Bulk Publishing Keeps PLoS Afloat
PLoS sees bulk, low-cost publishing as way to financial independence
FCC Misses Both Forest and Trees
Image via Wikipedia The San Francisco Chronicle (and other sources) recently reported on an initiative from the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to examine embedded advertisements in TV programming (“product placements”). Examples rolled out by reporters and the FCC itself include […]
Britannica’s Tepid Move
Image via Wikipedia Forgive me, but I think the recent news that the Encyclopedia Britannica is adopting a modified Wiki approach reveals not a brave embrace of new online realities, but rather a tepid response to the threat they are […]
0 = Initiate Final Algorithm
You may have heard of this elsewhere, a site called “You’ve Been Left Behind” (www.youvebeenleftbehind.com). It’s been created in anticipation of the Rapture. The site will store many megabytes of documents and send these materials under certain conditions to up […]
Information Overload = Too Much Dog Food
An old Silicon Valley maxim exhorts technology firms to “eat their own dog food” (aka, use their own technology). Now they’ve realized they’re eating too much. And so are we.
Printeractivity — A Forgotten Constant?
We’ve all been amazed at the interactivity of print. What?! Yes. The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest. Need I say more? Well, yes, I do. Or, more interestingly, I can. Take This Old House, a magazine derivative from the PBS […]
Short Attention Span Publishing
Are you ready for the era of “short attention span publishing“? As noted in a previous post, usability around “task completion” or “success rate” is the real measure of a Web site’s value, and this is only going to be […]
Microsoft Closes the Book on Live Search
Microsoft is closing Live Search Books and Live Search Academic, according to a project blog post. To its credit, the project is coughing up equipment and scanned assets (750,000 books) to participants. My experience with the service suggests that, again, […]
Information Does(n’t) Want to Be Free
David Pogue just published a post on the New York Times that quotes at its heart the statement, “Information wants to be free.” In the post, he notes that he’s pretty conflicted over the issue, and takes solace in the […]
Open Access Backlash
The Chronicle of Higher Education has published a story about open access backlash among creative writing students. It’s interesting to see how the battle lines are drawn, and how the terms of a negotiated embargo period at the University of […]