the good. <a href="http://sackingthellamas.blogspot.com/2014/07/ditching-my-crappy-s3.html">In July of last year I went all in on Google</a>. A 64 GB Moto X 2013, a 32 GB Nexus 7, and a C720 Chromebook.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Moto X under 4.4 was everything a smartphone should be. Great battery life, active notifications were cool, voice command was like something out of a science fiction novel. A lot of people called voice gimmicky, but I found myself using it a lot. Also, despite all the anger it seems to get online, I thought Motorola support was pretty decent. My phone's earpiece failed a few months in, and Motorola's exchange program was pretty seamless. About as convenient as running up to Tampa to the Apple store.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Nexus 7 was nothing special. I liked the seven inch form factor for live tweeting, but establishing a wi-fi connection at my school was (and still is) super wonky. Under 4.4 it did everything I expected of it and nothing more.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My C720 was lightning fast, and exceeded my expectations in a $200 computer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then came Lollipop. My Moto X got it relatively late in the day, something I probably should be thankful for. Lollipop is an utter fiasco. Notifications don't work right, voice is basically unusable after several re-recordings of my voice. It false positives like crazy, and when I actually want it . . . no response or "I couldn't hear you" at best. On my tablet the new notification system interrupts me on the regular. I've basically given up using it for any kind of serious work. All things being equal, I might have stuck it out. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stagefright isn't the reason I'm ditching Android, though security issues and the path to patching is definitely it's biggest problem. I know Motorola will release a patch . . . but my phone isn't particularly high on its to-do list. T-Mobile doesn't sit on patches longer than it has to. I'm very happy with my carrier overall (it isn't Verizon). All in all though, I bought my X based partly on Motorola's reputation for fast updates, something that seems to have gone by the wayside since Lenovo bought them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Speaking of which, that's 90 percent of why I'm switching. Lenovo is not trustworthy. They sold space for spyware at best - and given how hard it was to remove, I'd qualify what they did as out and out mal-ware. When called on it, they didn't think it was a big deal. No way I'm trusting these guys, even once removed with my phone.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally there is the quality issue. I can reasonably expect after an Apple update that my device will be - on the whole - better off than it was before. It has always been that way with my Mac, and my iPad. Sure there are bugs, but they usually get squashed in a reasonable time frame. Not so much with Android. 4.3 on my Samsung was horrible, 5.1 on my X is equally bad if not worse. App quality is an issue too. Looking at the same app on iOS and Android, the iOS is typically more stable, and more polished.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So how about the Chromebook? I still love it, but I am hitting a wall on functionality at this point. When I bought it, most of what I did was writing and social media. Now I'm doing a lot of photos and video. There is one decent photo app for Chromebook (<a href="https://www.polarr.co/">Polarr</a>), and nothing in the way of video. I'm a bit disappointed that Google appears to be trying to merge Chrome OS and Android rather than promoting native client apps. I just have zero faith in Android at this point. On the upside it still runs well, a little bit of slowdown (that could probably be fixed with a powerwash) but certainly less than a comparable Windows book. In this case, I don't think there is anything wrong with Chrome OS beyond the fact that I'm outgrowing it. I'd still recommend a Chromebook to anyone who needed a cheap, reliable computer for basic tasks.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To go out on a positive note, one thing I'm very pleased with is the new Google Photos. Its editing tools feel a little more limited than the G+ photos that it is replacing, but unlimited photo storage is nice. I'm not shooting anything over 16 MP at the moment, and if I did, I have plenty of space in GDrive. Search is, as you'd expect, excellent. One other benny of switching is that I will probably be updating here again. iOS has a great client for Blogger, Google has yet to produce a <i>functional</i> Android client for its own blogging service. Didn't work on Samsung, doesn't work on my Nexus 7, doesn't work on my Moto X. Which is a shame, really.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I really like Google, and I hope that M is less of a pain than Lollipop has been. I still have plenty of friends and family on Google's OS (and I'll be the one they call when something doesn't work), but as of today it's goodbye Android, hello iPhone. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998439523426808985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7742908017590948136.post-44691160464985793842015-03-13T07:00:00.000-04:002015-03-13T07:00:08.253-04:00Moving House to CDemmons.com<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KZx1Lt_HHcY/VQKCjHas7TI/AAAAAAAARkk/SkW3f9jL5MU/s1600/2015-03-09-164036-91.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KZx1Lt_HHcY/VQKCjHas7TI/AAAAAAAARkk/SkW3f9jL5MU/s1600/2015-03-09-164036-91.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've moved to my own self-hosted <a href="http://cdemmons.com/">WordPress blog</a>! Since I last checked in here, I've started my own business as a social media consultant. My current client is 360 United, the multi-site branch of Anona United Methodist Church, you can learn more about them <a href="http://cdemmons.com/?p=17">on my new blog</a> or on <a href="http://www.360united.org/#caring">their website</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hope to have time to stop by here about once a month, but for the foreseeable future the majority of my efforts will be going into the new site. I hope you'll take the time to check it out.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998439523426808985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7742908017590948136.post-42814819355933407192015-02-18T07:30:00.000-05:002015-02-18T07:30:01.226-05:00Thank You, Kathy Bryson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oPZZw6Opj_c/VONIrWV44eI/AAAAAAAAPw0/DRs7nQdkBjc/s1600/Kathy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oPZZw6Opj_c/VONIrWV44eI/AAAAAAAAPw0/DRs7nQdkBjc/s1600/Kathy.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As someone who has a rocky history with bosses, I've been very fortunate to have <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/118438646025517720984" target="_blank">+Kathy Bryson</a> as my boss these last three years. She has been an advisor to <i>The Sandbox News</i> since it started, and done a great job with far too few resources. She's put up with me, and for that alone she deserves a medal.