Tag Archives: databases

If you can’t beat ‘em, or buy ‘em, use the API

Newspapers should produce amazing local databases with great maps, ratings and reviews. A newspaper company should buy Yelp. Yelp now has an open API. Newspapers should stop trying to develop something better, and use the API to provide users with … Continue reading

Posted in Business | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

An informal poll on what I should learn next

Here’s what I don’t know, no matter what it says on my resume: How to work in SQL and PHP from scratch, javascript, Django, Ruby, Flash, Illustrator, how to use maps APIs to code my own mashups, how to present databases online. Continue reading

Posted in Ideas | Tagged , , , , | 30 Comments

Why wouldn’t a journalist leave his job at the newspaper for the online newspaper?

Derek Willis, who blogs at The Scoop about investigative and computer-assisted reporting, announces his move from The Washington Post to… …washingtonpost.com. The online operation of the paper happens across the river from the newsroom, with a different set of employees … Continue reading

Posted in Media | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

The next step after multimedia and interactivity? Just add data.

When I find myself face to screen with an online news site that is still in the Nightly Shovelware Posting stage, I think of two things: How can I add multimedia to this, and how can I add interactivity to … Continue reading

Posted in Media | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The fundamentals of structured data

Still wondering how to cram all these cool new Web-based tools and toys into your newspaper’s content management system? What, you mean it didn’t come with a database to manage all those user-submitted photos you’re getting through your MySpace page? … Continue reading

Posted in Media | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments