However, now I’m ready to take the plunge.

Thesis is great because it provides a solid framework for anyone who is interested in using Wordpress but also doesn’t want to create a website from scratch. On this page, you can see the all the ways that other bloggers have customized Thesis. On some of the sites, you can hardly tell that the designer used a base theme!

(Pictured at left: Not THAT kind of thesis, by Eusebius@Commons)

Another great thing about Thesis is the support that comes with it. The official website hosts a forum run by devoted fans and knowledgeable web developers. You can pretty much find an answer to any question you may ever have about customizing the Thesis theme. Don’t feel like searching the forums? A Google search will generate more than enough answers.

You won’t be able to see the new design until I’m finished, but I promise that the layout will be clean and user-friendly. After using Clean Home for about nine months now, I know exactly what I need and want from a website framework.

I highly recommend Thesis for fans of Wordpress, bloggers, and anyone who knows basic HTML and CSS.

I struggle with seeing how Too Shy to Stop can be special when technology is changing and improving at an insane pace. Nowadays, what makes writing special? Consumers prefer multimedia displays, and they want content to challenge and titillate all their senses at once.

(Pictured at left: Nervous, by carolyn.will)

Lately, I have been feeling very strongly about the following things: the potential of small business, the untapped power of creative individuals, the overbearing nature of large corporations, the wonder that is the Internet, and the presence of bullshit in media.

I am also newly fascinated by search engines and search engine marketing, and I think pay-per-click advertisements are pretty freaking brilliant.

This September marks the first time in 20-something years that I won’t be returning to school. I have officially entered the real world, and I’m trying to make a clean break from my parents. I knew before that living is tough, but now I know for sure. I am more motivated to focus my energy and create something that can sustain myself and others.

I really need to proceed full-force with a new plan. I just feel too antsy not to move forward.

I kept thinking about Yelp.com and how I could access hundreds of opinions about restaurants not even mentioned in the magazine. Websites like Chowhound.com attract devoted users who offer directed recommendations for anyone seeking a certain cuisine, atmosphere, or location.

(Pictured at left: When you drink the punch, you like the punch, by vsqz)

For every restaurant listing in the magazine, I wanted to write a letter to the editors about why I agreed or disagreed with the choice. Did the magazine want to start a dialogue? Printed magazines cannot begin dialogues. Sure, letters to the editor mimic a dialogue, but these letters are printed a month later, when no one cares anymore.

On the other hand, I did appreciate the restaurant listings for other parts of the state because I’m less familiar with them. Perhaps this guide would be good for someone visiting New Jersey for the first time. At the same time, I assume that most of the people who read NJ Monthly are from New Jersey.

Case in point? Magazines need to be more “niche” to survive by attracting advertisers. NJ Monthly is “niche”, but you can’t tell a “niche” audience what’s best for them because they already know. Readers from New Jersey selected some of these top restaurant picks, but these readers only represent a small percentage of the “niche” audience.

A “niche” audience is a community that needs a real-time method of communication. Printed magazines fail them.

We continued a dialogue “off the Tweetdeck”, which means he sent me an e-mail explaining his vision for a self-publishing system that he believes will innovate publishing and change the way people share their creative work.  Jon currently works at a small company that digitizes pre-copyright texts for universities and libraries.  He has seen first-hand how print-on-demand does and doesn’t work.

I asked Jon a few questions about new media and currently unmet needs in the publishing industry, and he was kind enough to provide some thoughtful responses.

Me: What is your experience with publishing and when did you first become interested in media and publishing?

JZ: For the last two years, I’ve worked at a small company that offers digitization services to universities and libraries. We also handle private collections, and we offer e-book sales and print-on-demand services through our website.

I’ve always been an avid reader and devourer of information, but I really owe my interest in the publishing process to my day job. We occasionally get a book or two from an independent author to digitize and put up for sale; this made me wonder why anyone would bother with having someone else do the work for you and consequently taking part of your revenue.

Me: Where do you see a need/weakness in the industry?

JZ: Currently, the largest unmet need in publishing is the creation of a centralized place for both established and aspiring authors to digitally showcase their work with open, DRM-free distribution while still retaining their rights, and also generating their own revenue.

Me: How do you plan on addressing these unmet needs?

JZ: My ultimate goal is to launch a website that would allow anyone with material to upload it and set a price per download. No print-on-demand, no physical inventory. Imagine self-publishing’s satisfaction combined with the exposure of a publishing company.

I see the greatest interest being among people who have created something (book, movie, album, play, poetry, doesn’t matter) and either shopped it around to no avail or are convinced that it will get rejected. I think providing an outlet that allows people to share their work will foster a considerable amount of creativity from those who have previously seen it as a daunting task.

Me: Why do you think young people should be concerned about media and publishing? And how can they take action?

JZ: Of course, young people need to be concerned about media and publishing. Why wouldn’t we be? Newspapers and (to a lesser extent) magazines are in decline, which puts us in an excellent position to restructure the means of communication to suit our evolving needs. Combine our generation’s mastery of the Web 2.0 world with the DIY ethic that’s always been lurking in the corner, and you’ve given us the keys to rewrite the media world.

