Boston Globe Doesn't Link to Twitter in article about Twitter

Me and my Britney Mic by CC Chapman, on Flickr CC BY-NC-SA

In today's Boston Globe, Carolyn Y. Johnson writes a nice story about how C.C. Chapman got customer service from Comcast via Twitter, Hurry up, the customer has a complaint:

"When C.C. Chapman noticed a blemish in his high-definition television's reception during the NBA playoffs recently, he blasted a quick gripe about Comcast into the online ether, using the social network Twitter.

Minutes later, a Twitter user named ComcastCares responded, and within 24 hours, a technician was at Chapman's house in Milford to fix the problem.

'I was so floored,' said Chapman, who runs a digital marketing agency and advises companies to do what he experienced with Comcast - listen to what customers are saying about them online and respond. 'When it actually happened to me, it blew me away,' he said. 'Now I have a case study.'

Chapman's experience is one example of the ways customer service is changing in an age when a single disgruntled consumer with a broadband connection can ignite a crisis. It also shows the potential of the Internet to turn miffed customers into fans in a more organic way than an advertising campaign. Chapman, for example, made a podcast about his visit from Comcast."

Great story, but it'd be nice if she linked to twitter. In fact, it would be even better if she linked to CC's podcast about his experience that she mentions in the article.

Once again we are forced to search the web to find the things written about in the article.

Smart Globe readers know to turn to this blog when web links are criminally left out of Boston Globe reports...

Here you go:

CC Chapman's blog post and podcast, Comcast Wins With Twitter.

CC's initial complaint on twitter

@Comcast - Why is it that on any HD channel I get a line across the top of the picture? REALLY noticeable with sports.
10:15 PM May 22, 2008 from web

Comcast's initial reply on twitter

@cc_chapman If it is a line in one spot on multiple channels it is either the TV or the box 09:16 PM May 22, 2008 from web

CC Chapman on Twitter

Comcast on Twitter

Twitter

Summize Twitter search results for Comcast and CC_Chapman.

PS:

Another gripe.

They interview CC, and don't use a photo of him! The Globe went out and took a bunch of photos of CC.

I saw the generic photo on that article and in the back of my mind wondered why they couldn't use something that fit the article better...

Sad.

There's another point too... All those photos they took should go up on flickr... or at least a selection of the best ones... with links to the article.

So simple. it would bring traffic TO them by giving stuff away, stuff they aren't even going to use anyway.

Lame.

Sometimes I wonder why it's so easy for me to sit here and see these things.

Update:

C.C. wrote about this for Entrepreur.com, The Great Photography Waste.

He also linked to it from his blog with a post titled, What Happens When Steve Garfield and I Get Together. Ha!

Lake that looks like a Fox - iPhone, N82 and D80

I took this photo up in Banff Canada of this lake that looks like a fox with my iPhone, Nokia N82 and Nikon D80. Here are all three for comparison:

iPhone


The iPhone is really great for taking photos at the spur of the moment. The colors are vibrant, and when viewed ON the iPhone they look great. After posting them to flickr, you can see that some detail is lost. In this example in the mountains.

Nokia N82


The N82 is a 5 megapixel camera, and also has a nice Xenon flash which makes it great for taking photos inside where it/s dark. It finds focus pretty quickly. The image has greater detail than the iPhone, but in this image the colors might be a little washed out.

Note: The N82 found focus faster than my N95, but that could be because I haven't upgraded my firmware on the N95...

Nikon D80


The D80 has fine detail in the image with great color. It also allows for a wider angle, bringing in more of the foreground and side, for the best composed shot.

Benefits of the iPhone / N82 over the D80, is that you are connected via the cell network or WiFi and can email and/or send you photos over the internet to friends or photo sharing sites like flickr.

ABC Video Player - No Links

ABC Video Player - No Links, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

Here's a screen shot of my mom on ABC News.

Here's the video of my mom in the ABC Video Player.

This is great!

There is a problem with the ABC media player though, no links.

It's hard to imagine the reason that they neglect to link the video to the original ABC World News blog post with more background information to the story AND a link to my mom's blog.

That's videoblogging, video on a blog.

I know this media player isn't actually a videoblog, but it missed the main benefit that videoblogging brought to the web, linking and permalinks.

