Excerpts from an interview published Apr 11, 2014 at nymag.com titled Ezra Klein on Vox’s Launch, Media Condescension, and Competing With Wikipedia, which contains unsurprising observations about the media's views on anything new in the media business.

Interesting nuggets of info about the nooks and crannies of western Lake Erie near Toledo, Ohio.

(My Apr 10, 2014 comment in a ToledoTalk.com thread.)

From about 1:30 p.m. to 2:10 p.m., I watched an American Woodcock slowly wobble from the flower bed along the west side our house, southward through our west spirea flower bed. It disappeared from my view when it moved behind the big oak tree at the southwest corner of our yard. During it's journey, it occasionally probed the soft dirt for food. I saw it gulp down a worm.

This is a new yard bird and quite the surprise sighting for a small urban lot.

Mar 19, 2014 - Coding Horror - Please Read The Comments

In 2006 I said that a blog without comments is not a blog and I stand behind that statement.

Since no official standard exists to define a "blog," the above sentiment is obviously personal, which makes sense because an individual blog is personal.

In my opinion, a blog with comments is a blog, and a blog without comments is also a blog. And I stand behind that statement.

Some current and older stories:

• http://www.cdixon.org/2014/04/07/the-decline-of-the-mobile-web
• https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7548530
• http://serv.github.io/blog/2014/02/20/unfortunate-state-of-mobile-web/
• http://sealedabstract.com/rants/why-mobile-web-apps-are-slow/

I know it's not declining for me. I build my own web-based tools that function well on mobile devices:

(My Apr 7, 2014 comment added to a Toledo Talk thread about Denver selling marijuana.)

Ezra Klein's new media venture http://vox.com launched recently, and here's an Apr 6, 2014 story titled:

Remember when legal marijuana was going to send crime skyrocketing?

The city is now home to more than 62 percent of all Colorado recreational marijuana retailers, who cashed in on $14 million in sales in January alone.

Three months into its legalization experiment, Denver isn't seeing a widespread rise in crime. Violent and property crimes actually decreased slightly, and some cities are taking a second look at allowing marijuana sales.

Three months is still a short time frame

Apr 6, 2014 - NY Times - Vox Takes Melding of Journalism and Technology to a New Level - Ezra Klein's new media venture.

The story provides excellent insights into programmers working for or as journalists, the value of content management systems in attracting writers who want to publish for the digital age, and agile media startups who are able to innovate quickly because they are free of the shackles of print journalism.

The ideas contained within the story could be guideposts for others who want to build new media outlets, even at the local level.

(My Feb 2007 Toledo Talk post. CP attended this meeting with me, and she spoke briefly. She got meet Robert Brundage too.)

Location: Downtown Latte coffee shop
Attendance: approx. 25 people
Date: February 22, 2007
Time: 5:40 - 6:50 p.m.

Speakers:

• Bob Seyfang, Architect and Planner – on latest plans and progress related to Downtown and Marina District planning.

• Paula Ross, UT Urban Affairs Center – on latest news and developments related to the Farmers Market, including a successful grant initiative.

(some of my info that I posted at ToledoTalk.com)

"they've updated the online version with more examples of the overall branding."

Indeed. The Blade story that started this thread contains info that I missed in the original story.

One year ago today, Apr 4, 2013, Facebook announced Home, which was an interesting and attractive redesign of its News Feed that seemed to lose acceptance within the company or among users. But this post is more about Mark Zuckerberg's views on the future of computing.

Seems like an odd philosophical choice, but as a publicly-traded company, it might be a practical business decision.

Apr 2, 2014 - qz.com - Comparing messaging apps is an exercise in pointlessness

Unfortunately, we missed this event held in Bowling Green, Ohio on Sat, Mar 29, 2014.

The little flowers are blooming today on our devil's strip. These are always the first flowers to bloom in our yard. On Sat morning, Mar 29, 2014, I noticed short stalks or nubs. I did not check for the flowers on Sunday nor yesterday. But I noticed them this morning. Normally, they begin blooming in the second week of March, so they are two to three weeks behind schedule, which is not surprising considering the winter.

Jeesh, it seems that web technology is not on the minds of many people. Concerning small business changes, users should execute simple web searches to see if the businesses have posted information on their websites. If the information is missing, call them. If a phone call does not work, then speculate.