Me: Where do you find inspiration and information to fuel your own ideas?

JZ: The majority of my inspiration comes from the DIY copy-and-paste zine culture. I have always envied the total control these writers have over their content and distribution, and I want to offer that to everyone.

Companies like Microcosm Publishing that can stick to doing something they believe in without compromising it for business also have become a great inspiration to me lately. I don’t care if my projects barely break even so long as I’m continuing to uphold the values that inspired me to take action in the first place.

Me: What would you imagine for a perfect new media world?

JZ: My perfect new media world is one that embraces the content producers and encourages them to continue. At the end of the day, it’s not the sales or the money or the reviews or the fame, it’s the people that really matter.

Everything you create has the potential to be life-changing for someone, so why not share your work with the world and let everyone share the experience with you?

Me: Anything else?

JZ: Anyone who has questions or is interested in helping can either follow me on Twitter or e-mail me directly.

Whatever “new media” means to you, it absolutely describes the way that we will consume and share information during a time when traditional media outlets (newspapers and magazines) are undergoing great changes.

No one can predict the shape of the new media world, but I have some wishes for it.

Design and usability are top priorities. The Internet is a graveyard of poor design and websites/applications that are difficult to use and navigate. A few gems of great design shine through the muck. Why can’t everyone value and strive for harmonious layout and presentation?

(Pictured at left: Would rainbows exist in a new media world?, by balloon in a sock)

Standards of writing remain. A lot of writing snobs complain that the Internet is to blame for a decline in high-quality writing. My wish for a new media world is for consumers to appreciate, reward, and applaud clear, concise, and interesting writing.

Material waste is reduced. In my perfect new media world, people would waste less paper, have less clutter, be more organized, and find cleaner/more efficient ways to transmit information.

Talent triumphs over status. If you read Gawker regularly, you probably notice that celebrities (or relatives of celebrities) land awesome media internships that normal people like me covet. In my perfect new media world, talented people would get the jobs they deserve.

Consumers value and appreciate information. Consumers, especially those my age (20-somethings), take for granted the fact that most information is available for free. Media professionals work hard to create and produce that content; their work should be celebrated, and they should be appropriately compensated.

(Pictured at right: Media is so great!, by Wonderlane)

Producers are always reevaluating and innovating. Media producers need to keep innovating and thinking outside the box. They need to think about how they can create value and how they can keep their audience interested, engaged, and appreciative.

What do you envision for your perfect new media world?

When I use the word “print” in this sense, I am not simply referring to printed material. Print in this sense = printed word distributed with a specific circulation by publishers. Imagine a printed circulation of 50,000 magazines or a print run of a book to be sold to bookstores all over the country.

“Print”, as I just defined it, is located on one end of a media spectrum. On the other end is absolute digitization.

Many companies and innovative individuals are finding a happy medium between print and digital. Print on demand (POD), which allows for a low circulation number and requires only a guaranteed audience to manifest as ink on paper, takes a lot of what’s great about digitization and makes it work with print.

(Pictured at left: Happy medium, by mistress_f)

On May 19th, Publisher’s Weekly reported that “The number of new and revised titles produced by traditional production methods fell 3% in 2008, to 275,232, but the number of on-demand and short run titles soared 132%, to 285,394.”

POD is a booming business venture for publishing companies and amateur writers trying to get published. In many cases, it is used to produce short-run titles for specialized audiences and needs; for example, a college professor wrote her own textbook for a class, and she copies for 500 students. POD makes this possible, and the students can purchase her text from the bookstore.

PW reports that this growth in POD “…reflects not only the difficult economy but the decision by publishers to become smarter and more strategic in the titles they published last year.”

Some companies are producing direct-to-consumer technologies that allow ANYONE to print on-demand, even if they only want to print one copy. Traditionally reserved for specialized print runs and requiring a minimum (setting the print and graphics was not cost-effective otherwise), POD can produce just ONE copy of a text.

One way that POD straddles the gap between print and digitization is by providing a printed copy of something that’s already published on the Internet. Twitter member @FerroGate, co-founder of Issuu, a company that creates custom print publications from digital documents, says “Digital editions+Optional & well-done POD=Best of both worlds until we have ubiquitous reading devices and print is marginalized.”

On Demand Books, which developed and distributes the Espresso Book Machine to bookstores and cafes, claims: “What Gutenberg’s press did for Europe in the 15th century digitization and the Espresso Book Machine will do for the world tomorrow”.

(Pictured at right: Printing press, by Gastev)

(Side note: WHAT?! That’s a pretty lofty claim, considering that this Book Machine is a printing press…that’s not revolutionizing anything except giving anyone the ability to use it.)

Anyway, the Book Machine allows customers to print one copy of a book or print a vanity copy of their own work. Copies of books cost about $15. I recommend this NPR segment if you want to learn more.

What if customers could print things like magazines and newspapers? Twitter member @TravelingAnna says, “I think I’d print it, read it once and toss it. HUGE waste of paper.

