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Posted 7:22 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Finding the Needles in the News Haystack
Steve Outing on news search techniques
Search guru Chris Sherman wrote several of his SearchDay dispatches last week on techniques for searching for news on the Web. (Better mentioning it late than never.) Oct. 15: "Searching for News"; Oct. 16: "News Portals and Search Engines"; Oct. 17: "Power Tools for News Junkies"; and Oct. 18: "Beyond the Headlines." Take the time to read through these short compendiums of useful Web news tools and resources. Like me, you'll no doubt find some new sites to bookmark.My favorite of the news search nuggets Sherman found: Northern Light's Current News search, which includes 56 continuously updated news sources. (Searches can be defined down to the last 2 hours.)
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Posted 11:32 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Next Terror Target: The Net?
Amy Gahran on cyberspace vulnerabilities
Remember those "denial of service" attacks from awhile back? Hang on, it could get worse. According to a report released Oct. 19 by the Computer Emergency Response Team at Carnegie Mellon University, routers (devices that are key hubs in the Internet infrastructure) are vulnerable to similar attack strategies — but the effects would go far beyond bringing down specific websites. Targeting enough routers at the same time could cause a cascade effect that could bring down the entire Net, at least temporarily. See the New Scientist article, "Devastating attacks on the net 'imminent,' says report." The full-text report, "Trends in Denial of Service Attack Technology," also is online.
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Posted 10:41 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
What Do You Call "Sending an SMS"?
Norbert Specker on mobile messaging
The German language is watched over by a range of institutions. They think deeply about which new words should be introduced in dictionaries or for which activities a new word should be created. A Swiss association for the German language now is on the quest to find a German verb that would describe "sending an SMS" — that is, using the popular short message system inherent in European mobile telephony. The various existing colloquial forms are "smsle," "smale," or "simsen." As I am sure you urge to submit your own creation, here is the mail: sprachauskunft@unibas.ch.
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Posted 10:36 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Best News Site Finalists Announced in IP TOP Contest
Vin Crosbie on the top international news sites
Finalists have been announced in this year's IP TOP contest for best news website on the planet: Aftonbladet, Aftenposten, BBC, Financial Times, Focus, The Guardian, International Herald Tribune, Libération, Le Monde, Neue Zurcher Zeitung, New York Times, Omroep, El Pais, Politiken, SPIEGEL Online, and Suddeutsche Zeitung. The Guardian won in 2000 and Ireland.com (Irish Times) in 1998 (but there was no winner in 1999). The 2001 award will be presented during Content Summit.01 held on November 7-9 in Zurich.
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Posted 5:44 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Error 404: No More
Steve Outing on the Internet Archive
As J.D. Lasica reports, there's a great new resource available on the Web, and it should be particularly handy for journalists. The Internet Archive has opened up its Wayback Machine to public use. What Wayback does is allow you to retrieve websites and Web pages that no longer exist. The Internet Archive since 1996 has been storing Web pages in a gigantic digital archive. As Lasica notes, this functionality has only been open to researchers till now — and the interface has been challenging. Now it's simple to use, and open to all. Next time you're looking for something on the Web and get the dreaded Error 404 (not found), try Wayback. (Another option in such situations is to use the Cache links on Google search results when a URL turns up as an information dead end.) It's also fun to use Wayback to see what sites used to look like. For instance, here's a home page from the Poynter.org website from 1997. The Internet Archive contains more than 10 billion Web pages dating back to 1996.
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Posted 3:38 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Germany Opens Door for E-mail Scanning
Katja Riefler online privacy issues
The protection of privacy has traditionally been much stricter in Europe than in other parts of the world. Now a new law opens the door wide for data control in Germany. The government agreed on Wednesday to the new "Telekommunikations-Ueberwachungsverordnung" (telecommunications control provision) in order to fight Internet crimes. In the future, federal prosecutors on judicial request will have access to the data of the customers of Internet service providers and also will be allowed to scan e-mail. The ISPs have to build the infrastructure at their own cost. Only very small ISPs (up to 1,000 customers) are spared. This provision, which has been in discussion for many years, was fought successfully by many groups before Sept. 11. It was unthinkable that anyone should be allowed to install a system like Carnivore in Germany. Now even the Electronic Commerce Forum "ECO", a strong lobby group of the German Internet economy, agreed on more control, although ECO has elaborated an extensive report about its concerns which is available on request by e-mail. The whole development reflects the very serious discussion in Germany on security and personal freedom that takes place in Germany these days. There are many voices that see civil rights at risk.
