Podcasts about Adobe InDesign

In our season finale, recorded on June 9, 2025, we wrap up another great year of the CarriersEdge Podcast with a mix of updates, insights, and a look ahead. Mark and Jane discuss updates in the course catalogue, learning about layout tools like Adobe InDesign, and highlighting the benefits of reusing training content. Plus, they give you a sneak peek at our upcoming Inside webinar on the U.S. English language proficiency requirements. Sections include: - 00:00 - Season finale and course catalogue updates - 20:04 - Layout tools (Adobe InDesign) - 28:15 - The advantages of reusing content - 38:58 - The English Language Proficiency Requirements

Adobe InDesign is a must-have tool for AEC marketers, but let's be honest—many of us honed our proposal design skills on the job, often under a deadline. Even experienced users sometimes wonder: Am I using the best approach? In this episode of The Shortlist, host Wendy Simmons sits down with some of Middle of Six's InDesign "power users" Allison Tivnon, Becky Ellison, and Lauren Jane Peterson to explore the many ways designers approach InDesign for proposals and marketing collateral. From file setup and text layout to graphics and formatting, every designer has their own techniques—but is there really a "right" way? The discussion covers key differences in workflow, including parent pages, grids, pagination, text styling, and shortcuts. They also rumble over linking vs. embedding graphics, managing color palettes, table styles, and columns vs. threaded text. With so many ways to get the job done, sharing insights can lead to game-changing discoveries. Whether you're a meticulous organizer or a creative risk-taker, this episode will challenge the way you think about design workflows. CPSM CEU Credits: 0.5 | Domain: 4 

Could your crafting hobby be your ticket to financial freedom? We explore the fascinating journey from DIY enthusiast to thriving online seller, tapping into the booming world of online crafting businesses. With firsthand experience and a wealth of research, we examine the hottest trends and top-selling items that are making waves on platforms like Etsy and Amazon. From planner stationery to the lucrative wedding niche, discover how ordinary creators are making extraordinary profits. You'll learn from inspirational success stories, such as Sweet Kawaii Design and Mod Party, whose impressive sales demonstrate the potential lying in the crafting industry.Armed with data and insights, we'll guide you on how to monetize your creative talents effectively. From the essential tools like Adobe InDesign and cutting machines to practical tips on handling physical products, we cover the essentials needed to launch your own successful crafting venture. If you've ever dreamed of turning your passion into a profitable business, this episode is packed with actionable insights to help you craft your way to financial success. Don't miss the chance to transform your creativity into a thriving online business!Thanks for listening! Click one of the links below to. Learn how to design for crafting machines such as Cricut, Silhouette, Glowforge, sublimation or embroidery. Check out my designs on Etsy

Our-Hometown invites you to join us on Thursday, February 6th at 3PM Eastern for a LIVE WEBINAR on using AI Tools to Summarize Public Meetings. In this webinar, you'll learn how to leverage Our Hometown's new AI tools to efficiently summarize lengthy YouTube transcripts of public meetings, such as city council or school board sessions. We'll demonstrate how to create time-stamped summaries that highlight key discussion points and decisions, providing valuable resources for journalists and the public. Additionally, we'll showcase examples from publishers already using these AI-generated summaries to enhance their coverage of local government meetings. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX4VGhUllRI Some examples of...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

避免「孤字」是中文排版的惯例之一，西文排版是否有类似的规则？——今天的话题，由一封听众来信引出。本期节目，我们将尝试分析段末孤字处理背后所涉及的字体排印原理，及其与段首缩进之间的逻辑关系。 参考链接 TDC70 获奖作品 BITS 11（Bangkok International Typographic Symposium，曼谷国际字体排印研讨会），将于 2025 年 2 月 13 至 16 日举办 ATypI 2024 Brisbane 视频已发布至 YouTube 字谈字畅 229：布里斯班阿蒂皮 字谈字畅 230：袋鼠肉是此行最大的遗憾 Adobe InDesign 2015 (v20.0) 开始支持 MathML 格式的数学公式 MathML，基于 XML 的数学公式描述语言 古腾堡博物馆与德国美因茨大学图书馆合作数字化的《古腾堡圣经》，在「Gutenberg Capture」项目中发布 字体公司 P22 Type Foundry 上线新版网站 孤行（widow/orphan）与孤字（runt） David Blatner，美国作家，专注于桌面出版软件相关领域 River（溪流/川流），文字排版中产生的一类非预期的视觉间隙，常用于西文字体排印领域 主播 Eric：字体排印研究者，译者，The Type 执行编辑 蒸鱼：设计师，The Type 编辑 欢迎与我们交流或反馈，来信请致 podcast@thetype.com​。如果你喜爱本期节目，也欢迎用支付宝向我们捐赠：hello@thetype.com​。

In a move that's sending ripples through the subscription-based industry, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is re-releasing its proposal to update the "negative option" rule for subscriptions. As of August 2024, this development is causing quite a stir in the publishing world, particularly for newspaper publishers who rely heavily on subscription models. At Our Hometown Web Publishing, we're committed to keeping our clients informed about regulatory changes that could impact their operations. The Proposed Changes: A Game-Changer for Subscription Models The FTC's proposed rule, often referred to as the "Click to Cancel" provision, aims to make subscription cancellations as straightforward...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

In an era where digital platforms dominate information dissemination, the relationship between tech giants and traditional news publishers has been fraught with tension. Recently, a groundbreaking deal between Google and California news publishers has captured headlines, promising a 0 million investment in journalism over five years. This agreement, which replaces proposed legislation, aims to support journalism jobs and fund AI research. But what does this mean for the future of news in California and beyond? Let's dive into the details of this landmark deal and explore its potential implications for the media landscape. Breaking Down the Google-California News Deal At...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

This guide will walk you through the process of tracking social network referrals in Matomo, ensuring you can make data-driven decisions to enhance your online presence. Social Network Acquisition Data The dashboard provides a comprehensive overview of your website's performance, including traffic sources, visitor behavior, and conversion rates. To specifically analyze social network referrals, navigate to the Acquisition section, which is located in the left menu. Channel Types Within the Acquisition section, you will find a subsection labeled Social Networks. This area is dedicated to tracking traffic originating from various social media platforms. By clicking on Social Networks, you can view detailed reports that highlight the...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

In today's digital landscape, understanding where your website visitors come from is crucial for business success. This guide will walk you through the process of tracking user acquisition using Matomo Analytics, helping you make data-driven decisions to boost your online presence. Why Track Traffic Sources? In an era where brands utilize multiple channels for promotion and advertising, identifying the origin of your leads and customers has become increasingly complex. However, this complexity is precisely what makes tracking traffic sources more important than ever. By pinpointing where your visitors are coming from, you can: Optimize your marketing effortsAllocate resources more effectivelyMaximize...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

In this post we will go through the majority of available customization options for the Article Widgets that display article excerpts and links in various layouts on your website. Theses widgets are placed and managed through the Customizer Tool found in the admin bar of your website. Table Of ContentsSlider WidgetArticle WidgetThumbnail Format and Layout OptionsOne Column LayoutTwo Column LayoutVertical StackHorizontal GridMagazine-Style LayoutHeadlines Layout Slider Widget Large Slide Style; No Thumbnails Because the Slider widget displays only a single image, options are limited simply to a extra-wide or a large featured image, with or without thumbnail navigation (which can be...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

We have completed testing a new optimization feature that will improve site responsiveness on the Admin Dashboard. While active, certain menus and features will be hidden to improve performance. The feature targets several pages that show marked speed improvements when certain other options are hidden. It is active by default on the following sections: ArticlesPDFsAdrotate ProGeodirectory Posts (Events, Classifieds, Places, etc.) When optimization is active, you'll see a black sidebar with a blue control box at the top: Interface Update When Optimization is Active The optimizer disables plugins that slow down the admin area for these specific pages. To access...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

https://youtu.be/fnzrS54AjNU Introduction This guide will help you understand how to effectively manage and optimize featured images on your website. If you've ever struggled with how your images appear in article widgets, this post will provide you with clear steps to enhance their display. Article Widget Showcase Overview of Available Widgets Widget Showcase - Slider Widget Showcase - One Column Widget Showcase - Two Column Widget Showcase - Vertical Stack Widget Showcase - Horizontal Grid Widget Showcase - Headlines with Hero Image Widget Showcase - Magazine Style Widget Showcase - Headlines (Sidebar) Image Cropping Considerations Default Display: Images will show blurred...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

This is the third episode in a 6-part magazine mini series. Here you'll meet digital reading expert, Alyssa Andino. you'll learn more about what Alyssa's role entails and more about digital reading experiences, including what works and what doesn't work. You'll learn about the ways that Alyssa and her team are thinking of the reading experience beyond fonts (size, style and colour).You'll hear tips for using Adobe InDesign effectively to consider both the print experience and the digital reading experience (your future self will thank you for it!) and you'll learn more about accessibility features Alyssa must consider in the app she manages. Finally, Alyssa and I brainstorm what digital reading might look like as technology advances.This episode is part of a guest lecture series in CGCM 720 Magazine Production & Publishing, as well as DG 8111 Digital Publishing in The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University.I'm all about interesting projects with interesting people! Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)

This is the second episode in a 6-part magazine mini series. Here you'll meet graphic designer, Yas Fakhr. You'll hear Yas' process for creating long documents and the very best book design and printing geekery between she and Diana. You'll hear Yas' advice for what new designers should consider at various stages in the long document design process. You'll learn Yas' thoughts on grids, including when to make them and when to break them, as well as what's on Yas' Adobe InDesign wish list. Finally, we dive into the murky waters of AI in the design space and how Yas has seen it used effectively and ethically among she and her colleagues.Images discussed in the episode can be found in the show notes at talkpaperscissors.info.This episode is part of a guest lecture series in CGCM 720 Magazine Production & Publishing, as well as DG 8111 Digital Publishing in The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University.I'm all about interesting projects with interesting people! Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)

Introduction In a world where technology is rapidly advancing, the way we search for information has undergone significant changes. With Google leading the charge, their latest rollout of AI-powered search features, including AI Overviews (formerly known as Search Generative Experience), promises to revolutionize how we interact with search results. However, this innovation also poses a considerable threat to news publishers who rely on organic traffic for revenue and visibility. The Impact of Google's AI Overviews Google's introduction of AI Overviews has raised concerns among industry experts about its potential impact on publisher traffic, click-through rates, and overall revenue. As these...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

The following column was contributed by our friend and colleague, Kevin Slimp. We hope you enjoy the content and consider registering for his next webinar as part of the Kevin Slimp Webinar Series -- available free to Our-Hometown customers! Slimp It has already been a busy summer, and I'm not sure summer has officially begun yet (It's June 1 as I write this). Upon returning from my latest trip – to Pennsylvania – yesterday, I was greeted by a stack of packages from publishers – most containing newspapers to critique – and an email folder with plenty of messages from...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

2-Column Layout: [OHT Columns Block] This is an oft-requested layout that our engineering team has implemented: creating 2-column layouts in your newsletters with the OHT Columns Block. This block was initially designed to allow placement of a sidebar of display ads that are currently running on a website. However, you are not restricted to just using the OHT Ads Block with a main post block. In this quick demo we'll show how to ad a Single Post Block, along with an Image in the sidebar. We'll then create a second 2-column layout for the headings. Wake Weekly NewsletterArticle LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

We're thrilled to announce that our esteemed customer, The Red Hook Daily Catch, has taken home an impressive seven awards in the New York Press Association's Better Newspaper Contest for 2023! This outstanding achievement is a testament to the dedication and excellence of their team. The Daily Catch's winning entries include: First-place honors for Spot News Coverage for their comprehensive reporting on the Migliorelli barn blazeFirst-place award for Feature Series for their in-depth profiles of local businesses, including Little Pickles Children's General Store, Shoppe Girl boutique, and Counter CornerSecond-prize award for their podcast interview with Rhinebeck's CENTER for Performing Arts...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

The Dec. 13, 2023, issue of The Journal was one of three issues entered that were awarded first place for Overall Design Excellence in the North Dakota Newspaper Association's annual Better Newspaper Contest. We're delighted to report that Journal Publishing, one of our valued customers, has taken home an impressive 49 awards overall in the North Dakota Newspaper Association's annual Better Newspaper Contest! This includes 15 first-place awards, demonstrating their dedication to excellence in journalism. The awards recognize outstanding work published in 2023, and we're thrilled to see Journal Publishing receive accolades for their reporting staff's coverage of the Divide...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

The following is a column that our friend and industry expert, Kevin Slimp, recently published for his audience of newspaper publishers highlighting his experience working with Our-Hometown, Inc. We're excited to share his insight into our partnership below! Most of you know me from my role as a newspaper consultant and “expert” over the past 30 years. You might be surprised to know that I'm also quite involved in the book industry, where my company represents and publishes books for more than 20 best-selling authors. We've published approximately 100 books over the past six years. Today, I had an almost...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

Staff | Port Aransas South Jetty Courtesy photo by Taylor Terrebone South Jetty staff members hold plaques won by the newspaper in the Texas Gulf Coast and South Texas Press associations' Better Newspaper Contests. Awards were presented at a joint conference of the two organizations in Galveston Thursday through Saturday, April 18-20. Awards were for writing, photography, advertising, design and more. South Jetty editor Dan Parker, left, was named Photographer of the Year for STPA, and general manager Kelli Hartig, second from right, was elected to the STPA board of directors. Also pictured are, from Parker's left, co-publishers Mary Henkel...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

Adobe InDesign offers several features to manage the tags and content of your document for accessibility, but not all panes are built the same! In today's episode of Chax Chat, we are going to explore all three of these windows, the benefits and purposes they serve, and when or when not to use them.  Today we will be defining assistive technology, unraveling the tags pane, the order panel, and the content pane. We will also be defining assistive technology and learning more about how to work with tags within your PDF document.  Related Episode: Part 2: Top 10 Accessibility Questions Newbies Ask Related Episode: Who does the Reading Order affect? This Guest: Sonya Lewis! Related Episode: Guest Leonard Rosenethol - Content Authenticity, Liquid Mode and Read Order Time Stamps: 0:00 - Introduction 2:52 - Topic Introduction 5:44 - Tags Pane 9:28 - Defining Assistive Technology 11:28 - Working with Tags in a PDF File 14:15 - Order Panel 18:43 - Content Pane 34:26 - Mislabeling Tools

Full Webinar Replay https://youtu.be/5nBX4_-lLZc Discover how to boost your newspaper's SEO with our new author profile feature! In this informative webinar, we dive deep into the importance of author profiles and how they can significantly improve your search engine rankings. Learn the differences between bylines and author pages, and how to seamlessly transition from one to the other. We discuss the crucial role of E-E-A-T (Expertise, Experience, Authority, Trustworthiness) in SEO and how author profiles can help you establish your newspaper's credibility online. Our experts demonstrate how to create and customize author pages in WordPress, assign authors to articles, and...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

