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01 Jan 2010 11:12

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About: ShortFormBlog turns one! Anybody want some cake or something?

  • Julius can now eat solid food! Today, ShortFormBlog celebrates its first birthday, and boy are we excited. A lot has happened in the last year, and boy, we’d love to tell you about it. Our crazy idea of making a blog focused on numbers, quotes and other short stuff has been nothing if a lot of statistics. So here’s a few:
  • 6,098 posts, including this one have been put on the site in the last year
  • 268k people have found their way onto the SFB site in the last year; neat
  • this is our most popular post of all time. People love Transformers, kids!
  • So, what’s next? Well, we’re gonna keep doing what we do best. Blogging and keeping you jerks informed. After a year of doing this, we’ve gotten pretty good, and are always trying new things. That’s our plan for 2010.
  • Any ideas? As you might know, we’re totally open to cool ideas, so send us some! We’re all ears, especially if the ideas are good and can extend our mission of giving the news in as short of a space as possible. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 8 Comments • Permalink

19 Dec 2009 14:17

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About: ShortFormBlog is stuck in its apartment. Julius is getting cabin fever.

  • We’re not going out today. We had a few things we wanted to knock off our Christmas list, but there’s no way Julius will be able to get out of this mess without being super-rusted. So we’re giving up like the pathetic beasts of blogging that we are. We’ll be blogging next to an open fire created by broken dreams.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Nov 2009 05:06

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About: We’re building a ShortFormBlog theme for Tumblr. Whaddya want?

Screen-shot-2009-11-20-at-4.39.22-AM
  • This is still early in the process, but recently, we figured out a major breakthrough in short-form blogging technology – using Tumblr – that doesn’t require any of the clunkier database-driven technology we’ve been using. It’s so simple, we’d be complete jerks if we didn’t share it with the rest of the world (possibly with a price tag on it), because it makes Tumblr way cooler. So, fellow bloggers, what would you want from a SFB-style theme? Our hard work could be your next blog. Click the source for a preview.source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Nov 2009 02:09

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About: A quick shout-out to our RSS readers: Hey guys!

  • If you didn’t know … … you can read ShortFormBlog’s posts without ever having to visit the site. We have a full-featured RSS feed with hundreds of readers that offers an experience that matches the bite-sized nature of the site. Numbers, photos, quotes, videos and so on show up on the feed. It looks particularly good in Google Reader. source
  • If you didn’t know … … you can read ShortFormBlog’s posts without ever having to visit the site. We have a full-featured RSS feed with hundreds of readers that offers an experience that matches the bite-sized nature of the site. Numbers, photos, quotes, videos and so on show up on the feed. It looks particularly good in Google Reader.
  • On recent issues Over the last few weeks, we’ve had some significant problems with our feed – both under the hood and above the hood. We admittedly worked really hard to get that feed in good shape, so this is frustrating. Please e-mail us if you find any further problems with that or anything else on the site. We appreciate it greatly. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Nov 2009 10:40

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About: It’s official. We have a redesign. It’s up. Check it out, kids.



So here it is. Our redesign. We've spent months working on this bad boy. We've been talking about this in bits and pieces over the last few months, but now here it is. And we hope you guys like it. Because you're awesome and make us look good when you like stuff we do.

  • What hasn’t changed The commitment to providing people with short, info-packed bites that provide quick insight into the day’s news. Most of the post styles are still exactly the same as they were on day one of the site. Oh, and Julius is still the mascot. (And one of the trademarks, referring to the site in the “editorial we,” continues unabated.) source
  • What hasn’t changed The commitment to providing people with short, info-packed bites that provide quick insight into the day’s news. Most of the post styles are still exactly the same as they were on day one of the site. Oh, and Julius is still the mascot. (And one of the trademarks, referring to the site in the “editorial we,” continues unabated.)
  • What has changed Over the last ten months, it’s become clear what’s worked and what hasn’t, and what was needed to take that basic idea and turn it into something more useful for readers. So with that, we’re adding focus on navigation, improving our content focus and pushing a design that encourages exploration. Read more above. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 10 Comments • Permalink

29 Oct 2009 21:02

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About: We’re going to come up with the best damn set of twitter lists EVAH!

My Twitter List
  • We’re sure Twitter is still working out the kinks of it, but their new lists feature is pretty awesome. To help with our ever-important goal of giving short bites, we’re going to curate the hell out of our “Sources I recommend” list. You should become a fan or something. And if you have any suggestions, of course, throw them this way.source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Oct 2009 14:37

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About: Not saying you have to, just suggesting you should.