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Posted 12:01 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
The Print Edition of NYT, Cloned On Screen
Steve Outing on New York Times' new digital offering
The New York Times is starting to offer its print clone for PC viewing. Using technology from NewsStand, you can get an exact replica of the daily Times, minus the paper. I'm trying out the service (a trial 6-week subscription is as cheap as $13; there's no way to sample it for free), but frankly, I'm not sold on the idea. Putting a replica of a print publication on a PC screen is hardly a new idea, and I've long been troubled by the concept. I'm actually quite happy with the NYTimes.com website and the daily e-mail newsletter I get for free. Those digital publications are designed for the online medium, and the news is up to date, not yesterday's. With the NewsStand product, I have to pay for a product that's designed for the print medium and forced to work online. And even on my broadband Internet connection, each edition takes a long time to download.But I'm not entirely negative on this concept. I think it does make sense for reaching NYT subscribers who have a need or desire for the entire paper (website and e-mail don't get you everything), but can't get the physical product — such as people living outside the U.S. This could have some success, but my guess is that the vast majority of Internet users who want to read the Times will stick with the free website and/or e-mail edition.
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Posted 10:24 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Indian Portal Launches UK Edition
Madan Rao on the portal concept is still alive
Leading Indian portal Indya.com, launched mid-2000 by the Microland Group, has unveiled its UK Edition targeted at Indians residing in the United Kingdom. Early this year, Indya.com had also launched its USA Edition. The "Events & Information" section keeps the Indians in the UK informed about Indian events and get-togethers through sections such as "Desi parties," "Bhangra scenes," "Indian cultural events," and "ethnic services." The "Community News" section features four Indian communities: Punjabis, Sindhis, Kannadigas, and Malyalees, with more to be added shortly. The portal was recently acquired by the Star TV group.
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Posted 5:31 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Anthrax and New Media
Steve Outing on the effect of terrorism
An interesting topic arose on the Online-Writing list today: What effect will the anthrax scare have on online media and use of the Web? It could be profound. It's not far-fetched to imagine terrorists increasing the number of anthrax-containing letters and packages such that the U.S. Postal Service would have to be shut down, at least temporarily. While delivering a body blow to the economy (U.S. and global), that could have the effect of boosting the depressed Internet sector — as people relied more on e-mail to communicate; paid bills online; shopped more online; and relied more on electronic media. Even a temporary postal shutdown would change habits for some people, which could stick after the crisis is over and give Internet businesses new life. These are strange days, indeed.
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Posted 2:08 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
The Edge of the Web
Carla Passino on latest survey on Internet usage
Earlier this month, E-Media Tidbits editor Steve Outing, sparked an interesting debate on the Online-News discussion list when he asked how online news sites could differentiate their coverage of the war against terror from what was offered by traditional media. A survey on Internet usage in September now provides more food for thought. According to Nielsen//Netratings, which carried out the research, users worldwide "pursued shorter, more focused Web sessions," viewing fewer pages, but reading them more thoroughly than before."For the first time in its history, the Internet was truly working alongside television," says Richard Goosey, chief of measurement science and analytics for Nielsen//Netratings. "Television provided immediate news and information, but the Internet provided a critical link for people who were looking for more in-depth information on aspects of the tragedy, and for people who were looking [for] ... an interactive media outlet that would allow them to air their feelings and reactions." Yet again, we are reminded that interactivity and unlimited archive potential give the Web a competitive edge over traditional media. Pity that too many news sites forget this and instead choose to replicate traditional content formats online.
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Posted 11:09 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Maybe There Is Life in Web Ads
Steve Outing on online advertising
Beleaguered media and content sites might be benefiting slightly from the overall media downturn, as Owen Gibson suggests in Media Guardian. Thanks to a lousy economy, advertisers have cut their media budgets overall, and are looking for bargains. Web publishers have discounted their ad rates significantly in the last year, so there are some good deals available. It would appear that big-brand advertisers are starting to look to websites as a way to maintain a marketing presence while keeping costs down. Owens cites a UK study of online ad sales to support this. But the logic would seem to hold for elsewhere. This won't save the online media industry, but at least it's a small glimmer of hope.
