[UPDATE - Just turned this into a podcast. Here's the sound file]
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I just spent about 22 minutes taking headshots of myself for a speaking engagement I have in the middle of the month. None of the photos came out correctly because I’m hideous and my glasses kept reflecting the camera flash.
Therefore, I resolve to become better looking and to spend the extra money and get anti-glare coating the next time I buy glasses.
The candy from my Christmas stocking is almost gone because for the past few days I’ve been gulping down Dr. Pepper and shoving molded sugar treats into my face. This frequently affects my mood and my energy level and I don’t think it’s doing much for my svelteness.
Therefore, I resolve to put different items on my wish list and to at least look in the windows of a gym from time to time.
A recent trip to the laundry room revealed that I own 28 T-shirts, half of which are black. I dislike black T-shirts because I worry about my dry scalp and even dandruff. This worry is balanced by my willingness to be cool, and so many new technology concerns put their logos and taglines only on dark T-shirts.
Therefore, I shall rid myself of these dark shirts (except for the Apple ones) and breathe easier each time I dress myself.
When sitting around the house playing online poker, enjoying video games, watching TV shows that have built up on my DVR or clicking around the Internet on my laptop, I often feel tiny pangs of guilt for wasting time. This time consists of moments of my life that will never occur again, so I’m understandably distraught when these moments get ‘wasted’.
Therefore, I resolve to stop wasting time feeling guilt and spend more time enjoying whatever it is I’m doing – with whomever I’m doing it with. No more worrying that I’m missing out on something better or that I’ll be judged as a time waster.
Lastly, the holiday cards are still piling up in the mailbox. Little visual treats from friends all over the nation. Unfortunately, about 1/3 of the cards are coming from people to whom I forgot to send my holiday card. Overlooking them/taking them for granted was never in my plans and now I know why I have so many extra copies of my card sitting on my desk.
Therefore, I’ll be taking the addresses off the incoming cards and sending out my cards a little late. I’ll also endeavor to make 2009 a year where I take people as seriously as I’d like to be taken. It will make me practice being more attentive to those around me and it will probably make people like me even more – which is a win-win in my book.
What are your resolutions for 2009? Share them here in the comments.
As the world of computing changes, those of us who use computers in our personal and professional lives are faced with a variety of choices. Aside from the platform we use – Macintosh is my choice, but you’re free to use Linux or Windows – there’s a slew of software created to help us work more efficiently or to entertain us.
Alex Payne created a blog post that gave us a list of the software he spent money on but no longer uses. He said he’s not so big on comments – and doesn’t allow them on his blog – so I’m going to comment here on some of his software choices and then give you a few of the greatest applications I’ve got running on my Macbook and iPhone.
Here we go…
Acquisition. The file-sharing software is a godsend. Payne says that he has some regret at this purchase. I think it’s still very useful – but I have yet to upgrade to the pro version. It’s great for finding music, software trial versions and other data online.
Chax. Really useful iChat application and well worth whatever you decide to donate. Payne didn’t like it. I think it gives you more functionality than iChat alone. I like it.
CS3. Can’t live without it. With Photoshop full version, Dreamweaver and InDesign, there’s nothing I can’t do to make my publications, Websites and photos look better.
Pages. This writing program comes with the Apple iWork suite which is well worth the cash. I think I paid $80 for it and I hardly ever use Numbers, but Pages is more versatile than MS Word and allows me to do everything I need to do with words. Seeing that writing is my job, that’s pretty important.
Cyberduck. I’m doing a lot of Web work these days and being able to FTP files is important. Cyberduck is a donation application and I’ve given my share of cash and gotten it back in spades. The program works fast and is always being updated.
Audio HiJack Pro. Fantastic for podcasting and manipulating any sound you put into your Mac. I use it to record and route sound via Skype interviews and Garageband recordings. I think it was about $30. Would gladly pay twice that.
Toast Titanium. Just the best disk-burning software around. Well worth the cash and also an application that’s always being improved.
SuperDuper. If you don’t back up your hard drive regularly, you’re an idiot. SuperDuper is the fantastic utility that can be used for free to do this crucial work. The paid version gives you even more functionality and is definitely worth the $30 I think I paid.