But are these developments really innovative? If print in one sense is dying, then is it practical to develop technologies to keep print alive? Are these companies and innovators fighting, as Ben Folds would say, “the battle of who could care less”? I don’t have the answer, but I am pretty sure these efforts are nothing more than a form of nostalgia.

Gutenberg’s printing press? Come on.

Just pick up a magazine or newspaper and think about how you feel when you flip the pages, read the words, and skip over things that don’t interest you. Don’t just consume media; have a conversation with it.

I was reading Reason while eating my take-out dinner, and I had what Oprah would call an “Aha!” moment.

I thought about the things I love about print (magazines, in particular): holding a magazine; turning the pages; admiring the glossy, full-size images.

(Pictured at left: Actual piles of magazines in my parents’ house)

And I thought about the things I dislike about print: clutter; waste; advertisements (some ads are alright); pages of articles that don’t interest me; editorial choice; cost; not as instantaneous as online media.

I noticed that the latest issue of Reason arrived in the mail a few days ago, and I made a mental note to read it. I brought it to the table with my dinner, flipped to the index, and scanned the article summaries for something interesting. A piece about underage “sexting” caught my attention*.

I really enjoyed the article, but I finished my dinner when I finished reading. By that point, I had the idea to write this blog post and little interest in reading any other articles. Will I come back to this magazine? Was it a waste of paper and ink? Could I have found this same article online by searching for “sexting”? Did I need to discover it?

Is print dead? Is it really dead? Do we feel more comfortable holding a Kindle than we feel holding a magazine or newspaper? Is it easier to read content digitally? Would we ever give up the pleasure of holding and interacting with a paper publication?

What if we combined the things that are great about print media with the things that are great about online media?

If there’s one thing we know for sure about the Internet age, it’s that people are more confident with choice. They choose which websites to visit, which content to read and consume, and they can search for anything in an instant.

(Pictured at right: Making choices, by [n])

Why the heck would they want to read a magazine that’s filled with articles chosen for them? Because they’re too tired of making their own decisions.

We know that not everyone can be a writer. But what if everyone was an editor? What if everyone could choose what to include in their own magazine, and what if we made that possible for them? Would it matter if this magazine appeared in print or online? Would it matter then?

*“Sexting” has been the subject of a running joke in my house this past week. I made a joking Facebook status update about how CNN’s coverage of “sexting” has opened my eyes to a whole new world of possibilities. My mom saw my laptop (opened to my Facebook profile page), assumed the worst about my update, and lectured me about the dangers of “sexting”, which she also heard about via CNN.

Today, I am writing simply because I stumbled upon Journalism Is Dead, “a collection of alarmist, bombastic and otherwise humorous quotes about why journalism as an industry is dead”.

(Pictured at left: We get the point, by vortistic)

I’m pretty sure that Mark S. Luckie, the guy behind this site and 10,000 Words, is trying to poke fun at the issue, but every time I refresh the page, my stomach sinks. “Just in case no-one told you, printed newspapers are dead.” “Newspapers are DEAD, done now stop being surprised about it.”

Yo, everyone needs to settle down. Settle down!

I wholeheartedly believe that the ability to communicate clearly, effectively, and with integrity is one of the most valuable skills a person can possess. In order to maintain a peaceful and organized society, we must be able to communicate with one another.

Not everyone is a stellar communicator (not everyone has to be!), but certain people interpret, translate, compile, compose, and transmit messages on society’s behalf. Those people are JOURNALISTS in some way, shape, or form.

Whether these gifted communicators are writing for a NEWSPAPER or for a BLOG, these people are TELLING STORIES. The most coherent stories are the ones that readers will read. The stories written by the most trusted communicators will be the most valuable.

(Pictured at right: Some people are good at telling stories, by kodomut)

The story dictates the way it needs to be told. Today’s stories require a different mode of telling.

So seriously, calm down.

The problem: Because many news websites are updated in real-time, many news updates are fragmented and disjointed. Reporters are not able to create a traditional beginning, middle, and end of a story because they don’t have enough information! By the time all the information is gathered, the story is a fragmented mess of web updates.

The solution: “I will be working with The Columbia Missourian on creating a web site built more around context than around time. A web site sort of inspired by Wikipedia as much as anything else.

(Pictured at left: Putting together the pieces, by liza31337)

It’ll have, very broadly, two components to it. A wiki…[that] contains stories as they develop over time, synthesized into a report that is cohesive and reads as a single story. And a blog that contains ongoing updates and developments as the story iterates over time.”

Why I love this idea: Matt and his colleagues are trying to preserve the model of a traditional news story, which includes a beginning, middle, end, all the facts, and sources. Sure, the Internet allows journalists almost immediate access to information, but that information probably arrives in bits and pieces. This is a great way to take advantage of what’s great about the Internet while still maintain the journalistic integrity one would find in a print story.

Recently, some people have speculated that citizen journalists (think Tweeters documenting the Hudson River plane crash) are going to shape the new wave of journalism. Matt’s project takes this concept and professionalizes it; it reclaims journalism as a respectable and important field that is evolving to keep up with the demands of people who consume information!