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She's done all the things a great boss should. She got problems out of my way so I could focus on my work. She helped keep things organized, which is quite the feat. Anyone who has worked in small press publishing knows how chaotic a new publication is in its first two years, now add a staff that turns over almost completely every 16 weeks to the mix. I think right now the paper is in that wonderful place where it is chaotic enough to be interesting, but organized enough to get the news out each week. That's one of the reasons I was comfortable with stepping down from my position, I know the paper is in good hands with Kathy, Matt, and, Cindy on the faculty side.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XFGaWQNIe6w/VONL59tEjUI/AAAAAAAAPxA/6Jh14Vjzk9c/s1600/KathyBannedBooks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XFGaWQNIe6w/VONL59tEjUI/AAAAAAAAPxA/6Jh14Vjzk9c/s1600/KathyBannedBooks.jpg" height="177" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another great thing about Kathy is that she wasn't afraid to let me experiment. There are few student newspapers that celebrate Talk Like A Pirate Day, or Banned Books Week, but I'm proud to say ours has for the last three years. I think traditions are important in a publication, as they are in the communities that it serves. It doesn't hurt that Kathy has a healthy respect for the written word, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kathy-Bryson/e/B00DHIJ922/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1424182734&sr=1-2-ent">she's a twice published author</a> and I expect her to have continued success with her books. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">K</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">athy is part of the reason that </span><i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Sandbox News</i><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> is the most innovative student newspaper in Florida, and likely one of the most interesting student newspapers in the country. She's been a great mentor, a good friend, and teacher. Thanks again, Kathy.</span></div>
<br />
<!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2F2.bp.blogspot.com%2F-XFGaWQNIe6w%2FVONL59tEjUI%2FAAAAAAAAPxA%2F6Jh14Vjzk9c%2Fs1600%2FKathyBannedBooks.jpg&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" with "https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XFGaWQNIe6w/VONL59tEjUI/AAAAAAAAPxA/6Jh14Vjzk9c/s1600/KathyBannedBooks.jpg" -->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998439523426808985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7742908017590948136.post-55530551746173211392015-02-17T12:00:00.000-05:002015-02-17T12:00:00.564-05:00FAA Proposes New Drone Rules<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5y9U-7rxv6w/VONC8HSoJkI/AAAAAAAAPwk/DgbVCRwe-Jw/s1600/FAADrone.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5y9U-7rxv6w/VONC8HSoJkI/AAAAAAAAPwk/DgbVCRwe-Jw/s1600/FAADrone.jpeg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A follow up to my story on the <a href="http://sandbox.spcollege.edu/index.php/2015/02/innovation-lab-brings-drone-expert-to-seminole-campus/">Innovation Lab's drone workshop</a> last month, on Sunday the <a href="https://medium.com/innovation-lab-makerspace-spc/faa-proposes-drone-rules-73a5b600c637">FAA proposed new rules on non-recreational drone use</a>. This was a major topic of discussion at the workshop, as the existing rules prevent commercial use of drones with the exception of a few organizations, like CNN which has struck an agreement with the FAA last month. The FAA is facing first amendment lawsuits by denying all but one outlet the ability to use drones for aerial photography, hopefully they will pick up the pace in getting sensible rules of the road enacted. One other hopeful sign is the possibility of a separate, and hopefully very open tier of regulation for drones (like the Parrot AV) under 4.4 lbs.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Journalists still face difficulty with bad state and local laws (looking at Texas here), and a great deal of anti-drone sentiment from the public. Student journalists will also have to deal with budget concerns (colleges <i>really</i> don't like spending money on journalism), and risk adverse administration officials on top of that. I think that in time drones will become as normal as computers and cell phones, but it will be a long road getting to that point. In the meantime, I will be pushing for <i>The Sandbox News</i> to get its own drone for news coverage, and to get a faculty member licensed in its use as soon as the regulatory framework is in place. There are just too many interesting possibilities to pass up, hopefully I can convince the powers that be of that as well. </span></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998439523426808985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7742908017590948136.post-4010315434124427572015-02-14T12:00:00.000-05:002015-02-14T12:00:04.269-05:00If You Love Someone, Set Them Free<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XOBnuk1QqzA/VNxF2b0TltI/AAAAAAAAPpM/c3AjQsj52-0/s1600/2013-01-31%2B14.06.37.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XOBnuk1QqzA/VNxF2b0TltI/AAAAAAAAPpM/c3AjQsj52-0/s1600/2013-01-31%2B14.06.37.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SPC Gibbs Success Fair 2013 in my official Sandbox Hat.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All good things must come to an end. I have been the social media editor at <a href="http://sandbox.spcollege.edu/index.php/author/cdemmons/"><i>The Sandbox News</i> for a very long time</a>, and it is time to let someone else take the wheel. I'm stepping down at the end of this month. My very talented and capable replacement, Fred Arnold, started working on the paper's Facebook and Twitter feeds this week.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know he'll do well, that he will have experiences that no other college activity can offer, and that he will become a better writer, and a better person as a result of running the school newspaper. Because that's how it shook out for me.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I started with the paper three years ago at the end of last month. My therapist ordered me to go back to school, and get involved on campus as a treatment for my social anxiety and depression. Getting involved with the paper helped a lot. It kept me focused and sane. It helped me get over my fear of talking to people, people (with a few exceptions) generally like talking to reporters. While I was already writing a lot, writing <i>for</i> somebody else, especially writing for an audience that you interact with every day is different. Being able to talk to my audience, and more importantly <i>listen</i> to them exposed me to a more diverse range of views than most people get a chance to hear. That made me more tolerant, more moderate, and an easier going guy. That's what Fred has waiting for him. Maybe that sounds like it might be for you? If you're an SPC student, alum, or on faculty or staff, the paper <a href="http://sandbox.spcollege.edu/index.php/so-you-want-to-be-a-writer/">would love to have your help</a>.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One door closes, two doors open. While I'm stepping down as social media editor, I'll still be writing for <i>The Sandbox</i> and helping out with photos. I am also helping out <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/113612996425894106904" target="_blank">+Chad Mairn</a> with editing and content for the new <a href="https://medium.com/innovation-lab-makerspace-spc">Innovation Lab publication on Medium</a>. I'm also working on a project for an area nonprofit and am very excited about that.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the coming week, I want to take some time to thank the people I've worked with over the past three years (there were many, and they are awesome) and take one last look at <i>The Sandbox </i>that was.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998439523426808985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7742908017590948136.post-86592714381777055872015-02-14T07:30:00.000-05:002015-02-14T07:30:01.264-05:00A Flower for You on Valentines Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qSkpXFLoarI/VNxBbspwBAI/AAAAAAAAPpA/Pn87-r20ELc/s1600/VdayFlowerFB.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qSkpXFLoarI/VNxBbspwBAI/AAAAAAAAPpA/Pn87-r20ELc/s1600/VdayFlowerFB.jpeg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hope you have a great one. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998439523426808985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7742908017590948136.post-37523472176824118642015-02-13T07:30:00.000-05:002015-02-13T07:30:01.418-05:00Interview with Tampa Bay Drone Expert Donny Klotz<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UeqhfcVLdGg/VNw_nyUcTDI/AAAAAAAAPo0/Jti_HlsR8tY/s1600/KlotzTalks.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UeqhfcVLdGg/VNw_nyUcTDI/AAAAAAAAPo0/Jti_HlsR8tY/s1600/KlotzTalks.jpeg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://medium.com/innovation-lab-makerspace-spc/donny-klotz-talks-drones-782586d9e053">My interview with Donny Klotz</a> didn't make the deadline cut for <i>The Sandbox</i>, so I've added it to the campus <a href="https://medium.com/innovation-lab-makerspace-spc">Innovation Lab's new Medium publication</a>. I'm really looking forward to the next Innovation Lab workshop, you can keep up with the latest from the lab <a href="http://spcilab.tumblr.com/">on their Tumblr</a>. Better yet, drop by LI 201 the next time you're on Seminole campus to see everything <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/113612996425894106904" target="_blank">+Chad Mairn</a> has available and <a href="http://www.spcollege.edu/survey/16172">join us as a volunteer</a>.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998439523426808985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7742908017590948136.post-25079296874932287862015-02-12T07:30:00.000-05:002015-02-12T07:30:00.785-05:00Innovation Lab Drone Workshop on Seminole campus with Donny Klotz<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bEqnrC3yC-Y/VNw8lgbBuQI/AAAAAAAAPoo/0zBPpSJ5eY0/s1600/DroneFB.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bEqnrC3yC-Y/VNw8lgbBuQI/AAAAAAAAPoo/0zBPpSJ5eY0/s1600/DroneFB.jpeg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the coolest events that I've covered for the paper, you can check out my story <a href="http://sandbox.spcollege.edu/index.php/2015/02/innovation-lab-brings-drone-expert-to-seminole-campus/">on page at <i>The Sandbox News</i></a> or on <a href="https://medium.com/innovation-lab-makerspace-spc/innovation-lab-brings-drone-expert-to-seminole-campus-2a45cf55d3c0">Medium in the Innovation Lab's new publication</a>. I'm really excited about writing there, Medium is a lot less hassle, and a lot more fun than Wordpress. </span></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998439523426808985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7742908017590948136.post-82308916802684798862015-02-07T07:30:00.000-05:002015-02-07T07:30:01.067-05:00The Animation Workshop was Awesome!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ENjbAwDW-6M/VNRqEAYym3I/AAAAAAAAPfM/RSW1gFr3eJ4/s1600/Animwkshp6.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ENjbAwDW-6M/VNRqEAYym3I/AAAAAAAAPfM/RSW1gFr3eJ4/s1600/Animwkshp6.jpeg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My coverage of last week's workshop on Seminole campus is <a href="http://sandbox.spcollege.edu/index.php/2015/02/animators-come-to-life-at-seminole-campus-workshop/">on page at <i>The Sandbox News</i></a>! I had a really great time covering this, thanks again to <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/113612996425894106904" target="_blank">+Chad Mairn</a> for bringing <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/109154248769123850557" target="_blank">+Esteban Valdez</a> and the crew from <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/109248511704207570058" target="_blank">+Echo Bridge Pictures, LLC</a> in. I know the digital arts students learned a lot and had a great time.</span></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998439523426808985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7742908017590948136.post-9996049093011311832015-02-06T07:30:00.000-05:002015-02-06T07:30:03.188-05:00Writing for Social Media Workshop on Seminole campus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1ASqmq2zeec/VNM7QZdBULI/AAAAAAAAPeo/QEpOr7RqRF8/s1600/Workshop2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1ASqmq2zeec/VNM7QZdBULI/AAAAAAAAPeo/QEpOr7RqRF8/s1600/Workshop2.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the Writing for Social Media workshop on Tuesday, with <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/118438646025517720984" target="_blank">+Kathy Bryson</a>, Lisa, Kezra, and Adrian.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lisa wasn't sure she liked social media, but was interested in learning more. Kezra was curious about how to promote an event online, and Adrian was interested in ways to showcase his work as a writer. Overall the workshop went well, but I worry that some of my points did not get across given the wide mix of comfort levels with writing online, so here is my philosophy in a nutshell.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h3 style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Be Consistent</span></h3>
<div style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is the life of a student or small business's social media efforts in brief. They start a Wordpress blog and a Facebook page. They make a lot of posts in the first week or two. Then they get discouraged, or busy and the posts get farther and farther apart until they stop. Usually takes somewhere between 90 days and six months.</span></div>
<div style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Writing is a marathon, not a sprint. Set reasonable goals on how much content you are going to create versus how much you will share in a month. Get the right tools to schedule social posts to work ahead. I use Hootsuite for the paper, it is inexpensive and reliable, but Buffer, and Tweetdeck are also options. If you miss posting, don't apologize, just keep working on future posts. I once read a blog that had a solid page of posts that began "I'm sorry this post is late . . ."</span></div>