MacSpeech Dictate. I’m only a few days into reviewing this software for a publication, but I’m floored at how easy this software is to use. It’s speech recognition for the Mac that puts everything else I’ve tried to shame. It took me a grand total of nine minutes to train the program and get it to recognize my third-party microphone. Now I’m using it to operate iChat, ‘write’ documents in NotePad and in Pages, and navigate around my Mac. It even allowed me to open a few different apps like GarageBand, iCal and Safari. Retail price on it is $199, and well worth the investment if you’re looking for an easy way to speak your documents and save on typing.
Lastly, let’s talk iPhone. I have purchased one iPhone application. There isn’t anything I’ve found – save a Halloween application written by a friend of mine – that I can see paying money for in the iTunes Application Store. People are paying for a ‘Pull My Finger’ app. C’mon.
So if you’re looking to beef up your Macintosh application list, take a look at my choices. And if you’ve got favorites of your own, leave your comments right here…I welcome them.
Any writer will tell you that they’ve been misunderstood at some point – perhaps many points – during their career. These misunderstandings occur when readers fail to read and subsequently project their feelings, misperceptions, fears and biases on the words in front of them.
Take a piece I recently wrote about Heifer International. The piece appeared in a publication (Bowlofcheese.com) known to often contain sarcastic essays. In fact, the subhead on that site says, “Not so gentle ramblings about the inane and the insane.”
If you read that subhead do you really think you’re going to get The New Yorker?
Further, if you saw some of the content in that column you’d be hard-pressed to really think the writer (me) was serious. Here are the closing paragraphs of that piece…
If I buy a pig and want to give it as a gift, Hickory Farms ensures that tasty pig parts get to my recipient. Not Heifer International. That’s crap. I might as well just buy one of those African children that Sally Struthers sells on late-night television.
At least with those kids you get a photo and sometimes a letter. With this crock of an animal giving program you don’t even get a feather or a snout necklace to memorialize the animal you’ve purchased.
I might not have grown up on a farm, but I can tell when someone’s shoveling manure. And Heifer International has crapped on my gift-giving plans for this holiday season.
The real difficulty – or challenge – lies in a writer’s quest to compete with short attention spans, increasingly visual information exchange and the dumbing down of society as a whole.
As I look around me, the social media space is developing as the news media space is deconstructing itself. For the first time in many years I’m on the wave instead of behind it.
Don’t believe me? Here are the trends, opportunities and situations I’ve barely missed for one reason or another. Now I feel as if I’ve caught up and dashed ahead of the crowd. Timing IS everything.
1978-81ish – A scrawny and sickly Jeff Cutler is diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. Had this boy remained healthy for a couple more years he might have more intestines and a slightly better quality of life.
1986 – Jeff Cutler tries out for the college baseball team. Although Cutler runs a 4.8 40-yard dash (that used to be fast in the 80s), the team is already chock full of outfielders. Cutler goes on to star as a cheerleader at the school.
1992 – A fast but undersized Jeff Cutler (see Crohn’s issue above) is invited to a Major League Baseball tryout. He’s demolished in the 60-yard dash by steroid-enhanced 18-year-olds. The Boston Herald devotes an entire Sunday newspaper page to Cutler’s plight.
1997 – Along with two college friends, Jeff starts a Website ‘Rehabilitation’ firm. The company, ConceptClub, flounders for a bit and Cutler accepts a buyout of minimal proportion. ConceptClub morphs into ConceptHost and is providing a nice living these days for one of the founders.
1999 – Cutler enters the dot-com fray only to see it turn into a dot-bomb fiasco. After a quick stint with Fidelity Investments as an Online Editor, he moves to TimeTo.com and is the first one fired as they burn through hundreds of thousands of dollars in beanbag chairs, Sprint PCS cell phones and free breakfasts.
2005 – In the midst of a storied career as a journalist, Jeff ramps up his column-writing efforts and reaches prominence in two short years. Just in time for the papers with whom he’s writing to cancel their Freelance Opinion Column budgets. Hopes for syndication are also diminished as the blogosphere erupts with talking head-esque writing from every corner of the globe.