Interface Updates Default Dashboards We're thrilled to announce an exciting update to our newsletter plugin! This update brings a fresh, intuitive interface designed to streamline your workflow and unlock new possibilities for engaging your subscribers. In this blog post, we'll take you on a tour of the updated interface, highlighting the key improvements and comparing it with the legacy version. Get ready to discover how these changes can elevate your newsletter game and help you build stronger connections with your audience! Legacy Dashboard Updated Dashboard You will immediately notice from the screenshots of the legacy and updated dashboards that the...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

We're delighted to bring to your attention a significant development from Buzzsprout that perfectly complements the Audio Articles feature on your websites: Buzzsprout's recently introduced iOS app. buzzsprout.com Seamless Podcast Management With the Buzzsprout iOS app, managing your audio content becomes as mobile as your readers. Update your podcast episodes, check statistics, and even fix typos on the fly. It's the perfect companion for the busy publisher who values efficiency and mobility. Real-Time Engagement Keep your finger on the pulse of your audience's engagement. The app provides real-time notifications for new milestones, episode publications, and listener interactions. This means you can celebrate every...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

Our-Hometown invites you to join us on Thursday, March 28th at 3PM EDT for a LIVE WEBINAR introducing the newest feature available on our platform: Author Profiles! The new Author Profiles feature creates a profile page on the website for each author where visitors can read a short biography and find links for the author's social media profiles. Importantly, the Author Profile page acts as a hub listing other articles credited to the author, allowing readers to quickly find more content from their favorite writers or columnists. In addition to the user-facing benefits, the Author Profiles feature also assists with...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

Your prototype awaits . . . Regular email services have size limitations, making them unsuitable for sending large files common to production work (like high-resolution images, pdfs, or design files).  That's why the following services are better choices: File-Sharing Services Stand-alone Options WeTransfer How it Works: Upload your files and WeTransfer generates a download link to share with our production team. Recipients don't need a WeTransfer account to download the files.Pros: Super simple to use, no logins required, can send files up to 2GB for free.Cons: Files are only available for 7 days. Cloud Options Google Drive How it Works:...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

Image by Dall-E / Firefly In a recent post, we explored the SEO benefits of author profiles, specifically implementing the E-E-A-T strategy suggested by Google search. Today, we're excited to unveil Our-Hometown's customizable author profile solution! This powerful new feature will soon roll out automatically to all our customers, with no action required on your end. How it Works Our new author profile pages will seamlessly leverage your website's existing Author or Byline fields. Now, when readers view content, a clickable link in the byline will take them directly to a new landing page. For instance in the first case...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

Welcome to a quick tutorial from Our-Hometown. We recently revamped the design of a customer newsletter page to include a Google map with pins representing the featured publishers in the region. The publisher wanted to include this map highlight in the email version of the newsletter, so we decided to create an animated GIF showcasing each publisher as a teaser to engage readers. Today, I'll guide you through creating your own animated GIFs using Adobe Photoshop. Gather your images! Let's start by assembling your source images. For our newsletter example, we'll use a screen capture tool to create individual images...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

In today's digital landscape, establishing your website and content as reliable, trustworthy sources of information is paramount. In steps SEO authorship – a powerful strategy that connects your content with its creators, boosting your search engine rankings and cementing your brand's authority. At Our-Hometown, we understand the vital role authorship plays in online success. That's why we've developed robust author profile pages like this one on a customer website. Let's dive into the SEO advantages and how these pages establish your business as an industry leader. Key SEO Benefits of Author Profile Pages Improved E-E-A-T: Search engines like Google prioritize websites...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

In the fast-paced world of online news, where headlines fade faster than coffee gets cold, it's easy to underestimate the power of history. But for newspaper publishers, embracing the past can be a strategic goldmine, fostering reader engagement and loyalty in unexpected ways. This is where features like "This Week in History" come in, offering a nostalgic glimpse into the archives and reminding readers of the paper's long-standing role in their community. Benefits of Historical Features By incorporating historical features like "This Week in History" into your website, you can: Boost Engagement: People are naturally curious about the past. By...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

Attention Our-Hometown customers, If you're using the online payment gateway Stripe to process payments through your website, please be aware that you may be required to verify or update your business and/or account ownership information in order to continue using Stripe. We urge you to take a few minutes to login to your Stripe Dashboard and check for any notifications from Stripe requesting this information. In addition to the dashboard notification, you also should have received e-mail correspondence from Stripe at the e-mail address used to create or manage your account. This is extremely important! If Stripe has requested this...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

ContentsBenefits of Internal LinksCase StudiesUproerGet Back to Basics with an HTML SitemapPursue a Content Plan that Prioritizes Internal LinkingZyppySEOResultsSeer InteractiveThe Internal Linking TestResultsReferences Internal links may seem simple; however, they are an incredibly powerful tool for improving your website's SEO. By effectively using links between pages on your site, you can enhance user experience, help search engines better understand your content, and distribute “link equity” to pages you want to rank higher. What Are Internal Links?: A hyperlink that connects two pages within the same domain is an internal link. For example, if you have a blog post that links...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

Teri Mari McLaren We have sad news about a longtime member of the Our Hometown family. Teri Marie McLaren, beloved mother, grandmother, and friend, after a short and courageous battle with cancer, went to meet Jesus on January 25, 2024. We all knew Teri as the matriarch at Our Hometown.  She was passionate about her vital role as production manager and brought a positive energy to every interaction.   Ever since Teri started with us as a production rep, she displayed an amazing work ethic and curiosity to make things better for newspaper publishers.  She used to say that her dad...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