<div style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h3 style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Be Succinct</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brevity is the soul of wit. I wish everyone started on Twitter, and then gradually moved to other networks. Twitter will make you a better writer, you will learn to do more with less. You can say anything worth saying on social in 100 characters or less. Take your time, edit, show your work to others for critique. Writing forward allows you time to do your best work.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Writers on social media have one other great tool in their kit, photos. I think a good, relevant photo is worth at least 1,000 words and quality video is worth even more. Include edited, properly sized photos with your blog posts, and on your social posts (no, that Wordpress thumbnail isn't good enough).</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had a great time meeting Adrian, Kezra and Lisa. I'm looking forward to the next writing for social media workshop in TL 107 on February 12<sup>th</sup> at 2 PM!</span></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998439523426808985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7742908017590948136.post-48024476966410799862015-02-02T07:30:00.000-05:002015-02-02T07:30:02.398-05:00Now in the Sandbox: My piece on the Esteban Valdez Lecture<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U7rDggylqNk/VM9aimDfdyI/AAAAAAAAPag/qVTY1wZjGpI/s1600/Valdez.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U7rDggylqNk/VM9aimDfdyI/AAAAAAAAPag/qVTY1wZjGpI/s1600/Valdez.jpeg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My story on the Innovation Lab animation lecture <a href="http://sandbox.spcollege.edu/index.php/2015/02/animation-industry-secrets-unveiled-at-spc-seminole/" target="_blank">is up in <i>The Sandbox News</i></a>, I just submitted the follow up on the animation workshop last night. I had a lot of fun covering these, the guys at Echo Bridge are all kinds of awesome and it's always great to work with <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/113612996425894106904" target="_blank">+Chad Mairn</a>. Don't forget my writing for social media workshop tomorrow at 2 PM in TL107 on Seminole campus with <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/118438646025517720984" target="_blank">+Kathy Bryson</a>. We're going to have so much fun, so it'd be a shame if you missed it! </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998439523426808985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7742908017590948136.post-2937076656258149642015-01-31T07:30:00.000-05:002015-01-31T07:30:00.542-05:00Things You Won't Learn at Tuesday's Workshop #2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KFUzi3NMvk0/VMnF_5Pm4HI/AAAAAAAAPSE/9k19ROmBl-0/s1600/IMG_20150119_075815439~2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KFUzi3NMvk0/VMnF_5Pm4HI/AAAAAAAAPSE/9k19ROmBl-0/s1600/IMG_20150119_075815439%7E2.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I won't be telling you the right guru to follow, and the easy six step method to being successful at social media. Because nobody knows, and there isn't one.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People often assume my job is hard, and they aren't wrong, but they are wrong about <i>which</i> parts are hard. Setting up <i><a href="http://sandbox.spcollege.edu/" target="_blank">The Sandbox</a></i> for a day takes me about 15 minutes or less when the page has lots of content and there are interesting things happening in the larger world. It might take two hours when the queue is empty, and we're stuck in the news doldrums. So I spend about ten hours a week at most on setting up the page. Analyzing feedback, researching interesting new things to try, finding sources and story ideas for our student writers. Those are the things I spend the bulk of my time on, and are definitely the hard part of running the paper.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Publishing on paper or online is a marathon not a sprint. You have to show up and publish on the regular, no excuses. Imagine if your newspaper (say, the <i>Times</i> or the <i>Trib</i> here in Tampa Bay) didn't show up one day. No paper copies, the website is showing a page full of yesterday's news, and their social accounts are silent. You can't do that. If you can't show up reliably your readers will find someone who can just like any other business. In order to get seen over the noise on your platform(s) of choice you have to show your work regularly and often. You aren't going to do that by submitting each post manually. I know that for a fact because that's how we started at the paper back in 2012 and it was a disaster. So I'll be showing you how I do things, and some of the tools that you can use to maintain a consistent presence on social.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I will be walking participants at the writing for social media workshop through a day at my desk at <i>The Sandbox</i>. I'm looking forward to showing you around my office, and letting people get a behind the scenes look at the school paper. Join <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/118438646025517720984" target="_blank">+Kathy Bryson</a> and I on Tuesday at 2 PM in beautiful TL 107, and we'll show you how to be active on social media without joining a cult.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998439523426808985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7742908017590948136.post-49064915968343644072015-01-30T07:30:00.000-05:002015-01-30T07:30:02.150-05:00Things You Won't Learn at Tuesday's Workshop #1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qTOUNvLrwYw/VMmkVf8VdMI/AAAAAAAAPRg/02YO_rWgoVM/s1600/IMG_20150128_133755352_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qTOUNvLrwYw/VMmkVf8VdMI/AAAAAAAAPRg/02YO_rWgoVM/s1600/IMG_20150128_133755352_HDR.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I won't be telling you how to get millions of followers. Oh, while I'm on the subject, if you buy followers you are the biggest idiot ever.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I work in social media every week, I have less than 100 Twitter followers, 107 people have me circled on G+, and I've only friended people I actually know on Facebook. On the paper's feeds we're north of 500 subscribers across all platforms, and I probably reach three to five times that many based on our impressions. We're doing pretty good for a community college newspaper, but it is the quality, not the quantity of our followers that I'm proud of.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What defines quality? <i><a href="http://sandbox.spcollege.edu/" target="_blank">The Sandbox</a></i> has followers that talk to us. We have over the moon engagement for a college paper, it is the thing I'd like my future employer to notice when they look at my work rather than a number on our profile. The best yardstick of success in social media is whether your readers care about what you do. There are people that would miss <i>The Sandbox</i> if it went the way of <i>Meta</i> or the online literary magazine that the college started up just after we launched. I can't ask for more than that.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you <i>still</i> aren't convinced, I'd really like to know <i>why</i> you want all those followers, and what you think they'll do for you. There is plenty of evidence online of what happens when a small community grows too large online. Look at any of the Reddit subreddits that have recently been made defaults (/r/books, among others). You can see the same on Facebook in groups that went from a few online friends to thousands of members. Those places stop being communities and start being mobs. I'd rather be part of a community.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So while I won't be telling you how to get millions of followers, a free smokeless ashtray, and a Ginsu knife (<i>YOU WON'T BELIEVE THE JULIENNE FRIES!!!!