2007 – After fine-tuning his craft, Cutler matches his writing to the needs of an anxious and hungry editorial base. His features are purchased faster than ever and his work is appearing Internationally…until newsrooms begin to slash staff because of revenue cuts. Cutler gets kill-fee checks like never before and has to begin competing with ‘citizen journalists’ for inches and pay.
2008-09 – The Social Media space welcomes Jeff with open arms. An experienced journalist and writer, Jeff also knows how to connect with people using social media tools and techniques. With the advantage of 20 years in journalism, he brings a unique value to publications anxious to put more content online. These companies are looking for traditionally trained journalists for content and Jeff is poised to assist these firms. Further, every company in the world is now drooling over the possible upside to having a social media presence. Jeff Cutler offers these companies the services of a professional blogger with the skills of a pro reporter and writer.
Stay tuned to see how this chapter turns out. I’ve already been contacted by dozens of companies who are interested in hiring me to write their blogs and report – impartially – on their company. And as you know, I’m covering the Consumer Electronics Show #CES09 in Las Vegas for both traditional and new media outlets.
Got any leads you want to share or stories of your own success? Share them in the comments.
A Boston-area politician decided Thursday to declare a snow emergency a full 21 hours before the first flake of snow was expected on his city’s streets.
That seemingly compassionate move was actually short-sighted, stupid and ultimately could put students in that town in school until the first week of July.
You see, in this particular city (like dozens around the Commonwealth) the decision-making process regarding snow emergencies creates a domino effect. First, the city or town hall powers decide to declare a snow emergency. Once the emergency is declared, no resident can park on the roadways so that plows can keep the street clear. These cars have to go somewhere and that somewhere is school parking lots.
But with residents’ cars jamming school parking lots there’s no place for teachers to park. So the school department has to follow suit and call school off. Then the kids get a free day in December.
Friday, all forecasts say that the first inch of snow won’t be on the ground in Boston until about 3-4PM. So, on a day when children could have gone to school, teachers could have been in class, and residents could have avoided the hassle of relocating their cars, one mayor has shaken his personal snow globe and turned the entire town upside down.
And if this same town acts as irresponsibly all winter long – can you say panic-stricken – then students and teachers will be making up lost days for no reason well into the summer.
Another smart move from Boston-area politicians. Another snow-job for common sense.
The other day I pulled up beside a Yaris and just wanted to yell “YARIS” at the top of my lungs. It might have been immature and unnecessary, but I thought it funny.
Now I realize after yelling the name in my head repeatedly that it sounds a lot like YARRRIS. And that my friends is exactly the type of car a pirate would drive.
Seriously.
“Excuse me Bluebeard, is that your minivan?”
“Shiver me timbers, no. I drive a yarrrrghis. A pretty red one.”
When Richard Reed tried to blow up a plane with explosives in his shoes, other passengers and then security were on him in a flash. It might have taken a while for the plane to get to the ground and for Reed to be taken into custody, but nowhere did anyone fall down on the job.
Now we see an Arab journalist (for an Iraqi TV station) throwing shoes at our President at a press conference and nowhere in the frame do we see anyone from the Secret Service tackling, shooting or even glaring menacingly at the perpetrator.
Here’s the video…
Can you tell me that the brave souls in this government agency aren’t as fed up with George Bush as are the rest of the American public?
Seriously. The shoe thrower got off two shoes and some shouts before anyone even came close to him. Luckily, the President is so adept at dodging blame and playing laser tag that he deftly avoided damage from the hurled Hush Puppies.
Tell me what you think. Would Obama be quicker? Palin?
Would McCain have experienced a flashback?
What’s the deal here. I know we’re finished with this President, but do your job already. Take a shoe for the Commander in Chief. It’s your duty.
If it were up to me, I would introduce legislation that would require all journalists to be licensed. And a requirement of that licensing process would include at least two years of collegiate study and at least one year of full-time work as a reporter. Further, I would ask that the law require all prospective journalists to provide letters of reference from no fewer than three editors who would vouch for said reporter’s judgment and skill.