A reminder for new readers. That Was The Week collects the best writing on critical issues in tech, startups, and venture capital. I selected the articles because they are of interest. The selections often include things I entirely disagree with. But they express common opinions, or they provoke me to think. The articles are only snippets. Click on the headline to go to the original. I express my point of view in the editorial and the weekly video below.Thanks To This Week's Contributors: @TEDchris, @LilyWhitsitt, @RocketToLulu, @saeedtaji, @geneteare, @EricNewcomer, @jeffbeckervc, @jasonlk, @elonmusk, @benshapiro, @StevenLevy, @apple, @bheater, @bmw, @Growcoot, @illscience, @venturetwins, @omooretweets, @conniechanContents* Editorial: Civility and Civilization* Essays of the Week* US Seed Investment Actually Held Up Pretty Well For The Past 2 Years. Here's What That Means For 2024* Lower Valuations, Higher Bar: What It's Like To Raise A Seed Round In 2024 * Unicorns & Inevitabilities* Sequoia, Founders Fund, USV, Elad Gil & Benchmark Top Venture Manager Survey* Why 2024 May Be Tougher on Venture Capital Than 2023* Video of the Week* The Mac at 40* AI of the Week* BMW will deploy Figure's humanoid robot at South Carolina plant* Google's New AI Video Generator Looks Incredible* OpenAI's Sam Altman seeks funds for AI chip factories as demands surge* The Future of Prosumer: The Rise of “AI Native” Workflows* Andreessen Horowitz's Connie Chan to Leave as Consumer Focus Shifts to AI* OpenAI Is a (Relative) Steal* News Of the Week* Ted fellows resign from organisation after Bill Ackman named as speaker* Tesla's Slowdown Disqualifies It From ‘Magnificent Seven' Group* TikTok's Testing 30 Minute Uploads as It Looks To Expand Its Content Options* Instagram to scan under-18s' messages to protect against ‘inappropriate images'* Tiger Global Investor Relations Staff Depart After Fundraising Challenges* Worldcoin hints at new Orb for a friendlier iris-scanning experience* Startup of the Week* Loyalty Startup Bilt Rewards Hits $3.1B Valuation After $200M Round* X of the Week* Elon Musk visits Auschwitz with Ben ShapiroEditorialThere is a lot to digest in this week's newsletter. Gené Teare's two essays on Seed investing head up the Essays of the Week, along with Jeff Becker talking about unicorns and inevitabilities, Eric Newcomer on who are the top investors and Jason Lemkin on the reasons 2024 might be harder for Venture Capital than 2023.But my attention was distracted from venture capital by a Guardian article announcing (triumphantly, I might add) that several TED fellows had resigned from the organization due to an invite to Bill Ackman to speak at this year's TED event in Vancouver.“Lucianne Walkowicz and Saeed Taji Farouky accuse Ted of taking anti-Palestinian stand over controversial billionaire's inclusion”It seems Ackman is not alone. They also object to Bari Weiss being invited. The leavers are also not alone; up to 30 others have signed a “solidarity” letter.The accusations echo much of the discussion around the medieval assassination of Jews on 7 October and Israel's efforts to defeat Hamas in the aftermath. Because these speakers are against anti-Semitism and so supportive of Israel's war against Hamas, they are accused of the ridiculous claim of supporting “Genocide” against Palestinians.“We refuse for our work and identities to be exploited to promote the Ted brand while the organisation and its speakers generate income and advance their careers through dehumanising Palestinians and justifying their genocide,” the pair said.It probably will not surprise readers of this newsletter that I applaud TED curators Chris Anderson and Lily James Olds for not backing down on the invitations. Whatever one believes about the current conflict in Israel, it is clear that banning opponents of anti-Semitism because of their stance is not a solution to anything. I believe the cause of fighting anti-Semitism should be close to the heart of any progressive person. It is not anti-Palestinian to support Jews against being slaughtered in the street, to oppose anti-Semitism, or to condemn Hamas as anti-Jewish murderers. Supporting Jews against slaughter by Hamas is not incompatible with supporting Palestinians. The Guardian reported that Ackman responded to the resignations with a statement:“I stand unapologetically with Israel and against antisemitism and terrorism, while strongly supporting the Palestinian people. Attempts to cancel speech and eliminate the free and respectful exchange of ideas among people with differing views are driving much of the divisiveness that plagues our nation. Truth, wisdom and ultimately peace are the result of the free exchange of ideas and debate, precisely what Ted is all about. It is sad that this is not more widely understood,”Unsurprisingly, one of the resigners, Farouky, told the Guardian he did not regard the issue as freedom of speech. It clearly IS about freedom of speech. Speech only needs protecting when opinions are wide apart and strongly held.For example, here are my views on the actual issues:These are trying times. Over 25,000 deaths in Gaza are hard to comprehend. And I certainly cannot. But I can understand that Jews have to defend themselves. And I can understand that progressive thinkers MUST stand up to anti-Semitism, whatever form it takes.In case there is doubt about my support for Muslim victims of racism, my book Under Seige is about the attacks on Muslims in the UK between 1961 and 1981. It starts with recognizing that racism targets differences and that Jews and Muslims are both targets. Indeed, the very ghettoes that Pakistani and Bengali immigrants were being attacked in had earlier, in the 1930s, been inhabited by Jewish settlers fleeing pogroms. I am not Jewish, and I am not Muslim. But I will always be on both of their sides when they are attacked for their ethnic and racial origin.In Israel, Jews were killed for being Jews. Palestinians are being killed because Hamas is hiding in their cities and buildings. I do not consider Israel's response to be racist against Palestinians. I consider it reasonable in the context of 7 October. I consider that Hamas has done this to Palestinians and probably wanted that outcome. I am sad that Hamas has done this for the Palestinian victims. But I do not doubt that Hamas is to blame.My views may anger you. But do you want me banned or silenced?My title this week is Civility and Civilization. The TED events bring both to the fore. Like those I write here, opinions are there to be disagreed with, debated, and interrogated. Civilized behavior requires dialogue and civility within the dialogue. I certainly understand opinions I disagree with, and far from banning them or walking away so that I do not have to hear them, I want to hear them. We all should.This is a different editorial than usual. I hope the humanity of refusing to forget 7 October and the determination to preserve the view that fighting anti-Semitism is a non-negotiable minimum requirement of civilization are grasped. By the same token, Islamaphobia must be fought. But in Israel, there is no Islamophobia at work. Jews are simply reacting to an atrocity. They are right to blame Hamas.Essays of the WeekUS Seed Investment Actually Held Up Pretty Well For The Past 2 Years. Here's What That Means For 2024Gené Teare, January 24, 2024, @geneteareEditor's note: This is the first in a two-part series on the state of seed startup investing at the start of 2024. Check back tomorrow for Part 2.Despite a broad pullback in global startup investment over the past two years, investors say the U.S. seed funding environment was the most vibrant compared to other funding stages during the downturn.In fact, U.S. seed funding in 2022 grew by close to 10% in terms of dollars invested, in contrast to a downturn at all other funding stages. In 2023, U.S. seed funding fell 31% — a significant proportion — but still less than other funding stages year over year, an analysis of Crunchbase data shows. (It's also worth noting that those other stages had already experienced year-over-year declines in 2022.)In the current startup funding market, “we're seeing a lot more great talent excited about starting things,” said Renata Quintini, co-founder of Renegade Partners, a Bay Area-based investment firm that focuses on Series A companies and is therefore close to the seed ecosystem.Other investors share that enthusiasm. “Valuations are coming down, more talent is available in the market,” said Michael Cardamone of New York-based seed investor Forum Ventures. “A lot of these companies at seed and Series A are going to scale into what will likely be the next bull market.”Seed trends over the decadeSeed as an asset class, not surprisingly, has grown in the U.S. over the past decade. In 2014 less than $5 billion was invested at seed. At the market peak in 2022, seed investment was more than $16 billion, although it fell to $11.5 billion in 2023.Despite the downturn, seed funding in 2023 was still $2 billion to $3 billion higher in the U.S. than in the pre-pandemic years of 2019 and 2020.Higher bar, pricier rounds, better valuedBut in a tougher market, seed investors are being more selective about which companies they fund.