Having said that, I have a few thoughts on the recent launch of Facebook Questions - the new service that allows users to ask, answer, and search for Questions within Facebook.

If you don't yet have the feature, fret not - Facebook says they've rolled this out to about 3 million people thus far but will deploy as quickly as possible.

Here's a few screenshots:

Facebook Questions - Publisher

Facebook Questions - Page

Thoughts:

Facebook 'Questions' will have a significant impact on the Facebook - and open web - environment for a few reasons.  First and foremost, this is yet another push by Facebook to add organization and context to their social ecosystem; eg: 'structured data.' Facebook 'Questions' will provide a relatively simple means, via the Facebook 'Publisher,' for ordinary people to crowdsource inquiry (asking a question), feedback (answers to questions), and discovery (search for Q&A).    In other words, structured data + mass-scale + search = a huge win for Facebook.  Facebook wins here by common usage and buzz metrics.  But Facebook also wins by injecting an equally useful and disruptive product in to the market.

Here's the post from Facebook's blog announcing the launch of Questions:

Today we're introducing Facebook Questions, a beta product that lets you pose questions like these to the Facebook community. With this new application, you can get a broader set of answers and learn valuable information from people knowledgeable on a range of topics. 

And here's Mashable's coverage of Facebook Questions.

We first learned of Facebook’s Q&A feature two months ago, when the company started asking for volunteers to beta test the product. The world’s largest social network even went so far as to promise beta testers a trip to Facebook’s offices to meet with the Q&A team.

If you have any, mm, questions or comments feel free to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Buzz, or just visit the contact page.  Thanks.

- DHP

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For the past several months the ABC News Radio team has been working their collective asses off to develop a great news product for mobile devices.  Slacker too has worked hard and been a big help.

You can read more about the service here, and you can listen to Slacker on your desktop here.

In NYC media circles we spend a lot of time discussing both the death of traditional news media as well as the emergence of disruptive technologies and the real-time web.  As we move ever closer to the real-time web, the convergence of traditional broadcast platforms with new technology becomes more and more interesting. The ABC News + Slacker deal is exciting because it brings us one step closer to this convergence.

Here are a few blurbs from around the web:

From Mashable

Good news for Slacker Radio fans — the web/mobile music application integrated ABC News into its stable of content today, allowing users to customize their news consumption as well as incorporate it into their Slacker stations ... For 14 days, basic Slacker users will be able to access ABC News content; Slacker Plus users can keep on tuning in after the two-week period ends (the Plus subscription is $3.99 per month). The content — which includes segments from Good Morning America, anchored by Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos, Juju Chang and Sam Champion; and Nightline anchored by Terry Moran, Cynthia McFadden and Martin Bashir.

From Read Write Web

When we think "slacker", we think dirty jeans, video games, gas station food and couches. But now, a partnership between ABC News and streaming music service Slacker Radio is looking to redefine our knee-jerk association, bringing news to those who can't care enough to actively chose their music. (We jest.) ... The partnership is the first we've seen between a streaming music service and a news service. ABC's content will be available in two ways - as a separate stream of news and as a top of the hour update, which will interrupt streaming music with a news update each hour ... According to the site, news will consist of "a mix of the day's most compelling news including Headlines, US and World news, Sports, Business, Politics and more" and will be added throughout the day. According to the release, the news station "features segments from ABC News programs, including "Good Morning America" anchored by Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos, Juju Chang and Sam Champion, "Nightline" anchored by Terry Moran, Cynthia McFadden and Martin Bashir and much more." Users will have the ability to skip and queue stories just as they can with music.  Overall, we really like the idea of an hourly real-world interruption of our streaming music and hope to see a similar option make its way into other services.

Thanks much to everyone who helped make this happen (not to mention those of you who covered this).  I'm stoked and hope you are too!

- DHP

@DanPatterson

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The annual Talk Radio Day at the United Nations is held every June in New York.

These interviews were provided to @abcnewsradio [link] for broadcast and web distribution. 

On Friday, 4 June I covered the annual United Nations Talk Radio Day.  This event, hosted by my former employer the Talk Radio News Service and organized by the UN Foundation, is always a lot of fun to do.  I'm flattered to be invited back each year and the guests seem to get better and better. 

Here are the interviews from the 2010 UN Talk Radio Day:

• Iraqi Ambassador to the UN Hamid al-Bayati
• Japanese Ambassador to the UN Yukio Takasu
• UK Ambassador to the UN Mark Lyall Grant
• Indian Ambassador to the UN Manjeev Singh Puri
• Canadian Ambassador to the UN John McNee
• Spanish Ambassador to the UN Juan Antonio Yanez-Barnuevo
• UN Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information Kiyo Akasaka
• Refugees International NGO Representative Michelle Brown
• UN Secretary-General Special Envoy on Malaria Ray Chambers
• UN Development Programme Chief and former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark

Download the UN talk radio day interviews on Drop.io.

Here are the interviews from the 2009 UN talk radio row.

Dan Patterson of ABC News Conducts Interviews During the 2010 United Nations Talk Radio Day.For those of you not familiar with broadcast jargon, a radio row is a unique and intense event.   Hosts generally arrive around 4 am (Morning Drive) and stay until the end of their program.   Organizers, however, are usually on location (in this case the UN but rado rows occur anywhere politics occurs) usually an hour ahead of time.  

The radio row itself is preceded by days - and some times weeks - of preparation.  This involves coordination with the host organization and negotiation with various bureaucracies.  It also requires talking with Verizon to lay ISDN lines, producers at radio and TV stations, and managing personalities.  

During the radio row itself the organizers quickly coordinate guests, hosts, talk shows, video shows, and other media outlets.  Most interviews are conducted with little-to-no-notice, requiring the host (in this casem, me) to think very quickly on very little sleep or food.  

Most people involved are pretty great, and over the years I've had the pleasure of working with and interviewing people like Al Sharpton, Alan Colmes, Thom Hartmann, Jack Rice, and countless ambassadors and department heads.

But as you can imagine, however, tensions can build as the cumulative effects of organizational stress, pressure to perform, lack of sleep and food, and intensity of events and guests begin to take their toll.

Dan Patterson of ABC News interviews the UK ambassador to the United Nations Mark Lyall Grant.If you'll recall back a few years, while working for Talk Radio News my colleagues and I were in charge both conducting interviews as well as planning and coordinating the event.  

