Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Re-branding
It's time...I'm trying to lose the News Addict alias and become Laura Payton again online. The blog has moved to a new home, and I hope everyone will follow.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Hottawa
Weather in Ottawa is crazy. Two hours ago it was 40 degrees with the humidity.
My basil and my cat are sweltering.
All the poor cat does is lie in front of open windows and try to position herself near one of our fans. The fur coat isn't really conducive to staying cool when it's this hot.
My basil and my cat are sweltering.
All the poor cat does is lie in front of open windows and try to position herself near one of our fans. The fur coat isn't really conducive to staying cool when it's this hot.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
The power of video
After a brief weekend spent relaxing and ignoring the rest of the world, I'm catching up on news. Particularly in Iran.
A lot of people are talking about Neda. According to the person who posted the video on Youtube, this woman was shot by a paramilitary force.
It's not a violent video, but you're watching a woman bleed to death. Another woman screams, a man cries her name repeatedly. It's powerful.
Here it is if you want to see it. Youtube makes you sign in to swear you're not a minor, but Mashable provides it to everyone.
A lot of people are talking about Neda. According to the person who posted the video on Youtube, this woman was shot by a paramilitary force.
It's not a violent video, but you're watching a woman bleed to death. Another woman screams, a man cries her name repeatedly. It's powerful.
Here it is if you want to see it. Youtube makes you sign in to swear you're not a minor, but Mashable provides it to everyone.
Monday, June 15, 2009
More on Iran
Twitter re-schedules maintenance around Iran
The primary user I'm following says the usual proxy sites and ISPs are down. There are rumours of Hizbollah in Iran and protesters taken to Evin - a notoriously nasty prison in Tehran. Also rumours the government is tracking Twitter users and blocking access to the primary discussion feed on twitter (#iranelection). Discussion is moving to www.twitter.com/#iran9. And here's a New York Times article on how protesters are using social media to organize and get news in and out.
The primary user I'm following says the usual proxy sites and ISPs are down. There are rumours of Hizbollah in Iran and protesters taken to Evin - a notoriously nasty prison in Tehran. Also rumours the government is tracking Twitter users and blocking access to the primary discussion feed on twitter (#iranelection). Discussion is moving to www.twitter.com/#iran9. And here's a New York Times article on how protesters are using social media to organize and get news in and out.
Social media for social change
I'm captivated by what's happening in Iran. Some people are calling it a revolution.
Photos here They make me wish I were a photographer - words can't always do justice to a story. It's just not possible to use words as effectively as pictures to show a woman's fear as a group of men surrounds her and begins beating her and her companion, or the sight of police in riot gear chasing protesters, batons drawn and swinging.
Dozens of updates every 10 seconds here
In particular, I'm intrigued at protesters' use of Twitter to pass information and keep all of us on top of what they're seeing. Of course it's all relatively anonymous, so it could be somebody faking it. But they'd be devoting a lot of time to a fake feed. Also incredible is how non-Iranians are drawn to help: warning readers that the government is monitoring the Twitter feed, passing on proxies so Iranians can continue to Tweet, and ganging up to ask Twitter to delay planned maintenance so they can keep getting information out.
Photos here They make me wish I were a photographer - words can't always do justice to a story. It's just not possible to use words as effectively as pictures to show a woman's fear as a group of men surrounds her and begins beating her and her companion, or the sight of police in riot gear chasing protesters, batons drawn and swinging.
Dozens of updates every 10 seconds here
In particular, I'm intrigued at protesters' use of Twitter to pass information and keep all of us on top of what they're seeing. Of course it's all relatively anonymous, so it could be somebody faking it. But they'd be devoting a lot of time to a fake feed. Also incredible is how non-Iranians are drawn to help: warning readers that the government is monitoring the Twitter feed, passing on proxies so Iranians can continue to Tweet, and ganging up to ask Twitter to delay planned maintenance so they can keep getting information out.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
National Newspaper Awards
GAAAHHH. Blogging hasn't just been light lately, it's been non-existant. I've been in a non-writing mode, focusing on business planning for the past couple of weeks. It's something I should have done when I started to freelance but strategic planning and being a journalist seem like things that shouldn't go together.
But this weekend pulled me back into the news world. My wonderful and talented husband won a National Newspaper Award for politics reporting (he's not in the photo - that's Graeme Smith from the Globe, who won two well-deserved awards. But they have matching post-Afghanistan beards).
Besides the amazing high from Steve winning an award, it was fabulous to see all the excellent journalism done around the country. Simply reading the list of nominations doesn't do justice to the investigations and reporting that newspapers still manage to squeeze out, despite cutbacks. It's been a bad year for the business, but this was a nice reminder that some newsrooms are still committed to shining light into darkness.
But this weekend pulled me back into the news world. My wonderful and talented husband won a National Newspaper Award for politics reporting (he's not in the photo - that's Graeme Smith from the Globe, who won two well-deserved awards. But they have matching post-Afghanistan beards).
Besides the amazing high from Steve winning an award, it was fabulous to see all the excellent journalism done around the country. Simply reading the list of nominations doesn't do justice to the investigations and reporting that newspapers still manage to squeeze out, despite cutbacks. It's been a bad year for the business, but this was a nice reminder that some newsrooms are still committed to shining light into darkness.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Steyn on Iggy
Mark Steyn reviews Michael Ignatieff's True Patriot Love. This isn't the meat of his argument, just the pithiest part:
"It’s tempting to respond, “Oh, bugger off, you ridiculous poseur,” and pass on to something more rewarding, like Paris Hilton’s Twitter feed."
Most of the time Steyn makes me want to throw my magazine across the room. This time he holds my attention for the entire column.
"As to the idea that it’s “a story about us,” no, it’s a story about him: the vandalism he does to the memory of Kaydance and Santana Pauchay, the tasteless opportunism of cashing in on their fate by conscripting a grimly particular episode to the cheap generalities of societal guilt, the horrible glimpse inside the husk of a man once genuinely engaged by Iraq and Bosnia and reduced by ambition to peddling what he knows to be bilge."
The review is called Iggy's morally contemptible words.
"It’s tempting to respond, “Oh, bugger off, you ridiculous poseur,” and pass on to something more rewarding, like Paris Hilton’s Twitter feed."
Most of the time Steyn makes me want to throw my magazine across the room. This time he holds my attention for the entire column.
"As to the idea that it’s “a story about us,” no, it’s a story about him: the vandalism he does to the memory of Kaydance and Santana Pauchay, the tasteless opportunism of cashing in on their fate by conscripting a grimly particular episode to the cheap generalities of societal guilt, the horrible glimpse inside the husk of a man once genuinely engaged by Iraq and Bosnia and reduced by ambition to peddling what he knows to be bilge."
The review is called Iggy's morally contemptible words.
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