The New Media Cynic

Is the “Jack of all Trades” thing getting out of hand? It would seem so.

At one time, it was alright, encouraged even, to become an expert at one thing. To focus on something and strive to be the best… Continue reading


Print is Dead by topgold

I love magazines. I love the look and the feel. I know that in most cases I can find the same information online, but the experience is not the same.

With that said, let me also say that I stopped reading magazines for a while. The price kept getting higher for less and less information. Instead of more content the ads were taking over.

This is a result of a cycle. Less people read the mags and revenue falls–so the mags increase the advertising which brings in less revenue from individual ads as the readership lowers–so the magazine sells more ads with less content until the end finally comes and the magazine goes under. How is that for a run-on sentence?

At times, especially now with the economy so uncertain, it seems like this is an unbreakable cycle. Blogs and news sites run stories about the troubles of the print media. People like Rupert Murdoch talk about the shift and suggest charging for online content that was once free. It is the start of a whole new cycle.

Well, I have an idea, and it involves everyone’s favorite price point, free. I put forth that the new paradigm of print is free. For free, people will accept more ads and less content. For free, more people will subscribe to magazines previously abandoned. More eyeballs means that the mags can charge a higher premium for the advertising content. A whole new cycle breaks the old.

Now, before you bolt from this blog calling me an idiot, let me give you some background on how I came up with this idea. It comes from the most frugal person I know, my better half, Effie.

Continue reading

Bang Head Here by programwitch

Alright, you know that I hate marketing spam on Twitter.You know I think the people that think Twitter is the greatest thing since sliced bread are a bit loopy. You know I think the people that think Twitter is a community are well off their rockers.

So, what could I be griping about today?

People. That is what I am griping about today, people. And this gripe plays in to the myth of the community, conversation, or whatever else crazy kumbaya stuff people say about Twitter.

**redundant alert**
Before I get to what bothers me, let me say this, Twitter is a numbers game for most that are on and active. Let me also say that a lot of folks that have accounts are not active. Let me also say one more time that with the growth of third party apps, a lot of people ghost follow a large portion of folks on their list. Okay, one more time, and yes it is redundant. For most people, Twitter is a numbers game more than a conversation or a community.
**redundancy off**

Now to what is bothering me.

I get a lot of emails telling me of new followers. So much in fact, that if I were to respond to them all when they come in, I would be working Twitter all day.  I usually let these notices build up and then handle a bunch at once. Still, if you look at my Twitter account, you will notice that my numbers don’t change much. This is for two reasons.

1. I check out your account and find marketing spam or other reasons not to follow you back, and thus get unfollwed eventually.

2. You have pissed me off by making it known that I am not interesting enough to follow, you just wanted another reciprocating follower.

One is self explanatory. Two may need some explaining.

As I said above, I usually wait to go through my new follow notifications after they build up for a few days. I look through them every five or six days on average. Guess what I usually find. These nutcases have unfollowed me by the time I go through the notices. I am talking days, most definitely less than a week. I did not immediately follow them back, so they dumped me. How do I know this? After I do follow them, I get a notification saying they are now following me back. They did not follow for content, or interest, or just because they liked my mug in the avatar. (who does?) No they were fishing for follower numbers, and when I did not immediately give them another follow, they dumped me like a bad habit.

Continue reading

Seriously. I was frustrated the other day with Colin Cowherd on ESPN radio. I was wondering if anyone else knew of a good sports talk radio station that streamed on the net, so I turned to Twitter with this:

Anyone… Continue reading

I just found this in my feed stream. It is from the Raleigh Craigslist.

This goes to show you, you really can see anything on the net. I wonder how proud his, or her, mom is.

Another question pops into… Continue reading

Connect and Subscribe


TwitterCounter for @EbanBoxr


Eban, the Mondo Maniac Pirate of the R.F. Lucidity

RfL Publications

RfL is now in the graphic novel/Manga/comic book biz. Our titles will start appearing late January. You can see samples and keep up with the news RIGHT HERE.

Animated Adventures

Check out all the episodes of RfL Animated adventures RIGHT HERE!

RfL 2.0 Indie Music Blast

Click RIGHT HERE to get all the episodes of the Indie Music Blast!

RfL Services for YOU!

Let's see what RfL can do for you RIGHT HERE. Audio, music, animation, and web design services are just a click away. Let RfL Productions help you make your next site or project a success!
  • RfL IMB 423 is Up
    RfL IMB 423 is UpCheck out the new Indie Music Blast ep 423 at Reaching for Lucidity. 3 great Bay Area bands in one show! […]
  • RfL Behind the Scenes ep1 : Productivity, Media Updates, and Peppermint OS
    RfL Behind the Scenes ep1 : Productivity, Media Updates, and Peppermint OSReaching for Lucidity Behind the Scenes Episode 1 Hey all! Welcome to the first episode of Behind the Scenes, our new RfL show. Here I will talk about RfL media, web trends, some gossip, new apps and services, and more. … Continue reading → […]