During the 2008 presidential campaign we coordinated, produced, and conducted countless radio rows from the first debates through the New Hampshire Primary through the Democratic and Republican nominating conventions.  

The most intense radio rows - New Hampshire and the Conventions - many of us came close to cracking.  In New Hampshire I had two periods of 36 hours no sleep.  During the conventions I was up for 48 hours in a stretch, and several of 24 hours awake.  Though this sounds tedious and grueling (it is, trust me) a radio row experience quickly builds tremendous experience.  It also helps gain invaluable confidence in one's ability to perform under some of the most adverse (I'll write about doing talk radio in Darfur and South Sudan some time in the future) conditions.  And needless to say an intense radio row can create a very strong bond amongst those involved.

I hope you dig the interviews.  If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them below or simply send me an email.

Thanks.

- Dan

Follow @danpatterson on Twitter.

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Podcast Page.

I've rolled Protopodcast : Music in to my 'primary' podcast (known from here on out as simply Protopodcast.)  To that end, I've moved all of the posts and audio downloads to the Podcast Page and will remove the url /protopodcast-music very soon.  

Here's the note I dropped to the Protopodcast : Music page:

Hey there - just a quick note about the feed and structure change to Protopodcast : Music.  For simplicity's sake I rolled Protopodcast : Music in to my other podcast.  If you're subscribed to the RSS feed you should notice no change.  But if you frequent this page you'll notice that the posts have all been moved.  This page and URL will soon be removed from this site.  Please visit the Podcast Page.  If you'd like to receive only Protopodcast : Music simply visit the Category Page.  If you have any questions feel free to contact me.  Thanks.  - DHP

I hope that this architectural change helps to simplify this site (an ongoing task, to be certain - more on simplification efforts TK).

Why the Change:  Forked content is confusing.  It makes far more sense to have one podcast page on this site.  Protopodcast : Music fits snugly in as a podcast category within the primary podcast.

What Changes for Me:  Nothing, if you're subscribed to the Protopodcast : Music feed.  If you're accostomed to visiting the page itself, you must now visit the category page.

What are the Essential Podcast URLs and Feeds?  Good question!  Here's a list:

• Podcast Page URL
• Primary Podcast Feed (all podcast items).
• Primary Podcast iTunes Feed (all items in iTunes).
• Protopodcast : Music Page (just episodes of Protopodcast : Music).
• Protopodcast : Music Feed (just episodes of Protopodcast : Music in an RSS feed).

Thanks much for subscribing - both to the blog and the podcast.  As always, feel free to drop me a line and follow me on Twitter (@danpatterson) if you have any questions.

Thanks!

- Dan

PS - Oh, I've recently added tag-cloud topic pages to both the blog [topic cloud] and the podcast [topic cloud].  These are cool ways to drill down in to more niche areas of coverage.  Hope you dig.

CelebrityDialogue: Dan, what are your responsibilities as Digital Platform Manager in ABC News Radio?

Dan:  Many and various!  When I came to ABC News I had to learn a ton of internal systems and various B2B models.  But I was also provided the freedom to make this job my own.  I began as the 'Digital Audio Manager' and was in charge of our podcasting initiatives.  But ABC News Radio had no digital platform aimed at consumers.  As we all know, content on the web does not exist in a bubble.  So I began building several websites and digital products.  These sites and applications are intended to concurrently serve our Affiliate radio stations as well as the general public.  Over time my job morphed in to a hybrid of overseeing podcast delivery, business development, exploring and executing on various business models, building websites, and working on other emerging platforms.  We're now on the cusp of launching our digital product and I'm pretty stoked to show off what we've built.  

CelebrityDialogue: Should every company have a social media policy?

Dan:  Yes.  Social media is an undeniable part of media culture.  A policy shouldn't be limited to "don't do this lest you risk angering Standards and Practices."  Social media is a powerful way for news outlets to crowdsource information and engage the public.  A strong social media policy can help an organization leverage human assets as well as engage users in relevant, timely, and creative ways.

CelebrityDialogue: Do you enjoy covering news and taking interviews or do you like content management more?

Dan:  There's no one way to answer that question.  In my heart I'm more comfortable on a campaign or in some strange country with people with guns.  But I'm equally attracted to the organic nature of content sharing on the web and to that end I love working on abstract ideas and actualizing digital platforms.  The most simple way to answer your question is by stating that I much prefer Doing over Talking.

CelebrityDialogue: Are there any real life journalistic ethics that become blurred when it comes to online journalism?

Dan:  Ethics are platform-agnostic and are pretty basic.  By this I mean, the same ethical guidelines used in 'traditional' media do apply across the web with no exception.  However, lines are blurred much more easily online for a few reasons.  First, volume.  There are simply more people publishing content.  As a result, more people are faced with issues that were previously only under the purview of 'journalists.'  Second, knowledge.  I was not trained academically as a 'traditional journalist,' but the same could be said for most of my journalistic colleagues.  Experience is the key - I'm not the world's best or most experienced journalist, but some things are basic: No quid pro quo, and "Off Record" is off record.  One of the great things about the web is that question about journalist ethics - previously an obscure conversation piece - are discussed and debated openly.  One of the biggest problems of social media 'journalism,' however, is not the lack of good journalism.  The web has highlighted many great journalists.  The problem is the tabloid nature of 'reporting.'  Many well-known web news outlets fail to fact-check and frequently pay for sources.  These outlets are staffed by good people, but I would not call tabloid stenography 'journalism.'

CelebrityDialogue: You have covered United Nations since 2007. Tell us about your experience during Darfur humanitarian crisis.

Dan:  Well, I actively blogged and Twittered the coverage.  A lot of that can be experienced first-hand on my site.  I was in Darfur in March of 2008.  Remember, that was during a period of social media emergence, but pre-main stream adoption.  So really the use was as an experiment. As with the Presidential Campaign in 2008, most journalists were still learning to use these tools.  Particular challenges included typical tech challenges like getting sat phone service in the desert, battery life, and protecting the gear.  I also used broadcast journalism and would call in live to political talk shows while on the ground.  I would use broadcast to push social media.  For example, we traveled to some very remote places in what was either South Sudan or Darfur (the border was/is ambiguous).  One particularly hot day we purchased slaves.  I used a sat phone to record a segment for the Talk Radio News Service.  This segment was posted as a podcast.  I then called a radio station, did a report, and encouraged listeners to check out the website and Twitter feeds.  This resulted in a landslide of comments and ReTweets.  This, I believe, is the power of social media.  I was able to use a live radio report to push both consumption and redistribution of an asynchronous (podcast) piece of content.  This resulted in greater awareness of an atrocity that was in the process of being committed.

