starring you, the beloved readers of the world famous busblog
Matt Welch asks: Hey Tony! We’re coming to Southern California from May 2-18, doing a Palm Springs book festival that first weekend, Mother’s Day the next, and a Zocalo deal on May 15. My question to you is, when do we go over to Sam Zell’s house in Malibu, and play his little wind-up airplane toys?
That seems like a pretty long ass book festival, and that Zocalo deal sounds pretty highfalutin’. Now lounging at Sam’s house in Malibu, thats something I can get behind. Just as long as Sam’s not home. I have no problem with the owner of the Times, and I think I understand why he wants to sell the naming rights to Wrigley Field, and I’m sure he’s a really nice guy – if only he could learn how to break out of his shell. But I don’t wanna be at his house when he’s home because I don’t want him to ask me how to save the newspaper industry. That is a question I get asked at least once a week and people hate the answers I give them. Plus it’s not my expertise, which appears to be providing interesting content online. I love newspapers, I love journalism, I respect the history of journalism, but I’m clearly someone who was meant to be online, all the time, f’ing with the program. Sam would be wise to ask me my ideas, but I’m not sure I would have the wisest answers. I know what works online. I know what works in blogs. And weirdly, those things are different than what works in newspapers in 2008. These are very scary and fascinating times in the journalism world. I’m happy and honored to be part of it. And I wish you were at the paper with me.
Suzie sez: I thought about what I’d like to ask you…. nothing came to mind. So, how about something blog related, which may finally encourage you to write a post for me…..which you have promised to do on more than one occasion MISTER! 😛 What is the quickest, most efficient way to do a blog post?? including pics, vids etc….how can you make an elaborate post quick and easy to do Mr. Tony Pierce????
The quickest way to do a blog post is to forget about pictures, just type, and then hit publish. Lots of bloggers do this and some even do it and get lots of traffic. However those blogs are painfully dull and relatively insightful. It’s a lot like making love: if your partner is thinking “how can i do this the quickest, most efficient way” odds are the sex wont be great.
So heres a tip as to how to include video and images in with your words. First take a shower with no music playing. Just shower and think. After you dry off you should have something to blog about. Then go to flickr or yahoo or somewhere where you can hotlink an image. i dont recommend hotlinking cuz its not web 2.0 and its not even very polite. plus the pics can disappear from your archives the second the owner of said photo feels like having it expire, etc. but you asked and its been a busblog tradition, etc. and really it doesnt hurt anyone except those looking thru archives, etc.
what you do is you type in the code area (or Edit HTML) of blogger {img src=”http://www.flicker.com/busblog/piccrazything.jpg” /}. you want some space between the image and the text so throw in an hspace=11, and you might want the text to wrap around the pic, so say align=right. therefore your whole code will be {img hspace=”11″ align=”right” src=”http://www.flicker.com/busblog/piccrazything.jpg”}.
if you wanna put a youtube video in there use the Embed Code. but remember that content is everything. have something to say first, then pump up the post with images and vids.
xtx ponders: If you could ask me one question, what would it be?
when we first met virtually in the AOL poetry boards, some 15 years ago, or whenever it was, what did you think our lives would end up looking like in 2008?
In response to my latest poem/song, Scott says: That’s fantastic! So can we cover your song in my band? 😀 (I’m actually serious)
of course, my bad lyrics are your bad lyrics.