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Posted 5:38 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Slashdot Goes Subscription
Josh Fouts on online magazines meeting their maker
Someday we'll recall the Good 'Ol Days of the Internet when newspapers and magazines could be read for free. We'll surely speak of the independently built, "underground" community news sites that grew in popularity so much that they gained the respect of hardworking beat journalists. That day's not so far way. Rob Malda, the founder of Slashdot, announced last night that Slashdot's growth is exceeding its advertising revenue, so the site will be exploring different types and sizes of ads. Soon they'll be adding a subscription for readers who want to disable ads. Funny, but it seems like the Good 'Ol Days were only yesterday.
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Posted 11:12 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Mars Coverage: Missed Opportunity
Amy Gahran on the importance of foreshadowing
Tonight, at 10:30 U.S. Eastern time, the Mars Odyssey spacecraft is scheduled to arrive at the planet Mars — more specifically, it's supposed to achieve orbital insertion. This is a pretty big deal, since the last two missions to the red planet failed. Space.com has a pretty good online special report on this mission, and the high point is supposed to be the site's live coverage of the orbital insertion. But what will that coverage be — some kind of video webcast? Audio? Text updates? I'd really like to know more, but unfortunately Space.com neglected to describe even the basics. Also, the link that's supposed to take you to more information about the planned live coverage only takes you back to the main page for the special report. Nice try, guys, but no cigar. ... Space.com could take a lesson from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which has no difficulty providing the bare basics about its planned live webcast tonight
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Posted 11:00 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Fear the Mail
Steve Outing on terrorism precautions in U.S.
As noted here last week, news organizations are beginning to tighten restrictions on how they accept letters to the editor sent via surface mail — a rational response given that media personnel who open letters have been infected with anthrax. As Joe Strupp reported for Editor & Publisher yesterday, newspapers are varied in how they are approaching the problem. But suspicious-looking postal mail items — such as those without a return address — are getting set aside in many newsrooms. Newspapers' links to readers are getting severed, and that's obviously not good.Is requiring e-mailed or faxed letters to the editor the solution? Some people are suggesting that (including me). As Strupp noted, for many newsrooms the majority of letters these days arrive electronically. But beware this approach. Charges are flying that such policies are elitist, and cut off communication with a large segment of a news organization's audience that can't afford Internet connections or fax machines. It puts newsroom editors between a rock and a hard place.
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Posted 9:55 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Searching in Crisis
Norbert Specker on Google
Richard W. Wiggins comments on the user strategies on Google during and after the Sept. 11 event. For a brief insight, check Google's Zeitgeist page of that day. By the way, it was Google that depicted this memorable phrase on its page during the attack: "If you are looking for news, you will find the most current information on TV or Radio."
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Posted 7:49 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Who's Really No. 1?
Steve Klein on online sports sites
ESPN likes to call itself the "Worldwide Leader in Sports," and if you depend on Media Metrix for your online numbers, the title holds up. But sports portal SportsLine.com ended September as the top-ranked online sports site according to Nielsen/NetRatings, which is most often cited when comparing sites. So why are the numbers different? SportsLine.com has benefited this fall from a deal to produce NFL.com, and when that traffic is included, SportsLine rules, writes Art Garcia in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Sportsline also benefits from its tie to AOL and its fantasy sports offerings. For example, fantasy football alone registered approximately 2.1 million users, more than a 60% increase. According to Nielsen/NetRatings, the SportsLine Network had 10.3 million unique users in September to 7.7 million for the CNNSI Network and 7.1 for ESPN.com.
