Think twice about walking home to save money after going to the bars if you live in Lincoln Park or Lakeview. You'd better take a cab. A recent string of violent muggings, leaving two victims hospitalized have drawn a lot of attention to the usually low-crime neighborhood.
Police believe four of the attacks are linked. All the victims were on men in there early to mid-20's walking alone. The first of these attacks took place July 30 at the 600 Block of Fullerton Pkwy at 2am only a few blocks from Depaul University student housing. The men were approached from behind by at least four attackers also all men in their early 20's. Victims were asked for their wallet then severely beaten in the head and face.
Police are investigating a few other incidences in the area to see if they are related as well.
Check out the map below of the last seven attacks taken place in the Lincoln Park area in late July and early August.
If your interested in finding out more about the attacks and what police have said, try looking at some of Chicago's hyperlocal news sites linked in this site.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
FLYPmedia.com, Multimedia Website Extraordinaire
FLYPmedia.com, a webzine that’s “more than a magazine,” takes online news to the next era, seamlessly bringing together traditional, narrative and social media story-telling devices. FYLPmedia reflects what it means to be “platform agnostic” when they call themselves “more than a magazine.” In other words, they didn’t want their audience to have all the same experiences as they would actually reading a magazine.
Instead, FLYPmedia created a way to incorporate elements of one medium with another. Tangible qualities of actually reading a magazine like flipping pages and full-screen photographs blend nicely with streaming videos and smooth linking between stories that are only capable online.
With its clear and wonderfully uncluttered layouts FLYPmedia.com works like an interactive map of a news story. Users stay in control of where they are going next on the site; no more wild goose chases through endless linkages and web pages for more background or related info on a story. On most web magazines (Time.com) or online news sites (Huffingtonpost.com), too much time is spent scrolling through link lists or searching keywords rather than following a story or absorbing useful information.
Another clever feature that I love is the horizontally mobile graphic interface placed front and center when you first enter the site. This adds to the depth and intrigue of the website, while making it easier to navigate since the homepage is significantly shortened.
Instead, FLYPmedia created a way to incorporate elements of one medium with another. Tangible qualities of actually reading a magazine like flipping pages and full-screen photographs blend nicely with streaming videos and smooth linking between stories that are only capable online.
With its clear and wonderfully uncluttered layouts FLYPmedia.com works like an interactive map of a news story. Users stay in control of where they are going next on the site; no more wild goose chases through endless linkages and web pages for more background or related info on a story. On most web magazines (Time.com) or online news sites (Huffingtonpost.com), too much time is spent scrolling through link lists or searching keywords rather than following a story or absorbing useful information.
Another clever feature that I love is the horizontally mobile graphic interface placed front and center when you first enter the site. This adds to the depth and intrigue of the website, while making it easier to navigate since the homepage is significantly shortened.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Indefinite haitus for Chi Town Daily News reporters
We're still waiting to hear back from Frank Edwards, former editor of Chi Town Daily News, whether the neighborhood volunteer program will continue operating in the hands of another online news organization or at all. Mike mentioned the online news site on his blog and their recent decision to go for-profit.
I joined as a volunteer reporter at the beginning of August as part of a rather unique program that uses volunteers of all ages, journalistic experience, and addresses to report on stories going on right on their city block.
I met its founder, Geoff, editor, Frank, and staff writers during weekly meetings. It wasn't hard to tell that funds weren't flowing. The office was one big room, sparsely furnished with a few messy desks, mini fridge, coffeemaker, and projector. The most expensive things in the room were a new-looking mac computer and Geoff's laptop, which he used to give lectures on his journalistic ground rules. Yet even in the short time I was part of it, every meeting I walked away totally impressed by their dedication to grassroots journalism, evidenced by their willingness to answer any question we had no matter how basic, and a genuine faith in regular people driving real news coverage.
I was also impressed by the glorious array of breakfast foods provided each meeting. Only truly awesome people buy fresh strawberries, bananas, green tea and bagels on top of the usual Dunkin' Donuts fare for a room full of strangers every Saturday morning.
According to a statement by Geoff, they are looking for another online news group dedicated to citizen journalism to take-over the neighborhood volunteer reporter program. Fingers crossed.
I joined as a volunteer reporter at the beginning of August as part of a rather unique program that uses volunteers of all ages, journalistic experience, and addresses to report on stories going on right on their city block.
I met its founder, Geoff, editor, Frank, and staff writers during weekly meetings. It wasn't hard to tell that funds weren't flowing. The office was one big room, sparsely furnished with a few messy desks, mini fridge, coffeemaker, and projector. The most expensive things in the room were a new-looking mac computer and Geoff's laptop, which he used to give lectures on his journalistic ground rules. Yet even in the short time I was part of it, every meeting I walked away totally impressed by their dedication to grassroots journalism, evidenced by their willingness to answer any question we had no matter how basic, and a genuine faith in regular people driving real news coverage.
I was also impressed by the glorious array of breakfast foods provided each meeting. Only truly awesome people buy fresh strawberries, bananas, green tea and bagels on top of the usual Dunkin' Donuts fare for a room full of strangers every Saturday morning.
According to a statement by Geoff, they are looking for another online news group dedicated to citizen journalism to take-over the neighborhood volunteer reporter program. Fingers crossed.
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