“We're being far more disciplined and patient knowing how hard it is for these companies to get to Series A and beyond,” said Jenny Lefcourt, a general partner at Bay Area-based seed investor Freestyle Capital. “Our bar for conviction is higher than it had been in the heyday where everything was getting funded.”In the slower funding environment, the firm has been investing later at the seed stage, “gravitating toward ‘seed plus' or ‘A minus' — pick your favorite term for it — because I feel like I get to see more risk mitigated. I get to see more data,” she said.Freestyle seeks to have ownership of around 12% to 15% in the companies it backs. “The reason is because of our model,” Lefcourt said. “We are low-volume, high-conviction investors.”And because the firm invests in companies that are pre-Series A, “our reality has been that our valuations have actually been higher in this market, which is not what we would have predicted.“But the data we've seen is, we're not alone in that,” she said.…MoreLower Valuations, Higher Bar: What It's Like To Raise A Seed Round In 2024 Gené Teare, January 25, 2024, @geneteareEditor's note: This is the second in a two-part series on the state of seed startup investing at the start of 2024. Read Part 1, which looked at seed funding trends over the past decade and the median time period between seed and Series A funding, here.Seed funding to startups has grown into its own asset class over the past decade, with round sizes trending larger, and a bigger pool of investors backing these nascent startups. But in the aftermath of 2021's venture funding heyday and subsequent pullback, investors say that while seed funding has held up better than other startup investment stages, these very young startups will see lower valuations and must now clear a much higher bar to get backing.More companies raised seed funding above $1 million in 2021. Those companies — which raised during a record-smashing year for venture funding — are saddled with valuations that could be too high for this current market — even at seed. Many of those startups have been forced to cut costs to extend their runways, and face a tougher sales environment.“You could then be sacrificing growth, which is one of the main levers that Series A investors are looking for,” said Michael Cardamone of New York-based seed investor Forum Ventures.2021 after effectsIn 2021 it was “grow, grow, grow, grow,” said Jenny Lefcourt, a general partner at Bay Area-based seed investor Freestyle Capital. “It's embarrassing to look back on, but that was the game being played.”Investors got sloppy during the boom times, she said. “I think a lot of VCs were thrilled to back you, and then say, ‘we'll figure it out.' ”“The reality is that almost anything that was done then — call it 2021 — was the wrong price,” she said.This led to down rounds, even at seed, though those are generally not viewed negatively like they were in the past, she said.In fact, “when our companies get their down rounds done, it's a sign of it's a good business. It just had the wrong price on it,” she said.While the bar is higher to raise funding these days, “I think it's so much better for a company who gets to start in this environment,” Lefcourt said.Down rounds can actually be a sign of conviction, she said. “None of us would do all the heavy lifting to not only give the company more capital, but recap it, which takes a lot. It's a heavy lift — none of us would do that if we weren't super jazzed about the company. The lazier approach, the easier approach, is to just put it on the note, keep it flat, and be done,” she said.Renata Quintini, co-founder of Renegade Partners, a Bay Area-based investment firm that focuses on Series A companies, is hearing of “more ‘pay-to-play' these days and it's starting to get ugly.” This happens when new investors wipe out the prior investors, and anyone seeking equity needs to pony up into the new funding round.Median and averages climbNonetheless, “seed round valuations haven't dropped a ton from even the peak,” according to Forum Ventures' Cardamone. But, “the bar to raise a seed [round] is a lot higher.”“Most first-time founders especially, and the vast majority of founders generally — they have to get significant traction to be able to raise that same round they used to be able to raise. And a lot fewer of those rounds are happening,” he said.“A priced seed round of $3 million at $15 million [pre-money] is still happening, but you might have to be at $500,000 ARR, to raise that round now. Whereas in 2021, it was the norm to raise that round pre-revenue,” he said.Series A fundings have gotten harder as “companies are going out and raising three seed rounds,” said Cardamone.Based on an analysis of Crunchbase data, median and average seed round sizes in the U.S. have climbed through the past decade.In 2023, median and average raises are not far from the peak of 2022, Crunchbase data shows, and were well above pre-pandemic levels. (However, this will shift downward somewhat as the long tail of seed fundings are retroactively added to the Crunchbase database.)Seed rounds got larger“If I have conviction, we may need them to have more money, cause we know it's going to take them longer to reach the milestones that are now higher,” said Lefcourt.Per an analysis of Crunchbase data, larger seed rounds — those $1 million and above — have increased through the decade.The amount of funding to seed-stage companies below $1 million hasn't budged much, and is a fraction of what it was earlier in the decade.Seed below $1 million in 2014 represented around 25% of all seed funding.That has come down as a proportion every year since then.And as of 2021 that proportion has dipped below 10% for the first time, ranging from 5% to 7% of all seed dollars invested in the U.S. since then.Earlier in the past decade, the number of seed deals in rounds below $1 million outpaced those rounds at $1 million and above significantly.But 2021 was once again a pivotal year. That's when $1 million and above seed rounds outpaced smaller seed for the first time.In 2023, they are neck and neck in count. (That might shift as the long tail of seed rounds are added to the Crunchbase database long after they close.)What this all shows is that seed has become an increasingly significant and elongated phase in a company's early life cycle, where companies are raising multiple million-dollar seed rounds. And as of late, more companies than ever before are wading in the seed pool.What does this mean for the seed funding market in 2024?…MoreUnicorns & InevitabilitiesUp and to the right, or not so much?JEFF BECKER, JAN 22, 2024TLDR: Go read Aileen Lee's update to the Unicorn Club… and a few inevitabilities.Did anyone catch Aileen Lee & Allegra Simon's Welcome Back to the Unicorn Club, 10 Years Later?If not, go read it. That's your MMM.If you did read it, you can't help but wonder if the tech sector isn't going to resemble the public markets over time. Ups and downs, but consistently up and to the right over a long enough period.After all, we are creating leverage in ways we've never seen before.And for unicorns, that meant 14X growth over a 10-year period.Could you imagine another 14 or even 10X from here? That would be stratospheric, from ~500 to ~5,000 unicorns? What if the exit sizes did too? $5B, $10B, $50B?Crazy to think, but hardly impossible. After all, we've already seen near-centicorns like Uber's IPO at $75B in 2019.The interesting part about that thought exercise though is not the crazy zero interest rate IPO's, but the fact that entry valuations didn't and don't move nearly as fast as top end outcomes because of the time horizon to realizing them.For example, Airbnb raised $20K from Y Combinator for 6%, then they took another $600K for 20% in their seed.That was 2009. The idea of an IPO for $47B just 11 years later in 2020 probably wasn't even a consideration. Paul Graham and the YC team would've had to believe Airbnb's IPO could compete with AT&T, General Motors, and Visa.Insane.Fast forward, that $333,333 valuation at YC has moved to $1.78m (125K for 7%), and they'll stack another 2.6% ownership on average from their $375K MFN with the average YC company raising seed at a $14.4m cap instead of Airbnb's $3m.That's a ~5X increase in valuation at pre-seed & seed for a 47X increase in IPO size if you were modeling $1B outcomes into your VC fund model in 2009.I'm not saying that will continue. There are counterforces of course.* Margins are way too high. The fact that software margins have persisted at 80% or more is just craziness. Companies will start to use price more aggressively to compete for market share as cheap AI tools enter the market and try to unseat them. This compression will change the value of discounted cash flow models.* Pricing models need to change. One way to reduce sticker price and maintain some semblance of healthy long-term margins is to pay a smaller implementation fee, but incur ongoing services & upgrade costs. This is a more traditional pricing model, and creative economics that leverage this kind of thinking run rampant in the titans of tech. It's a game of deeper roots, higher switching costs, and long-term contracts. With API calls and data usage more prevalent, we'll also see more pay-per-use models, the same way we buy copiers. We'll also see more pay-for-performance models with attributable ROI, akin to Amazon's ACoS model or Rakuten's affiliate marketing model. Customers will prefer it too, placing a higher emphasis customer value. This will also drive margins to condense.* AI, AI, AI. AI will cut OpEx costs dramatically. SDR teams, gone. Copywriters at agencies, you don't need as many. Data scientists? Just run a query against your data lakes. The list goes on. Costs of running these companies is going to get shellacked. Good for margins for sure, but also a compelling opportunity for newcomers to undercut and unseat incumbents too.