That’s not going to happen. Not in an era that sees businesses flocking to the most widely viewed media with story pitches. Not in a time when news organizations (ironically) are the first to lose sight of how important story telling and rich, informative articles are to an informed public. And certainly not in a time when some of the smartest people I know can’t make a distinction between the practice of journalism and the classification of journalist.
Maybe the solution is a simple realignment of naming conventions. We can change ‘journalist’ into ‘media delivery person’ and leave the process of journalism alone. Because in my understanding – developed from 20+ years in the news industry and advanced study in communications and journalism – the process of journalism requires that you have an editor assigning, critiquing and hopefully refining your reporting so that it delivers the most unbiased and informative information to a publication’s readership.
The media delivery people of today – journalists, bloggers, videographers, pundits and even PR flacks – are increasingly creating content for consumers without that layer of refinement. I’ve included journalists here too because newsrooms are being decimated by budget cuts and a lot more content is flying onto newsprint and into the ether without editors touching a red pen to it.
You might ask if we need editors. Can’t people decide what content is good or bad by themselves? Wouldn’t things be much better if there was a shakeout and more competition in the news industry? Maybe both are true.
Perhaps we’d be better off without the reporters who broke the story about the major auto manufacturers flying private jets to Washington. Oh, you read that on a blog. Yeah, you read it there because it was reported first by the D.C. press.
First to the public doesn’t indicate who did the hard work behind the scenes.
Maybe we’d be better off without knowing that Illinois government is for sale. Oh, that was a Federal investigation? Yes it was, but the story was shared by trained journalists who had the respect and the skill to follow that story down and then share it with the world.
Well, if the papers weren’t around, there would be bloggers and new media folks to fill the void. Maybe so. But the reality is that on election night, the majority of the country got its news from four outlets and then re-reported the news of the election. When the major outlets are dead, is Billy the blogger going to have the resources and the reach to inform the entire country about election results?
A friend recently shared with me an article written by Boston University journalism professor Chris Daly. This article – Are Bloggers Journalists? – made me consider my stance and refine my argument re: blogging isn’t journalism.
After taking us from 1760 to present-day America, Daly’s penultamate point is:
Nowadays, when we ask whether someone is a journalist, we may need to refine the question. We should ask: Is this the kind of journalist who presents analysis, commentary, or political rants? Or, is this the kind of journalist who offers the fruits of reporting? Or some of both? The issue is not the job title but the activity.
I agree, sort of. On more than one occasion I’ve been confused by my social-media brethren (including Steve Garfield, Christopher Penn and even Ari Herzog) as to what they feel constitutes journalism. My feeling was that journalism came from a reporter who submitted work to an editor at a newsroom – physical or virtual – and from that came content for a reading/viewing/consuming public.
The stance I received from these, and other people, was that content creators of all kinds should get the same treatment, benefits and access as ‘traditional’ media. And in fact, that in most cases there shouldn’t be a line drawn between the two. That’s the crux of my frustration.
How can anyone, and these people are very smart, assign the title of journalist to someone with access to a piece of technology?
If I hand my iPhone to my nephew and he figures out how to send video to iReport, is he a journalist?
If my cat wanders across my keyboard and creates a blog entry by pure happenstance, is she a journalist?
The trap people sometimes fall into is being too inclusionary and accepting of everyone. Like the paintings made with excrement a few decades back, there are certainly differing opinions as to what constitutes art. The same can be said of what makes an attractive house or a pleasant sound.
The interpretation is less acceptable when evaluating plumbing, driving, reporting and a host of other practices. If you don’t seal the gas main, you’ve done a bad job of plumbing. If you break traffic laws, you’ve done a bad job of driving. If you don’t present a balanced report of events from which an audience can make an informed opinion, you’ve done a poor job of reporting.
Sure, I’m open to the edges of journalism including opinion pieces, commentary, features and even some longer creative non-fiction approaches. But the vetting of an editor, the training of a J-School (or similar field experience) and an understanding of libel, slander and ethics should all be part of a journalist’s background.
Until that occurs, bloggers don’t get my nod as journalists.
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