Doug Campbell

This enthusiasm is contagious. rachael-maddux: Have I ever told...

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:14:35 -0500

This enthusiasm is contagious.

Have I ever told you that I work on Georgia Tech’s alumni magazine? I don’t know if I have. But I do! I have since last June but haven’t really written about it here, mostly because there hasn’t been a whole lot of excitement to report, although now there is, because we just wrapped up the first issue of our entirely redesigned book, and it’s fantastic. Metaleap did the whole thing and I basically just love it. (This might be my favorite spread BUT I REALLY CAN’T CHOOSE!) There’s more here if you’re a designhead and would like to nerd out about it (that post doesn’t include any “before” shots, though, which I think is totally crucial; here’s what we started with). I would also like to brag about the fact that the magazine’s editorial staff numbers exactly two and that my EIC and I wrote pretty much all of the copy except for the one feature (on SPACE TRAVEL!) we farmed out to a more-qualified freelancer. So. Yes. Quite pumped about this, god I love magazines, writing about nerds is so great, etc.

OK Go drives a car through a song. Best stunt driving/music...

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:54:01 -0500

OK Go drives a car through a song. Best stunt driving/music video gimmick ever.

A new tune from my favorite member of Grizzly Bear!

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:54:57 -0500

A new tune from my favorite member of Grizzly Bear!:

Streaming at Rolling Stone.

In with a bang, out with a whimper: Facebook-only news source closed doors last October

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:30:05 -0500

In with a bang, out with a whimper: Facebook-only news source closed doors last October:

About a year ago, this small local site decided to move its operation exclusively to Facebook. It seemed a little gimmicky, yes, but it also promised new possibilities for social interaction with readers, extremely minimal operation costs, and it was a bold move that attracted nationwide coverage from media nerds like myself.

I thought I’d check in with the brave little news site, and lo and behold, I discovered they posted for the last time in October.

We view our move to Facebook as having been successful. We have appreciated the members of our community posting photos, questions and links on Rockville Central and seeing other people respond. We’ve also been pleased to have first-hand news accounts from the people with their cell phones. Our active users have increased by over 500%. We’ve gone from about 24,000 hits a month on the website to 100,000 post views a month on Facebook. A single post on Facebook typically gets over 2,000 views.

Even with all this interaction, comments have remained civil. People have participated with thoughtful and full opinions about the issues. We’ve been able to provide a place for public discussions about Rockville based on the many news sources in our region. All these outcomes are gratifying.

However, the simple fact is that it takes a great deal of energy and time to support the online community in the way we feel it deserves. We do not make money off of Rockville Central, and never intended to. It is a labor of love and devotion to Our Fair City. We don’t feel we can devote the kind of energy it deserves and so, rather than let it whither, we decided to make a clean end.

Brad Rourke, of Rockville Center, posted an entry regarding the shut-down last October on his blog.

I still think the Facebook-only thing could work — but there would definitely be some important challenges to overcome. Tumblr only? No problem.

"On Friday, around 4 p.m., 122 students who had applied for binding early admission to Vassar saw..."

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:03:06 -0500

“On Friday, around 4 p.m., 122 students who had applied for binding early admission to Vassar saw what the school later called a “test letter” congratulating them on their acceptance. Hours later, the students received a message saying the letter had been posted in error. Once the correct decisions were displayed, only 46 of the students were told they had been accepted.”

- Ouch. I remember my Vassar tour — the tour guide had a double major in what might as well have been “Probably Didn’t Get a Job After College” and “Can’t Pay Off Loans.”

Tyler Clementi’s Suicide and Dharun Ravi’s Trial

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:58:41 -0500

Tyler Clementi’s Suicide and Dharun Ravi’s Trial:

On a Saturday night in August, 2010, a week before starting college, Dharun Ravi decided to look online for his future Rutgers roommate. He was living with his parents in Plainsboro. Ravi, who was planning to major in math and economics, had learned that he had been assigned to Davidson Hall—a collection of single-story, barracks-like dorms on Busch campus, which is considered the dullest of the four Rutgers campuses in New Brunswick and neighboring Piscataway. He would be in Davidson Hall C, a coed dorm for about eighty students. He knew Clementi’s first name and that his last name started with C; he also knew his e-mail address, keybowvio@yahoo.com—apparently, a distillation of musical terms—and had e-mailed him but received no reply.

"“Twitter is the ultimate real-time engagement mechanism, so it’s moved everything to a much faster..."

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:26:04 -0500

“

“Twitter is the ultimate real-time engagement mechanism, so it’s moved everything to a much faster speed,” said Zac Moffatt, the digital director for the Romney campaign. “You have no choice but to be actively engaging it at all times.”

Mr. Romney’s aides say they can get a sense of where a story is headed before it is published simply by reading reporters’ Twitter messages. If reporters have flagged a particular incident on Twitter — for instance, the woman who stood up at South Carolina event and asked Mr. Romney, a Mormon, if he believed “in the divine saving grace of Jesus Christ” — Mr. Romney’s aides might pull him aside before a press conference and warn him that the topic is likely to come up.

”

- Very interesting article on the new “24-second news cycle” in the NY Times.

mediabytes: Pinterest continues to climb the social networking...

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 23:44:27 -0500

mediabytes:

Pinterest continues to climb the social networking charts - now up to No. 5 according to Hitwise.

Brian Stelter tumbled our salt and pepper...

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 23:25:21 -0500

Brian Stelter tumbled our salt and pepper shakers!

weekenderads:

1/29/12: Here’s my weekend edition. Does it count? —@_dougcampbell

Incredible: Maurice Sendak is just a wonderful, horrible...

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:31:06 -0500

Incredible: Maurice Sendak is just a wonderful, horrible man.

