War, wind farms, Obama and MTV: Street Team '08 concludes

I posted my final video for MTV News' (EMMY AWARD-WINNING!) Choose or Lose Street Team '08, a Knight Foundation initiative that used 51 citizen journalists (hate that term) to cover the youth movement during the election.

This project was rewarding, though sometimes frustrating. But looking back on it, it provided me with skills, insight and ideas that I never had before. I can edit a video like a whiz, our Election Day-tweets were posted on Times' Square HD board and I interviewed Ralph Nader. Pretty cool.

Here are some highlights, in no particular order:

• I saw Barack Obama speak three times, including his first (and only) visit to Kansas, the state where his mother was from. Also twice in Kansas City, including a rally with 75,000 people, where I got patted down by Secret Service.
• I embedded with the 1st Infantry Division's Dagger Brigade, as they trained to go to Iraq at Fort Irwin, Calif. I saw first-hand how our troops train for war, reported from the back of a Humvee and had front row seats to some intense combat simulation. I was also invited to embed with them in Iraq, but that looks unlikely.
• Great interview with author Tom Frank, who wrote "What's the Matter with Kansas?" and "The Wrecking Crew." Tom, if you're reading, I'll buy you a beer next time you're in Lawrence.
  
• Ralph Nader came to Lawrence to speak. I didn't do a story on him for MTV, but I got to interview him for LJWorld.com's Schoolhouse Talk blog.
• My MTV blog, Making Kansas Count, was named one of the state's top political blogs by The Washington Post's Chris Cilizza.
• I contributed an article on guerilla journalism to Harvard University's Nieman Reports.
• I met tons of exciting, engaged young people who are working hard (on both sides of the aisle) to make Kansas a better place. Most impressive, I think, are the kids at Greensburg High School, who are rebuilding their town as America's first all-green city.
• Daily Kos linked to a story I did on State Sen. Donald Betts, who was running for Congress at age 30. He, however, got smoked in the general election.

So it's been a long, crazy 11 months. Many thanks to MTV for choosing me to report on Kansas, and major props to my fellow Street Teamers, who were a source of support (both technically and emotionally).

Twitterank: A case study in familiarity

My new position at the Journal-World means I got home at 6:15 a.m. and slept to about 4. Just like college.

But that meant I missed out of a lot Twitter chatter, which I've apparently become addicted to. A popular topic on the Twitter boards today was a thing called Twitterank, which purportedly rates your popularity on the micro-blogging site.

Turns out, it might be a phishing scam, stealing your password and distributing content under your username.

I was typing in my Twitter ID to see what this thing is when I read a note saying it's a scam. (PS: Nobody's totally sure yet, but there have been reports of phishing after folks logged on to the site, which asks for your ID and password)

Why would anyone be that eager to share their password with an unknown third-party site? Is it vanity? Or just a familiarity with a community that is by and large congenial, helpful and eager to share information?

I would never give out my SSN or bank account number to a strange third party, but I find myself doling out my Twitter password to a variety of sites to a) see what they are and b) further navigate the social web.

While these tools are utterly cool (if not unpractical for most daily uses), it begs a bigger question about how we use the social web. It's a pretty well-established fact that many parents are wary of their kids using MySpace and Facebook, lest predators view their information and photos. So why are we adults, who should know better, so keen to give out private information?

Stranger danger, right?

People still want newspapers

After watching hundreds of Obama supporters record the moment by snapping photos of each other and the big-screen TV declaring an Obama victory, I came to work today with one goal: Get a copy of today's New York Times.

I walked into our newsroom and picked up a copy of the Journal-World and the University Daily Kansan. But when I left to walk across the street to Borders on a coffee and newspaper run, I saw that the stack of J-Ws – which is never empty – was, in fact, empty. Our staffers raided it.

So I left to get the NYT, and if possible, the Kansas City Star. They were sold out at Borders. They were sold out at Starbucks. Across the city, honor boxes are empty. And other papers are increasing their runs and making extra copies. People want newspapers as historic record. They want them for their news.

They might go online everyday, but this shows that papers are still relevant. After all, it's just not the same printing out an article to show your kids and grandkids.

Personally, I've sent my friends in Chicago on a mission to grab a copy of today's Trib and Sun-Times.

UPDATE: Of course, I would be remiss not to mention other recent events that have sparked similar rushes on news stands: The Phillies' World Series victory created such a high demand that Philly papers printed more. The Journal-World and Kansan both printed thousands more copies after KU won the NCAA basketball championship. People still like having that tangible thing in their hands...even if they can't admit it.

MTV's Election Day Multimedia Bonanza

With Election Day finally upon us, MTV's Street Team '08 is gearing up for the day we've been looking forward to for almost a year. And it's going to be awesome.

We have reporters in every state and Washington, D.C., and we'll be filing reports throughout the day on think.mtv.com and chooseorlose.com (they redirect to each other). These will be video reports from polling stations, interviews with voters, analysis of the voting process...and we'll be using Twitter as a primary reporting tool for much of the day.

MTV built a Twittervision platform for Choose or Lose, and MTVNews.com, and we'll be tweeting throughout the day. It's a wonderful culmination of the social media tools we've been working with since January, and is a reflection of the timely reporting we did on Super Tuesday, the RNC and DNC, and the debates.

Give @streetteam08 a follow, be sure to visit Choose or Lose...and don't forget to VOTE!

Did Joe the Plumber father Sarah Palin's autistic baby?

Another snore of a debate in my book. But McCain kept talking about autism and Sarah Palin. It's as if he thought autism and down syndrome were one and the same.

Sarah Palin, secession, CNN and me

CNN's Rick Sanchez did a lengthy story today about Sarah Palin, and her husband Todd's involvement with the secessionist group, the Alaska Independence Party. Sanchez interviewed a Salon.com reporter who has completed an investigation into the matter.

As is turns out, I sent Sanchez a note on Twitter last week, about the story I had just completed for MTV's Street Team '08...about the Palins and the AIF. I take full credit for the CNN story. You're welcome, Rick.

I found a way to get the old Facebook back, and I'm happy about it

I am not a fan of the new Facebook layout. Despite Facebook's claim that it's more streamlined and easier to navigate than the old layout...it's not. It's confusing, too spread out and difficult to look at.

My former KU classmate, Arthur Hur, however told me how to get the old layout back. It's easy, and took me about 30 seconds. Here's how:

Go to:
http://www.new.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2345053339 and add the "Developer" application then go to http://apps.new.facebook.com/?fbnew_opt_out=1

The only problem is, Facebook automatically takes you to the new layout when you log in. To keep the old layout, I entered the second URL, then put it as one of my favorites. Bam. Old Facebook is back. Huzzah!

EDIT: Facebook figured it out. Dammit.