Mobile media in action

It may have been a longtime coming for me to ditch my old cellphone and enter the wonderfully portable networked world of a PDA phone, and I know I’ve already blogged about my Blackjack 2 once before, but, because my love affair with my new gadget is still in the honeymoon phase, here I am to rave again. Just wanted to take a minute and demonstrate the mobillity power gained from a device like this as I type from the seat of an RTS bus on my way home from campus on the first day of my last semester. Here’s me, almost to my stop, taken discretely with my phone

Job Post of the Week: Staff Writer for TheStreet.com/MainStreet.com

Job Post of the Week: Staff Writer for TheStreet.com/MainStreet.com

It’s funny that my first Job Post of the Week is a staff-writer position at TheStreet.com. My ever-adventurous dad was just telling me about the Web site the other day after reading Jim Cramer’s (of CNBC’s Mad Money) new book “Stay Mad.” TheStreet.com gathers investment advice, stock market news and trading information and presents it to the average Joe in an understandable way. Their new site MainStreet is set to offer an unusual combination of celebrity entertainment and personal finance. The job listing says:

MainStreet.com will cover breaking news, including celebrity and entertainment news, as a means to get into personal finance, i.e. Jamie Lynn Spears is having a baby…Suddenly finding yourself with an unplanned bun in the oven? Here’s how to start preparing yourself financially to have and raise a child.

The Basics –

Requirements:
• Great news judgment
• 3+ years of journalism experience
• Ability to flourish in a fast paced environment
• Good copy-editing skills
• Sense of humor
• If not direct experience, then interest, in learning about personal finance
• Experience with online publishing is preferred
• Interest in interactive media and the business side of editorial • Creativity

Description:
Write 300 to 1,000 stories and the occasional longer sections
• Come up with ideas both for stories and the promotion of video and interactive content
• Stay current with our subject areas. That means you are required to read both Kiplinger’s and PerezHilton (Yes, this is probably the first time that those two names have been in the same sentence.)
• Write and produce special projects as needed
• Make your stories web-ready (We’ll explain what we mean.)

Location:
New York, NY

Could you apply for this job? Sounds like loads of fun to me, but that 3+ years experience gets me everytime. It’s almost discouraging but I know this is a business of working your way up and paying your dues in the beginning.

**Job Posts come via JournalismJobs.com in the online media section unless otherwise noted.

New Wednesday feature: Job Post of the Week

Happy New Year! January is always a time for reflection and anticipation for me. I managed to get a lot of fairly important things done in 2007:

1. In April, through my Online Media Production class, I revamped my personal Web site with an updated resume and bought my domain name. (I’d really like to do a new TextPattern redesign, but I don’t want to half-ass it so I’m taking my time.)

2. Spent the summer at the High Springs Herald as an intern and came away some clips that I was pretty proud of.

3. Built my first all-Flash Web site for my sister’s photography business and started to get my footing in working with clients.

4. Learned how to use a TextPattern content management system through JOU4946. (I just have to implement it on my own site next!)

5. Invested in an Olympus USB digital voice recorder and a Nikon D40x SLR camera and feel fairly comfortable using both. (Money very well spent!)

Now that 2008 is here with a vengeance, I’ve made two resolutions that I hope will be easy to maintain and fulfilling to my soon-to-be professional career. (Graduation is May 4 and my job-hunting fingers have been firmly crossed for quite some time.)
First, I’m going to read more books. I’d like to make a habit of putting down the cute but purpose-less dress at the mall and using that money to build a nice library of reference books for what I’m doing on the Web. On my wish list so far? A good book on ActionScript and a beginner-level guide to PHP or working with databases. I’m an self-prescribed novice who looks forward to soaking up a ton of knowledge this year.

If I can’t keep up that resolution (some dresses are just TOO cute to put down), then I’d like to start the new year off by blogging more, and using my blog more as a networking tool in the blogosphere. So often are we instructed to do this from professors at UF’s J-School, and from the wise words of industry professionals, but I don’t do it enough. And after hours of obsessive browsing on JournalismJobs.com and my excitement about getting a REAL-LIFE job pretty soon, I’ve come up with something to keep me on track. Wednesdays at this blog will now feature “Job Post of the Week.” I’ll link to and describe a job opening I’ve spotted during the week that I would jump at. Some may have requirements that are way out of my reach (It seems like 3+ years of newsroom experience is always hiding on the post somewhere), or deadlines that don’t work, etc. but just checking in on exactly what editors are looking for and knowing that there really are positions out there for us keeps me motivated. I only hope that it can do the same for whoever may read this thing.

Best wishes for a prosperous and healthy new year to all!

The view from the mountains

Long winter breaks like the one I am still enjoying up here in the Blue Ridge Mountains are such a tease. Unless I go into education (which isn’t going to happen even though it runs in the family), this month-long vacation will be the last one I see in a very very long time. Naturally, I am soaking up every last moment before I have to turn my brain back on on Jan. 7. I am savoring these last few days during which I don’t feel guilty at all for being lazy. Being up here in an enormous mountain house in Hendersonville, NC with most of my family isn’t a shabby way to spend it either. Hope everyone is enjoying this time off and looking forward to the new year as much as I am.

Trial and error with embedded video

As the end of the year begins to rear it’s ugly head, my goal is to wrap up a few projects I’ve been working on, the main one being the Flash site for the Young Mansion that is for sale in my hometown of Hollywood. After a few rounds of proofing with my client, I only have a few minor edits to knock out until it finally becomes live! (Cue the flashing lights and show tunes music!).

Tonight’s goal was to add a .FLV video clip of the house being featured on HGTV that the client provided. As any other fairly-web-savvy-novice-Flash designer with limited reference books would do, I turned to my good friend Google. With a simple search of “adding video in Flash,” I came across a few helpful tutorials and pages. But to my surprise, the one that helped the most was this article from Adobe’s own Developer Center. Over time I’ve grown accustomed to crappy FAQ sections on software’s “help” Web pages, so this was a breath of fresh air.

With a few tries, I was able to embed the video into the “Press” section on it’s own layer and keyframe, complete with a standard control skin. I then uploaded the video to the client’s server so that it downloads progressively. If you have some time to spare, head to the site and make your way to the Press section to tell me what you think! (Seriously, feedback is appreciated. Did it work in your browser? Which browser do you use? Are you on an Apple or PC? Lemme know!)

My next learning goal: Learning more about streaming video and using Flash Media Server. Stay tuned!