CelebrityDialogue: You covered the last US Presidential campaign. What was the most interesting moment that you encountered during the events that you attended?

Dan:  Similar to covering Sudan, the Presidential campaign was a myriad of unique experiences and technology served as a unifying theme.  Again, may of these experiences are documented on my website and in my Flickr stream.  I do, however, have a few interesting antidotes.  Most journalists on the campaign were aware of social media - particularly Twitter.  It was interesting to watch the growth of the medium evolve over the course of the campaign.  The New Hampshire primaries and both nominating conventions stand out.  During both the Primary and the Conventions our team was working literally around the clock.  We would go to bed at 1:30 or 2am and then be awake for the morning drive shows at around 4 or 5am.  This went on for a week in New Hampshire and almost three weeks during the Conventions.  In New Hampshire a short video on Ron Paul hit the Digg front page on three different occasions and completely borked our sites.  A few of us were awake for days - literally - concurrently covering the Primary and trying to keep our web systems active.  During the DNC live-streaming video of Hillary Clinton and Obama was a lot of fun.  I used Qik and saw comments flow in like a river as the video streamed.  During the RNS in St. Paul I was caught in a riot and literally stuck between 5k pissed-off protesters and 5k riot cops.  I have a picture of standing sandwiched between the two groups.  As I held up my press credentials a riot cop raised his M-16 and literally stuck it in my gut.  Instead of phoning home to my boss I used the remaining battery in my phone to text my content partner Jack Rice a link to photos I was live-blogging to Flickr of the event.  Twitter came in handy during that event.  My followers were able to see my area from police choppers and relay back to me good and bad areas to cover and/or escape routes.

CelebrityDialogue: How was your experience in the Wired Magazine?

Dan:  I occasionally write very brief blurbs for ABC, Wired, the MTV music blog, and a few other outlets.  For some reason publishing in print bring some cred.  I'm a big believer in print, but suspect that the value is more in the higher social equity than the actual impact print makes on the reader.

CelebrityDialogue: You started your career early during college days. How it all did start?

Dan:  Well, I've been a fan of news and broadcasting for as long as I can remember.  My grandfather is a HAM radio operator, and while growing up I was a huge radio fan.  In college I studied under the legendary and award-winning radio personality Dave Diamond (www.davediamond.org).  Diamond was my mentor in college and taught me the ins and outs of music publishing.  My first company - Creepy Sleepy Music - was founded in 2001 as an ASCAP-affiliated music publishing company.  Diamond encouraged ethical ambition and to push yourself.  This lead to a stint of running my college radio station, which in turn lead to a few years as working as a jock on commercial radio.  After living a few post-college years in California and working - failing, really - in the music business I returned to school.  This was in mid-2004 and the early days of podcasting.  I started a political radio show with a very good friend.  Together he and I made tight content and pushed the content to the web.  The Creepy Sleepy show caught on and developed a small but loyal following.  I covered the 2006 mid-terms independently.  Specifically I reported on South Dakota's ban of abortion.  This coverage lead to a job with Ellen Ratner and Talk Radio News.  Ellen grabbed me and threw me in to covering the UN and developing digital platforms for her various projects.  This then lead to working for ABC News.

CelebrityDialogue: How can your fans follow you on the internet?

Dan:  Ha! I hate the word 'fan' as it sounds condescending.  But semantics aside my website is located at www.danpatterson.com and I'm on Twitter and Facebook as @danpatterson.

CelebrityDialogue: Last question. You like to “microblog”. Please explain the term to those who might not have heard of it before.

Dan:  The term 'microblog' is simply a jargony expression for 'short posts.'  My site aggregates posts like Tweets, status updates from Facebook, music from Last.fm, and video from Vimeo.  This isn't useful to most people, but I like the meta-data snapshot that the aggregation provides.  However, I'm a big believer that 'microblogging' (read: Facebook and Twitter) is a form of social engagement the common person uses on a regular basis.  Often social media types are early adoptors and will hop on every single new platform.  I like to be where People are and use tools People use.  Hence I use Facebook and Twitter to engage with people who live outside the tech bubble.  So my 'microblog' is simply a hub for a lot of this social activity.

CelebrityDialogue: Dan, thank you so much.

Dan: Thank you!

My professional life is exciting and I'm very grateful for the opportunities that I've had.   To friends and strangers alike I often find that it's difficult to articulate what I do, but the Personal Branding interview succinctly summarized the last few years of my career.  Dan's original interview is here and you can read the transcript below.  As always, your comments and thoughts are appreciated.  If you have any questions feel free to contact me.  

Thanks.

How did you get your job at ABC News?

I've worked relentlessly for years to legitimize both my work and the social web as a medium.  Hard work and the associated sacrifices are often over-looked by today's 'social media experts.'  This is not to say I'm the most talented or hardest working person you'll ever meet.  I'm far from it.  However, for years - long before social media was main stream - I stayed in on Friday and Saturday night to edit audio, code PHP, and send email.  I also thing it's very important to acknowledge and thank people for their time - especially if they've helped you in some way.  Often a simple expressing 'hey dude, thanks for coming on the show/thanks for connecting me to so-and-so/thanks for the coffee meeting' goes a long way.  I've been in broadcasting for my entire adult life.  My grandfather is a HAM radio operator so in some ways radio runs in the family.  But I began both broadcasting (content creation) and platform building  (administrative) at the same time.  I attended the great radio program at Black Hills State University - a tiny school in the mountains - and studied under radio legend Dave Diamond.  Diamond encouraged ethical ambition and taught me a lot about the arts of speaking in public and on air, managing people, and building platforms, and completing long-term goals.  After a post-college stint working (and failing) in the music industry in California I returned to BHSU in 2004 to complete my political science degree.  During that time - mid-2004 - I began a radio show and podcast with a good friend.  Together Doc and I built the Creepy Sleepy show - a politically-independent podcast.  Over the next few years the show built a small but loyal following.  In 2006 I covered the South Dakota ban on abortion.  My reporting on the abortion issue lead to a job with Ellen Ratner and the Talk Radio News Service.  There I concurrently covered the United Nations and 2008 Presidential Campaign, and built digital platforms.  That lead to my current gig at ABC News.  Here I occasionally conduct interviews with technology and political thought leaders and am in charge of building the digital platform for ABC News Radio. 