We kind of have a favor to ask. See, our friends at Mashable have this contest going on. And we were hoping you might vote for us in the "Best News Source to Follow" category. We would pay you back in cheap beer. We swear.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

21 Oct 2009 21:09

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About: Big site news: ShortFormBlog’s redesigning, and other changes

redesign1021

We have big plans, guys. As you might remember a couple weeks ago, we asked you guys what you wanted. In part, that's because we have some big plans for the site's future. To start with, we have a redesign ready to launch November 3. Here's a little about the redesign, and some other changes:
  • Why the redesign? ShortFormBlog has been in existence for ten months, and we’ve learned a lot. And in many ways, the site’s focus evolved in ways that the original site didn’t anticipate. Mainly, we wanted a cleaner format that made the bite-sized elements work as well throughout the site as they do on the front page. To emphasize these changes, we’re flipping the slogan from “writing a little, saying a lot” to “read a little, learn a lot.” Small, but notable.
  • Why the redesign? ShortFormBlog has been in existence for ten months, and we’ve learned a lot. And in many ways, the site’s focus evolved in ways that the original site didn’t anticipate. Mainly, we wanted a cleaner format that made the bite-sized elements work as well throughout the site as they do on the front page. To emphasize these changes, we’re flipping the slogan from “writing a little, saying a lot” to “read a little, learn a lot.” Small, but notable.
  • Sports: Outta here One of the things that we’ve wrestled with more than anything is a way of paring down the site’s elements in smart, clear ways. For that reason, we’ve chosen to take out a piece of the pie that’s fallen by the wayside. Sports will not be part of the redesign. By cutting off a finger, we hope to make the hand stronger or something. But in the future, we have other plans for sports. And we want to bring readers on board to help.
  • Why the redesign? ShortFormBlog has been in existence for ten months, and we’ve learned a lot. And in many ways, the site’s focus evolved in ways that the original site didn’t anticipate. Mainly, we wanted a cleaner format that made the bite-sized elements work as well throughout the site as they do on the front page. To emphasize these changes, we’re flipping the slogan from “writing a little, saying a lot” to “read a little, learn a lot.” Small, but notable.
  • Sports: Outta here One of the things that we’ve wrestled with more than anything is a way of paring down the site’s elements in smart, clear ways. For that reason, we’ve chosen to take out a piece of the pie that’s fallen by the wayside. Sports will not be part of the redesign. By cutting off a finger, we hope to make the hand stronger or something. But in the future, we have other plans for sports. And we want to bring readers on board to help.
  • New content, kids! One thing that we will be adding to the site is a weekly editorial comic by Shawn Vulliez. Vulliez, a fan of the site, created the animation for one of the most well-known and popular Flash clips of all time, “The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny.” The comics are just a start, we hope. Our long-term goal is to figure out ways, both big and small, to get more contributors on board. Bug us if you’re interested.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

05 Oct 2009 12:00

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About: Feedback wanted: A special query from site founder Ernie Smith

What do you guys want? I (not we, I) love doing this site. But I want to encourage its long-term future. I have a lot of things in the can for the site. But I want to get some thoughts from my readers on how to proceed. Here's a few things on my mind:
  • Building focus Over the last 10 months, the site’s content has been defined by its everything-gets-in atmosphere. It largely focuses on a soft approach to hard news, but the subject matter is very broad otherwise. I’m debating whether it might make sense to have a tighter focus – less sports and music, more hard news and tech. What do you think?
  • Building focus Over the last 10 months, the site’s content has been defined by its everything-gets-in atmosphere. It largely focuses on a soft approach to hard news, but the subject matter is very broad otherwise. I’m debating whether it might make sense to have a tighter focus – less sports and music, more hard news and tech. What do you think?
  • Adding new voices As some of you might know through my usage of bad puns, dirty jokes and left-field explanations, (I think) I’m a funny guy. But I feel like more variety – and more writers – could strengthen the site. (And yes, I’m asking for resumes.) How would you handle writing news in short bites? Think you could do it on a regular schedule? Think about it.
  • Building focus Over the last 10 months, the site’s content has been defined by its everything-gets-in atmosphere. It largely focuses on a soft approach to hard news, but the subject matter is very broad otherwise. I’m debating whether it might make sense to have a tighter focus – less sports and music, more hard news and tech. What do you think?
  • Adding new voices As some of you might know through my usage of bad puns, dirty jokes and left-field explanations, (I think) I’m a funny guy. But I feel like more variety – and more writers – could strengthen the site. (And yes, I’m asking for resumes.) How would you handle writing news in short bites? Think you could do it on a regular schedule? Think about it.
  • Time vs. quality It’s probably obvious, but I spend much of my day trying to make this site happen. It’s lots of work. It’s fun work and I love it. But, I already have a full-time job. And this takes up too much of my life right now. Is it a matter of working smarter vs. working harder? I want to find the right balance. Do you guys have any ideas? Leave a comment.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 20 Comments • Permalink

03 Aug 2009 21:02

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About: The Associated Press is dead to us. We’re not covering their stories.

  • © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
  • The slogan that runs at the bottom of each Associated Press story • We copied it from the bottom of one of their articles. Why? Because it’s silly in the day and age of the Internet. Of course it’s going to get copied and redistributed, paraphrased and quoted. It’s how information spreads. But not anymore from us. We quit. This was the last straw. You used to be great, AP, but now you’re just a giant beast of another era. Even your efforts to reach younger customers fail. So, we’re no longer linking to your stories on this site. Or, if we absolutely need to (which, considering the wide variety of content online, we don’t need to), we’ll link to you guys using a NoFollow tag. Think we should do this? Let us know. We’re up for any opinion you have on this matter. We simply want the AP to respect the rights of its audience. It’s only fair.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 5 Comments • Permalink
 
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