THe other problem that this media player has is that it doesn't allow embeds. You can't embed the videos, or segments of them on your own blog.

Since 2004, we've lost site of what videoblogging is. It's not just video on the web.

Videoblogging is video on a blog, usually video presented in reverse chronological order, optionally with supporting text , links and the ability to comment.

Steve Garfield's beautiful lifestream timeline on Swurl

Swurl is s very cool way to combine multiple sources like twitter, flickr and blogger, into a calendar-like timeline. You can also see a regular reverse chronological view.

Bonjour America Carol and Steve try Bordeaux

Click REPLY at the top right, after playing the video, to leave a video reply. :-)

How To: See Banff

We visited Banff Canada and had a great time. The sky was so clear and the water was so clean and cold. It's a great trip. Here are the highlights of our trip to Banff.

In Town



Best Restaurant - Saltlik, 221 Bear Street.

We heard the the Calamari here was hte size of a lobster, so we had to try ot. It was pretty good. We were very happy when we found out the they served Kieth's Beer on tap. You can't get it in Boston, so we enjoyed both a regular IPA and a Red.

We also ordered the ribs, which were deep fried for 30 seconds before being served. I've never had ribs like that before nad they were very good.

Best Bar - St. James's Gate, 207 Wolf Street.

One night we walked into town from our hotel for a beer at the St. James's Gate. They also had Keith's on tap. The waitress told us that people liked the Guiness Beef and Mushrooms. I ordered it. Good call. Loved it.

Sightseeing

Columbia Icefield is two hours from Banff.

We took Brewster tours and had a great guide who has written three books about hicking the Canadian Rockies.



On the ride up from Banff we made a few stops including a stop at the lake the looks like a fox.



Once you get to the icefield you transfer to these huge 6-wheeled ice explorers.



They reminded me of the exporatory vehicles used on Lost in Space...



If you bring an empty water bottle you can fill it up with pure glacier water. So cold and refreshing...



The icefield is 130 square miles and you only get to see a small portion of it.



We took a Brewster tour.

Banff Gondola

Ths Gondola ride was a lot higher off hte ground the the one we are used to at Loon Mountain in NH.

Hotel



The Fairmont Banff Springs

The Waldhaus Pub is located underneath The Waldhaus Restaurant. Local beer on tap and well cooked burgers.

My mom is going to be on ABC World News with Charlie Gibson tonight

My mom is going to be on ABC World News with Charles Gibson tonight on a segment about innovative retirement.



The program usually airs at 6:30PM on the coasts and 5:30PM Central Time, but check your local listings to be sure.

Once the segment airs, I'm going to put up a behind the scenes video of the first part of her interview over on her blog, My Mom's Blog by Thoroughly Modern Millie.

We had a great time with the ABC news crew. I showed them twitter, flickr and Qik.

Thanks to ABC News producer Anne-Marie Dorning.

Former Congressman Charlie Wilson's Message to Barack Obama

"I'm Charlie Wilson retired from Congress in 1996, Good Democrat, I want to take this opportunity to say good luck to Senator Obama and God speed... and incidentally, in case there is any doubt, I approve this message."

Recorded on Saturday June 2008 at the Banff Springs Hotel, Banff, Canada by Steve Garfield.

Recorded for The Unconvention - Create a short video with your own political message.

Ann Marie from ABC pre interviewing my mom

Ann Marie from ABC pre interviewing my mom, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

Just got back in town in time to be there for the ABC News crew who were interviewing my mom for a report on retirement...

My mom rocked, as did the crew...

I ended up showing them how my posts to flickr and Qik end up on twitter...

Here a short video of me showing them Qik, live streaming from the cell phone...

Testing New Qik Player:


Update:
This segment on Reinventing Retirement will air on Wednesday June 2nd during the 6:30 PM EDT ABC World News with Charles Gibson broadcast.

My Middle Name is "Hussein" Too

NY Times neglects to link to the Facebook group mentioned in their article, Obama Supporters Take His Middle Name as Their Own.

Here it is: Facebook | My Middle Name is "Hussein" Too.

They also make it hard to determine who set up the Facebook group, it's Mark Elrod.

Banff Gondola: No pictures please!

Banff Gondola: No pictures please!, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

Qik: Like, totally amazing and groundbreaking!