There are so many different types of media now. You've invested your time in radio and blogging. Why were you drawn to these?

Ha! Well, the easy answer is to say that I - like everyone in the media industry - am a narcissist.  Look, I'm a strong believer that people - human beings - are inherently curious, inherently social, and inherently lazy.  By that I mean that people want the path of least resistance between people, other people, and information.  I'm draw to the ideas behind what, why, and how people connect.  To that end, I'm draw to the media platforms people - humans - use to communicate with each other.

What is your prediction for the future of media. Will it just be a giant mashup?

That's a difficult question to answer.  Most journalists and pundits love hearing themselves talk but hate making predictions.  Truth is, no one knows and anyone who claims to know is not to be trusted.  But we do enjoy speculative hyperbole so I'll bite.  First, I encourage you to check out a video from 2004 called EPIC 2014.  The video walks through a brief evolution of the web up to 2004, then speculates on the next 10 years.  What's shocking about EPIC 2014 is how very accurate the video is.  Another great film is the recent documentary 'We Live in Public.'  WLiP documents the escapades of Dot Com pioneer Josh Harris and various proto-lifestreaming experiments he conducted on himself and others.  A overarching theme in EPIC, 'We Live in Public,' and technology in general is the juxtaposition between the power of the social web and the pithy ways in which it's used.  While I'm happy to ramble about my opinions on Facebook or Google or Twitter or how the public uses the social web, that stuff is far more like celebrity gossip snack food.  It's fun but not too relevant in the big picture.  I'm far more interested in questions of Why and How than Who.

Who is the most interesting person you've interviewed? Why?

This is a tough question to answer.  While I'm low on the journalist totem pole at ABC (trust me - every journalist pays their dues for a long time; I'm paying mine) I have the luxury to be able to interview whomever seems interesting ans is willing to come on camera.  In this role I've had great conversations with tech leaders like Jason Calicanis, Lawrence Lessig, and Gary Vaynerchuk.  Independently I've interviewed Willie Nelson (great guy) a few times, Chuck D is a really down-to-earth guy, a few congressmen and senators, and various musicians.  Musicans - for the most part - are the worst.  Many are utterly dull but equally self-involved (the analogues between musicians and social media people are staggering but I'll refrain from ranting).  On the campaign I was able to - briefly - interview every major presidential candidate.  The best interviews, however, are with people you've never heard from.  Every year I interview several dozen policy leaders at the UN and that's always a blast.  While reporting from Darfur I - along with a group of talk radio hosts - interviewed president Salva Kiir.  That was fascinating.  We also traveled far in to Darfur and purchased slaves.  The UN frowns (maybe for good reason) on this practice.  They argue that it provides profit-motive to continue the abduction of women and children.  I don't necessarily disagree, but this particular moment provided the opportunity to talk at length with oppressed women and children.  These discussions with marginalized (and who are we kidding: "marginalization" is euphemistic language for raped, beaten, stabbed and otherwise abused) people took deep seen in me and helped me understand the importance of strong and indelible journalism. 

But a lot of meeting cool people, traveling to interesting places, and building useful digital platforms comes down to luck.  I've worked hard, sure, but I've also caught a lot of lucky breaks.  As does everyone in my position.  I'm really happy that I've been able to meet myt idols and advisories alike.  But no one exists in a bubble and I do my best to thank the people in my life who have made some of these experiences possible.  My advice to both media industry veterans and n00bs alike is to a) be a good person, b) do the right thing, c) be tenacious but fair, say 'thank you' on a regular basis, but e) don't take shit from fools.

Aside from media and politics, you talk about zombie's. Do you find that your personal interests get in the way of your professional one's at all?

Best. Question. Ever.  Really!  So I've written a bit about zombies and what attracts me to the 'medium' on my website.  With a few friends I'm building a modular geo-local, real-time social game called 'Zombie Doom.'  We won't launch for a few months but when we do we hope to introduce a few unique and fun ideas to both the social gaming space and the zombie afficianado space.  The lurching, undead, Romero-esque 'Zombie' is a very modern phenomenon.  Pre-Romero there are very few cultural instances of what we'd today call a 'Zombie.'  Post-Romero the meme took strong and undeniable root in pop culture.   I think the reasoning is fairly simple.  People feel overwhelmed and want an escape.  A lot of people are attracted to the idea of "were society to collapse, I am strong.  I would survive."  I think that - at least in the Western, hyper-busy, media-saturated paradigm - the 'Zombie' is a material expression for very real but very abstract fears.  Zombies - as an idea - are inevitable. 

A few months ago, on a whim, I purchased the domain zombiedoom [dot] com.  I'm far from a true zombie aficionado (but trust me, they exist), and have never been a fan of gore-horror.

However, upon reading the stellar novel World War Z by Max Brooks I became fascinated by the genre and immediately noticed common themes running through zombie movies, comic books, and fiction.

Survival: Post-apocalyptic fiction hits something instinctual deep in the core of humanity. We all of us like to think of ourselves as survivors. We are strong and poses the ability to survive under duress, right?

Technology (or the rejection thereof): The zombie-in-pop-culture phenomenon is much more contemporary than most people think. With the exception of a few historic examples today's zombie is akin to, but anthropologically dissimilar from the classic Haitian zombie myth (check out this great article from 'How Stuff Works' on the history of the zombie). Much contemporary zombie fiction - ranging from Romero to Brooks to 'Zombieland' - strongly cautions against the over-reliance on modern technology, and tends to favor the ingenuity of the human spirit.

This brings me back to Zombie Doom. Few activities are more thematically suited to our over-Tweeted, hyper-social, 140-character culture than the ability to check-in and Tweet from inevitable zombie apocalypse.

