Where Great Ideas Take Off

Where Great Ideas Take Off
A look at how technology is changing the American news-scape and more

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

The role of social media in Libya

The New York Times breaks it down here.

The New Statesman calls it an uprising caught on cameraphone here.

And The Daily Beast has a log of civilian-reported (and Tweeted) images here. (Note: Many of the images are extremely graphic and upsetting.)

Wisconsin Governor Punked by Journalist Pretending to be David Koch

Journalist Ian Murphy of the Buffalo Beast (an alt publication founded by Matt Taibbi) punked Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and got the inside story on union-busting plans. Here's the whole story over at the HuffPost, complete with audio made possible by Skype.

And to break it down even further, here's HuffPost's take on the six top revelations that came from the punking.

The Power of Social Media

Bigger than the Industrial Revolution. You decide. Watch this then go here.

The role of social media in the Wisconsin protests

Facebook, Twitter, and more -- watch #weunion here.

Wael Ghonim on CBS' 60 Minutes

Watch an in-depth interview with Wael Ghonim here.

Writers, Poets, Publishers and More Headline Pitt-Greensburg’s Writers’ Festival March 14-18

The Pitt-Greensburg Writer’s Festival celebrates its 10th anniversary Monday, March 14 through Friday, March 18 in the Village Hall coffeehouse on campus.

West Coast poets and writers Joan Jobe Smith and Fred Voss, bestselling mystery novelist Kathleen George, poet John Repp, “That’s Church!” blogger Virginia Montanez, singer/songwriter Bill Deasy, and UPG faculty, alumni and students will be among the featured speakers.

Editors and publishers from New York’s Spuyten Duyvil press and the internationally-acclaimed Caketrain literary magazine will also be on hand to offer their insights into breaking into print. Receptions and booksignings will be ongoing throughout the festival.

All events are free and open to the public. Each day a craft talk will begin at 4 p.m. and a reading will follow at 7 p.m. Authors’ books will be available for purchase.

The full schedule includes:

Monday, March 14 -- Poet/memoirist Joan Jobe Smith -- craft talk at 4 p.m.; reading
at 7 p.m. with reception and book-signing to follow

Tuesday, March 15 -- Poet Fred Voss -- craft talk at 4 p.m.; reading at 7 p.m. with
reception and book-signing to follow

Wednesday, March 16 – Editors and publishers from Caketrain, Spuyten Duyvil and more discuss the literary life at 4 p.m.; Faculty/Alumni reading at 7 p.m. with reception and
book-signing to follow

Thursday, March 17 – Bestselling mystery novelist Kathleen George -- reading and talk at 4 p.m. with reception and book-signing to follow; Poet John Repp -- reading at 7 p.m. with
reception and book-signing to follow

Friday, March 18 -- One Book Event with Kathleen George at noon (this event is sponsored by the Pitt-Greensburg Friends of the Library and will be in the campus’ Millstein Library); The Art and Craft of New Media: a panel presentation featuring UPG bloggers and professional guest blogger Virginia Montanez at 4 p.m. in the Coffeehouse; Singer/Songwriter Bill Deasy -- talk on songwriting, followed by a performance and book-signing, 7 p.m.

The Pitt-Greensburg Writers Festival is sponsored by the university’s Writing Program, Academic Villages, Student Government Association, Pendulum, Academic Affairs, and The Friends of the Library.

For more information about the festival, or about the writing program at Pitt-Greensburg, call 724-836-7481 or e-mail loj@pitt.edu.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Updated Presentation Schedule

Thanks to Janelle and Rachel for such a great start to presentation season!

Here's the updated schedule:

Wednesday, Feb. 23: BoingBoing/Rin
Wednesday, Feb. 30: Grist.Org/Justin, The Onion/C.J. and Physorg.com/Lauren
Wednesday, March 2: Bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/Montana; Obscuresound.com/Dave
March 14-18 -- Writers Festival; Presentations on Friday, March 18 from 4-6 p.m. with special guest blogger Virginia Montanez of Pittsburgh's That's Church! blog.
Wednesday, March 23: Visit from Special Guest Blogger Jason Mosley (Mr. Baconpants, Start Up Pittsburgh and more)
Wednesday, March 30: Vulture/Natalie; TMZ/Jenna and PerezHilton/Kaylie