* More hardware. With software margins condensing, hardware margins will start to feel more attractive too, the maintenance and upgrade fees will resemble what we see in SaaS, and the software that powers these machines will be incredible. Skynet for autonomous off-road vehicles, absolutely.* Less dilution, earlier exits, and stratification. We already see it in the S&P 500 with the top end accounting for an outsized share of total value. With that kind of cash on balance sheets, bigger companies will just buy the smaller ones. Think about how Broadcom rolls up companies. If you've built the business more efficiently, you've also raised less, incurred less dilution, and that $100m exit when you still own 50% is looking pretty prett-ty good compared to the same outcome 5-10 grueling years later to own 5% of $1B.* Massive founder salaries, less emphasis on growth. If you've built a company that's profitable from day one, and you have complete control of your board, what's your incentive to keep the pedal down on growth, or stay on the VC treadmill? World domination? Why not pay yourself 10X, stop fundraising, and continue to tighten the core business until someone acquires you? It's better for the founding team and employees for sure, and it's probably better for customers in most instances too.These are just some of things I think we'll see over the next five years until we approach ZIRPy-dirpy times again and massive growth becomes irresistible.But there are also a whole slew of things I think are inevitabilities that will benefit from these dynamics because we will not only have new technologies, with more attractive pricing, but we will be tackling new opportunities that were created by the prior evolutions across adjacent industries.For example…* Cost of energy is going to zero with nuclear fusion* Longevity is starting to work; check out Loyal for Dogs* Batteries & cameras continue to improve; medical devices, for one, will be more personal & affordable* Disintermediation of big ad networks with new global distribution channels; check out Benjamin* Massive cost reductions driven by AI* Software will be built by software* An aging population is retiring (10,000 per day); wealth transfer & SMB's with no exit paths* Climate change* …and so on and so on and so onThe list is long. Much longer than this. If you want the rest, just reply or comment so that I know, and I'll go deeper next week.Net of all of it, I think we're going to see a tale of two cities. Stronger, more profitable businesses, with smaller, but better founder founder exits in the near term, and a continued growth both in number of total unicorns, and what that top-end outcomes look like in the longer-term.And like I said, go read Aileen's post.Sequoia, Founders Fund, USV, Elad Gil & Benchmark Top Venture Manager SurveyI got my hands on a VC scorecard circulating among top founders & VCsERIC NEWCOMERJAN 25, 2024Before we get started, I want to be clear — this isn't the end-all, be-all list of the top venture capital firms or the most promising startups.But I got my hands on a survey of 91 people at 69 different venture capital firms conducted by a well-respected investor in venture capital firms.The survey results are spreading hand-to-hand in Silicon Valley. The results of the survey rank the most desirable venture capital firms and companies, according to VCs themselves. When I was out in San Francisco last week for The Information's 10th anniversary gala, sources kept bringing it up.My sources tell me that the survey was conducted by Ed Hutchinson, managing partner at Golden Bell Partners. Hutchinson is ignoring my emails.Which firms and companies would top VCs themselves put their money into? It's a question everyone wants to know the answer to.I've got my hands on their list of favorites:Firms* (1) Sequoia* (2) Founders Fund* (3) Union Square* (4) Elad Gil* (5) Benchmark…Much More (but only for subscribers)Why 2024 May Be Tougher on Venture Capital Than 2023by Jason Lemkin | Blog Posts, Fundraising, ScaleSo I thought the toughest times for venture would be behind us now.  In 2022, we were in free fall, with public market caps falling like a knife, and the IPO markets frozen.  And 2023 was the year of the Work Out in venture.  Bridge rounds slowed down, and VCs acknowledged a lot of portfolio companies just weren't going to make it.  It got real in 2023, and that realness got normalized.  The drama mostly was behind us.  And public SaaS stocks in many cases did really, really well in 2023.  So shouldn't 2024 at least be better for venture?So I thought.But the reality is I'm a bit more worried the venture drama in 2024 will be bigger than 2023.  Why?  Four core reasons:#1:  Now We Have to Deal With the Reality of the Stumbling Unicorns.The ones that are doing $100m+ ARR, still growing, but there just isn't going to be any more money coming.  This is going to burn up a ton of energy in VC funds.  Even tougher, the reality is while many VC funds marked down their unicorns to lower valuations in 2023, they often didn't mark them down enough.#2.  The Chase for AI Unicorns and Decacorns is All-consuming.  It's Still 2021 There.The one place where paper money seems easy to come by is Hot AI Startups.   And that's probably not you.  It's just consuming all the oxygen in venture, trying to get into the next Imaging AI startup worth $1B in 10 months.  In AI, 2021 never went away.  In AI, it's still 2021.#3.  A Lot of Seasoned VCs are Discouraged. This Doesn't Help Founders.A lot of VCs who have been around for a while are quietly discouraged.  They just don't see a great path to making a ton of money in venture these days.  We're in Year 3 of a venture downturn, and that weighs of most of us.  At a practical level, for founders, it makes it harder to lean it.#4.  More Valuation Markdowns Are Still to ComeRelated to the first point, but more markdowns are like mutliple rounds of layoffs.  They're just tough.  LPs lose confidence.  Coworkers lose confidence.  We should have gotten through a lot of this in 2023, but we didn't.  Personally, I've got several investments for example that I marked down. 70%-80% or more — that my co-investors didn't mark down at all.#5.  VCs Have Run out of ReservesVCs used what extra “reserve” capital they had for bridge rounds in 2022 and 2023.  Now it's gone.  That's adds to the stress as companies struggle.  You don't have a play anymore.The bottom line is there likely is at least another full year of working through the excesses of 2021.  That will weigh across venture.  No matter what some AI headlines suggest.Video of the WeekThe Mac at 40Apple Shares the Secret of Why the 40-Year-Old Mac Still RulesThe pioneering PC revolutionized how people interact with computers. As the Mac enters its fifth decade, Apple says it will continue to evolve.STEVEN LEVY, Jan 19, 2024 10:00 AMON JANUARY 24, Apple's Macintosh computer turns 40. Normally that number is an inexorable milestone of middle age. Indeed, in the last reported sales year, Macintosh sales dipped below $30 billion, more than a 25 percent drop from the previous year's $40 billion. But unlike an aging person, Macs now are slimmer, faster, and last much longer before having to recharge.My own relationship with the computer dates back to its beginnings, when I got a prelaunch peek some weeks before its January 1984 launch. I even wrote a book about the Mac—Insanely Great—in which I described it as “the computer that changed everything.” Unlike every other nonfiction subtitle, the hyperbole was justified. The Mac introduced the way all computers would one day work, and the break from controlling a machine with typed commands ushered us into an era that extends to our mobile interactions. It also heralded a focus on design that transformed our devices.That legacy has been long-lasting. For the first half of its existence, the Mac occupied only a slice of the market, even as it inspired so many rivals; now it's a substantial chunk of PC sales. Even within the Apple juggernaut, $30 billion isn't chicken feed! What's more, when people think of PCs these days, many will envision a Macintosh. More often than not, the open laptops populating coffee shops and tech company workstations beam out glowing Apples from their covers. Apple claims that its Macbook Air is the world's best-selling computer model. One 2019 survey reported that more than two-thirds of all college students prefer a Mac. And Apple has relentlessly improved the product, whether with the increasingly slim profile of the iMac or the 22-hour battery life of the Macbook Pro. Moreover, the Mac is still a thing. Chromebooks and Surface PCs come and go, but Apple's creation remains the pinnacle of PC-dom. “It's not a story of nostalgia, or history passing us by,” says Greg “Joz” Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, in a rare on-the-record interview with five Apple executives involved in its Macintosh operation. “The fact we did this for 40 years is unbelievable.”