Zombie Doom began with the purchase of a domain name, but quickly morphed in to something interesting. In January, I had spotted a few Tweets that alleged to be posts from survivors of the zombie apocalypse. How cool! I pinged a good friend, Dan Andrlik,about the idea of organizing a few people to 'Twitter from the zombie apocalypse.' We quickly hooked our friends Quentin Lewis, Doc Stodden, Josh Sternberg, and Elana Roth about organizing something around the idea. This then lead to a web site, a Goolge Wave, and the formal organization of a game.

We starting developing rules, looked for a story and narrative theme, created a game engine, formed a small company.

So: What is Zombie Doom? From the website:

Zombie Doom is a closed-circuit, real-time, geo-local social game organized and executed by survivors of the inevitable zombie apocalypse.

Zombie Doom is a loose confederation of survivors of the zombie apocalypse. Zombie Doom Survivors use web-tools and remnants of the world's telecommunication infrastructure to connect and post evidence of their survival, and stories of their ordeals. Zombie Doom Engineers, spread across the North American continent, created a site and built a series of web-based tools to help Survivors learn about and fight the Undead zombie menace. Zombie Doom collects posts from the Engineers, official information updates from the reconstituted government, and status updates from hundreds of zombie apocalypse Survivors. The inevitable zombie apocalypse has nearly destroyed the human race. Zombie Doom is fighting back.

When we're ready, we'll give you the fully skinny (our platform extends far beyond simple zombies). We'll be play testing with a limited sample ('closed-circuit' means we'll start with a private group of players), but slowly open up the platform as we work out the kinks and bugs.

What I can tell you is that we've built a modular, real-time, geo-aware social gaming platform. Along with our friends at Squarespace and ShoutEm we've launched a development site and play-test microblog called Zombie Doom Survivors. If you're curious about the game, fell free to apply for our beta. We're slowly letting people in and hope to play-test part of the platform in early June.

This project could take off. Or it could totally fail. And that's just fine. Our goal is to build something fun and interesting with social web-based tools. If it clunks, that's cool. We'll find the problems, re-jigger the system, and try again. The point isn't really to succeed. The point is to try. And thus far, it's be a ton of fun. I hope you think so too.

If you'd like to learn more about Zombie Doom you can subscribe to the Game and Story Blog, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook. As, your feedback is always appreciated.

Thanks!

- Dan

This isn't an extensive dissection of Apple, blogging, ethics, and the Future of Journalism.  But I'm totally engaged in this iPhone 4 leak story and wanted to share a few quick thoughts.

I'm disinclined to care much about consumer-oriented gadget stories.  I do geek out for my gadgets, but in-so-far as tech stories go I'm more in to data and information ideas than products.

Having said that, this Gizmodo iPhone 4 leak story is fascinating.  Here's the backstory:

• How Apple Lost the Next iPhone
• This is Apple's Next iPhone
• Apple Wants it's iPhone Back
• Apple Didn't Leak the iPhone and Why That Matters

First, the fact that the series of events that occurred, appear to have actually - you know - occurred is a bit mind-boggling.  I mean, dude.  Seriously.  This happened and appears to have been a legit series of events.  This story - not to mention the speed at which it snowballed - provided a ton of insight on how not just a company, but an entire systemic process both functions and disfunctions.  This insight serves the public good and allows for other more meta conversation to occur in the process.

Second, the meta-story of blogs and the social web acting in concert to vet information is not a new narrative. But I always appreciate a good hook and stories like this help articulate somewhat abstract ideas to the mainstream.  These stories are facilitate, broad and general discussion on otherwise siloed meta-topics like journalist ethics (is it 'Right' to pay for sourcing and/or scoops?), crowdsourced complicity (we all clicked those very tasty links, no? But is that wrong?), and emerging and disruptive technology.

Third, journalist ethics involved are ambiguous at best.  The allegation that Engadget was offered the same deal but declined conveniently provides color and contrast.  I'm passing no judgement at all on Gizmodo for their decision, and think that their justifications for publishing the story are rational.  However, I'm curious to see how each company walks with the legs grown by this story.

Regardless, the more mainstream/geek conversations like this, the better.  

Anyway - just some quick thoughts.  Yours?

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- Dan

For your entertainment and edification, I have posted a new episode of Protopodcast : Music.  This episode features music from seminal punk rock bands Rancid and NoFX.

Here's a link to the episode.  

Thanks.

- Dan

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Psst! Here's a little update about the social web and breaking news ->>

Update on Tuesday, March 30, 2010 at 9:12PM by Dan Patterson

Due to this evening's shooting in Washington, D.C. I've broken my (laughably brief) radio silence on the social web (with this post of recent Tweets from the shooting).  Breaking news events are a good counter to my above argument against the triviality of social media.  The social web can (and frequently is) incredibly shallow.  But I'm suddenly reminded of the importance of communication tools, and the power of community to add context and depth to events.  Thanks for sticking around.  /endrant.

a.) My personal short links found at the URL dhp.me/ will be offline for a few hours/days as I move the URL to a hew host and upgrade my servers.  I use the URL dhp.me/ to serve specific personal and memorable URLs; e.g. http://dhp.me/contact.  Sorry for the brief interruption in link service.  But as always, I encourage you to simply visit this site at the URL http://www.danpatterson.com for all relevant contact and content information.

b.) I've acquired the short URL dhp.im/.  I am/will use this short URL for social sharing on sites  of 'generic' branded short-links; e.g http://dhp.im/a2oiWR.  I currently use Bitly.Pro to power these URLs.  This service is currently propagating through DNS and should be live shortly.

If you have any questions feel free to contact me.

Thanks.

- DHP

Is this a REAL break-up with teh innwebs?  No.  Of course not.  I firmly believe in the power of the web to democratize media and provide a platform for marginalized social and political individuals and organizations.   

Social media and the web, of course, are NOT inherently bad.   But I do have some angst about the hyperbolic and insular nature of the web and it's advocates.  I have a sneaking suspicion that many social media evangelists know fuck-all about being social, let alone media. 

However, my feelings about social media are well documented and don't have a place in this post.  Again, this isn't some grand rant against social media, nor is it a rejection of our our friends and colleagues who use the web.   This is a personal decision.  I just need a little time off.

