New Tribune Site

I’ve been test-driving the beta version of the new GF Tribune website, along with a few other folks such as Capt Black Eagle and Janna. The beta version has been slow, but that should be fixed when the Trib flips the switch to go “live” (which should happen later today). I must admit to being rather impressed. It looks a lot more like a website - not just a newpaper slapped online. And of course the big news is the interactivity: Forums and Blogs. Yep - blogs for everyone, complete with post titles, comments, blogrolls, and all. Kudos to the Trib - good to have them join us in the 21st century Here’s a couple of screenshots of the new site.

Read The Whole Thing >>>

May 13, 2008 | Filed Under media | 4 Comments

“Room To Live”

“Buckle up!” How many times have you said that to a passenger in your car? For me, seat belts are automatic - I barely even think about it; buckling-up is a matter of routine. To be honest, I don’t quite understand people who DON’T automatically fasten their seat belt as soon as they get in a car. If you’re not a regular buckle-upper, or are trying to convince a family member or friend to use their seat belt, then you should check out these two videos titled “Room To Live.” They are PSAs for the MT Dept of Transportation, created by GF’s own Banik team. The phrase “room to live” refers to the “cage” of your vehicle, which protects you IF you are buckled up. Share the link or the video - spread the news.

May 10, 2008 | Filed Under civics, media | 1 Comment

Malmstrom on “Today Show”

If you’re up early enough you can catch some of Malmstrom’s finest as they are featured on a segment of “The Today Show” titled “Access Granted,” which takes viewers to locations that are not normally seen by regular folks. From the AF Times:

Al Roker will broadcast one segment 10 feet above a nuclear warhead while standing on the exit doors of the missile silo, said Maj. Laurie Arellano, an Air Force Space Command spokeswoman.
“He’ll be standing on the deadliest location in the world,” she said.
The segments will air from Malmstrom at 7:45 a.m. and 8:45 a.m. local time. The first segment will be broadcast from the missile silo, the second from the missile control center.

It will air locally on cable channel 6. And if you’ve never seen a missile launch, check out this video clip. Awesome.

UPDATE, Tuesday afternoon: here’s what the Air Force had to say about this Today Show visit, and a picture of Al Roker on the scene.

Al Roker Gets Frisked at a Malmstrom Missile Site

May 6, 2008 | Filed Under military, media | 3 Comments

Unsung Heroes

What do Cindy James, Marvin Brewster, Katya Marandino, and Ubon Broudeur all have in common? They’ve all been named as “Unsung Heroes” over at KFBB. Nice feature.

April 28, 2008 | Filed Under media, people | Leave a Comment

KFBB Cries “Foul!”

It was great to see the “Release The Geese” event get attention from our local mainstream media folks, but unfortunately it looks like the good folks at KFBB think that the geese and ducks and swans are quite foul. Maybe they were referring to the smell of the water fowl…?

KFBB Cries Foul

UPDATE, Sunday evening: KFBB has updated the story with the correct spelling

RELATED: heh…and now the Tribune makes a similar goof, using VICE instead of VISE:

Vice Squad?

Attention KRTV, KFBB, Tribune: you know, I am available for hire as a proof-reader slash copy-editor.

April 20, 2008 | Filed Under animals, media | 3 Comments

Redneck Hippie is…

…you fill in the blank. I know that I once promised to forever ignore Redneck Hippie, aka Larry Kralj, but his lunacy is so venomous and so mean-spirited, that it deserves some sort of response, if only to provide a counter to his rants. Oh, and besides suffering from BDS, he’s also flat-out wrong on some of his recent claims.

Read The Whole Thing >>>

Here’s some of his latest rants from the Tribune Forums, directed at both (1) the media’s coverage of the return of Air Force troops from their deployment to a war-zone, and (2) the Airmen themselves:

Redneck Hippie
Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 9:19 am Post subject: DOH!
Enough with the welcome home crap. As the dick, cheney would say, “SO”? It AIN’T like they’re comin’ back from WWII! They got their overseas pay, their combat pay, and a very pleasant stay! For THIS they get a front page picture? Sheesh. This country has gone goofy! We’ve gone soft in the head!

Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 11:04 am Post subject:
WHAT did they DO for us? Hell, I know TRUCKERS who are away from home longer than that! How many guys did they lose again? Sheesh. Murcans have become soft in the head.

Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 11:22 am Post subject: DOH!
Here, I’ll make it REAL simple for the whiners. The homecoming should be commensurate with the amount of sacrifice! HOW MANY TROOPS DID THE LOSE? HOW MUCH DID THE “SUFFER”? WHAT DID THEY ACCOMPLISH?
They GOT their overseas pay. They GOT their combat pay. They probably GOT some other pay I have forgotten. And they did this for a job! Where’s the big sacrifice? Again, I know TRUCKERS that are away from home more than THESE guys were!
They were NOT protecting me. For you see, NO Iraqi has EVER done anything to me! An IDIOT, bush, started a war for nothing! If you morons want to be mad at someone, be mad at bush! HE’S the one who’s bankrupted our country and killed so many innocent people for NOTHING!
I will say that these folks returning probably did a good job at what they were supposed to do. That’s pretty much what we ALL do.

Oh, where to start…I’ll have more on this soon. Anyone wanna have fun picking apart his diatribes in the meantime?

UPDATE, 10:20 pm: AJ is right, in the comments, when he advises me not to feed the troll. Larry does far more damage to his credibility and reputation with his own words than I could ever do.

Deep breath. We now return you to your regularly-scheduled blogging.

UPDATE, Thursday afternoon: I have edited one of the comments below; the original comment, from Mike, contained information that I deemed inappropriate for this site. No offense intended to Mike - his comment was sincere, but references to Larry’s family on this site is off-limits.

« Hide It

April 16, 2008 | Filed Under military, media, people | 4 Comments

Following Up

A recap of a few items still hanging out there: first, if anyone has a generator that they can loan out for use in a local rock concert, please let me know. Second, if you have an opinion about a proposed local radio talk-show, drop a comment here and let ‘em know. And third, did anyone ever find out the cause of the power outage last week?

April 14, 2008 | Filed Under media, blogging | 3 Comments

Easy Does It

Had a chat with a local radio jock (FM) on Sunday evening, and she mentioned that she is considering trying an hour-long weekly program aimed at obsessive/compulsive behavior. Not just “typical” OCD stuff - but anything dealing with obsessive thoughts, addictive behavior, and such. In addition to talk and call-in, there might be some “themed” tunes, too. And her proposed title for the show, as noted in the entry, is Easy Does It. I told her that it sounds like an interesting idea, and wondered what you folks think. Me, I’ve always thought that we need some good local talk-radio here in Great Falls; while this isn’t quite what I had in mind, it’s certainly a start. Thoughts?

April 7, 2008 | Filed Under media | 2 Comments

The Power of Blogs

Apropos of the previous entry - wherein the GFDA has not yet discovered that keeping a website current and fresh is push-button simple (and necessary in 2008) - here is an interesting article titled, “Have Blogs Killed Conventional Websites?” Here are some of the reasons listed:

1. Websites are clunky and expensive; blogs are lean and cheap.
2. You have to wait for someone to make changes to your website; your blog can be changed easily by you.
3. You have to wait for someone else to set up your site; your blog can be set up by you in 15 minutes.
8. It takes three to six months for the big search engines to find you with a website. It takes two or three days with a blog.
10. The media are more likely to find you on a blog.
12. You market automatically with a blog. But not with a conventional website.

Let’s examine some of these bullets.

Read The Whole Thing >>>

March 5, 2008 | Filed Under business, media, blogging | 3 Comments

Blogs On KRTV

Got a text message earlier today from Katie Stukey, a reporter for KRTV, asking me to give her a call. Unfortunately, by the time I called her, it was too late. Turns out she was doing a piece on blogs to air today (Sunday) about the local blogging community. The good news is that instead of me, she spoke with our very own GeeGuy and highlighted his reporting on “open access” and coal plant issues. Also featured in the piece was Eric Heidle, and a plug for the new KRTV Sports Blog. Good on ya, KRTV!

And from the archives back in November 2006 is the feature that KFBB did on local blogs!

And to all of the newcomers who are visiting GreaterFalls after watching the KRTV piece, welcome! You can check out other Great Falls bloggers and links right here, or you can scroll through my archives to see what this is all about. You’re welcome to leave a comment on any entry, and if you’d like to subscribe to receive e-mail updates, here you go. Thanks for stopping by!

March 2, 2008 | Filed Under media, blogging | Leave a Comment

— Next Page →