Wednesday, September 29, 2010

University of Texas Campus Shooting/Suicide via Twitter and Keepstream

Yesterday many of us in Austin, Texas awoke to a scary reality. There was a gunman who had fired shots on the University of Texas campus and fled to the Perry Castaneda Library where he eventually shot himself with an AK-47 assault rifle. There was a common thread that bound all the information flowing over the internet, television, radio and print publications, Twitter.

Twitter made it possible for the Austin-American Statesman, my friend Drew Carls (@drewcarls), news agencies and residents stay informed, safe and reassured that they were getting real-time, accurate reports on the events going on at the campus. Most of us had a real fear someone we know would be injured. Through Twitter, Carls was able to communicate to his friends, family and most importantly, the mainstream media what events were actually happening on campus according to him and colleagues.

I read a tweet from @statesman (who did an amazing job reporting story) around 8:30am describing a possible shooter on the UT campus with a promise of more information soon. Quickly I jumped on my computer to look at Twitter and get some real-time reports. I was reminded of the unfortunate plane crash/suicide earlier this year in Austin. The way law enforcement, media, university officials and citizens all used Twitter, Facebook, text messaging and mobile devices to communicate was much the same as that other tragic incident.

Below, I have embedded a rather long Keepstream Collection which I attempted to edit by removing repetitious tweets. If there are any omissions, repeated tweets or other errors, they are my own. Thanks to Jim England and Tim Gasper (Keepstream developers) for the beta key and opportunity to use the content curation tool to highlight yesterday's tragic event.

Rather than present my opinion on what I think technology means to news reporting and public safety, I'd like to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment and let me know what you think.







Friday, September 24, 2010

Live music review: Pepper entertained fans at Stubb’s BBQ Thursday (Slideshow) - Austin Concerts | Examiner.com

Live music review: Pepper entertained fans at Stubb’s BBQ Thursday (Slideshow) - Austin Concerts Examiner.com

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Case Study: Why Keepstream has Promise as a Curation Tool

Recently I've had the opportunity to explore various content curation (see NY Times article) tools such as Keepstream. One of the issues I've come across as I read, digest and assimilate content online is the dilemma of what to read and what to ignore. Increasingly, we're dependent on content curators (people we trust to tell us what to read) to direct us to where the good information is. As a New Media professional, I have a need for effective tools that perform this function across the interwebs. Keepstream is one such tool in development with that goal in mind.

The fundamental issues as perceived on my own and by peers I have spoken to are as follows:

  1. As curators we want web tools to be as flexible as possible in terms of what portions of content to save. So far this is a goal to pursue and not a reality.
  2. Search. Whatever tools we use need to have the ability to search for content across all platforms on the internet including but not limited to Facebook, Twitter, blogs, news sites, streaming media, etc. The curation tools that best search and deliver relevant content will be at the top of my own list.
  3. Customization. I want the ability to design the page of content I am presenting in a variety of formats akin to customizable templates in Blogger or Word Press.
  4. Support. As long as a company has a timely response support team, I feel comfortable both using web tools and recommending them to others.
  5. Longevity. I would really like to feel the tools I am committing to using for forward facing marketing projects will still be around in 5 years.
Jim England, Tim Gasper of Cleveland, OH and Austin, TX (as of this Summer) are leading the development team at Keepstream which is funded by Capital Factory, a tech startup incubator that has ushered along the project thus far. Apparently the project is up for review this coming week. I hope Capital Factory decides to continue to support Keepstream.

Keepstream is one of the tools I believe could end up delivering the level of flexibility desired in a content curation tool. Personally I'd love to see the guys from Cleveland get the opportunity to continue the project. Professionally I am urgently awaiting the type of web content curation tool that makes my life easier and my clients happy at the same time.

See a recent collection embedded below using Keepstream's auto-generated embed code below. Connect with Greg Ackerman here.



Greg Ackerman
wpsdude
less.
naomi morrison
Gonna havta miss #theenglishbeat tonight...:/
Lewis Stone
FREE-FOR-ALL SUNDAY: The English Beat - "Save it For Later" This tune has been bouncing around my brain since I... http://fb.me/u8cr0EKT
Rebecca Chulew
Wow, my old Ladies from the 80s Barbie doll slideshow is 4th top slideshow on Examiner Austin right now and English Beat is #1!
Bull McCabes
The official Bad Manners and English Beat after party is here at Bull Mc Cabes after the thursday night Emos... http://fb.me/GHLTtTpx
jessica
@leebert oh rock on - you're coming too? I'll be there until I leave to see The English Beat at Emos.
Daniel Senyard
RT @g_ack: Check the great pics @germanfrancie posted w/ "English Beat and Bad Manners play at Emo's in Austin, TX" http://exm.nr/8XO3I ...
Mike Dominguez
RT @g_ack: Check the great pics @germanfrancie posted w/ "English Beat and Bad Manners play at Emo's in Austin, TX" http://exm.nr/8XO3Ir
Guitar Player
English Beat plays at Emo's in Austin, Dave Wakeling chats with Examiner http://bit.ly/cqhD7n
Pat Barron
English Beat plays at Emo's in Austin, Dave Wakeling chats with Examiner: The current English Beat US lineup featu... http://bit.ly/bDpONy
Realmenwork6
(Dont) Save it for Later: The English Beat's Dave Wakeling, Interviewed: You had songs like "End of the Party," wh... http://bit.ly/dnfbYV
Sam Guerrero
http://bit.ly/rvguY English Beat plays at Emo's in Austin, Dave Wakeling chats with Examiner http://bit.ly/cR6O19
Jamdown Digital
(Dont) Save it for Later: The English Beat's Dave Wakeling, Interviewed: The movement became known as the second w... http://bit.ly/abuW2f
Damon Jackson
(Dont) Save it for Later: The English Beat's Dave Wakeling, Interviewed: With some water under the bridge, you hav... http://bit.ly/9ZRn8C
Eric Alanis
English Beat plays at Emo's in Austin, Dave Wakeling chats with Examiner: The English Beat played on Thursday, Sep... http://bit.ly/9ozpT0
Greg Ackerman
@jenkcunningham LOL! It's ok. Dave Wakeling comes to Austin fairly often. He'll be back in ATX sooner than you think. cc: @germanfrancie
Rebecca Chulew
Here's my Examiner article about the English Beat and my interview with Dave Wakeling! http://exm.nr/beatinaustin http://fb.me/H6XPrEKk
Rebecca Chulew
Rebecca Chulew
Greg took this awesome pic of Dave Wakeling and I http://twitpic.com/2kv6jn
Rebecca Chulew
At Emo's. Just left Dave Wakeling's tour bus and now I'm hanging out on the bleachers.
Greg Ackerman
@mikesnavely Yup. Just ate dinner with Dave Wakeling. Great guy. #TheEnglishBeat
Mike Snavely
@g_ack as in "mirror in the bathroom" and "save it for later" English Beat?
Greg Ackerman
Dinner w/ @germanfrancie and Dave Wakeling (@ Habana Restaurant & Bar) http://4sq.com/91bA4f
Greg Ackerman
Photo: Dave Wakeling and the English Beat ~ Soundcheck — at Emo's http://gowal.la/c/2qkuu?139
Rebecca Chulew
#nowplaying General Public with Dave Wakeling & Ranking Roger - Tenderness http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmoHQ2DC3zo
Emo's
RT @DumbingAmerica: Check out our interview with Dave Wakeling from The English Beat who are appearing @emosaustin tonight! http://bit.l ...
Dumbing of America
Check out our interview with Dave Wakeling from The English Beat who are appearing @emosaustin tonight! http://bit.ly/6YDyc6