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Posted 3:37 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Get E-Media Tidbits in Your E-mail Inbox
Steve Outing on an improvement to this weblog
We've added a new service to E-Media Tidbits: daily delivery of this weblog feature to your e-mail inbox. You can sign up to receive Tidbits at 1 p.m. and/or 9 p.m. US Eastern time, Monday-Friday. This will eliminate the need for you to remember to check this Web page. To sign up, just go to this Web page and enter your e-mail address.Some Tidbits readers have been receiving HTML daily e-mail for some time. That service has been replaced by this new PublishMail-powered service — which can deliver Tidbits in various formats (HTML, text-only, AOL-enhanced) to fit your e-mail software. (Existing subscribers will begin to receive e-mail from the new service beginning tomorrow, Oct. 23.) We hope you enjoy the new service, and please e-mail me with comments or if you have problems.
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Posted 2:29 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
TV Rules in Europe
Carla Passino on the online success of European TV companies
Judging from the recent spate of Internet awards, it would appear that television companies dominate online publishing in Europe. On Saturday, Oct. 20, Rai.it — the website of Italian broadcasting company RAI — scooped up the award for Best Internet Site in the Media category of the Premio WWW at SMAU (Italy's largest new technology fair). Earlier in the year, BBC.co.uk, together with Guardian Unlimited, took the lion's share at the European Online Journalism Awards. So much for Jakob Nielsen's assertion that "the Web is not like TV".I look forward to the outcome of the ONA Online Journalism Awards — where the General Excellence in Online Journalism category sees CNN.com, BBC News Online, and MSNBC.com pitted against WashingtonPost.com, the New York Times on the Web, and the Wall Street Journal Online — to find out whether TV rules in America, too.
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Posted 10:03 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
In Search of the "Magic Box"
Rich Gordon on new TV technologies
Technology Review has an excellent overview of the competition to deliver the first "magic box" — the electronic device that will let you receive digital entertainment, interact with it, and display it on any screen. The article suggests there are four companies in contention: AOL Time Warner, News Corporation, Microsoft, and Sony. Thought-provoking insights from the article:[ Discuss THIS item | See ALL Tidbits discussions ]
- In today's TV, what people most want — and can't get easily — is the ability to choose what they want to watch, when they want to watch it. Each new TV technology (cable, satellite, pay per view, more channels, "smart" set-top boxes) brings the goal closer, but the "magic box" is what's needed.
- "The battle in broadband distribution is no longer 'the last mile' to the home, it's the 'last 12 feet' inside that home," says Banc of America Securities analyst William Bao Bean, who specializes in digital entertainment. (Or, as the article puts it, "delivering not just bandwidth but a custom experience people can enjoy from a comfortable seat in any room.")
- With each step toward video on demand, the revenue streams will move away from monthly subscriptions toward pay per view. (I find this interesting in the context of recent suggestions that the "cable TV model" — monthly subscription fees shared among multiple publications — is a possibility for online content.
Posted 9:56 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
TV? Newspaper? It's the Web, Stupid!
Katja Riefler on media convergence in France
It's too sad that fatalities are always an opportunity for journalists to prove their professionalism. But have a look at how media convergence is interpreted by the French newspaper La Depeche Midi. When the chemical factory at its hometown of Toulouse exploded on Sept. 21, the paper had the first video on its website only one hour later. It has continued the coverage in writing and video since then. You still find in-depth coverage since the first day on the site.The super-quick reaction was possible because the owners of the newspaper, Le Groupe Dépéche, have decided to grow their company into a true multimedia enterprise. They invested heavily, built a studio, and now produce local TV in several channels on cable and on the Web. The TV journalists work in the same building as their newspaper colleagues and they cooperate. Although the requests on the videos aren't yet huge — broadband penetration is still low in France — the newspaper sees itself on the right path. Other French newspaper publishers seem to agree: TV Web Midi of Le Groupe Dépéche is just part of TV Web Regions, the common Web TV platform of several regional French newspapers.
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Posted 9:47 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
A Flashy Feature
Jade Walker on using Web resources
The war in Afghanistan is incredibly difficult for many of us in the west to picture. The grainy, green images CNN is offering provide little clarity, and translate poorly over the Web. In response, the New York Times, my employer, sent photographer Vince Laforet to Islamabad, and asked him to tell the world a story. Using Flash, color photography, and audio clips, Laforet tells how Afghan families are faring in refugee camps, and the kinds of danger journalists face during demonstrations. The end result is a wonderful use of the Web's resources to explain the news "at a time when nothing makes sense."
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