And here’s part 2.

I definitely want to try this. Back in 1700 or thereabouts, if...

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:40:47 -0500

I definitely want to try this.

Back in 1700 or thereabouts, if you wanted a hot drink, you asked your tavernkeeper to mix it up in a mug and then thrust a red-hot poker into it. The method lacked a bit of subtlety, though, and between that and the fact that modern bars rarely have blazing fires with iron pokers in them, that method of heating drinks has fallen out of fashion. Which is a shame, Dave Arnold points out, because it did more for the drink than merely making it warm — it caramelizes sugars and ignites alcohol vapors, changing the flavor of a beverage significantly. Your winter hot toddy gets its warmth from boiling water, which does the basic job, but has no flavor-enhancing effects.

WSJ social media editor gets nerdy about news

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 07:30:06 -0500

WSJ social media editor gets nerdy about news:

Now that I’m at work from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., I’m starting to think seriously about how I consume media. What’s important? What’s junk? How can I choose what’s important and what’s not? Who can I trust to do most of that filtering for me?

I haven’t figured it out yet. I’m guessing I’ll settle on a combination of Twitter Lists and a few trusted news sources. I’ve been subscribing to a daily issue of the NY Times on my Kindle for a few days, which I read on my way to and from work, but I can hardly get through a few top and national stories (and I’m a quick reader! And it’s a fairly long commute — half an hour both ways.)

My alarm clock sounds like one of those bright-red bells that might ring in a firehouse to signal an emergency, aptly setting the tone of my morning, which is a bleary scramble to answer: What did I miss?

This video makes it look like Full House was about a bunch of...

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:48:00 -0500

This video makes it look like Full House was about a bunch of demonic child kidnappers.

So I just got a job, which is great news, but I have even better news — I’m playing at...

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:43:31 -0500

So I just got a job, which is great news, but I have even better news — I’m playing at Pete’s Candy Store in Williamsburg this Sunday night! It’s going to be a pull-out-all-the-stops no-holds-barred acoustic-solo-singer-songwriter event.

I think it should be a lot of fun. If you’re busy or you can’t go out at 10:30 p.m. on a Sunday night because we’re all adults now, tell your friends looking for a party on a Sunday night that they should go! Josh Ritter’s girlfriend told me that Pete’s Candy Store is cool when I interviewed her for a story about cheap Christmas presents. (That’s like my one “cool guy living in a cool city” story so far.)

Here are the details:

SUN 1/29: 8:30

Oh! My BlackbirdFronted by lead vocalist and guitarist Annie Sullivan, alt-folk trio Oh! My Blackbird harnesses the magic of close vocal harmonies and pissed off early-twentysomethings lyrics. With Nick Jozwiak (cello, bass, auto harp) and Veronica Kohl (tambourine, vocals), the self-described “gritty, New York City hippies” create a tight yet playful folk pop sound.

9:30: Linzi Zaorski

10:30: Me

The address is 709 lorimer street - williamsburg, Brooklyn - 11211. The ZIP code is a palindrome!

Groupon is in trouble for LITERALLY selling snake oil

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:28:48 -0500

Groupon is in trouble for LITERALLY selling snake oil

It’s happening fo sho - Day 1 in studio with Robert and...

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:22:49 -0500

It’s happening fo sho - Day 1 in studio with Robert and Darren through March #NewBenFoldsFiveRecord twitter.com/BenFolds/statu…
— benjamin folds (@BenFolds) January 25, 2012

"But as Steven P. Jobs of Apple spoke, President Obama interrupted with an inquiry of his own: what..."

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:31:06 -0500

“

But as Steven P. Jobs of Apple spoke, President Obama interrupted with an inquiry of his own: what would it take to make iPhones in the United States?

Not long ago, Apple boasted that its products were made in America. Today, few are. Almost all of the 70 million iPhones, 30 million iPads and 59 million other products Apple sold last year were manufactured overseas.

Why can’t that work come home? Mr. Obama asked.

Mr. Jobs’s reply was unambiguous. “Those jobs aren’t coming back,” he said, according to another dinner guest.

”

- New York Times — How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work

'The people who invite us to wallow in food seldom remind us to beware.'

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:30:06 -0500

'The people who invite us to wallow in food seldom remind us to beware.':

Frank Bruni on the Paula Deen “situation.”

You show me a truly skinny food editor or writer who frequents serious restaurants and — in two out of three cases — I’ll show you someone expert at a brand of knife work that yields infinitesimal bites and an illusion of gluttony where mere grazing occurred. They should be surgeons, these people. I know. Especially during my five years as a restaurant critic, I ate with many of them — and can assure you that people in the food industry are among the least likely to clean their plates.

Many of the acclaimed chefs whose television appearances, cookbooks or venerated restaurants whet our appetites have only an occasional, formal relationship with the luxuries they hawk. For a forthcoming book, Allison Adato, an editor at People, debriefed some three dozen of them about how they themselves ate.

“When I asked them what kind of food they cooked at home, it was surprising to me how many said roast chicken and vegetables,” she told me. “You can’t imagine. And none of them are particularly known for roast chicken.”

Ami and I are seeing Nick Zammuto (one half of The Books) at...

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:31:05 -0500

Ami and I are seeing Nick Zammuto (one half of The Books) at 92YTribeca in a couple weeks, and this video definitely psyched us up.

This is extremely worth watching: It’s a guy who grows his own food, constructs his own instruments, chops his own wood, and builds his own house. And his kids are effing adorable. I want to pack everything up and be a musician in the woods. Sign me up.

Without Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, we never would have seen...

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:00:06 -0500

Without Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, we never would have seen Worf in a baseball jersey.