David Talbot interviewed me for this article in the MIT Technology Review, Cell-phone Streaming: Qik lets tourists--and reporters--broadcast live from phones:

Wandering the streets of Manchester, NH, during the presidential primary campaign, a self-described "citizen journalist" named Steve Garfield bumped into Duncan Hunter, a minor Republican candidate. Garfield pointed his phone's camera at Hunter for a quick interview, whereupon Hunter disclosed that he was about to tell CNN he wasn't quitting the race.

What Hunter didn't know is that Garfield's phone was armed with software from the startup Qik, allowing it to capture video and stream the interview--in real time--on Qik's website and thence to other platforms, including Garfield's Twitter network. Thus, Garfield says, he scooped CNN on this bit of election minutia...

The company is now working on business models. In one, it would sell ads to Web video consumers who text-message replies; in another, it would take a cut from sales of high-end cell phones that capture the best videos (which would come Qik-equipped). Garfield is happy to pay: "Viewers can type in a window while watching, and affect the coverage. That's, like, totally amazing and groundbreaking!"

That quote is accurate... Ha, ha! I'm valley speaking.

Recap of my NH Primary Coverage.
Duncan Hunter, Qik video.

Is Social Media The Ultimate Buzz Kill?

Cell Phones Everywhere by Scott Ableman, on Flickr CC BY-NC-SA

Jonathan Fields writes, Is Social Media The Ultimate Buzz Kill?:

Millions of people now live-journal nearly every happening, thought and moment in their lives on Twitter, Plurk, Friendfeed, Socialthing and dozens of other services. So much so that I know a number of folks who literally rush to the computer of cell phone the seconds something remotely interesting begins to happen, out of an almost addictive need to report what’s going down.

Question is, is this activity turning us more into journalists of our own lives and less into participants?

Nick James comments:

I think you’ve hit Hunter S. Thompson’s definition of Gonzo bang on the nail there. True Gonzo was becoming the story, the actor, the director, the writer, and the producer - all of these things rolled into one and reporting it on the fly without editing.
I embrace blogging and micro-blogging for making this possible to every one of us. I’m sure Dr. Thompson would’ve embraced it too. Imagine if he’d been set loose in Vegas with a PDA and a Twitter/ Plurk account.

Very interesting comment...

I've got to go back and read Hunter S. Thompson...

Barnett Vineyards

Barnett Vineyards, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

Barnett Vineyards

Shipping it to Massachusetts Myself!

Shipping it to Massachusetts Myself!, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

Buffalo's Shipping Post ships Napa Valley Wine.

I just learned that although Massachusetts makes it very difficult for wineries to ship to the state, you can ship wine to yourself.

So take that Massachusetts legislature, I'm shipping wine to Massachusetts!

Larkmead Tasting Room Wines

Larkmead Tasting Room Wines, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

If you visit, tell them you are a Garfield Groupie!


Official website: Larkmead Vineyard.

McCain Doesn't Use a Computer or 'The Google'

Just saw this on Politico regarding McCain aide Mark Soohoo at Personal Democracy Forum, NYC, The Google:

"Soohoo is getting beat up a bit before what isn't exactly a McCain audience at the tech conference.

Pressed again on McCain's tech savvy, he defends his candidate.

'You don’t actually have to use a computer to understand how it shapes the country,' he says.

'You actually do,' former Edwards blogger Tracy Russo responds, suggesting he try to explain Twitter to his grandmother and then ask her how that applies to governing.

'John McCain is aware of the Internet,' says Soohoo. 'This is a man who has a very long history of understanding on a range of issues.'"

Hey John McCain, give my mom, 82 years young, a call and she can show you how to use a computer, blogger, 'The Google' and Twitter.

Andy Carvin in London

Andy Carvin: Discussing Twitter, Liveblogging and Journalism at the Guardian in London

30% Off T-Shirt

Laughing Squid Summer Drink Up at O'Neill's Irish Pub in San Francisco, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

Thus guy bought this 30% Off T-Shirt at a thrift store. It was marked $1, but he refused to pay more than 70 cents. They agreed.

Vinvin: Bonjour America!

Laughing Squid Summer Drink Up at O'Neill's Irish Pub in San Francisco, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.