I've been playing around with a new Android app called Photaf, it can make panoramas like this:



It's not perfect yet, but is very easy and fast to use. I made this panorama at the Phillies opening exhibition game on Tuesday. The photos took about 2 minutes to shoot and the app processed the images into a panorama in about 5-7 minutes. The app uses the camera's compass and level to line up the individual photos, then stiches them automatically.

Journal-Register CEO John Paton on AOL, Patch and The Huffington Post

Much has been written (and Tweeted) over the past few weeks about the acquisition of the Huffington Post by AOL as part of their strategy to trade the 'dial-up' Internet business for the rather more progressive content business.

Part of that strategy is their other recent purchase of Patch, a string of hyper-local web sites that started in New Jersey and has now expanded to over 750 sites across the country, including right here in good ol' Lansdale (yes, no link, what, do you think I'm going to make it easy for you?).

Reaction to both has run the gamut, from predictions of doom to declarations of brilliance and lots of guessing in between.

Certainly AOL has their work cut out for them - the Internet is an increasingly crowded place with many players grabbing for a slice of the advertising pie. Patch is an attempt at tapping what AOL calls the 'underserved' local market, and the billions of dollars from local advertising that they say is just there for the taking.

I tend to think it has more to do with good old-fashioned demographics - I would hesitate to label the upscale suburbs of cities like Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Chicago as 'underserved'. Many of these communities already have local news sites, though perhaps not always as narrowly-focused as the Patch sites.

And despite a perception that newspapers are fading as new technologies leave them in the dust, the reality is that most local newspaper publishers now embrace the web and have growing readerships between the print and digital products. This has been a tough transition, and is far from over. But as the web matures, so will the 'legacy' news sites. Editors and reporters are learning new skills - everything from using video, social media and online tools to embracing readers as partners in the news-gathering process. Readers expect more, and will judge our progress with a click of their mouse - or swipe of a finger on whatever new mobile gadget comes out next.

Patch can join a long list of competitors that have challenged local newspapers and their revenue stream over the years - everything from radio and television to direct-mail and competing newspapers. But I wouldn't count the 'legacy' media out quite yet. These old dogs are learning some new tricks pretty fast.

Is your legislative district gerrymandered? We have some pretty odd-shaped districts here in Pennsylvania, and other states are known for some, er, creative map making.

An online database, redistrictingnation.com uses map-based geometry to rank Congressional and state legislative districts. Here is a screen shot for the 13th District of Pennsylvania:

The map itself shows the highlighted district, and the bar charts on the right rank the shape of the district using several geometry-based formulas (which are explained). Districts that rank 'low' on these charts MIGHT be gerrymandered - other factors play into districting, of course (for example, Cape Cod ranks pretty low, but the ocean probably has something to do with that).

This is a good basis for questioning and research.

You know they're out there...but can you find them?

Community blogs are pretty easy to find in the city. Go to Google, search for an urban neighborhood + 'blog', and you should get a few hits. But try this elsewhere, and you're likely to find more pizzerias than community news sites.

So how do you find blogs outside the city based on their location? Like most things in the suburbs, they're out there, but are often hidden. And if they are issue-oriented blogs, they likely won't be geo-tagged.

Here's a few ideas to help find blogs created in a particular area:

1. Yes, you can start with a good old-fashioned Google search. Search for towns, neighborhoods, local businesses, or community groups, scroll past the pizzerias and see what pops up. Google also offers a dedicated blog search page to help narrow your focus.

2. Use Twitter: By using geo-specific Twitter searches you can find bloggers that are tweeting their latest posts. Twitter itself offers geo-centric searching in their advanced search options, or you can use services like ChirpCity, NearbyTweets, Twellow, and TwitterLocal. Various Twitter apps for computers, iPhone or Android also have localized searches.

3. Outside.in: Shameless promo: This site has partnered with my employer, Journal Register Company, to build an online portal in Philadelphia (the actual JRC-oriented site is still in development). Hundreds of local blogs are included in the effort, which posts links to both established media and community blogs. Content isn't limited to Philadelphia, however - the site links blogs from throughout the country.

4. Links: One of the best resources I have found is searching the 'links' page found on many blogs, media sites, or community group web sites. Bloggers are interested in other bloggers and freely list them. You will have to spend some time and effort opening the links to look for outdated, missing or dead blogs (blogs are like restaurants...only a select few last). So once you find a local blog, don't stop there...keep looking.

5. Dedicated blog-finding sites: Some are better than others, but these sites offer the ability to list and find blogs -

• Placeblogger.com: This Massachusetts-based site was desgined for journalists, but seems to have a fairly limited listing of blogs. Still, some are there.
• FeedMap.net: Another geo-based blog search engine.
• Technorati.com: Offers a blog search for over a million blogs. Not geo-based, but could be useful for looking up local topics.

6. Blog hosting sites: You can search using geographic terms at WordPress, Tumblr (sign-up required) or others. Blogger is owned by Google, so their own blog search is the best bet there.

7. Ask readers or community leaders what their favorite blogs or local web sites are. Then see item #4 above.

Got any more suggestions? Let me know and I'll add them to this post.

The San Jose Mercury-News, known for their high-quality reporting and photojournalism, is taking a leap into crowd-sourcing by partnering with Tackable to create a geo-based photo app. In fact, according to an article at the Poynter web site, the Tackable developers are actually working in the Mercury-News building.

The app will be social in nature - the developers hope to motivate contributors with 'leaderboard' competition and even coupons.

Here is an info video about the project, which has aspirations beyond the SF bay area:



This project is interesting because it deals with one of the biggest problems getting reader-generated content to media web sites and print - actually getting people to contribute. When somebody gets a photo of something noteworthy, they are quick to post it on Facebook for their friends to see. But sending it to the local newspaper has a higher threshold - it is simply not up there on most people's priority list. This app promises to take on that problem by building a community, fostering friendly competition and even offering some minor physical rewards.