feature story Archives - Author JD Lasica

20 years ago, a new era of media was born

Ourmedia.org helped usher in an age of grassroots media … and all that followed Where were you 20 years ago? For some of us techies, we were just at the doorstep of Web 2.0. And, in fact, it was 20 years ago today that a major milestone was achieved – one that you likely won’t read about anywhere else. On March 21, 2005, my partner Marc Canter and I launched Ourmedia.org. The site billed itself as an open media platform for grassroots creators, ranging from video producers to musicians to citizen journalists. Its most lasting legacy, however, is that it was the world’s first free video hosting service. It wasn’t until May 2005 that YouTube launched its private beta. (Yes, kids,

Should you ditch X for Bluesky?

Is it time to ditch X for Bluesky? It’s a question I’ve been asking a lot over the past year … and maybe you have, too. I’m usually a fairly early adopter of social technologies, and I’m reluctant to let go once I’ve made a commitment. For instance, I was user #1,498 to join LinkedIn, which now boasts more than a billion users in over 200 countries. Same with Facebook (where I joined in 2005, I think) and Twitter, where I joined in April 2007 — about two years before Elon Musk. But social media moves fast, and this seems like a good time to take stock of our options. After all, time and attention are the coins of the

BingeBooks sheds a light on book discovery.

BingeBooks launches a promising book discovery site

A new platform for book discovery called BingeBooks (tagline: “Find your next great read”) just launched fills a gap in the book marketplace.

6 things indie authors should know about audiobooks

If you’re an indie author, you may be deliberating whether to take the plunge into publishing an audiobook. The reasons to forge ahead are many. Audiobooks are the fastest growing segment in the publishing industry, showing a 37.1% increase in sales last year, while ebook sales have largely plateaued the past couple of years. INDIE AUTHORS Tips on the self-publishing journey But there are drawbacks — chiefly, the amount of time, effort and sometimes money it takes to produce a solid recording. The last time I checked, only about one in 10 indie authors bothers to go through the trouble of producing an audiobook to accompany a new book release. That’s bound to change. More than 67 million Americans now listen

Virtual reality events usher in a new era

Here’s a recap of my participation in a virtual reality speaker series put on by High Fidelity, including a discussion of VR, AR and predictions for the future.

‘Biohack’ book release: Talking about indie publishing

At last week’s book release party for my new thriller “Biohack,” about 30 people — including several notable figures from the tech, marketing and media worlds — turned out for an event that doubled as a book party and a media salon discussion about self-publishing. Over the next several weeks, I’ll be writing a series of articles about my return to book publishing. It’s a completely different world today than in 2005, when I published “Darknet” and needed an agent (Deirdre Mullane), a publishing house (John Wiley & Sons) and had to wait a full year to see it published. INDIE AUTHORS One author’s self-publishing journey As I said at the outset of the Facebook Live circle-in-the-round conversation, it reminded me of

10 top TV show opening credits of all time

Game of Thrones, Mad Men, True Detectives top the list We’re living in perhaps the greatest era of creativity on the small screen* — and that extends not just to TV dramas and comedies but to TV shows’ title sequences, or opening credits, as well. (* TV news? Not so much.) The top TV opening credits match the mood of the series — perhaps atmospheric, perhaps brooding or avant-garde. They convey a bit of Eye of God context or backstory. Sometimes they impart sly insider bonus that only regular viewers will catch. The best ones not only are visually arresting but connect on a visceral level. They make you feel — awe, dread, wonder, compassion, moral judgment. I’ve put together this personal list of

Book review: ‘A Crack in Creation’

Title: “A Crack in Creation” Authors: Jennifer A. Doudna & Samuel H. Sternberg My rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Release date: June 13, 2017 on Amazon More often than not, it’s difficult to determine which new titles will have staying power 10, 20 or 50 years from now. But “A Crack in Creation” deserves to be on any short list of decidedly important nonfiction books of 2017. The reason is not simply because of the authors’ pedigree — co-author Jennifer Doudna is credited as the chief pioneer behind CRISPR, the potentially world-changing gene-editing technique. The book’s impact is also buttressed by the authors’ scientific rigor, deeply felt passion, and understanding of the world-changing consequences of their research. Doudna and

Photos of world-class Olympic swimmers

or the past 11 years I’ve received photographer credentials for the annual Santa Clara Arena Pro Swim series, the last major swim meet leading up to the U.S. Nationals, under the auspices of USA Swimming. I’ve generally shot these for Swimming World magazine. You don’t get a chance to yak it up at length with these world-class Olympic athletes — after all, they’re there to compete — but it’s been fun to exchange a few words with Missy Franklin, Ryan Lochte and some of the other swimming greats. If you watch the Olympics, you’ll be familiar with many of these names. Here are some of my favorite shots:

A glimpse of the VR deluge ahead

Outtakes from the VR Tuesday meetup in San Francisco OK, you’ve heard about this virtual reality thing and know something big is coming down the road, but what is it, how big will it be and is it worth paying attention to? Last night I wandered out to Shasta Ventures in South Park, the longtime epicenter of the tech revolution in San Francisco, for VR Tuesday #9, the ninth monthly gathering dedicated to unpacking the world of virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality and the digital 3D world. Founder Jacob Mullins, a partner at Shasta Ventures, brings in three entrepreneurs or developers every month to talk about the real-world, commercial applications of this stuff.