…Much MoreAI of the WeekBMW will deploy Figure's humanoid robot at South Carolina plantBrian Heater @bheater / 3:00 AM PST•January 18, 2024Image Credits: FigureFigure today announced a “commercial agreement” that will bring its first humanoid robot to a BMW manufacturing facility in South Carolina. The Spartanburg plant is BMW's only in the United States. As of 2019, the 8 million-square-foot campus boasted the highest yield among the German manufacturer's factories anywhere in the world.BMW has not disclosed how many Figure 01 models it will deploy initially. Nor do we know precisely what jobs the robot will be tasked with when it starts work. Figure did, however, confirm with TechCrunch that it is beginning with an initial five tasks, which will be rolled out one at a time.While folks in the space have been cavalierly tossing out the term “general purpose” to describe these sorts of systems, it's important to temper expectations and point out that they will all arrive as single- or multi-purpose systems, growing their skillset over time. Figure CEO Brett Adcock likens the approach to an app store — something that Boston Dynamics currently offers with its Spot robot via SDK.Likely initial applications include standard manufacturing tasks such as box moving, pick and place and pallet unloading and loading — basically the sort of repetitive tasks for which factory owners claim to have difficulty retaining human workers. Adcock says that Figure expects to ship its first commercial robot within a year, an ambitious timeline even for a company that prides itself on quick turnaround times.The initial batch of applications will be largely determined by Figure's early partners like BMW. The system will, for instance, likely be working with sheet metal to start. Adcock adds that the company has signed up additional clients, but declined to disclose their names. It seems likely Figure will instead opt to announce each individually to keep the news cycle spinning in the intervening 12 months.Unlike some other humanoid designers (including Agility), Figure is focused on creating a dexterous, human like hand for manipulation. The thinking behind such an end effector is the same that's driving many toward the humanoid form factor in the first place: Namely, we've designed our workspaces with us in mind. Adcock alludes to Figure 01 being tasked with an initial set of jobs that require high dexterity.As for the importance of legs, the executive suggests that their importance for maneuvering during certain tasks is as — or more — important than things like walking up stairs and over uneven terrain, which tend to get most of the love during these conversations.…MoreGoogle's New AI Video Generator Looks IncredibleJAN 25, 2024MATT GROWCOOTGoogle has announced Lumiere: an AI video generator that looks to be one of the most advanced text-to-video models yet.The name Lumiere is seemingly a nod to the Lumiere brothers who are credited with putting on the first ever cinema showing in 1895. Just as motion picture was cutting-edge technology at the end of the 19th century, the Lumiere name is once more being associated with something new and original.The demo of Lumiere that Google put out focuses firmly on animals. The model can generate a scene using just text; much the same way AI image generators work, the user can dream up any scenario they would like to see a short video clip of.However, the user can also use an image as a prompt. Google provided multiple examples: including some that are real photos such as Joe Rosenthal's iconic Raising the Flag photo; “Soldiers raising the united states flag on a windy day” saw one of the 20th-centuries most recognizable photos suddently come to life as the soliders struggle with the flag that's being affected by gusts.Also in Lumiere is a “Video Stylization” setting which allows users to upload a source video and then ask the generative AI model for various element changes. For example, a person running may be suddenly turned into a toy made of colorful bricks.Another feature Google showed off is “Cinemagraphs”, where just a section of an image is animated while the rest stays still. “Video Inpainting” is included too which involves masking part of the image so that section can be changed to the user's desire.Space-Time Diffusion ModelLumiere is powered by “Space-Time U-Net architecture that generates the entire temporal duration of the video at once, through a single pass in the model.”This difficult-to-understand concept is apparently in contrast to existing video models which “synthesize distant keyframes followed by temporal super-resolution — an approach that inherently makes global temporal consistency difficult to achieve.”…Much MoreOpenAI's Sam Altman seeks funds for AI chip factories as demands surgeOpenAI CEO Sam Altman has opened discussions with global investors over the possibility of funding a network of artificial intelligence (AI) chip factories to keep pace with soaring demand.Altman is seeking around $8 billion to $10 billion worth of funds to set up several AI chip fabrication plants around the globe, an endeavor that will require synergy between leading chip manufacturers backed by investment giants.Altman is reportedly in talks with Japanese-based financial giant SoftBank Group (NASDAQ: SFTBF) and Abu Dhabi's G42 over funding plans, but details remain sparse. The discussions with G42 have been underway since 2023, with Altman describing a potential chip partnership as laying the foundation “for equitable advancements in generative AI across the globe.”Aside from SoftBank and G42, insiders say that Altman is still pursuing collaborations with other industry players to set up a network of chip fabrication plants. Although exact entities were not namechecked, industry experts are noting Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC), Samsung Electronics, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (NASDAQ: TSM) as potential partners.Altman's approach to raising funds hinges on concerns that the chip supply will not be able to meet global demands for AI offerings by 2030. The OpenAI's CEO argues that the ideal solution will be a collaborative effort to set up chip manufacturing plants rather than build in silos.OpenAI has had its fair share of chip scarcity, rolling back a number of its offerings over a steady chip supply. To meet the rising demand, the company is reportedly mulling several options, including the prospect of building its chips from scratch and joining ranks with Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) to explore an in-house solution.Given the costs associated with an in-house approach, OpenAI may pursue the acquisition of a chip manufacturer as a short-term solution or expand its collaboration with existing partners. However, a potential acquisition opens its own can of worms, including an inquiry by antitrust regulators.Governments are also involvedIn 2023, Altman urged the South Korean government to double their investments in AI chip manufacturing as a veritable strategy to play a leading role in the nascent ecosystem. Currently, South Korea ranks behind the U.S., China, and Japan in chip manufacturing, but a concerted government involvement could see the country climb up the charts.The OpenAI boss disclosed during his visit to South Korea that his firm will back local entities building chips for AI and other emerging technologies, with Samsung rumored to be in top position.“We are exploring how to increase our investment in Korean startups,” said Altman. “We are excited to meet as many as we can here today. I think this type of collaboration is essential to our work.”..MoreThe Future of Prosumer: The Rise of “AI Native” WorkflowsAnish Acharya, Justine Moore, and Olivia MoorePosted January 25, 2024Few people love the software they use to get things done. And it's no surprise why. Whether it's a slide deck builder, a video editor, or a photo enhancer, today's work tools were conceived decades ago — and it shows! Even best-in-class products often feel either too inflexible and unsophisticated to do real work, or have steep, inaccessible learning curves (we're looking at you, Adobe InDesign). Generative AI offers founders an opportunity to completely reinvent workflows — and will spawn a new cohort of companies that are not just AI-augmented, but fully AI-native. These companies will start from scratch with the technology we have now, and build new products around the generation, editing, and composition capabilities that are uniquely possible due to AI. On the most surface level, we believe AI will help users do their existing work more efficiently. AI-native platforms will “up level” user interactions with software, allowing them to delegate lower skill tasks to an AI assistant and spend their time on higher-level thinking. This applies not only to traditional office workers, but to small business owners, freelancers, creators, and artists — who arguably have even more complex demands on their time. But AI will also help users unlock completely new skill sets, on both a technical and an aesthetic level. We've already seen this with products like Midjourney and ChatGPT's Code Interpreter. Everyone can now be a programmer, a producer, a designer, or a musician, shrinking the gap between creativity and craft. With access to professional-grade yet consumer-friendly products with AI-powered workflows, everyone can be a part of a new generation of “prosumers.”In this piece, we aim to highlight the features of today's — and tomorrow's — most successful Gen AI-native workflows, as well as hypothesize about how we see these products evolving.What Will GenAI Native Prosumer Products Look Like?All products with Gen AI-native workflows will share one crucial trait: translating cutting-edge models into an accessible, effective UI.Users of workflow tools typically don't care what infrastructure is behind a product; they care about how it helps them! While the technological leaps we've made with Generative AI are amazing, successful products will importantly still start from a deep understanding of the user and their pain points. What can be abstracted away with AI? Where are the key “decision points” that need approval, if any? And where are the highest