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Archives for October 2006

Look Who’s Talking at The Blogging Times

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What’s the D-Z List?

Last week TechZOnline interviewed me. He’s a natural interviewer. He knows how to ask questions. I did my best to answer them with candor, but one question he asked has been following me ever since the interview ended.

He wanted to know what blogging was like when I started.

I keep thinking about that. When I started blogging there was so much more time — time to know people, time then to read everyone’s blog, time to comment on each of them too.

I hardly knew what Technorati was, but boy did I celebrate when my blog hit 750,000 of the 15,000,000 blogs back then. It was a small town kind of blogging. I never heard of the Technorati 100 or cared that an A-List existed. Still don’t know who’s on them. Really.

Now, I’ve got three blogs. Bookcraft 2.0 started. Other things are happening. Life isn’t simple — as it once was. But I still like life out here with the real people. I’m still a saloonkeeper’s daughter.

That question of TechZ’s bugged me enough that I decided famous folks should know what we folks who aren’t famous do that they don’t get to do, because they’re busy doing what famous people do to stay famous. (How’s that for a sentence?)

And you know what?

The Blogging Times agreed with me. We weren’t sure whether B-Listers and C-Listers are officially famous. The coin toss decided they are.

So starting today, you can read The D-Z List written by me, every Tuesday in The Blogging Times. So, you’ll know what we do too. Click the logo to read my first story.

And yes, the likelihood is high that you’ll see yourself there one day — unless, of course, you move to the head of the alphabet. Then you’ll be too famous.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Interview 10.1: Sebastian Prooth, Blogger, Podcaster, Film-maker

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Seb Talks about What He’s Been Doing

Seb Prooth

When Seb Prooth of Seb’s Random Thoughts and I first met, we had a comment conversation about a piece he wrote called, Blogger or Writer? Or Both? I enjoyed that chance to get to know a then new SOB in his “natural habitat.”

It’s been fun for this interview to check back with Seb to see how he’s been spending his time. The article that we discussed was posted last May 9th. It sure seems he’s done a lot since then.

Hi Seb! Tell everyone a bit about the guy called Sebastian.

Well that’s a complicated question! I was just talking about this very subject the other day when I was asked what I do, and I had to give a list of “occupations.” What do I do? Well I am a blogger, obviously. I’m also a writer, technology enthusiast and until recently a podcaster.

For my “real” work I am a student of media, and consider myself a film-maker. I am in pre-production on my first short film with real actors. You can see some of my current work on YouTube at www.youtube.com/meltingclock.

Other than what I do, I can say that I am an American residing in the UK. The reason for that is complicated. I am an old 20 next month . . . read into that what you will! There is a full bio of me on my website at www.sebrt.com/about.

My interests include all those things I do plus a crazy list of other things. I have this strange penchant for interviewing people on my blog. That started back on my first podcast “From the Director’s Chair.”

A little about my podcasting “career.”
I started podcasting back in December 2005 — I know that’s ancient history on the Internet — To make a long story short, my first podcast ran for 17 episodes, and I interviewed some of the movers and shakers in podcasting. In May I merged that podcast with another podcast I was creating with my friend Dave Gray.

Together Dave and I created and hosted what became the weekly “Global Geek Podcast” on which the co-hosts report tech news, web 2.0 happenings and rumblings in the podosphere. The show is light hearted and always includes a wacky news segment. Global Geek Podcast was nominated number 2 podcast to have on your iPod by .Net Magazine in their October 2006 issue.

I left Global Geek Podcast mid September to pursue other projects, however the show is still going strong with a new co-host. I hope that it will continue to grow and gain popularity as long as the hosts are hosting it! You can reach the Global Geek Podcast at www.globalgeekpodcast.com.

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Net Neutrality 10-03-2006

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Net Neutrality Links

I’m adding this link to the Net Neutrality Page.

The telecom slayers [via Eat4Today]

For more than a year, telecom lobbyists, who include former Bill Clinton press secretary Mike McCurry, have outgunned Scott and his ragtag army of bloggers, Internet entrepreneurs and consumer-rights activists on Capitol Hill. But on this fall day in his bare-bones office in Washington, Scott is grinning in victory. He knows he has succeeded in tripping up the lobbying goliaths with a simple weapon that couldn’t be more appropriate in the battle over the Internet: a low-budget video posted on YouTube.com.

In the unadorned black-and-white film, college kids sit in front of a webcam and talk about the evils of an Internet without Net neutrality. “Do you want companies to control your clicks?” a goateed young man asks the camera. “This means slower connections to sites that are under competing ISPs,” another says. “Let’s keep the Internet free!” After a guitar solo and a hazy image of the American flag, the video goes black and directs viewers to SavetheInternet.com.

In the first week after it was posted on YouTube on Aug. 17, the video was viewed over 350,000 times, according to figures provided by the site. By comparison, the infamous “macaca” video of Virginia Sen. George Allen calling a man of Indian decent the racial slur, was viewed 200,000 times in roughly the same amount of time. A testament to the power of viral marketing, the Net neutrality video “is doing the work of 30 full-time communications professionals,” [Ben] Scott [coordinator of SavetheInternet] says. “And the best part is, I have no idea who made it.”

