March 2012
85 posts
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How Much Do Kindle Singles Authors Make? |... →
A good reality check on what looks like an useful emerging business model for authors, Amazon’s Kindle Single. I like that the reporter talked to authors who are have done well on the platform but haven’t yet become big names.
The reporter got some real-world numbers on royalties paid (though not advances). For some writers, this is a pretty nice chunk of change. Good stories still...
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The Incomplete Greatness of Barack Obama →
In short, when judging Obama’s record so far, conservatives measure him against their fears, liberals against their hopes, and the rest of us against our pocketbooks. But if you measure Obama against other presidents—arguably the more relevant yardstick—a couple of things come to light. Speaking again in terms of sheer tonnage, Obama has gotten more done than any president since LBJ. But the...
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Filmmaker Mark Duplass on Multitasking Tips For... →
Great, and sometimes surprising (watch parties for “The Bachelor?” WTF?) interview with the extremely busy Mark Duplass, who with his brother Jay is releasing a whopping five films in the next little bit.
Turns out, he DOES sleep, eight hours a night, but he’s extremely disciplined about everything else, including NOT taking those endless and useless Hollywood “get...
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Bobby Womack, “Please Forgive My Heart” MP3 « The... →
Great free download from the magnificent soul singer Bobby Womack, produced by Damon Albarn (Gorillaz, Blur) and Richard Russell (Aluminium, Gil Scott-Heron). Thanks to The Fader magazine for offering this up.
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Can Apple's iPad, TV efforts transform the game... →
Interesting piece on the shift by some publishers to create more sophisticated game titles that can play on the latest super-charged iPad, and might run on a wireless-connected big screen. Throw in a bluetooth controller and you’ve got a more powerful game machine than anything Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo is offering now, plus the distribution system to get games to tens of millions of...
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“Luckily, he’s got some pretty mad flow.”
– Musician Bret McKenzie, known for his work on “The Flight of the Conchords,” on teaching actor Chris Cooper to rap as part of ”The Muppets” movie, whose music McKenzie composed. This quote is from McKenzie’s amusing appearance on public radio’s “Fresh...
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iPads, Apps and the Art of the Tablet - WSJ.com →
How tablets such as the iPad are transforming the business of viewing, buying and selling art. It has some interesting implications, I think, for the big art confabs, such as Art Basel, where collectors no longer have to fly in just to see a piece they might want to buy.
People will still want to go for the important social aspects, and for the still-unique experience of viewing art up close...
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The ultimate guide to Facebook fan engagement |... →
Lots of good material on leveraging Facebook Pages for businesses of many kinds.
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As a fan of a) the terrific pop band Beach House...
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Pie in the Sky
I’m meeting a reporter for an interview a little later this afternoon at a new joint in North Hollywood called Republic of Pie (though they also have a sign in another window saying Republic of Coffee). It’s pretty sublime: hip jazz playing on the sound system, lots of comfortable places to perch and eat or write or whatever, free Wi-Fi, reasonable prices on their coffees, teas and...
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Good luck to the New Republic, and the letter from...
Really hoping Chris Hughes is able to figure things out with his money and tech savvy. The New Republic is an important and thoughtful voice in politics, but some evolution is way overdue.
thenewrepublic:
TNR readers and fans of long-form journalism, changes are afoot at the magazine!
We are excited to welcome Chris Hughes to the top of the masthead as our new Publisher and Editor in...
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The great, LONG Wired piece by Neal Stephenson... →
Who knew that a 10,000-word journalism piece by a science fiction writer about the history of laying undersea cables, from the 19th Century to 2005, could be such a rollicking, entertaining and fascinating read? But Neal Stephenson, one of my favorite writers of not-strictly-factual yarns, found a great story in an unlikely place, and dressed it up in amusingly neo-Victorian prose. Just saw this...
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Right Makes White: Exit Polls Suggesting a Small... →
andrewgraham:
National Journal: “So far, according to exit polls posted on CNN.com, whites have cast at least 90 percent of the votes in every Republican primary except Florida (83 percent) and Arizona (89 percent). In every other state except Michigan (92 percent) and Nevada (90 percent) whites have…
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Atlantic: Facebook Co-Founder Buys The New... →
Great to see TNR picked up by someone about to have very deep pockets. It’s been a terrific and thoughtful magazine for most of a century. Will be interesting to see how he brings the magazine forward into the 21st Century. Perhaps the Atlantic’s remarkable transformation will provide a useful blueprint for online/offline integration of the brand.
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Kony 2012: Can a YouTube Video Stop an... →
The Twitterverse goes after another Very Bad Man, African warlord Joseph Kony. This one may be tougher to take out, but awareness can’t be bad.
Sharon mentions a couple of key technical issues that I think are subtle but important for the effort by non-profit Invisible Children:
1) They had in place a robust enough technology infrastructure to handle the crush of interest when their...
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NYT - The New iPad: It's in the Apps - →
David Pogue’s first take on the new iPad: it’s the apps, stupid. Though the specs are industry-leading, too….
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