</i>), I hope you'll find some value in what I've learned over the past three years. <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/118438646025517720984" target="_blank">+Kathy Bryson</a> and I will be in TL 107 on February 3rd at 2 PM to talk about writing for social media. I look forward to meeting you there. </span></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998439523426808985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7742908017590948136.post-47303918252734917152015-01-29T07:30:00.000-05:002015-01-29T07:30:00.969-05:00Winter Wonderland Welcome Back on Clearwater campus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b0UbY0su4MU/VMjpPUoG_oI/AAAAAAAAPLs/QzwqjyU_dAc/s1600/LandscapeWP.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b0UbY0su4MU/VMjpPUoG_oI/AAAAAAAAPLs/QzwqjyU_dAc/s1600/LandscapeWP.jpeg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My coverage of the winter themed Welcome Back on Clearwater campus is on page at <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/117855841283496011134" target="_blank">+The Sandbox News</a>. I'm seriously not typing 'Winter Wonderland Welcome Back' again. I had a really good time covering this, and people were super friendly. It was a nice break from my normal beginning of the term routine. </span></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998439523426808985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7742908017590948136.post-37487880120920943682015-01-28T07:30:00.000-05:002015-01-28T07:30:00.041-05:00In the Neighborhood<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hLKetMWLFs0/VMi7afFNr5I/AAAAAAAAPKQ/UJf1KkhqeQI/s1600/GEgret2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hLKetMWLFs0/VMi7afFNr5I/AAAAAAAAPKQ/UJf1KkhqeQI/s1600/GEgret2.jpeg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grabbed some nice shots around the neighborhood. These two great egrets stop by on the regular for a quick, and scaly lunch. Off to cover the Innovation Lab drone workshop and Working Wednesday on Seminole campus today.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998439523426808985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7742908017590948136.post-10775752543624302642015-01-27T07:00:00.000-05:002015-01-27T07:00:08.478-05:00Seminole campus Welcome Back<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0mxeScufgC4/VMcsIGPW80I/AAAAAAAAPJs/ePebY0NUVtE/s1600/JacquesBWFB.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0mxeScufgC4/VMcsIGPW80I/AAAAAAAAPJs/ePebY0NUVtE/s1600/JacquesBWFB.jpeg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My photos and coverage of the Welcome Back event at St. Petersburg College Seminole campus are <a href="http://sandbox.spcollege.edu/index.php/2015/01/seminole-campus-welcomes-back-students/" target="_blank">on page now</a> at <i>The Sandbox News</i>! I had a great time covering this, the paper is really keeping me hopping this term. </span></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998439523426808985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7742908017590948136.post-73084764989156421292015-01-26T11:00:00.000-05:002015-01-26T11:00:01.499-05:00Wednesday on SPC Seminole campus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mbJxxCM4Q0s/VMY-5j_fn4I/AAAAAAAAPIE/OasT1uATmlI/s1600/P1010893.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mbJxxCM4Q0s/VMY-5j_fn4I/AAAAAAAAPIE/OasT1uATmlI/s1600/P1010893.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This Wednesday, January 28<sup>th</sup>, I'll be covering the Innovation Lab's drone workshop at 11 AM in LI 201. This is going to be pretty awesome, and it is free and open to the public, so <a href="http://www.spcollege.edu/survey/17911" target="_blank">register today</a>. After that I'm back on the Working Wednesday beat at noon in the UP building, which is great because I'm going to be handing out résumés like every other SPC student. I hope to see you there!</span></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998439523426808985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7742908017590948136.post-76693808121082631942015-01-25T07:30:00.000-05:002015-01-25T07:30:01.384-05:00My Photos from McGough Nature Park in The Sandbox News<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HIXEwPZYN0o/VMNJ1Q_yQcI/AAAAAAAAPDw/9MLGraB3QZ4/s1600/2015-01-02%2B15.40.52ToneWPEdit.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HIXEwPZYN0o/VMNJ1Q_yQcI/AAAAAAAAPDw/9MLGraB3QZ4/s1600/2015-01-02%2B15.40.52ToneWPEdit.jpeg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My photos of McGough Nature Park in Largo, Florida are <a href="http://sandbox.spcollege.edu/index.php/2015/01/a-walk-in-the-park/" target="_blank">on page</a> at <i>The Sandbox News</i>. This is my first piece in the section I pushed for over the past two years, <a href="http://sandbox.spcollege.edu/index.php/category/out-of-the-sandbox/" target="_blank">Out of the Sandbox</a>, a place for creative work by students, alums, faculty and staff. After <i>Meta</i> and the online literary magazine (whose name I can never recall) failed to launch there really wasn't any place for student creative work at SPC.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was asked about whether the paper took poetry and short stories for the better part of the last two years at every Welcome Back on Seminole campus, and every time I talked with other students about submitting something to us. There was a lot of resistance initially from the folks in the oak lined offices, but I fought for it and I'm very proud that we have it. It's probably the best thing I've done on the management side of the paper. So if you fall into one of those categories, the paper's submission guidelines <a href="http://sandbox.spcollege.edu/index.php/so-you-want-to-be-a-writer/" target="_blank">are here</a>. It's a great chance to express yourself, and show the world what you can do.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998439523426808985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7742908017590948136.post-85478765111496327972015-01-24T07:30:00.000-05:002015-01-24T07:30:01.443-05:00Esteban Valdez of Echo Bridge Pictures Talks Animation on Seminole campus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JJnSbaGpojw/VMNGTcXqBsI/AAAAAAAAPDk/wfvqvY1IzEQ/s1600/IMG_20150121_200451598.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JJnSbaGpojw/VMNGTcXqBsI/AAAAAAAAPDk/wfvqvY1IzEQ/s1600/IMG_20150121_200451598.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had a great time covering Esteban Valdez's lecture on Seminole campus this week! Look for my piece in the school paper soon. My interview with Valdez is currently <a href="http://sandbox.spcollege.edu/index.php/2015/01/innovation-lab-brings-animation-expert-to-campus/" target="_blank">on page</a> at <i>The Sandbox</i>. In the meantime, you can watch an <a href="http://new.livestream.com/SPC/Animator" target="_blank">archive of the live stream</a> of the event. </span><a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/113612996425894106904" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">+Chad Mairn</a><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and the <a href="http://spcilab.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Innovation Lab</a> on campus did such a great job, but they aren't done yet!