Megan Taylor http://www.megantaylor.org journalist, hack-n-slasher, information junkie, bibliophile, Flyers fan, sci-fi geek and kitteh servant. Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:21:02 +0000 en hourly 1 teach yourself to codehttp://www.megantaylor.org/2012/04/30/teach-yourself-to-code/ http://www.megantaylor.org/2012/04/30/teach-yourself-to-code/#comments Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:21:02 +0000 Megan Taylor http://www.megantaylor.org/?p=5083 teach yourself to code, resources for people to want to learn programming. By Kate Ray.

]]> http://www.megantaylor.org/2012/04/30/teach-yourself-to-code/feed/ 0 Open Thread Mondays: A Manifesto For Hyperlocal | Sheepshead Bay News Bloghttp://www.megantaylor.org/2012/04/30/open-thread-mondays-a-manifesto-for-hyperlocal-sheepshead-bay-news-blog/ http://www.megantaylor.org/2012/04/30/open-thread-mondays-a-manifesto-for-hyperlocal-sheepshead-bay-news-blog/#comments Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:46:51 +0000 Megan Taylor http://www.megantaylor.org/?p=5079 Continue reading →]]> I believe local journalism, local government and local economies are the linchpins of a vibrant, healthy nation. For decades, as conglomerates swallowed up independent news outlets across the nation (our own local paper, Bay News, is owned by News Corp. – the same company that owns Fox News and the New York Post, for example), local coverage was watered down because community reporting is expensive, and stockholders want dividends. And because corporations can view employees as easily replaceable cogs, one reporter who lives in the community and has covered it for decades is just as valuable as one straight out of journalism school three states over.

But community reporting requires more than cogs. It requires more than an academic familiarity of those it covers. What meaningful local reporting requires is a personal investment. If the reporter doesn’t stand to benefit from a healthy community, his coverage will serve to dramatize and exacerbate problems rather than solve them.

When Sheepshead Bites ventures to cover the community, we do it because we’re neighbors. Our writers live here. Our business is based here. And we endeavor to support and uplift our neighbors for all of our benefit.

Our reporting sees results. When we complain about garbage, it gets cleaned up. When we question politicians, they endeavor to meet our concerns. When we cry to the city that Sheepshead deserves more – well, we’re still waiting to see about that one. This alone makes the site a worthwhile exercise, because, to me, the significance of one’s aspirations is only measurable by how much it helps others. Not to get preachy, but a preacher’s quote is especially applicable here: “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” (That’d be Martin Luther King, Jr., by the way.)

from Open Thread Mondays: A Manifesto For Hyperlocal | Sheepshead Bay News Blog via BoingBoing.

]]> http://www.megantaylor.org/2012/04/30/open-thread-mondays-a-manifesto-for-hyperlocal-sheepshead-bay-news-blog/feed/ 0 Aviatorhttp://www.megantaylor.org/2012/04/29/aviator/ http://www.megantaylor.org/2012/04/29/aviator/#comments Sun, 29 Apr 2012 19:20:36 +0000 Megan Taylor http://www.megantaylor.org/?p=5065 Trying on aviator goggles at the Air and Space Museum in DC.

Trying on aviator goggles at the Air and Space Museum in DC.

]]> http://www.megantaylor.org/2012/04/29/aviator/feed/ 2 Dalek dresshttp://www.megantaylor.org/2012/04/25/dalek-dress-documented-boing-boing/ http://www.megantaylor.org/2012/04/25/dalek-dress-documented-boing-boing/#comments Wed, 25 Apr 2012 11:40:26 +0000 Megan Taylor http://www.megantaylor.org/?p=5052 Beautiful Dalek dress

Beautiful Dalek dress by Somevelvetmorning via BoingBoing

]]> http://www.megantaylor.org/2012/04/25/dalek-dress-documented-boing-boing/feed/ 0 Put my CodeYear progress up on GitHub to motivate myself to stick with ithttp://www.megantaylor.org/2012/04/23/put-my-codeyear-progress-up-on-github-to-motivate-myself-to-stick-with-it/ http://www.megantaylor.org/2012/04/23/put-my-codeyear-progress-up-on-github-to-motivate-myself-to-stick-with-it/#comments Mon, 23 Apr 2012 21:16:59 +0000 Megan Taylor http://www.megantaylor.org/?p=5046 Put my CodeYear progress up on GitHub to motivate myself to stick with it: megantaylor/codeyear.

