The Beauty of Wirelessness

I am writing this blog entry on my new laptop. Yes, I have finally invested in a laptop computer, which will allow me to write news stories, take notes, upload and manipulate digital photos, and perhaps eventually even lay out the newspaper from remote locations. In fact, I'll be able to do it from wherever I choose -- which is a heck of a nice feature.

We live in a world growing more and more technologically advanced -- with fewer and fewer wires tying us down. While my laptop is currently wired to my home Internet broadband connection, by next week I'll have a wireless network router hooked up and I'll be able to post these messages to you from my bedroom, the dinner table or while sitting on the toilet (nice image, huh?).

It's amazing what technology allows us to do, but I'm not sure if in the end it brings people together more or isolates them even further.

At the paper, we hope to see the blog develop into an Internet-style coffee shop, where folks can talk about the news that's happening in our area and also open up lines of communication with our staff. I'll also use this space to post items I come across -- news, photos or otherwise -- that I find of some interest. This could be odd news items in the world at large, or some pics I took at the ballgame that didn't make it to the paper.

If you have suggestions, please let me know. Register on the blog and start communicating!

What's going on

I have a lot of people asking about the website and what the heck is going on.
We are undertaking a bit of a transitional phase with it. There are changes that have been made and there are still more – and better – changes to come. So please bear with us while we are under construction. The technology staff – which includes me and another guy who knows just about as little about web building and HTML code – are working on some ideas that will streamline the website’s look and also make it easier and faster for us to post breaking news on a consistent basis.
Sports is not gone forever, just for a short while. We should have local sports back up by the end of the week. However, for the web, we are considering combining both Steelville and Cuba sports packages into one single page of full coverage. We want to be able to bring photos into the package, too, so look for that as well.
Our goal is to be able to use the website for daily updates. Ideally, news will hit the website before it ever reaches the newspaper in print. There may be things on the website that never make it into the paper, so glancing at the website now and then through the week should be worth your while once this gets popping.
Taking that idea from theory to practice, however, is a bit harder than you would think. We’re still in the mindset of a weekly paper. It’s not easy to unlearn yourself into thinking like a daily website. But we’re trying.
Sometimes it feels like we’re getting dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century – and there is some truth to that – but we’re gonna get there eventually, and hopefully you’ll bear with our mess until that time.
Some of our recent problems have been of a technical nature. Did I mention that computers can be a real bugger now and then?
Any feedback you have is much appreciated. Give me the good and the bad; I can take it.
This blogspot will be my opportunity to communicate with you and tell you about what’s happening in my world – with the website, the print product or whatever else. At some point, we may get techie enough to let you blog right back at me. I sure hope so, because believe me, I do appreciate your readership.
I’m not unaware of the fact that if it weren’t for our readers and our advertisers, I’d be out of a job quick.
More to come, folks, but right now there’s more to do elsewhere. Gotta run to a meeting in Leasburg, where I hear tell someone may get fired. Sounds like front page news!
Till next time!
Your friendly, neighborhood spiderman,
Chris Case
CFP Editor
Reach me anytime by email at ccase@cubafreepress.com (remember now, NO SPAMMING!)