In fact, the video was made in a little over an hour by Ben Going, a 21-year-old waiter from Huntsville, Ala., and an aspiring Internet filmmaker. Going says he pieced the video together because he feels that his hobby, his business, his way of life, is under attack. He is not alone. All summer long, hundreds of Web users like Going have flooded the Internet with videos and blog postings. An online petition in favor of Net neutrality has gathered more than 1.1 million signatures, and a letter-writing campaign spawned online has resulted in a flood of letters to Congress members. Barry Piatt, communications director for Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, a leading Net neutrality advocate, says his office has received close to 1 million letters on Net neutrality, “a virtually unprecedented level” of mail for any issue, let alone one as technical as this one. And the “overwhelming majority” of the letters, Piatt says, favor Net neutrality.

[ . . . ]

The battle erupted in the wake of a 2005 Supreme Court ruling, which changed the regulatory classification of ISPs and removed the nondiscrimination protections on the Internet. Facing fewer restrictions on how they could govern the Internet, the likes of AT&T and Verizon made no secret that they intended to create a lucrative Internet fast lane, open only to Web sites that can pay. Critics quickly responded that an Internet where only those who can pay the rent can display their wares will stifle innovation and choice. “Consumers will have all of the choices and selection of a former Soviet Union supermarket,” says Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, a key ally of Net neutrality.

Here is the link for the above referred to YouTube videol: Save the Internet

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related
NET NEUTRALITY PAGE

How Many Words Does It Take to Make a Book?

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Bookcraft 2.0 SERIES

An Average Book . . .

As an introduction to Bookcraft 2.0, I wrote Write a Book? Assemble the One in Your Archives! In the comments, Chris showed serious interest in finding out more about it.

. . . My new venture, SuccessCREEations has been up and running for less than a month and already has 23,000+ words, all fairly focused topically. So perhaps in a few months I’ll have enough there to put something together (provided I keep the pace steady).

Of course it begs the question, how much material does it take to become publish-worthy? If you figure an average of about 250 words per page, then what about 60,000 words or so for an average book? Is that anywhere near right?

My apologies. Chris, for trying to answer a BIG question with a small answer. I should have said, “Yes, Chris. you’re more than near right . . . because you write well, you might even have two books there.”

Let me try to explain it better in this post.
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How to Write a Deal Memo in Under 5 Minutes

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Getting the Deal Memo on Paper

I suppose it’s the same in every business. I know that it’s so in publishing. An important term — a term such as 1st pages — can mean something entirely different from one organization to another. Many folks make the mistake of thinking that when we use the same words that we mean the same things. Then in the middle of a project bad things happen, and great relationships sour. One way to get close to clear communication is to get down in writing what is being agreed to.

Unfortunately, some jobs would be in serious jeopardy if we waited to start until a full-blown contract could be prepared. I can show you how to get the most important information together in one place in just a few minutes. In this case, it’s deal memo for intellectual property — a job definition that will make both the client and the contractor comfortable enough to begin working.

I’ve made a sample on the next page. Let’s look.

How to Write Deal Memo in Under 5 Minutes

In my experience, what often happens is that a client and consultant talk about a project and then say, Let’s put together something that shows how we might work together. In another scenario, two equal partners, trying to build something as Phil and I are, need to determine the details of how the relationship will work.

What happens most often in these situations is that folks try to gather too much detailed information. What’s needed is the basics so that both parties can move forward with confidence that important parts are covered. The assumption is that standard industry practice covers all else until the contract is written. As soon thereafter when the contract is ready, the information on the deal memo, easily fits into a contract as Exhibit A — add target schedule dates tied to payments, and your good to go.

A deal memo also stops conversation with other parties around that project.

Take a look at this sample deal memo and what it covers. It is typical for intellectual property, in all ways except that we were still negotiating how to split the online rights so, on this one, they are not addressed outright.

It’s still enough to send and sign to show that we agree on major points and preliminary work can begin. The team can talk about ideas, folks who might need to be contacted and hired, other supply and staffing issues, while we are working out the details of a project scope and proposal, and issues such as the way to address electronic rights.

It took me at least 15 times longer to write this post than it does to write the average deal memo. On Phil’s job the deal memo outlines that there will be one book worked on, that it will come from his archives, and who will own the rights.

Do you have questions or concerns at this point?

For another kind of job, you might write a 5-minute proposal. I’ll show how to do that in the next post.

Be irresistible.
–ME “Liz” Strauss

Net Neutrality 10-02-2006

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Net Neutrality Links

I’m adding this link to the Net Neutrality Page.
MORE FROM:
Neutrality’ Is New Challenge for Internet Pioneer an Interview on Net Neutrality with Sir Tim Berners-Lee By JOHN MARKOFF Published: September 27, 2006

[ . . .]

Q. You’ve spoken about the concept of a Dark Net, which would balkanize the Internet. Do you have a nightmare scenario?

A. In the long term, I’m optimistic because I think even if the United States ends up faltering in its quest for Net neutrality, I think the rest of the world will be horrified, and there will be very strong pressure from other countries who will become a world separate from the U.S., where the Net is neutral. If things go wrong in the States, then I think the result could be that the United States would then have a less-competitive market where content providers could provide a limited selection of all the same old movies to their customers because they have a captive market.

Meanwhile, in other countries, you’d get a much more dynamic and much more competitive market for television over the Internet. So that you’d end up finding that the U.S. would then fall behind and become less competitive until they saw what was going on and fixed it. I just hope we don’t have to go through a dark period, a little dark ages while people experiment with dropping Net neutrality and then, perhaps, put it back.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related
NET NEUTRALITY PAGE