Wednesday, October 28th
Great new online video blog
Dutch journalist Herbert Blankesteijn, and his special interests in science, technology and new media, will be known to many from his columns in NRC Handelsblad.
Two weeks ago he launched VideoVolt, his new weblog focusing on online video. Having come across fascinating films, documentaries and animations often accidentally as a by-product of Internet searches in the course of his work during the last few years, he decided that it would be a good idea to share his discoveries.
On the launch of VideoVolt he promised to present something new on the blog with a frequency of daily to weekly. Hes delivered on more or less a daily basis so far, and as Ive checked back from time to time Ive been delighted to find a wide variety of really interesting posts. Herbert is providing a truly valuable service with his blog, and I can heartily recommend frequent visits to VideoVoltThe previous monthly, Resilience Report, has now been replaced by 's+b at a Glance', a monthly digest of a selection of key stories and recent research, again of course with links to the full pieces on the Strategy & Business website. You can always read and print them there, and can often download them as a PDF. Like those in the magazine, theyre usually very interesting and thought provoking. It's an easy process, only requiring you click on the sign-ip button on the homepage.
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Along with the Harvard Business Review, Strategy & Business has long been one of my favourite general business magazines. It's published by the global management consulting firm Booz & Company, which had been known as Booz Allen Hamilton until May last year.
Strategy & Business is a quarterly targeted at senior business executives and the people who influence them. It boasts a worldwide readership of more than 150,000 and is readily available from larger newsagents in Holland. Aspiring to thought leadership, the magazine hosts articles from a combination of Booz consultants, journalists, academics and corporate strategists.
Ive subscribed to Strategy & Business e-mail newsletters for over seven years now. Theyve gradually metamorphosed into two titles, both of which are welcome arrivals in my in-box. Until last month, one of these - 'enews' - was a monthly, but along with a redesigned website in September, it became a weekly. It now features an overview of the most significant article published on the site that week, with a link through to the full story.
The previous monthly, Resilience Report, has now been replaced by 's+b at a Glance', a monthly digest of a selection of key stories and recent research, again of course with links to the full pieces on the Strategy & Business website. You can always read and print them there, and can often download them as a PDF. Like those in the magazine, theyre usually very interesting and thought provoking. It's an easy process, only requiring you click on the sign-ip button on the homepage, then give your name, e-mail address, country and postcode, and I can highly recommend signing up for both of these newsletters.
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Friday, October 9th
Probably the best Internet folk station. Period.
In the five years since I first discovered Folk Alley, I've recommended it to many people who I know share my affection for quality acoustic music. It remains one of my online music favourites, so I'm delighted to spread the word again as this month's recommended Internet radio destination .
FolkAlley.com is produced by WKSU-FM in Kent, Ohio, a service of Kent State University that first went on air 50 years ago. Folk music has long played an important role in WKSUs programming, and the University has hosted the Kent State Folk Festival for over three decades. WKSU supports live folk concerts at venues across Northeast Ohio and broadcasts more original hours of folk music than nearly any other radio station in America.
The streaming music programming for Folk Alley is created and hosted by Jim Blum, and the eclectic mix he chooses features both established and obscure singer/songwriters, Celtic, acoustic, traditional, and world music. Blum has been hosting a folk music show on WKSU for over twenty years. He provides entertaining, informative yet unobtrusive (short!) commentary on the music hes playing in the stream. The site also features a blog he writes, which includes news, CD reviews, artist interviews and reflections on the industry.
Versions of the stream are available in the three most popular formats: windows media player, real player and MP3. The latter format means the stream can be run from iTunes, but note as always that you really need a broadband connection. FolkAlley.com is unusually well-designed for a streaming radio website.
A feature I particularly like is the continually updated playlist window, which lets you know the title, artist and reference number of the track to which youre listening and the same information for the ten previously played items. Despite being a fan of the genre, the playlist has already turned me on to a number of talented people I hadnt heard before.
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