 |
Sunday, May 22, 2005 |
on smallbusiness.com
Part II.  Part II:
I won't bore you with the unabridged version, but a long time ago, in a
galaxy far, far away, I launched and later shuttered a website called smallbusiness.com.
While its life pre-dated the era of blogging, smallbusiness.com was
very blog-like, a participatory, conversational medium. Unfortunately,
for all involved, our timing sucked and we were seduced into believing we were building
an aircraft carrier. (That's the gory part of the story I won't bore
you with, however, the cool logo is left-over from the aircraft carrier project, as are some hats and T-shirts.)
Anyway, I've relaunched the website (Decision #1: This time, it's not
a venture or a company or a subsidiary, it's a web project of Hammock
Publishing that needs little financial overhead to maintain.)
What we're doing is very simple to understand if you're a blogger or
follow what's going on in the world of participatory media (I call it
conversational media).
We're starting out with (and will continue with) great simplicity:
1. At the URL, news.smallbusiness.com, we've launched news.smallbusiness.com,
an RSS-powered news aggregator using a hack (oh, that reminds me, I
launched a development blog to explain such things) that
replaced a slightly more complex idea we'd been working on. It uses a
del.icio.us bookmark page I set up
as a backend. (Lesson #1: RSS feeds, no matter where you find them, can
be your
friends, and do things way beyond showing up in your newsreader. Hint
#1: You can even direct our small business headline feeds (they're available by category, news.smallbusiness.com/technology,
for example) right into your own newsreader or your own small business
new aggregator site (it would be polite to credit us). Isn't this fun?)
2. At the URLs, wiki.smallbusines.com and www.smallbusinesswiki.com, I've set up The Small Business Wiki.
It's a wiki-powered resource for folks who work at small businesses. Not much there yet, but as
soon as my 14-year-old finishes exams this week, he's going to start porting into the wiki the thousands of helpful articles (we
called it advice back then) that users of the original
smallbusiness.com contributed to the site (again, it was like a
blogging platform with thousands of people adding "posts").
3. And, coming in a few days, at the main URL, smallbusiness.com,
we're cranking up a search engine that is indexing a narrow universe of
small business resource websites, weblogs, books and in the future, who
knows,
podcasts, videoblogs, whatever. I have determined that a narrowly
focused search of websites chosen by some trusted volunteers is fine
for now. Billions of sites and millions of weblogs are not
going to be our thing. A few thousand (hundreds?) helpful weblogs and
websites are what you can expect to be indexed during the first few
months -- and perhaps longer. We'll see.
Those of you who know me from this weblog may not know my day job
includes being the editor of a magazine that is received by 600,000
small business owners who are members of the National Federation of
Independent Business (NFIB.com).
Smallbusiness.com is not affiliated with the association or the website NFIB.com or with MyBusiness
magazine in any way. However, my passion for helping small business owners succeed
is affiliated with all the things I do in my day job and is driving my approach to smallbusiness.com.
Other than the wiki and the smallbusiness.com development blog,
I don't anticipate
writing or blogging at smallbusiness.com -- it's not about our voices,
but the voices of small businesses and the websites and bloggers who
are trying to help them find the information they need to survive and
succeed. And, I won't be blogging
about smallbusiness.com here unless there is something significant to
report. (Come to think of it, I rarely blog here about Hammock Publishing, so I expect to follow that same pattern.)
Anyway, I thought announcing this news on the rexblog seemed
appropriate as my blogging here has helped me journey away from some
disappointment and despair I once associated with the URL and back to a
place of joy and passion I once enjoyed at the place and and with the people of smallbusiness.com.
[rexblog: Rex Hammock's Weblog]
8:33:39 PM 
|
|
By Tim Germer - Northwest Noise
Those Germans. The Modernists ruled the 20 century. Many modernists found perfection in the assembly line, the factory - this implied perfection was propagated out into society, our urban centers and the suburbs.
The Germans have an interesting history with Modernism. Bauhaus, both an art and architecture school (the school operated from 1919 - 1933), is perceived to be one of the most influential ideas in Modernism architecture.
An excellent example of Bauhaus design would be this chair.
Though the dictum "form follows function" might have never been taught at the Bauhaus school (1919 - 1933), it was the philosophy of the Modernist designer. The German philosopher G.W.F Hegel wrote on the "world-historical man":
World-historical men - the Heroes of an epoch - must, therefore, be recognized as its clear-sighted ones...They are great men because they willed and accomplished something great; not a mere fancy, a mere intention, but that which met the case and fell in with the needs of the age.
The Modernist designer wasn't looking to further political gains but instead viewed the liberated fine arts and artists as a worthy position to secure by a world-historical man. The fine artist was no longer producing work for a specific person or persons, but was creating work liberated from the demands of society; usually the work was in opposition to society. Consequently, Modernist designers devalued the User's status and importance.
...the modernist architect is in possession of authority to decide what is best for them, both in the functional and in the aesthetic sense.
In addition, the ideas of aesthetics and appeal in Modern design weren't viewed in high regard. Perhaps this point can best be clarified through a picture.
Functional. The Bauhaus school was closed in 1933 as the Nazi's came to power. Totalitarian powers didn't think highly of the Modernist idea of individual freedom and expression - these governments "saw traditionalism in the arts as an important prop to their political power". Many followers of Bauhaus fled to the United States, where a huge amount can be said about their influence on 20th century American design.
As we proceed through the 21st century designers and even the stalwart, Modernist Germans are throwing off their Modernist ways - the New York Times writes in their article, At BMW, the Auto Assembly Line Meets High Design:
...the Leipzig assembly plant is a sophisticated attempt at social engineering. By creating a fluid work environment in which management, engineers, autoworkers and cars seem intertwined, Ms. Hadid is seeking to break down the hierarchies that have defined the traditional factory. In this world, information flows freely and man and machine live in blissful harmony.
Besides the building's seductive exterior, perhaps we are now embracing the freedom of movement rather than suffocating order; maybe the dehumanizing aspects of Modern design are being slogged off; perhaps we are realizing the interplay of emotion and human creativity with the design of the buildings we interact with everyday. [Northwest Noise]
5:39:31 PM
|
|
Greg Kot and Bono - Comments From Donewaiting.com
Bono busts wide open.. Recently Greg Kot has been trashing U2's career moves and apparently Bono felt the time was right to set the record straight and sat down to an unusually in-depth and in-your-face interview when they played Chicago a few weeks ago. The resulting text goes a long way towards explaining U2's motivations and current philosophy in regards to how music should be presented and it's place is in today's larger culture.
KOT: You told me the other day that U2 had "Kid A'd" itself to death [a reference to Radiohead's 2000 progressive-rock album "Kid A"]. It was a funny line, but I'm disappointed to hear that.
BONO: I want to hear Radiohead, extraordinary band that they are, on MTV. I want them setting fire to the imaginations of 16-, 15-, 14-year-old kids. I was 14 when John Lennon set fire to my imagination. At that age, you're just [angry], and your moods swing, and it's an incredible time to be hit with something like that. Our last two albums are essentially about the combo. We used the limitations of the combo. We had 10 years of experimentation. We decided to rope it in, and tie ourselves to only one thing. And that's the only discipline. Is it a great song? Is it fresh? Experimenting in rock is at its best when you dream from the perimeters and bring it back to the center. All my favorite innovators disappear into the woods and bring something back, and you get to hear the songs distilled from those experiments. I used "Kid A" as an example, because I love the album. We did our "Zooropa," we did our "Passengers," even our "Pop" experiment. There were great ideas on that album, but we didn't have the discipline to screw the thing down and turn them into magic pop songs. We'd become progressive rock! Ahhh! (full story)
Sometimes I think Kot can be a bit too much of a cheerleader but this is one time when I think his criticism elicited what might be one of the most forthright and surprising responses ever from a band as big as U2. Required reading. [donewaiting.com :: music commentary]
5:30:48 PM
|
|
BrotherLush
BrotherLush, an alt-rock band from Mesa, Arizona is shaking up the mix with a refreshing sound, and taking on the Valley music scene. Lindsey Collom's sultry voice, belting melodies ranging from sweet melancholy to fierce, is a delightful contrast to the pleasing, yet edgy, stylings of Bryan Rensema's guitar. Add the colorful undertones of Angelia Anderson's bass and Rich Crescenti's creative beats to the mix and you have a stiff drink that would intoxicate any audience.
BrotherLush was conceived when Anderson and Rensema, musical partners for over a year, invited Collom to flesh out the project. Enlivened by Collom's unique vocal melodies, the trio excitedly wrote new songs and revived older songs, developing their signature style. With the addition of Crescenti, formerly of local favorite Jones Fracture, BrotherLush's distinctive and inexorable sound was finally realized.
A vibrant live show keeps BrotherLush in regular slots on the club scene of Phoenix's East Valley. The band's stage presence parallels the passion heard in their music. BrotherLush offers a potent mix of charisma, musicianship, and varied influences that ensure a fresh and exciting musical experience for all involved.
Check 'em out online at http://www.BrotherLush.com
brother ~ lush - editor
8:51:53 AM
|
|
© Copyright 2009 Gary Santoro.
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
M E D I A B U R N
 
<
#
phoenix bloggers
?
>
Search This Website
Subscribe to the Mediaburn news feed if you have a Radio Userland Weblog
RSS Blog Syndication
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
The Dave Mobile: Dave says 
! [