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By some miracle there's still space left in the animation workshop on campus next week. Not much, but you might squeak in if you <a href="http://www.spcollege.edu/survey/17869" target="_blank">register</a> <i>right now</i>. This is a doubly good opportunity because <a href="http://echobridge.tumblr.com/post/108924024723/you-all-usually-respond-very-well-to-our-requests" target="_blank">Echo Bridge is hiring animators and clean up artists</a>, this is a chance to show the owner of the company your skills. Don't miss out.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998439523426808985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7742908017590948136.post-60756577405695982932015-01-21T16:00:00.000-05:002015-01-21T16:00:01.154-05:00Social Media Workshop at the SPC Seminole Learning Commons<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jhOB7ZpBv8Y/VLvtBvInSQI/AAAAAAAAOfI/sodBmLfGrR0/s1600/2015-01-14%2B13.24.30TLBuildingHS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jhOB7ZpBv8Y/VLvtBvInSQI/AAAAAAAAOfI/sodBmLfGrR0/s1600/2015-01-14%2B13.24.30TLBuildingHS.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/118438646025517720984" target="_blank">+Kathy Bryson</a> was nice enough to invite me to help out with her writing for social media workshop in the campus learning commons on February 3rd in TL 107 on Seminole campus at 2 PM. I hope you have to opportunity to join us, it's going to be a lot of fun!</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998439523426808985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7742908017590948136.post-3137230749763929952015-01-20T07:00:00.000-05:002015-01-20T07:00:09.437-05:00Join The Sandbox News at Seminole campus Welcome Back Today!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YFTumDBoK30/VL3OeSOG1kI/AAAAAAAAOk0/BHO9yZgL4vY/s1600/WelcomeBack14CB2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YFTumDBoK30/VL3OeSOG1kI/AAAAAAAAOk0/BHO9yZgL4vY/s1600/WelcomeBack14CB2.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At Welcome Back Fall 2013, Jonathan Jacques, Craig Thatchter, Seminole Provost Dr. James Olliver.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll be working <i><a href="http://sandbox.spcollege.edu/" target="_blank">The Sandbox News</a> </i>table at tomorrow's Welcome Back on Seminole campus from 11:30 AM until 2 PM in the UP building lobby, likely in the hallway closest to the parking lot. Come by and see me about working for your school paper, open to staff, faculty, students, and alumni. <a href="http://sandbox.spcollege.edu/index.php/so-you-want-to-be-a-writer/" target="_blank">Full guidelines can be found on the paper's webpage</a>. This one of the last two welcome back events that I get to work, I graduate in fall 2015. This welcome back is also special because I get to answer "yes!" to a question I've gotten at every one of these since my first in fall 2012.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Do you take poetry and short stories?" I don't know why it took so long to make a decision on this, but the new boss finally pushed it through for me. It makes sense. The college online literary magazine failed to thrive, and the paper journal, <i>Meta</i>, ran out of funding. Now students have a place for their creative work again in our <a href="http://sandbox.spcollege.edu/index.php/category/out-of-the-sandbox/" target="_blank">Out of the Sandbox</a> section, the paper welcomes art, photography, videos, music, poems, short stories, and letters to the editor. This is one of the things I'm proudest of bringing to the paper, and I had the privilege of naming the section. <a href="http://sandbox.spcollege.edu/index.php/2015/01/a-walk-in-the-park/" target="_blank">I have piece up there now</a>, and I hope to see a lot of interesting things there this term.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Wednesday, I'm going to running errands in Clearwater and hope to stop by Clearwater campus's Welcome Back festivities from 12 PM until 2 PM and pick up some nice photos for the paper. I'll have the paper's live <a href="https://twitter.com/sandboxsocial" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://instagram.com/sandboxnews" target="_blank">Instagram</a> accounts up and running for both. I'm looking forward to meeting our readers, old and new, and I hope to see you there!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998439523426808985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7742908017590948136.post-34112855153727630432015-01-18T12:22:00.002-05:002015-01-18T12:22:28.200-05:00Upcoming Animation Lecture on SPC Seminole campus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ES9rjTlF8Bg/VLva9i4dTQI/AAAAAAAAOe4/Fk_okLopy48/s1600/EchoBridgeWW6.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ES9rjTlF8Bg/VLva9i4dTQI/AAAAAAAAOe4/Fk_okLopy48/s1600/EchoBridgeWW6.jpeg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pictured above are Dan Shimkus and Tessa Henley of Echo Bridge Pictures at Working Wednesday on Seminole campus last year. I had the opportunity to interview the owner of Echo Bridge Pictures, Esteban Valdez last term and now he's coming SPC Seminole campus this week on January 21st in the Digitorium at 6:30 PM to talk about the art of animation. The lecture is free, and open to the public. Full details here <a href="http://sandbox.spcollege.edu/index.php/2015/01/innovation-lab-brings-animation-expert-to-campus/" target="_blank">in my article</a> in <i>The Sandbox News</i>.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I really enjoyed getting to interview Esteban, he's a very talented guy and using animation as a vehicle for serious storytelling is important to him. <a href="http://vimeo.com/86090068" target="_blank">He's worked on a lot of cool things</a>, <i>Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles</i>, he did animations for one of the characters in <i>Skull Girls</i>, and the studios own homegrown short <i><a href="http://youtu.be/3fC21lf585Q" target="_blank">Mike & Wayne</a></i>. It's awesome that we have a company like this in downtown St. Pete, and they were definitely my pick for most interesting company at Working Wednesday last term.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/spcilab/" target="_blank">The Innovation Lab</a> is responsible for bringing him to campus, and is holding a character design contest for an exclusive workshop with Mr. Valdez, SPC students can <a href="http://www.bit.ly/SPCanimation" target="_blank">enter here</a>. Hurry though, the deadline is tomorrow! I'm covering this for the paper, and I think it's a great way to start the term off. You can follow my live coverage on <a href="http://twitter.com/sandboxsocial" target="_blank">SandboxSocial</a> on Twitter, and see photos from the event on the paper's <a href="http://instagram.com/sandboxnews" target="_blank">Instagram</a> account. <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/113612996425894106904" target="_blank">+Chad Mairn</a> says they'll be live streaming the event too, so keep an eye on the paper's feeds for the link.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998439523426808985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7742908017590948136.post-32382218413258473042014-11-19T17:46:00.002-05:002014-11-20T10:44:24.800-05:00Going Google at SPC<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cUfBXFsqUbs/VG0UjkDcS5I/AAAAAAAAKDs/kXBXBM9g66Y/s1600/IMG_20141119_165818.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cUfBXFsqUbs/VG0UjkDcS5I/AAAAAAAAKDs/kXBXBM9g66Y/s1600/IMG_20141119_165818.