404 pages shouldn't be dead ends

Anyone who has surfed the Web for any time has hit a so-called 404 error page. These are "page not found" messages that are served when a person types a bad url or the content no longer exists at that address. 

This TED presentation from Renny Gleason points out that most website operators are missing a great opportunity to make the most of a bad situation. Instead of serving up a page full of technical jargon -- usually technical wording peppered with references to "404" -- why not deliver a page that aims to restore "a broken relationship"?

This something we've been doing on The Bakersfield.com Network for awhile. Here are five screenshots of our 404 pages.

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Listening vs. hearing

I've been thinking a lot recently about how the brain can absorb what seems like endless streams of information in this age of 24-7, particularly sound, so I found Julian Treasure's TED presentation on hearing fascinating.

That's in part because it's my business to figure how to deliver news and information to busy people who more than ever need filters on that media faucet. But there's also some selfish interest at play.

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"Why the world needs WikiLeaks"

Here's another excellent TED talk that highlights the founder of WikiLeaks.org, yet one more brave person who's gone out on a limb to make a difference in the world. 

WikiLeaks is an important example of how bringing transparency to government activities delivers more good than harm. Yes, there will be instances when leaked information should remain private in the interest of national security. But those instances are very rare, and the pros of those infrequent slips far outweigh the cons of government without accountability. And as you'll hear in this video, Wikileaks sent reporters to Iraq to investigate the horrific allegations against U.S. soldiers accused of mistakenly ambushing innocent cilivians and journalists. It's not like they're posting raw video without vetting the information. 

It's sad that a site like WikiLeaks needs to exist, but I'm grateful outlets like this allow people who fear for their lives or occupations to bring attention to problems of wide importance.