Beyond the simple requirement of email, my work revolves around understanding and using the social web.   This, like my decision to not attend SXSW this year, is a personal one.  I'm simply taking a few days to relax and focus on other things.

I'll be back when I feel like it - could be a few days or a few weeks.  I think that the phrase 'feel like it' is important to note.  Social media exhaustion - the inability to keep up with the Digital Joneses - is the next real trend online.  The social web scales far beyond our personal ability to keep up.  We simply cannot absorb or make quality use from every service.  And to any useful end we certainly can't truly follow (and don't get me started on the rhetorical disaster that is 'Follow') everyone who uses the social web.   I think it's important to note that the web only has the power we give it, and that we should use it in ways that FEEL organic and right.  

And so that's what I am doing.

Having said that I'm headed out to get a cup of coffee, read the New York Times, and walk to the book store.  I probably won't Twitter about it or check in to FourSquare.  

Thank fucking god.

See you around,

- Dan

Again, my decision to not attend was a personal decision.  I post this in the spirit of accomplishment, not a snide "well actually..."

So here's what I did this past weekend:

1.) Organized a nice gathering of friends and techies in Brooklyn at the Henry Street Ale House.  We had a great time talking tech, ideas, and the future of publishing.

2.) Worked on code for the ABC News Radio web platform.  We're getting closer and closer to launch.  This weekend was spent replicating code and design between the Affiliate and Public sites.

3.) Worked with @Andrlik on #ZombieDoom.  Our game has some very, very cool elements surrounding geo-location and will have a pretty bad ass story.  We're going to relaunch the site some time soon - this should give everyone a much more clear picture as to what we're building.  It's been a few months since inception, and it'll be another few months until launch.  But when we do we'll be able to give you a fun and innovative game.  Needless to say, we're stoked!

4.) Worked with a few friends (thanks @ElanaRoth, @JoshuaJWolff, and @JTamboli) to optimize and relaunch a Twitter account.  I do some of this stuff pro bono because my colleagues are - like everyone - suffering from the tough economy - and because I love the challenge of popping something like this Twitter account up quickly.

6.) Read a bunch of comic books from the PanelFly iPhone/iPad application.

7.) Talked with an old friend on the phone.  I've recently left a fairly serious relationship and the act of talking with a friend about it helped me express my feelings, analyze my own flaws, identify the things I'm not responsible for, and feel a bit better about future relationships. 

8.) Planned a trip to Washington, D.C. for the White House correspondents dinner.  This isn't about, "oh hey lookit me go eat with POTUS."  It's about travel (if even to a city I've visited countless times), and expanding outside of my comfort zone with intent. I intend to spend time with @JackRice, @DavidPopp, @EllenRatner, @MeredithMac, and @JTamboli - all old friends.

9.) Worked on a speech for the upcoming Talkers Magazine New Media Seminar.

10.) Geeked out on my own website.  I made (and will continue to make) a few modifications to the Microblog - this weekend I set the Microblog as the front page.

I strongly believe that each of the above items are expressions of the values of the social web and SXSW-attendees.  It's my hope that these small things, done with intent, have helped me in small ways to become a better person by practicing what I preach.

I'd love your thoughts and comments.

- DHP

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Thanks.

I've been mulling this idea for a while, and last night I left a comment on Facebook and a post on Buzz regarding my decision-making process.  

Thus far your feedback, comments, DMs, emails, and thoughts have extremely helpful.  I had a blast covering last year's SXSW and I'm sure this year will be equally fun and productive.  

However, I post this not simply to crowdsource smart people in a decision-making process (though you are smart and I appreciate your thoughts).  The point of even considering #NoSXSW, and then posting content / soliciting comments is to demonstrate my own (and I believe shared with many) internal conflict about the nature of the social web.

Here's the comment and commentary:

Giving very serious consideration to not attending SXSW this year.

I haven't abandoned the idea of going, but I'm trying to (heh) make a 'mature' decision. I'm giving it serious consideration and weighing the options - both positive and negative:

Here's my reasoning: 
1) Time. I want to launch the @abcnewsradio platform sometime reasonably soon. 
2) Taste. I love you guys, but can stomach only so much social media and social media people. Seriously. I say this not to gripe, but in that I have VERY serious concerns about the insular and hyperbolic nature of social media. ESPECIALLY in the context of the field of journalism. There are a LOT of conference-goers and hot-air blowers. But what do these people DO? What have they BUILT? I'm building something and have been for a long time. I want to do it right and to the highest degree of quality possible. No joke. 
3.) Expense. It's tough times everywhere and while it can be expensed, it just seems like it's poor taste to go to SXSW of all places while at the same time my industry and my company are weathering a tough storm. Plus, dude, we're all broke as a joke, aren't we? 
4.) The WHCD is the following weekend. It's also a shorter, less expensive trip. Plus, wise people have told me that when given the choice to eat dinner with POTUS over talk about Twitter with social media people, always choose POTUS. Always.

Anyway, sorry for the rant. These are my thoughts but I'd love to hear yours. And honestly, I'd love to see you guys. 

But SXSW isn't a vacation and I want to get some serious shit done. I'll make a decision some time pretty soon. And I'd really love your feedback.

I'd like to reiterate that I have not yet made a decision, and your comments on Facebook, Twitter, and Buzz have been outstanding.  

But really, this decision and these posts are not about me.  This is about the interesting dichotomy and (at least internal) conflict between the remarkable connective nature of the social web, coupled with the remarkably insular nature of the communities that evangelize tech and social web tools. 

As always, your thoughtful feedback is appreciated. 

Thanks.

- DHP

Protopodcast : MusicThere is a new episode of Protopodcast : Music available for you to download and enjoy.

Protopodcasts are short, minimal podcasts that more closely resemble a good FM radio talkset than a traditional podcast.  If you have a Protopodcast and would like it featured let me know.

Here's the Protopodcast : Music RSS feed.

Thanks.

Click Here for Protopodcast : Music : K'Naan ->>

Dave Diamond - KFI Dave Diamond was a rock n roll radio DJ in LA and San Francisco from the mid-50's through the mid-70s. He later retired to teach broadcasting. 

Diamond was one of the first 'Boss Jocks' and along with the legendary Bill Drake helped invent modern radio. Diamond was on the first Beatles tour, booked the fist gigs the Doors ever played in LA, wrote songs with Janis Jopin, and helped to define the sound of rock radio. 

