Ricochet by Chrys Wu » General Journalism http://www.chryswu.com/blog Where Ideas For Online News Bounce Around Fri, 30 Sep 2011 22:02:17 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Solving people problems http://www.chryswu.com/blog/2011/09/30/solving-people-problems/ http://www.chryswu.com/blog/2011/09/30/solving-people-problems/#comments Fri, 30 Sep 2011 21:38:57 +0000 Chrys http://www.chryswu.com/blog/?p=1604

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)

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]]> http://www.chryswu.com/blog/2011/09/30/solving-people-problems/feed/ 0 How The Guardian does data visualization http://www.chryswu.com/blog/2011/09/28/how-the-guardian-does-data-visualization/ http://www.chryswu.com/blog/2011/09/28/how-the-guardian-does-data-visualization/#comments Thu, 29 Sep 2011 03:05:58 +0000 Chrys http://www.chryswu.com/blog/?p=1596 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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]]> http://www.chryswu.com/blog/2011/09/28/how-the-guardian-does-data-visualization/feed/ 0 What’s it like for women in tech? http://www.chryswu.com/blog/2011/07/18/whats-it-like-for-women-in-tech/ http://www.chryswu.com/blog/2011/07/18/whats-it-like-for-women-in-tech/#comments Tue, 19 Jul 2011 01:59:53 +0000 Chrys http://www.chryswu.com/blog/?p=1576 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.

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]]> http://www.chryswu.com/blog/2011/07/18/whats-it-like-for-women-in-tech/feed/ 0 Help Build the Hackathon Runway http://www.chryswu.com/blog/2011/06/23/help-build-the-hackathon-runway/ http://www.chryswu.com/blog/2011/06/23/help-build-the-hackathon-runway/#comments Thu, 23 Jun 2011 15:54:27 +0000 Chrys http://www.chryswu.com/blog/?p=1531 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.

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]]> http://www.chryswu.com/blog/2011/06/23/help-build-the-hackathon-runway/feed/ 0 Join me at Poynter.org for a live chat http://www.chryswu.com/blog/2011/04/26/poynter-live-chat-audience-engagement/ http://www.chryswu.com/blog/2011/04/26/poynter-live-chat-audience-engagement/#comments Tue, 26 Apr 2011 21:55:47 +0000 Chrys http://www.chryswu.com/blog/?p=1518 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.


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]]> http://www.chryswu.com/blog/2011/04/26/poynter-live-chat-audience-engagement/feed/ 0 Matt Haughey on “Lessons from 11 years of community” http://www.chryswu.com/blog/2011/03/17/matt-haughey-on-lessons-from-11-years-of-community/ http://www.chryswu.com/blog/2011/03/17/matt-haughey-on-lessons-from-11-years-of-community/#comments Thu, 17 Mar 2011 13:49:32 +0000 Chrys http://www.chryswu.com/blog/?p=1495 If you didn’t get to Metafilter founder Matt Haughey’s talk about community management at SXSW, don’t panic. Once he got home, he recorded it with slides in front of his computer and posted it online.

Thanks, Matt!


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]]> http://www.chryswu.com/blog/2011/03/17/matt-haughey-on-lessons-from-11-years-of-community/feed/ 0 Khoi Vinh talks about the future of reading at SXSW http://www.chryswu.com/blog/2011/03/16/khoi-vinh-sxsw-future-of-reading/ http://www.chryswu.com/blog/2011/03/16/khoi-vinh-sxsw-future-of-reading/#comments Wed, 16 Mar 2011 18:58:40 +0000 Chrys http://www.chryswu.com/blog/?p=1468 SXSW this year was huge — so big it was inevitable that sessions worth seeing were missed. Fortunately, there’s video.

Here, designer Khoi Vinh talks with design writer Alissa Walker about where design for online reading is headed.

If you don’t have time to watch the video, read Alissa’s write-up on Fast Company.


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]]> http://www.chryswu.com/blog/2011/03/16/khoi-vinh-sxsw-future-of-reading/feed/ 0 @MacDivaONA is now @MacDiva http://www.chryswu.com/blog/2011/03/16/macdivaona-is-now-macdiva/ http://www.chryswu.com/blog/2011/03/16/macdivaona-is-now-macdiva/#comments Wed, 16 Mar 2011 15:57:23 +0000 Chrys http://www.chryswu.com/blog/?p=1462 A long time ago in an Internet culture far, far from where we are now, it was normal to use a handle online. As the founder of a Macintosh enthusiast webzine (remember those?), I was known as MacDiva. People liked the name: It was catchy, meaningful and easy to remember.

