We create the stories of the connected society

New search engine Wolfram|Alpha launched this week with the Star Trekkian goal to “make all systematic knowledge immediately computable and accessible to everyone.” Just what the world needs most.
Here’s an example from its visual gallery of examples. Really cleared things up for me.

When Andrew and I framed the concept of We Media back in 2002, we adopted a phrase that was intentionally ambiguous. Our intent was to inform and to be informed by a societal movement around media that respected and impacted everyone. It didn’t matter if you worked in offices, owned presses and managed big businesses [...]

From our friends at NakedMedia, tune in May 19 for a webcast on how marketers and media producers are measuring their audiences.
What: The Battle Over Media Measurement
With: Todd Juenger from TiVo and Jon Gibs from Nielsen Online
Date: May 19
Time: 12pm ET
Details here. Register and post questions here.

A few weeks back Amazon got blasted by gay rights groups when it was discovered that gay and lesbian book titles were delisted from its site. Amazon claimed an internal glitch caused the problem and declined to offer additional details.  A spokesperson was quoted saying
“This is an embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloging error for a company [...]

Each day brings another story that publishers are lurching to the business model that will save newspapers: charging for online content. Yet, each day brings news of additional buyouts and layoffs in newsrooms. Sometime soon, the publishers are going to figure out the next problem: they neither have enough good content that’s worth selling nor [...]

There’s a media and technology feeding frenzy in Washington. Failing U.S. newspapers are looking for a bailout from the government; nonprofits, telecoms and policy wonks are scrambling to have their say and get their piece of the economic stimulus action – a few billion dollars – to expand broadband networks AND create more content and [...]

History may not repeat itself, but it sure does rhyme, observed Samuel Clemens. I was reminded of Clemens’ vision and failures amid this week’s hoopla over the new Kindle as well a Congressional hearing held today on the crisis in newspapers.
Clemens was a visionary who foresaw the age of invention. He wrote a glorious fable [...]

The Senate Commerce Committee announced announced the lineup for their hearing about the future of journalism.  The list of speakers includes:

Senator Ben Cardin
Marissa Mayer – Vice President, Search Products and User Experience, Google
Alberto Ibarguen – President and Chief Executive Officer, The Knight Foundation
David Simon – Author, TV Producer and Former Newspaperman
Steve Coll – Former [...]

Over on my Fast Company Experts blog, I have issued a challenge.
Here is what I wrote:
I have come to the conclusion that most (maybe all) business and strategy books are useless. They over-generalize. They offer little value. I go in with such high expectations, based on reviews and descriptions, and am almost universally disappointed.
For [...]

Technology and the internet have given us greater control over our own media experience – what information we get and share, how we spend our time, and to whom we are connected.  We are more diverse as a society, more informed as individuals, and more involved as communities.  So what?
This morning I read a column [...]

The Swine Flu is big news… and for good reason.  This potentially deadly strain – a mix of pig, bird, and human viruses – is spreading across the globe.  More cases are being reported every hour it seems.  Health experts don’t seem to have much to offer in terms of definite information.  Fear and uncertainty [...]

How news companies can change? fue el punto de partida para un debate que terminó siendo una inspiración para el futuro.
Y justamente es la pregunta que todos los periodistas nos hacemos cada día para sobrevivir a la crisis de los medios que está afectando a todo el mundo. ¿Qué hacer para que nuestras compañías puedan [...]

Czerina Patel is an inspiration. She spreads energy when talking about Yenza, a project about connecting people, building awareness and supporting change. “Yenza means ‘make’ or ‘do’ in Xhosa and Zulu languages”, said Czerina. She returned to work in South Africa -her birthplace- after a radio journalism career in New York.
“Czerina explained that believes [...]

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Czerina Patel es una inspiración. Desborda energía cuando habla de su proyecto Yenza, dedicado a unir personas y promover cambios en África y el resto del mundo. “Yenza significa ‘hacer’ en Xhosa y Zulu” explica Czerina, una joven que regresó a [...]

Remember when The Times ran those profitable, short “liners,” commercial and personal ads, at the bottom of front-page news columns in the print editions? It took years for editors to get them off. Times change. See today’s homepage.
BTB: I captured the musical iPhone animation with Jing, new software to grab images and video off the [...]