Blog
Digital Haunting
05.02.2008Posted by: Cam
I recently discovered Post Expression, a service whose slogan reads "Death ends a life, not a relationship." According to the website, Post Expression "allows you to create and store multimedia messages that will be sent by e-mail to friends and family after you die."
Yes, that's right, folks. It's digital haunting.
The idea is that you designate a friend who visits the site and notifies Post Expression after your death. Then Post Expression will transmit various messages (multimedia presentations, videos, birthday emails, etc.) to your friends and family, at designated times.
It's an interesting idea, but one that I find a little questionable. I'm not sure that the effect of receiving a post-mortem email from a loved one would always be positive. Here you are, going through your grieving process, doing your best to move on, and boom! You get an email from the departed.
It's a little creepy. It's something I think I might find upsetting, and I don't think I'd want to do that to my friends and family.
Various friends of mine had the same reaction I did: "Wow, that sounds like a great way to screw with people." In essence, something to inflict on people you don't like, not something you'd want to send your loved ones.
Still, it's clear the people behind Post Expression mean well, and many people might like the idea of sending a last birthday wish to friends and family. For more information, visit the Post Expression website at postexpression.com.
Google News goes local like never before
03.13.2008Posted by: Ben
Google News has taken local news search to a new level. Last month, Google unveiled a new feature on their news site that allows readers to add a section of news that is based on location. For example check out: News in Bristol, TN. You'll see headlines and blurbs, but you still have to click the stories and go to the source website to read the full article. But, this is a great way to aggregate all the news sources in one place. Interested in whether any AP or "big press" articles are being published about our area? They will be here. It's a great way to stay in touch with regional press without having to scan multiple websites.Here's how you set it up. Just click on "Advanced news search" from Google News. Go down to where it says City, State, or Zip Code and enter your locality of interest.
Or, you can click the link "Edit this personalized page" and add it to your custom google news portal.
The news is sorted by relevance by default, not date, and stories that are more commonly covered get moved to the top. Breaking news and big stories are always featured, which is cool, and related stories are aggregated in one place. The point is... you don't have to bookmark multiple news websites and scan them each, with all their different navigations and all their different advertisments. Google News Local is a great way to review all the news published in your region simply and easily and should you choose to move on to the full stories, you can.
What does the local media think about all this? I spoke with several sources on the subject and there's plenty of opinions to go around. The clash of the digital world and the newsroom is still ongoing and if they had their way we'd only be visiting their websites to get the news. But, they have agreed (officially) to allow third parties to publish headlines, bylines and blurbs in the hopes that it will generate traffic. What about archives? On several websites locally, the news "disappears" after a week, a month, or more. While it may be gone from the source, I'm certain that it still exists in Google's databases. Will Google make these historical records avaiable or will we be stuck looking at microfilm when we need to research our history?
That's a topic for another day. In the meantime, enjoy your local news headlines–all in one place.
The first signs of spring
03.06.2008Posted by: Cam
The first signs of spring are beginning to peep out around Bristol. Little sprigs of fresh green grass are beginning to sprout up (a welcome sign after last summer's drought). Birds are returning to the area; you can hear them chirping away each morning. Outside our office, the first crocuses have bloomed. Winter may not be quite finished with us yet, if yesterday's chilly temperatures are any indication, but spring can't be too far away.
Our hearts go out.
02.28.2008Posted by: Ben
The Bliss Agency would like to express it's sincere condolences and support to the families affected by yesterday's tragedy. The incident occurred only a block away from our office and is too close to home for all of us. May Bristol heal as quickly as possible...