Archives for category: General Journalism
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Solving people problems

September 30, 2011 //
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If you want to understand someone, my advice is to sit next to them and solve a very hard problem together. You will learn who they are by watching how they think.
— Michael Lopp

PyGotham and the Q&A that followed, I’m finding more reasons than ever to read Michael Lopp’s books and blog, Rands in Repose.

The tension between those who make digital products and those who don’t is a systemic problem that seems to stymie every industry, yet so few people know how to resolve it — and resolve it at scale. There must be a collection of good advice somewhere. If not, it’s probably time to start one. What do you say?

(Photo: Ed Yourdon/Flickr)

Categories Code & Development, General Journalism

How The Guardian does data visualization

September 28, 2011 //
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Last week, Alastair Dant, lead interactive technologist at The Guardian, came to Hacks/Hackers NYC to show how his team produces its informative and award-winning interactive graphics.

It’s a wide-ranging talk about what’s new and inspiring about news technology, and how each team member’s unique skills contribute to the whole.

Well worth watching. And if you want to deeply nerd out with The Guardian, check out their Developer Blog.

The projects mentioned in Alastair’s talk:

Alastair’s team is Martin Shuttleworth, Mariana Santos, Jonathan Richards and Alex Graul.

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Categories Code, Data + Graphics, General Journalism, Video

What’s it like for women in tech?

July 18, 2011 //
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Quora product designer Rebekah Cox answers the question (on Quora, naturally).

Note, this is one person’s perspective. Nevertheless, her response is a really important read. For some time now, I’ve been studying how to increase the number of women in tech and as I see it, the hurdles are three: Culture. Education. Mentorship/Role Models.

Of the three, example after example shows culture is the hardest to overcome. Cox illuminates what tech culture is like — and offers valuable advice on how a woman can use perspective to her advantage.

It’s my hope that tech culture will evolve in a way that doesn’t require a hard shell to stay in and excel.

But until then, people who don’t feel like alpha nerds but want to be in tech can learn a lot from Rebekah Cox’s reply and footnotes. Read it and leap.

Categories General Journalism

Help Build the Hackathon Runway

June 23, 2011 //
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The future belongs to the makers. I don’t know who said it first, but the more time I spend looking at the world out there, the more I believe this to be true. We can dream great dreams, but only those concepts made concrete can be tried, tested and built upon.

I think that’s why people like hackathons. This year, I’m cohosting Hacks/Hackers Hacking @ ONA11, a hack day in Boston on Sept. 22, the day before the start of the Online News Association conference. You’re invited to join 100 like-minded makers of all stripes by signing up now. It’s $20 — a small price to pay for what you’ll get out of it.

September is a long way off, which means there’s lots of time for pre-hackathon planning and collaboration. Whether or not you’ve participated in a hackathon before (and if you haven’t, here’s why you should), you can help make the period from the signup announcement up to day of event a productive and collaborative one.

Post your suggestions for bringing any hackathon community together online at the Hackathon Runway EtherPad instance, or feel free to leave your thoughts in comments below.

Things I’ve been thinking about:

  • What’s the most effective way to collaborate?
  • How can non-coders play an active role?
  • What tools (software, SDKs, repos, APIs, apps) have you used?
  • How can the hacks made be incorporated into everyday use?

Your ideas and feedback are always appreciated.

By the way, I’m here at the MIT Knight Civic Media Conference, one of the most exciting annual gatherings for people interested in gathering, organizing and disseminating public information. It’s the highlight of the Knight News Challenge, and showcases some of the most motivated and dedicated thinkers and doers in the field. Sixteen proposals were funded this year, and they’re the most wide-ranging and potentially impactful yet.

If you’re here, say hi and be sure to come to my 2:30 p.m. unconference session today on building pre-hackathon community. I’ll be there with Matt Carroll of the Boston Globe and Phillip Smith of the Mozilla Foundation.

Categories Development, General Journalism

Join me at Poynter.org for a live chat

April 26, 2011 //
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Speaking of community, I’ll be on Poynter.org at 3 p.m. ET to answer your questions about the skills journalists need to effectively engage audiences. Join me, won’t you?

Thanks to Joe Grimm and Mallary Tenore for inviting me. You can read the replay in the window below.

Categories General Journalism
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