Need to Change Blog Service.

I feel like I just went back into the Eighties. Where typing on a computer meant a good possibility of losing your work. Anyone remember using a cassette tape to save data?

Oh, how frustrating! I just had some great ideas. Now the pain of trying to recall and type them all.

Sorry folks but I'm not in the mood. I'm going to see how easy I can get this in to WordPress because maybe they have a better system to handle unsaved postings.

This is one example of why I'm cynical about people using the Internet. Maybe if I was ten years younger I'd know how to back it up easily. Now I'm just sick of this silly technology that won't make a back-up after 20 min of typing.

Surely many older people feel that work on the Internet can be a big waste of time and therefore won't even begin. Technology helps but a culture change is also needed.

"Change happens because people die." - Max Plank.

Maybe I'm too cynical but that quote rings true to me.

I forgot, I also Graduated.

The work has been so long in coming and anti-climatic I forgot to mention I graduate with honors.

Woo-hoo.

So now I officially have my masters in journalism. Now hopefully that should get me somewhere, right?

It was all worth it. But I feel that this project not the diploma was the actual goal. So the first draft of the business plan is finished, now let's see what I can do with it.

WeMedia Fellowship Awarded

I just found out I got award a fellowship for the WeMedia Conference in Miami.

Not only will I be able to attend the conference but they're also paying for my flight and hotel. I guess they liked this project.

Only 300 people will be attending and here's a list of some of the participants:

Don Heider, Associate Dean, Philip Merrill College of Journalism
John Zogby, CEO, Zogby International
Cory Zanin, Executive VP, Public Radio International
Jennifer Sizemore, VP/Editor in Chief, MSNBC
Paul Hyland, Executive Producer, edweek.org, Editorial Projects in Education
Jennifer Carroll, VP New Media Content, Gannett Co.,Inc.
Jim Brady, Executive Editor, WashingtonPost.Newsweek Interactive
Neil Budde, VP and Editor in Chief, Yahoo! News
Jim Kennedy, SVP, Strategy, The Associated Press
Kinsey Wilson, Executive Editor, USA Today

Granted they're not household names but their organization thought it would be worth three days in Miami and the $1050 registration fee for the conference.

It will be held at the University of Miami and maybe I'll get a chance to check out the area either before or after the conference.

Well this was the best news I had for a while especially after being denied the Knight News Challenge Grant. Oh well, at least the work for that help me get out of Pittsburgh during the winter for a few days.

This fellowship helped my motivation with this project so I'll probably be posting a bit more now.