While today we tend to scoff at radio as an antiquated medium, in the mid-50s radio was revolutionary. And by the mid-60s FM rock radio was the dominate pop-culture platform. 

Diamond was my professor for many years, and remains my most trusted mentor. He would frequently pass out 'Diamond's Laws to Live By' to his students. Some times we would spend entire classes discussing these deceptively simple ideas. 

These 'Laws' may seem overt and obvious. But upon reflection the power of Diamond's Laws comes from their mantra-like elegance and simplicity. 

Hope you can find some value in Diamond's Laws to Live By. 

- DHP

• The Diamond Mine - Diamond's Official Website
• More Info About Dave Diamond
• More Posts About Dave Diamond

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[Direct Link to Buzz Post]

I'll be using Buzz for stories this week. 

Specifically I'll be doing two things: 

A.) Asking for your input on how Buzz could and should be used for various components of news and journalism. 
B.) Posting a story or two that I'm working on 

A few factors of particular interest are at play here: 
1.) Crowdsourced News. Yes, this is an obvious conversation piece but it's nonetheless quite relevant. 
2.) Private and Selective Crowdsourcing. Much more interesting is the possibility of sharing certain information with trusted sources and trusted lists within Google Contacts and Buzz. Trusts lists let me, the journalist, share more information with the hope of getting more information back from a select and confidential list of people. 

I'll be experimenting with both of these tactics this week on at least one specific and particular story. 

Obviously I won't need to update you in a week with how this experiment goes - you'll tell me as it happens. But I will do a few summary posts on this topic. 

Of course, today's standards are tomorrows cliches. And the last thing I want is for this to become a pretentious and weighty topic. 

But this is a fascinating idea and I'd love your thoughts on Google Buzz + Journalism. 

Thanks. 

Over the next few weeks I'll share a few more thoughts on Google Buzz.  As always, I'm interested in the far-reaching possibilities of platforms like Buzz and the potential impact of the social web on people, media, and journalism.  Your comments below are always welcome.  

Here's this blog's RSS feed for syndicated updates.

You can follow me across the social web including Google Buzz, Facebook, and Twitter.

Thanks.

- DHP.

Technical Notes

• Links: If you're one of the good people who have linked to me or my websites in the past (thanks!), permit me to make a small request in asking you to point a new link to www.danpatterson.com.  All of the other links (http://dan-patterson.com, http://danpatterson.me, http://creepysleepy.com, etc) will continue to work, but www.danpatterson.com is now and will remain my primary domain.
• Email: The primary (and public) email contact on this site is now dhp@danpatterson.com.  Add this address to your contact list.  However, all of my email addresses will remain the same, so if we've communicated in the past all previous addresses will remain unchanged.  My contact page is here.

Thoughts on Digital Identity

Acquiring my name, Dan Patterson, tied to the primary TLD (top level domain - the .com in a URL string) has been important to me since I started using the internet.  I began podcasting in 2004 and blogging in 2005.   Believe it or not, I was (and in many ways remain) a reluctant blogger.  The internet is a web (pun intended) of dubious information and sources.  

However, the internet has become the de facto platform for information consumption and dissemination for much of the industrialized world.  Though institutions like libraries, government, and enterprise are also crucial pieces of Western information infrastructure, the web is where most people go to acquire information.  Inherently tied to information access is the ability for individuals to vet and verify information.  In a word, this process is called Trust.  For an individual, organization, government, or business to take action or make a decision based on information, that information must be Trusted and verifiable.  Tying a source, in this case an identity by way of a name, to information of any kind is critically important of all individuals.  This is why obtaining my name to a common domain is important to me.  It should be important to you as well, regardless of your particular station in society at large or online.  

Thanks

The process of acquiring this domain took a long time and I owe my thanks to a few people.  First, the domain was paid for by a benefactor who wises to remain nameless (as always, I provide a list of professional disclosures here), and was given to me as a personal Christmas gift  (as opposed to a professional gift which I could not accept due to journalistic and ethical conflicts).  I used a domain broker, Loren Stocker, who was great to work with and I would recommend to anyone looking to acquire a hard-to-get domain.  I was connected to Loren through Dane Atkinson, CEO of Squarespace.  Dane is a another great guy who I recommend highly.

And last, but of course not least, thanks much to you. 

I appreciate your interest, links, comments, and thoughtful insights over the past 5 years.  Here's to many more.

Thank you.

Most Sincerely Yours,

- Dan Patterson

January, 2010

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Part of my job is very straight forward:  I go places and ask people questions.  I generally interview two distinct groups of professionals: news makers from the United Nations and technology thought leaders. 

Part of my job, however, is technical and abstract.  Nutshell: I build and manage the ABC News Radio platform. I've been taking advantage of this mellow work week (much of the media industry vacations during the week between Christmas and New Year) to finish building the infrastructure of the ABC News Radio Digital Platform.  I wrote the following post as a year-end salvo to the work we've complete this year and in anticipation of the upcoming launch of our new sites and data platform.

Originally Written for the ABC News Radio Blog [originating post]

In the news and journalism industry, every day is exciting.  Journalists and content producers are constantly rushing off to cover a story, editing audio, taking notes, and typing copy.  Boredom is not frequently experienced in a newsroom.

But this year is going to be particularly exciting for ABC News Radio.  While we have no intention of abandoning our affiliate stations, we will be ramping up our online presence.  In fact, our digital efforts will help improve the content and service we provide to affiliates, while also making it much easier for the average person to discover our content online.

The plan is to begin launching the ABC News Radio Platform through Q1 of 2010.  A 'platform' is far more than a few web sites.  Platform implies quality quality content supported by infrastructure, technology, relationships, and vision.  2009 involved a lot of construction of the infrastructure and back-end.  2010 is exciting because we get to show off what we've been building.

We'll articulate specific Platform details as the year progresses.  Here's the plan:

1.) Web sites.

ABC News Radio will have two web sites: one for affiliates and one for the public.  The affiliate website will serve a number of functions, all based around providing timely information in multiple formats to our 2000+ radio affiliates.  The public site will serve our podcasts, video, and news content in a simple, flat, highly-searchable interface.  Via API, both sites will provide access to our content archive.

