A week or so ago, we wrote about reports that changes to curriculum in grade schools in the UK would forsake “studying things like the Second World War and the Victorians in favor of Twitter, Wikipedia and podcasts.” A review of, and updates to, the country’s centrally-proscribed curriculum would have meant requiring student fluency in […]

Leaders from the 13 unions representing Boston Globe employees say that parent company New York Times Co. is demanding they agree to $20 million in concessions within thirty days — “or else the paper will be shuttered,” according to union officials who met with parent company management. NYTimes Co. executives met Friday with union leaders […]

Last weekend, we cautioned you against speaking ill of others while using popular microblogging Twitter. Our cautionary tale featured rocker, actress, and famous-for-her-outbursts personality Courtney Love. She is being sued by Austin fashion designer Dawn Simorangkir (aka Boudoir Queen), for calling her “nasty lying hosebag thief” and a drug addict and a prostitute. Today’s sobering […]

The Wall St. Journal reports today that video podcaster and energetic force of nature Gary Vaynerchuk has signed a “seven-figure, 10-book deal” with publisher Harper Studio. The first of the series, “Crush It! Turn Your Passion into Profits in a Digital World,” will be published in September. The publishing contract is noteworthy for a couple […]

Today’s New York Times profiles a new technology from Hewlett Packard, MagCloud, that enables indie publishers to print small batches of custom magazines. Individuals and businesses create their custom magazines, and upload them to the MagCloud site in high-resolution PDF format. No money changes hands until MagCloud receives a customer order, and prints out copies […]

Internet advertising revenues in the U.S. reached a record $23 billion last year, according to the 2008 Internet Advertising Revenue Report, released today by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Interactive advertising continued to grow, despite downward trends in the overall economy. IAB attributes this to “marketers’ increased recognition of the medium’s value […]

Social websites are great places to connect with like-minded people. They are useful for keeping track of the whereabouts and projects of people you know, and people whom you admire. They are especially wonderful outlets for expressing and listening to a great diversity of opinions. Better watch what you say, and how you say it, […]

Heavy winter snowfall in the northern Midwestern US, followed by warm temperatures, rain, and more snow has caused ice jams in the Red River, which have in turn begun to cause flooding in Minnesota and the Dakotas. The Associated Press is reporting that Fargo, North Dakota, residents are using e-mail and social networking sites to […]

We have asked some of our friends and colleagues who attended technology and new media conference South By Southwest Interactive (SxSWi) to share their highlights and takeaways from the conference, which wrapped up last week. Today we share the fourth installment by guest correspondent Susan Bratton: I came away from these interviews with an appreciation […]

In four Michigan cities, the daily newspaper is becoming little more than a nostalgic memory.  The Flint Journal, The Saginaw News and The Bay City Times, will now come out only three days per week: Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Even more drastic changes are coming for the 174 year-old Ann Arbor News. The entire paper […]