]]> http://www.megantaylor.org/2012/04/23/put-my-codeyear-progress-up-on-github-to-motivate-myself-to-stick-with-it/feed/ 0 Step by step: how to start in a data journalist role | Online Journalism Bloghttp://www.megantaylor.org/2012/04/23/step-by-step-how-to-start-in-a-data-journalist-role-online-journalism-blog/ http://www.megantaylor.org/2012/04/23/step-by-step-how-to-start-in-a-data-journalist-role-online-journalism-blog/#comments Mon, 23 Apr 2012 11:30:34 +0000 Megan Taylor http://www.megantaylor.org/?p=5043 Step by step: how to start in a data journalist role | Online Journalism Blog.

]]> http://www.megantaylor.org/2012/04/23/step-by-step-how-to-start-in-a-data-journalist-role-online-journalism-blog/feed/ 0 The Miso Project :: Datasethttp://www.megantaylor.org/2012/04/20/the-miso-project-dataset/ http://www.megantaylor.org/2012/04/20/the-miso-project-dataset/#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2012 22:06:37 +0000 Megan Taylor http://www.megantaylor.org/?p=5034 Continue reading →]]> The Miso Project :: Dataset

“Dataset is a JavaScript client-side data transformation and management library. Dataset makes managing client-side data easy by handling loading, parsing, sorting, querying & manipulating data from all sorts of sources.”

Miso project: how it will help you make your own Guardian-style infographics and data visualisations | guardian.co.uk.

]]> http://www.megantaylor.org/2012/04/20/the-miso-project-dataset/feed/ 0 Email Cross-Client Compatibilityhttp://www.megantaylor.org/2012/04/20/email-cross-client-compatibility/ http://www.megantaylor.org/2012/04/20/email-cross-client-compatibility/#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2012 16:16:13 +0000 Megan Taylor http://www.megantaylor.org/?p=5028 I don’t understand why every email client interprets things so differently. It’s worse than cross-browser compatibility!

]]> http://www.megantaylor.org/2012/04/20/email-cross-client-compatibility/feed/ 0 Introducing the data journalism handbookhttp://www.megantaylor.org/2012/04/20/introducing-the-data-journalism-handbook/ http://www.megantaylor.org/2012/04/20/introducing-the-data-journalism-handbook/#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2012 11:47:56 +0000 Megan Taylor http://www.megantaylor.org/?p=5019 Continue reading →]]> Introducing the data journalism handbook | guardian.co.uk

“The launch of the Data Journalism Handbook next week is the result of a unique journalistic collaboration…The book’s contributors are a who’s who of data journalism. There are pieces by data journalists from the BBC, the Chicago Tribune, the Financial Times, Propublica and the New York Times. And that’s besides contributions from three of us at the Guardian.”

]]> http://www.megantaylor.org/2012/04/20/introducing-the-data-journalism-handbook/feed/ 0 Install Adobe AIR and TweetDeck 0.38.2 in Ubuntuhttp://www.megantaylor.org/2012/02/28/install-adobe-air-and-tweetdeck-0-38-2-in-ubuntu/ http://www.megantaylor.org/2012/02/28/install-adobe-air-and-tweetdeck-0-38-2-in-ubuntu/#comments Wed, 29 Feb 2012 01:44:04 +0000 Megan Taylor http://www.megantaylor.org/?p=4382 Just because I keep forgetting:

Twitter’s version of TweetDeck is le suck.

Get AIR for Linux here.

Get TweetDeck 0.38.2 here.

To install AIR, make executable in permissions and run ./AdobeAIRInstaller.bin in Terminal.

To install TweetDeck, make executable and double-click.

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