2.) Content Archival.

Our media archive spans more than a half decade and includes content from some of the most significant events in recent history.  This content is culturally and historically important.  We want you to be able to access this content quickly, easily, and affordably.  The archive is immense and will take a while to fully digitize.  But we can soon offer access to some of the media, and more as time goes on.  We're using Amazon Web Services, and specifically S3, to store and distribute our media library.  Two days ago we started pushing data from our social web accounts (Flickr, YouTube, Twitter, etc) to S3 and normalizing the data.  We'll soon begin uploading portions of our archive.  Soon after that we'll start letting select developers and members of the public in to poke around.  If you'd like access, let us know.

3.) Data and APIs.

It's one thing to archive our media content library, but what good is that content if it's not accessible and usable?  To that end we've been working with a number of developers on creation of Application Programming Interface (APIs).  This will allow our affiliates, developers, and the public to access and create content (apps, widgets, tools, etc) with our data in a number of ways.  We're very excited about this project and believe that data archival and access will play a significant role in the future of the news and journalism industries.

4.) Application Development.

While public betas of ABC News Radio applications are several months away from deployment, we strongly believe in delivering the news and media content to you in formats that you're accustomed to.  We've begun the process of creating applications for the iPhone, Android, Facebook, and other devices.  This is a long process but it's our hope that by this time next year you'll be reading a similar post from our blog our your mobile device. 

5.) Social Web Integration.

We're committed to using the social web to disseminate our media, connect with our audience, and reach new audiences.  There are a ton of fantastic companies, services, and people within the social web community and we've appreciated working with many of them.  Some (but certainly not all) of our favorites include Squarespace, Disqus, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, Digg, Blip.fm, Blip.tv, Vimeo, and others. 

As ever web developer knows all products and projects are constantly in 'beta, and the ABC News Radio Digital Platform is no exception.  But we've already accomplished many critical components of the above plan.  Development on our web sites began almost six months ago. We've inked a deal with Squarespace to provide critical technologies,  we're all over the social web, and have started laying the backbone of an accessible digital archive.  There's a lot of work yet to be done, but we're confident that you'll be pleased with the results.

Thanks much for swinging by and for helping us create a better product and platform!  If you have any questions or comments feel free to contact us.

- Dan Patterson

Digital Audio Manager and web platform developer [more about Dan]

ABC News Radio

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-- -- --

It's official! The ABC News Radio web platform is now officially powered by Squarespace.  After several months of negotiations, last week ABC News Radio and Squarespace inked a deal that will allow us to to officially develop various web properties and push our media through their unique and flexible system.

Squarespace is a New York City-based technology company.  They produce a powerful cloud-based content management system (CMS).

For the past several months we've been unofficially developing two sites using the Squarespace CMS using the domains abcnewsradioonline.com.  This site - our primary public site - and an Affiliate Resource site at http://affiliates.abcnewsradioonline.com are two critical front-end and management tools that allow ABC News Radio to accomplish two core tasks:

1.) Super-serve by providing tools and information to our terresterial radio affiliate stations across the country.

2.) Provide the public with easy access to our news and media content.

Our digital initiatives have many technical components and partners.  We'll document and highlight each step as we move closer to launch.  And while both of these sites are still a few weeks away from launch, the Squarespace deal will allow ABC News Radio to make significant progress towards deploying a robust digital platform.

As always, if you have any questions or comments feel free to contact us.

Thanks for reading.

- Dan Patterson

Digital Audio Manager and web platform developer [more about Dan]

ABC News Radio

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Richard D'Anjolell, a member of our ABC News Radio Facebook page, shared these great thoughts about the audio: Actually, the audio reinforces the state of the Internet and the importance of Web 2.0 in that there is lots of noise out there and we need filters to help us key in on the messages we really want to hear. Just looking at the positive.

Upon invitation (thanks Kas) from Black Hills State University I spoke to a PR class about the social web and changing nature of media.

Though the Black Hills / Spearfish area is rural and sparely populated, the people are fantastic.  I attended college at BHSU from 1998 - 2002, and 2004 - 2006.  I studied theatre, telecommunication, and political science.  During my time at 'BH' I worked at KBHU, the college radio station. 

At age 19 I started as KBHU's assistant news director and my job was primarily to wake at 5 three days per week and record the news and weather.  I worked my way up to music director, then program director and eventually general manager. 

KBHU was also the birthplace of the Creepy Sleepy Show - the radio programme and podcast I produced for a number of years.  Creepy Sleepy was primairly a music show from 1999 - 2002.  Upon my return to school in 2004 Creepy Sleepy changed quickly and asserted itself as an intense two-hour political talk and music show. 

Creepy Sleepy was spotted by Ellen Ratner and eventually lead to being hired by the Talk Radio News Service to work as a UN and political correspondent. 

Creating web sites and covering the UN for TRNS, in turn, lead to my current work as a digital content manager and sometimes-interviewer for ABC News Radio.

I bring this up antecdotally detail the potential of both tenacity and technology.  I was fortunate to have good mentors, lucky breaks, and several unique opportunities that helped provide experience. 

Technology has been an empowering tool.   But it hasn't been all technology.  I worked hard, too.  I stayed up late, I gave up the bar in lieu of a mixing board and Cool Edit Pro, I worked the phone and responded to every single email.

But these are values I acquired, in part, at BHSU.  I was fortunate to have started my work in a small town in the mountains of South Dakota.

More pictures of the Black Hills on Flickr ->>

Waxing Moon over the Black Hills

While this is not official ABC News policy, the below should be considered just good, solid common sense:

I and my colleagues in news journalism - print, broadcast, and web - take sourcing very seriously. Don't allow speculation to override your good judgement. This goes for my/any individual account, ABC, or any other news outlet - good journalists always cite their sources (we try hard for 3), try hard to never disseminate speculation or gossip (we're not perfect and sometimes we get fooled), and would rather be accurate than first.

We've been pushing updates to the ABC News Radio Twitter and Facebook accounts.

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I've known Julien and Chris for years and it was a pleasure to be able to discuss many web-centric topics in a main stream news context.  

Trust Agents, Chris Brogan and Julien Smith, Talk Tech With ABC's Dan Patterson from Dan Patterson on Vimeo.

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