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've had almost a whole term now with my Chromebook and have been using the Moto X since day one. It's been a really good experience overall, and I'm almost ready to write about it for <i><a href="http://sandbox.spcollege.edu/" target="_blank">The Sandbox News</a></i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My biggest worry in picking up the Moto X was the camera, every review gripes about it, but honestly it is pretty good, especially in comparison to my old S3. The worst thing I can say about it is that the focus is a little slower than I'd like. I shot the picture above with it and ran it through paper camera, an app I've been having a lot of fun with this term. The phone is very responsive, no lag, great battery life, and is the perfect size. Active notifications and voice controls really make this feel like a device that fell back in time from the future. The experience of using the phone in combo with my Chromebook isn't quite as cohesive as Apple's set up. The Chrome extension that lets you send texts from your browser is a little slow and wonky. Even with that, this is by far and away the best smartphone I've ever owned. In some cases, the camera on the Moto X has out performed my DSLR. For example, the Digitorium is one of the most challenging environments that I shoot pictures in. It's very dark in there during most events. When I used both at the Great Debate finals this month, my Moto pictures were far better than the shots I got with my big camera.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sgO-QnLNc6E/VG0WLOR_ZaI/AAAAAAAAKD4/tw7uo_NsSGU/s1600/IMG_20141119_125358.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sgO-QnLNc6E/VG0WLOR_ZaI/AAAAAAAAKD4/tw7uo_NsSGU/s1600/IMG_20141119_125358.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The default Moto X camera has some nice filters.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My Chromebook has also held up well. I'm not sure Sheets are quite ready to take on Excel, but the interface is friendlier, and this machine beats any Windows book I could pick up in this price range in terms of speed, battery life, and usability. I'm confident that will be true even up against HP's new low end Stream. This is what netbooks were supposed to be. I picked up the Acer 720, I'd be equally confident in any non-ARM Chromebook. I'm also interested in the new Acer with the Nvidia K1 in it. The only two complaints I have with this machine are, the screen isn't amazing, but is reasonable given the price and the trackpad isn't as responsive as I would like. Again, not the end of the world for the money.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oihmFYAZ-UU/VG0as0qRUAI/AAAAAAAAKEU/Alqf2y1ENOA/s1600/IMG_20141113_130304343_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oihmFYAZ-UU/VG0as0qRUAI/AAAAAAAAKEU/Alqf2y1ENOA/s1600/IMG_20141113_130304343_HDR.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Low light shots with the X turn out great!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Nexus 7 is quickly becoming my favorite device, and I'm very disappointed that Google did not release a seven inch tablet this year. It's easy to pick up, great for reading, watching video, and keep an eye on my social networks. The apps on Android still aren't up to the same standard as iOS, but they are good enough. The wi-fi is still a bit slow to handshake with the device on campus, but that is an SPC problem, it picks right up everywhere else. I haven't received the Lollypop update yet but I'm looking forward to it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Having better equipment has made covering events a lot less stressful. I spend less time fussing with my photos, or worrying that my batteries are going to run down. You can see one of my recent photo essays <a href="http://sandbox.spcollege.edu/index.php/2014/11/seminole-campus-hosts-king-of-the-hill-soccer-tournament/" target="_blank">here in the paper</a>, it is a mix of the DSLR and the Moto X, I'll let you guess which is which. While you're there, take a second and follow my school paper on <a href="http://instagram.com/sandboxnews" target="_blank">Instagram</a>. We've been having a lot of fun with it this term, and I'm hoping to use it even more in Spring 2015.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The term is winding down, and I only have a few pieces left to submit to the paper. Hopefully I'll get more time to put in here, and working ahead towards the new year. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="http://www.twitter.com/Chris_Demmons"><img alt="Follow Chris_Demmons on Twitter" src="http://twitter-badges.s3.amazonaws.com/follow_me-b.png" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998439523426808985noreply@blogger.com0St Petersburg College, Seminole Campus, 9200 113th Street North, Seminole, FL 33772, USA27.8582059 -82.79779710000002527.8546964 -82.802839600000027 27.8617154 -82.792754600000023tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7742908017590948136.post-27639597420215381592014-09-27T22:25:00.000-04:002014-09-27T22:25:31.532-04:00I'm on Ello and other September News<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TehOukIAuwc/VCdbeyGvI0I/AAAAAAAAI3o/o1tg-P88Dtg/s1600/IMG_20140910_131042.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TehOukIAuwc/VCdbeyGvI0I/AAAAAAAAI3o/o1tg-P88Dtg/s1600/IMG_20140910_131042.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can <a href="https://ello.co/chris_demmons" target="_blank">follow me here</a>, if you'd like. I'm still kicking the tires, but in a week or two I'm hoping to do an article on it for the paper. My initial thoughts: I think people are putting too much focus on ad free and not enough focus on their moderation.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No, this is not a "mods are 'orrible, 'orrible censors." I'm a moderator. It is a necessary and valuable job. Moderation is also incredibly difficult to do right. Facebook is in trouble for over modding (real names policy, breastfeeding photos) as it is for under modding. Twitter is pretty much the wild west. The problem I could foresee is that moderation is difficult to scale, good moderation requires human beings making judgement calls, a great deal of Facebook's problems come from leaning hard on software to do their moderation. Software isn't capable of nuance, and as a result misses things that need to be removed, and cracks down on innocent content.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Monetization without ads is probably going to be tough, Path tried micro-transactions and has not been successful as far as I can see. I would be more concerned about the early adopters than future monetization though. The same crowd is on Ello as was on G+ in beta, and that isn't a good thing for the future. Don't get me wrong, I still like G+, I still use G+, but it is hard to argue that it is successful as a social network. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't think raw numbers are the end all be all of measuring a network's success. I think interactions are a better measure, particularly risky interactions like commenting and sharing. Likes and plus ones are the pennies of social currency, and just as meaningless. From where I sit, Twitter is a more successful social network than Facebook. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That isn't just my experience on my properties. Facebook is like a Innsmouth from H.P. Lovecraft, closed, suspicious of outsiders, and many of its users will be transforming into fish people sooner or later. Okay, maybe not fish people, but in most other respects they are like that. I looked at a lot of college papers in Florida, and across the country to see what my peers were up to this summer. Their pages on Facebook looked a lot like mine, very low interaction. I get that most people find school papers to be boring, and I don't disagree that they are in most cases. It is one of the reasons I keep trying to do things differently at <i>The Sandbox</i>. Facebook's algorithm actively works against news and community organizations, and promotes crap content. Last month's memes from Reddit, which thing are you quizzes, and THING HAPPENED AND YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED NEXT articles. Facebook claims they are working to reign in click bait, I see no sign of it on my personal feed. It is why during the Ferguson protests your page was inundated with ice bucket challenges. I'm not insisting that Facebook users eat journalistic long read veggies with every meal, I'd just be happy to see them at all.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Twitter, I get mentions and retweets and that makes me happy as a social media manager. I've engaged in one conversation this month, which is more than I've seen on Facebook in the past year. Twitter is a simpler service to use, and you can focus your account on just the kind's of content you're interested in. My feed is mostly made up of accounts dealing with my school, gaming, and journalism. I'm less than happy about trust and safety on Twitter. <a href="http://wehuntedthemammoth.com/2013/07/31/jane-austen-and-the-rape-threatening-men/" target="_blank">Here's an example, an incident that caused criticism of Twitter's moderation policies last year, when the United Kingdom was considering putting Jane Austen on the ten pound note</a>. This isn't the craziest thing I've ever seen in my many years online, but it comes close. No one is more excited about freedom of expression than I am, but Twitter stepping in when people start tossing about rape threats is not censorship. I'm okay with that. Twitter is private property, just like the mall, at the end of the day users are in their yard and Twitter may decide what conduct is appropriate. Their failure to take speedy action in this case says a lot about Twitter. Sadly, there hasn't been a substantial improvement in Twitter's moderation since. We'll talk more about that real soon now.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While there is no question that ads are obnoxious, and networks are pushing boundaries in terms of user privacy, I think good moderation is the big issue here. I'm very curious to see how they proceed.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In other news, I'm covering a weekly job event on Seminole campus called Working Wednesdays. <a href="http://sandbox.spcollege.edu/index.php/2014/09/working-wednesdays-job-opportunities-to-seminole-campus/" target="_blank">Here's my piece for <i>The Sandbox</i> on it</a>. I'll be there every week through 19 November, so if you're in the UP building between noon and two, drop in and say hello. I also <a href="http://sandbox.spcollege.edu/index.php/2014/09/turbovote-takes-hassle-out-of-voting-for-spc-students/" target="_blank">wrote about the college's new partnership with TurboVote</a>, a very cool program to drive civic engagement in colleges. TurboVote makes signing up, and voting easy (I just got my absentee ballot form from them in the mail), if you don't sign up with TurboVote, register through your local library. The deadline to vote in this year's general election is October 6th. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have a new staff photographer at <i>The Sandbox</i>, he's doing an outstanding job, check out some of his work on our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.836164679759347.1073741851.251994314843056&type=1" target="_blank">Facebook page</a>. This Tuesday, former WTSP reporter Preston Rudie spoke to <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/118438646025517720984" target="_blank">+Kathy Bryson</a>'s class. Here are <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.841447945897687.1073741855.251994314843056&type=1" target="_blank">some pictures from his presentation</a>, it was a lot of fun and I learned a lot. I'm so pleased that he came in, I hope he can find time for the class next term.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In my statistics class, I'm doing alright. My first test went well, and the second part of the class (probability) feels like it will be easier than the first. Knock on wood.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.twitter.com/Chris_Demmons"><img alt="Follow Chris_Demmons on Twitter" src="http://twitter-badges.s3.amazonaws.com/follow_me-b.png" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998439523426808985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7742908017590948136.post-74206924995317353142014-08-23T13:37:00.001-04:002014-08-23T13:37:58.355-04:00So I'm an Old Man Now<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-igbtLcKIjYA/U_jH85oMn1I/AAAAAAAAH8I/2DsWMlkA5HA/s1600/IMG_20140818_202819.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-igbtLcKIjYA/U_jH85oMn1I/AAAAAAAAH8I/2DsWMlkA5HA/s1600/IMG_20140818_202819.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But don't think that means anything, I've always been an old man.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It has been an absolutely crazy transition back to school. I had the Mid-Pinellas Comic Con, which I covered for the <a href="http://spclibraryblog.blogspot.com/2014/08/comic-con-was-huge-success.html" target="_blank">library blog</a>, <a href="http://lfgspc.com/mid-pinellas-comic-con-was-amazing/" target="_blank">the gaming club</a> and for <i><a href="http://www.spcollege.edu/blueandwhite/?p=20739" target="_blank">The Blue & White</a>. </i>I was very impressed by the editor I worked with at <i>The Blue & White</i>, I hope that the paper's new faculty publisher/recruiter/editor is that good.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yeah, the paper is having a bit of shake up at the worst possible time in the term. I am also having to step back into my role as secretary at the gaming club, at least until elections because our current one has stuff going on. No bad feelings there, she was our first president, and has worked hard for the club since it started up. She definitely paid her dues and then some.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Outside of that, I'm enjoying my time in the iLab. The picture above is my home-away-from-home work set up with my Chromebook there. The new Moto X is working out very well too. More on that soon. My statistics class looks like it should go pretty well. I'm down to my last year at SPC. Slow and steady, but the end is in sight.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Coming up, I've got Welcome Back to cover for the paper and the gaming club blog. In September, I have two of my favorite things at the paper - Talk Like a Pirate Day, and Banned Books Week. </span></div>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.twitter.com/Chris_Demmons"><img alt="Follow Chris_Demmons on Twitter" src="http://twitter-badges.s3.amazonaws.com/follow_me-b.png" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05998439523426808985noreply@blogger.com0