In 2007, like many of you, I discovered Twitter. That same year, I joined the Online News Association conference planning committee with the intention of sharing what was happening with as many people as possible, even if they couldn’t be there in person.

At the time, I couldn’t post to the conference website; that was reserved as the showcase for the student newsroom. I couldn’t post to the ONA website; that would have presented problems of its own. So I turned to Twitter, created @MacDivaONA and began recording what I saw.

I’ve been involved with the ONA conference planning board ever since, experimenting with different ways of bringing a virtual version of the annual event to anyone who wants to be a part of it.

The conference isn’t the only time I use Twitter, though, and ONA isn’t the only organization I’m actively involved with. And as Jennifer 8. Lee recently pointed out, people who don’t know my IRL name often do know me as MacDiva — though they don’t always remember the ONA ending.

So now that there’s a brief lull between journalism and technical events, I’m simplifying — for all of our sakes: On Twitter, I’m now @MacDiva.

Have you recently decided to change your online name? What urged you to action? Share right here, or ping me @MacDiva.

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]]> http://www.chryswu.com/blog/2011/03/16/macdivaona-is-now-macdiva/feed/ 0 NICAR Newscamp at CAR2011 http://www.chryswu.com/blog/2011/02/23/nicar-newscamp-car2011/ http://www.chryswu.com/blog/2011/02/23/nicar-newscamp-car2011/#comments Thu, 24 Feb 2011 02:31:53 +0000 Chrys http://www.chryswu.com/blog/?p=1314 It’s true what they say: You might graduate school, but you never stop learning.

CAR 2011 logoTomorrow is the start of the annual CAR Conference, where “computer-assisted reporters” (affectionately referred to as data nerds, jounocoders, and “those spreadsheet geeks over there”) get together for deep education. As one attendee puts it, it’s where journalists learn and demonstrate how to do things. And that’s pretty great.

I’ll be in town to attend the NewsCamp data visualization workshop, where luminaries like Amanda Cox, Daniel Lathrop and Martin Wattenberg will teach a gamut of dataviz skills. The unofficial attendee list looks pretty spectacular too.

If you’re attending and we haven’t met (or seen each other in a while), say hi. If you can’t make it, Computerworld’s online managing editor Sharon Machlis will be collecting notable info in the window below. You can also follow along via Twitter by searching on “NICAR.”


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]]> http://www.chryswu.com/blog/2011/02/23/nicar-newscamp-car2011/feed/ 0 The Visual Appeal of Super Bowl Sunday http://www.chryswu.com/blog/2011/02/06/the-visual-appeal-of-super-bowl-sunday/ http://www.chryswu.com/blog/2011/02/06/the-visual-appeal-of-super-bowl-sunday/#comments Sun, 06 Feb 2011 19:11:37 +0000 Chrys http://www.chryswu.com/blog/?p=1287 In case you haven’t heard or seen, Super Bowl XLV TV coverage begins on Fox Sports at 2 p.m ET today, with the kickoff at 6:29 p.m. ET.

Fans, sponsors, and more are pulling out the stops for what’s being described as a classic matchup between two old-school, cheerleader-less football franchises in an unexpectedly icy stadium.

For a sport that has never failed to capture national attention, it’s interesting to see the size of each team’s respective fan nations are in landmass — and to notice how the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers areas are almost evenly matched.

Here’s graphic designer Jared Fanning‘s take:

The United States of Football by Jared Fanning

A slightly different, visually exciting version was posted on I Love Charts:

The United States of Football, from I Love Charts

National spectacle knows no bounds, however, and Visa, smartly, is taking advantage with dynamic visualizations of Twitter chatter, including a look at football-related trending topics in the days leading up to today’s big game:

Visa Super Bowl Twitter trending topics map

Not everyone will be focused on Super Bowl pre-game coverage, or at least that’s what Animal Planet is counting on.

The Puppy Bowl is back, offering entertainment to those who prefer tumbling fuzzy animals to the charging bulls of the gridiron. Broadcast starts at 3 p.m. ET (tape delayed to 3 p.m. Pacific).

Meanwhile, advertisers have put up big bank to be a part of today’s big game. “Fox was seeking between $2.8 million and $3 million for 30 seconds of time,” writes AdAge, which rounds up facts on all the spots.

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