CalvinGilbert.com is a personal blog!

Short post, but it was disturbing…

So I was walking to work this morning and for some reason didn’t push the “walk” button. Realizing I did not push it, I reached for it and to my shock someone had wiped blood all over it. Blood… really Portland?

If I had not been paying attention as I usually am in my “need more coffee” stupor, I would have put my thumb right into it.

I am not really sure I understand the thought process of wanting to wipe blood across a cross walk button, but I am sure it was not accidental.  It is really disturbing to think about pressing your thumb on someone elses smeared blood. Not really sure what I would have done without a bathroom nearby. Walk with it on me to work? Wipe it on a street sign?

Valve has announced a sequel to Left 4 Dead due out November, 17th, 2009. Left 4 Dead 2 will feature:

• New Melee Fighting System (using objects as weapons.)
• New Weapons including a Chain Saw.
• 4 new characters.
• New special infected.

The first playable level appears to be called the Parish, and judging by the game trailer will be taking place in the south. Hopefully, if the game play is anything like the trailer, perhaps we will see a wider array different looking zombies and the ability to shoot off limbs.

Here is the trailer:

In my previous post, 5 things newspapers should do to their websites now, I mentioned newspapers should add RSS feeds to their sites. I received a lot of feedback regarding RSS feeds, about how Newspapers probably shy away from RSS technology due to income restrictions.

I never said you couldn’t make money from RSS feeds. Most newspapers rely on advertisements to pay staff and paper production, why not offer advertisers the option to put an ad in a feed? If the majority of your readers are local, why wouldn’t that business down the street want to reach them.

As an added bonus, the more RSS subscribers you have the more money you can charge.

Can’t find a local sponsor? There are plenty of RSS feed money generators out there. 8 Easy Ways to Monetize Your RSS Feed is a great article to get started in making money.

If you are worried people will never come back to your site, here is an easy solution: Only include a short clipping of the story to entice readers to visit the site.

Am I missing anything? Leave me a comment below.

This will be the first post of several and I must add a disclaimer that I will not put any newspaper on the chopping block.  

I will walk the walk when I am done
I should also note that when I am finished with this series, i will build the news website that features everything discussed here to prove it can be done. I will add how tos for different sections as well.

Work on cleaner layouts
I know the job of a newspaper is to deliver the news and not a stunning website. Why does data have to be ugly? When I visit the site, I should be able to determine which article is a feature story and which one is local. If images are used to compliment articles, then banner ads should not be used near them. 

RSS feeds are a must
It is hard to believe news sites exist without leveraging RSS technology. I should not only be able to subscribe to the headlines via RSS, but also be able target my news. If I want to subscribe to “High School Sports” within 50 miles of my zip code, it should be there. 

Site should be search-able
If I can’t search a site, what is the point? When a user is trying to find information the first thing they go to is google and run a search. Why would it be different on a news site. When I am looking for news about Company X, I should not have to go page by page to find an archived news article. 

Don’t sell readers old news
I truely detest newspapers that sell me outdated news. If I could find the same news on another site for free, why would I pay for it on your site? Great: your site has a story about a local charity back in 2006. Bad: I have to pay a $39.95 annual fee to access it. Great: you had the story. Bad: Google has it, three of your competing newspapers have it and numerous bloggers have it.

Friendly URLs
When I am reading an article the URL of the page should be /news/2009/12/23/title-of-article not /news/article.php?id=123455667788?cat=23234. The reader may not care about the URL, but your newspaper should see an increase in search engine traffic. As a bonus, if the reader navigates to the /2009/12/23/ directory they could see all the articles for the 23rd of December and then navigate day by day.

More?
Upcoming topics will include: community integration, using social media, having reporter profiles and website coding standards. I will also update periodically on the progress of the news site with pictures and tutorials.

Am I right or wrong?
Leave a comment below or send me a message on twitter: @CalvinGilbert 

I have always wondered: why are we afraid of the undead? Necrophobia is the fear of dead things, but is that really what people are afraid of?

Zombie movies seem to always have 3 elements to them: being chased, feeling overwhelmed and helpless and adapting to change.

People hate being chased, whether it is a horde of zombies or a dog it is a scary feeling. When watching a zombie flick, notice from beginning to end the actors are being chased. Even if the survivors find a safe place to hide, zombies will start breaking down the doors and the chase will continue. Usually by the middle of the movie, an actor will start feeling overwhelmed and helpless.

People do not want to feel helpless. Who would want to be firing shots at a zombie and run out of bullets with several hundred left to kill? It is also the same fear with someone who lost a job and is unsure how to buy next weeks groceries or pay next months rent.

Zombies are overwhelming, because they are always there. Hundreds, even thousands at a time. People need space. I for one, hate being in crowded areas with a lot of people (if I can’t handle that, I am toast in a zombie apocalypse).  Malls, concerts or certain cities can often cause people to feel overwhelmed. Being elbow to elbow with other people can give you an idea of what it might feel like being overrun by zombies. 

Whoever said “change is good”, clearly was not talking about zombie mobs taking over the planet. Who wants to wake up one morning, not go to work anymore, not hang out with friends or family and never relax on the couch anymore? Preparing for an unexpected change is almost impossible, which can really add to the horror of zombies. No one can handle a drastic change of that caliber.

On the plus side: games like Left 4 Dead and Resident Evil have been grooming video game geeks for the inevitable. Could I run around with double pistols slaying zombies? No, but I like to think so.

*Image Credit: This is a drawing from my sketchbook.