Blog Hiatus

Hi folks, this blog is going to take a nap for a couple of months. The existing domain and posts will stay until I am able to return — hopefully that will happen in June. Until then, you can visit me on Twitter and on our newsroom wiki.

Friday ORB Roundup

• The News Research wiki page continues to grow (eventually this page will replace Research Web).

• Flickr lifts set limits on free accounts.

• An older, but still relevant blog post from the folks at Zen Habits: 20 Great Tools to Keep Your Life Organized.

Facebook is Changing

If you signed into Facebook today you were greeted with this message:

Changes to the Home page are coming soon

Learn about the new features ahead of time. This is happening soon; check out the home page tour now.

Go ahead, take the tour.  I also recommend reading ReadWriteWeb’s post.

Lost USB Drive

I am not sure what I had hoped to accomplish but typing “lost thumb drive” into Google.  Did I think my drive would magically appear?  Hardly, but sometimes all you can do is shout out what is bothering you.  So that is what I did….on Google….I need help.

I did find and an interesting post from The Daily Cup of Tech though.  Of course, it  would have been more useful if I read it before I lost my USB drive…

Newspapers: Online Growth, but Print Losses are Bigger

The trend is unmistakable: Fewer Americans are reading print newspapers as more turn to the internet for their news. And while the percentage of people who read newspapers online is growing rapidly, especially among younger generations, that growth has not offset the decline in print readership.

More from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

Final Edition

Rocky Mountain News video speaks for itself.

more about "Final Edition ", posted with vodpod

Brown Bag Reminder

Looking for a way to justify being on Facebook at work all the time? Ever wonder whether Twitter serves a purpose? Mark Friesen & I will offer an introduction to using these tools and other social media to connect with your readers. This is particularly geared for staffers with existing blogs.

Wednesday, 12:30 p.m., the Well. No signup required.

Thursday ORB Roundup

• WikiLeaks leaks its own donor list.

• U.S. foreign-born population from the 2007 American Community Survey (ACS).

• CRS Report: Troubled Asset Relief Program and Foreclosures

• Washington Post’s ‘Web Ninjas’ Build Map-Timeline Combo

• The Average Shelf Life of an iPhone App is Less Than 30 Days

Short Video: Twitter in Plain English

Video: Twitter in Plain English | Common Craft – Explanations In Plain English

more about “Video: Twitter in Plain English | Com…“, posted with vodpod

Come Play in the DiRT!

Digital Research Tools (DiRT) is a collaborative wiki that lists dozens of useful web 2.0 research tools for inquisitive people (like us!) to do our work better.

Created by Lisa Spiro, the director of the Digital Media Center at Rice University, this wiki displays tools by topical headings including: “Mapping”, “Mashups”, and “Data Mining”.