Rethink.

Post Details: • New “Harry Potter” trailer debuts • Excitement ensues Today, I digress… Last night the official trailer was posted for “ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ” on AOL. The sixth movie will open in American theaters in 114 days – on Nov. 21, 2008. (Click on photo to left to enlarge.) I was very excited to watch the trailer – to say the least. Reading the book can be compared to riding an emotional roller coaster . I was a wreck upon completing the book – after experiencing many debilitating moments. (But no spoilers here…) The trailer was darker and more nerve-wracking than earlier trailers in the series. While less than 90 seconds, the preview provided fans with sneak peeks at young Tom Riddle, among other characters, and Professor Dumbledore’s adventure inside the bewitched cave. All and all, it’s going to be tough to stave off my excitement until November, but since reading the final book in the series, “Deathly Hallows,” last summer, there’s always something to lo...

Post Details: • Redlasso suspends use of beta site • My reaction • The company’s reaction An essential element to blogging is visuals. What’s better to discussing what you saw on TV last night than using a video and showing, rather than telling? But in order to link to that video someone has to put it on the Web. If a blogger does not have fancy technology to record and capture TV on his or her computer, or let alone capture the precise moment in question, it can be very difficult to find a video on the Web. Redlasso changed this. The Web site, whose slogan is “find it! clip it! share it!”, was revolutionary in that beta users could search through 24 hours of footage on a vast selection of channels for the last week or two. Then, users could create a clip from the footage and embed the video on their personal Web sites or blogs. I recently became a member of the site and enjoyed my experience. Last week, however, Redlasso was forced to suspend its service to beta users “for the immed...

Post Details: • Free daily publishes front page editorial on texting charges • My texting story • An editorial on the FRONT?! Yesterday (7/10), I noticed something unique on the cover of the Tampa Bay Times – called tbt* and a free daily published by the St. Petersburg Times. It was an editorial. While not a hard-hitting political topic, the editorial did catch my eye – it was a photo of the new (I assume) iPhone surrounded by a sea of text with the headline “Text Robbery” at the top. The full text follows: A tbt* EDITORIAL TEXT ROBBERY It really doesn’t cost the cell phone companies anything to transmit a text message, so why do they keep jacking up the price? The new Apple iPhone 3G, which comes out tomorrow, is just the latest example of this gouging. iPhone buyers used to get 200 text messages as part of the basic voice and data plan; now they will pay $5 extra for those 200 texts. And if they go over the limit, look out. Since 2005, rates to receive and send a sin­gle text mes...

Post Details: • A look at a Washington Post profile of an Ohio town where some residents seem to believe Obama rumors • Quotes from local media coverage following the article and response • A New York Times article discussing the effect of Obama’s middle name • My thoughts A Washington Post article published last Monday (6/30) about my corner of the world – northwest Ohio – has stirred a debate in the local media and an outrage from some residents here. The piece by Eli Saslow details Findlay , Ohio – nicknamed “ Flag City, USA ” and about 45 minutes from where I live – where Sen. Barack Obama’s story seems to be twisted: On the television in his living room, [resident Jim] Peterman has watched enough news and campaign advertisements to hear the truth: Sen. Barack Obama, born in Hawaii, is a Christian family man with a track record of public service. But on the Internet, in his grocery store, at his neighbor's house, at his son's auto shop, Peterman has also absorbed another v...

Post Details: • Wimbledon provides some great tennis • Clip Reel from the Championships The weekend (and even the fortnight of tennis matches) has gotten me pumped up for Aug. 8, when the XXIX Olympiad begins at Beijing. The results of Wimbledon are just as inspiring as the storied games beginning in 32 days – where upsets reign and underdogs soar. Americans Andy Roddick and James Blake were out in the first round. Russian Maria Sharapova , 2004 women’s single champion, found herself out in the second round from a quick victory by fellow Russian Alla Kudryavtseva . Marat Safin became the first Russian man to make it to the semi-finals for the first time ever. Chinese player Zheng Jie , ranked 133 in the world, had to write a letter to plead her way into the Championships, and she was the first person from her country to make it to the semis of a major – and gave Serena Williams a notable run. Williams went on to battle her sister, Venus , Saturday for the women’s championship. Afte...

Post details: • Did a newspaper forget to include its masthead Wednesday? • How important are mastheads? • Have a good Fourth of July! Yesterday’s (7/2) front page of The Bakersfield Californian was missing a very important element above the fold. Or, one can ask, was it even the Californian? Yes, that’s right – it looks like the page designer Monday night forgot to include the paper’s Old English styled masthead. Maybe the designer could not decide on a color to match the “Hancock” photo, so that person chose invisible. Normally I disregard odd front pages I find on Newseum and attribute it to an error in uploading or some other type of malfunction. (Some days, a Newseum front page browser can find a full page ad or the sports page instead of that paper’s A1.) After receiving an e-mail from a friend and colleague interning there this summer, I figure the masthead really was missing. (By the way, I would like to congratulate my friend for TWO – count them, one, and two – bylines on t...