points of leverage? There are a few key features we believe products in this category will have: * Generation tools that kill the “blank page” problem. The earliest and most obvious consumer AI use cases have come from translating a natural language prompt into a media output — e.g., image, video, and text generators. The same will be true in prosumer. These tools might help transform true “blank pages” (e.g., a text prompt to slide deck), or take incremental assets (e.g., a sketch or an outline) and turn them into a more fleshed-out product.Some companies will do this via a proprietary model, while others may mix or stitch together multiple models (open source, proprietary, or via API) behind the scenes. One example here is Vizcom's rendering tool. Users can input a text prompt, sketch, or 3D model, and instantly get a photorealistic rendering to further iterate on.Another example is Durable's website builder product, which the company says has been used to generate more than 6 million sites so far. Users input their company name, segment, and location, and Durable will spit out a site for them to customize. As LLMs get more powerful, we expect to see products like Durable pull real information about your business from elsewhere on the internet and social media — the history, team, reviews, logos, etc. — and generate an even more sophisticated output from just one generation. * Multimodal (and multimedia!) combinations. Many creative projects require more than one type of content. For example, you may want to combine an image with text, music with video, or an animation with a voiceover. As of now, there isn't one model that can generate all of these asset types. This creates an opportunity for workflow products which allow users to generate, refine, and stitch different content types in one place.…MoreAndreessen Horowitz's Connie Chan to Leave as Consumer Focus Shifts to AIBy Kate Clark, Erin Woo and Cory WeinbergJan 23, 2024, 7:22am PSTFor years, partners at Andreessen Horowitz proclaimed they would scour the startup world for the next big consumer marketplace like Airbnb or the next hit consumer app out of China, areas in which the firm had unique expertise. Now, it's shifting toward an area more en vogue across venture capital: consumer apps powered by artificial intelligence.Those changes are happening amid an overhaul of its consumer team. Connie Chan, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz who formerly led a team of consumer investors and was known for spotting internet trends coming from China, said she is leaving the firm.  She may raise her own fund, a person familiar with the matter said. Anish Acharya, a general partner at the firm who invested in enterprise-focused and financial technology businesses, now leads the consumer team, said people familiar with the change.Chan's move also follows a distancing by U.S. VC firms from investments in China tech, once a hotbed for U.S.  investors. In recent months, Chan has privately said it's becoming more difficult for her to work at Andreessen Horowitz because the partners have been increasingly disinterested in anything China related, another person said.The Takeaway• Fintech-focused GP Anish Acharya leading consumer deals• Consumer GP Connie Chan is leaving the firm• Consumer partner Anne Lee Skates left to start own fundThe changes are part of a broader personnel shakeup, including the decision by senior consumer investor and Airbnb board member Jeff Jordan to step back from making new investments last year. Of the four general partners that led the firm through a consumer deal blitz, none remain on the consumer team.Meanwhile, Anne Lee Skates, a consumer partner who worked on the firm's investment in live shopping app WhatNot, left in the fall to raise her own fund, according to two people familiar with the matter. Axios first reported that Chan was leaving the firm.The Andreessen Horowitz changes are emblematic of a broader VC industry gravitation toward AI and away from once-hot sectors like consumer marketplaces and financial technology, as a spike in interest rates undercut the growth aspirations of startups trying to elbow out incumbent social platforms and banking institutions.“We've gotten into this cycle now where, generally speaking, investors are less interested in consumer,” said Ben Lerer, managing partner at Lerer Hippeau. Known for its consumer investments in Warby Parker and Allbirds, the firm has invested 70% of its latest fund in enterprise companies, he said. “And AI feels like this very hopeful, very exciting, fresh thing.”Founders of some consumer startups have noticed the shift at Andreessen Horowitz. One founder of a consumer startup in the firm's portfolio said they had heard little from investment partners over the last year, a contrast to a steady drumbeat of emails the founder got in prior years from Andreessen staff who support portfolio companies with marketing and operations advice.Andreessen Horowitz's consumer investing team has been perhaps most well known for its focus on backing digital marketplaces, from peer-to-peer self-storage to real estate investment marketplaces, that could turn into the next Airbnb. Every year, it releases a ranking of top marketplace startups. “We are obsessed with marketplaces and have been since our inception,” Chan, who led investments in  social fashion startup Cider for the firm in 2021.But some of those startups backed by the firm, such as self-storage startup Neighbor, have struggled to take off in recent years. And like other venture firms, Andreessen Horowitz has also stepped back from investing in Chinese startups, an area of focus for Chan. She had championed the idea that the next wave of breakout U.S. consumer startups will model themselves after China's internet success stories, like all-in-one app WeChat.With $53 billion in assets under management, Andreessen Horowitz is one of the largest of traditional Silicon Valley firms and closely watched among other VC firms as a trend setter. And its track record of sniffing out hitmakers primed its partners to find the next trendy consumer app.The number of consumer deals Andreessen Horowitz has led dropped to 13 last year from 30 in 2021, a record for the firm, according to PitchBook data. It's possible the firm completed more consumer deals and that those investments haven't been announced. Its investments in AI companies have jumped to 23 from nine over the same years, including leading a $415 million investment in Mistral, the French developer of an open-source large language model.The firm has beefed up this team of investors primarily focused on enterprise, software infrastructure and AI startups. Led by Martin Casado, a close confidante to the firm's founders Horowitz and Marc Andreessen, it is raising its first standalone fund and has brought on two new general partners, Anjney Midha and Zane Lackey, since 2022, as well as a number of junior partners.As the infrastructure team gained power, the consumer team's profile shrank. The firm in 2023 combined its consumer and fintech teams and created a new group, called apps, led by general partner Alex Rampell, who previously co-founded installment lender Affirm, The Information reported last year. Under Rampell's leadership, the newly formed apps team will also soon launch a dedicated apps fund, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. The consolidated team has been encouraged to pursue AI deals.Within Rampell's apps group, Acharya now leads the consumer sub-group. His portfolio of companies includes payroll company Deel and Silo, a provider of supply chain automation software. He's also an investor in Titan, a consumer investment application.Fueling the firm's shift away from consumer apps are likely disappointing returns. The startups that captivated consumers during the pandemic shutdowns have failed to retain their attention. Growth at companies the consumer team bet on, like Clubhouse, which Andreessen Horowitz backed three times in one year, and photo-sharing app BeReal, which it backed in 2021, has stalled.…MoreOpenAI Is a (Relative) StealBy Stephanie PalazzoloJan 22, 2024, 7:35am PSTOver the past year, we've seen billions in funding thrown at AI startups at eye-popping valuations. More important than the absolute valuation figures, though, is how they stack up to those startups' revenue numbers.In the chart above, we've tracked the valuations of eight AI startups that have recently raised funding, calculated against their projected revenue. On average, these companies raised money at a price that is 83 times their projected sales for the next twelve months. That's a big multiple by any measure, reflecting the rocket ship nature of these startups. But what makes the comparison noteworthy is that OpenAI has one of the lowest multiples, even though its business has the most traction.Venture capitalists tend to value early-stage startups at a premium based on their growth rates. OpenAI's business is far bigger and more mature—if we can use that word for a company growing as fast as OpenAI—than other generative AI companies. So, as fast as its revenue pace is growing—more than 20% in just two months most recently—newer firms are growing even faster.For instance, AI-powered search engine Perplexity AI doubled its annual recurring revenue from $3 million to $6 million from October to January. VCs were likely taking that expected growth into account at the time of investment, as the company would have garnered a much lower 75-times forward revenue multiple if it had raised at the same price just a few months later. Similarly, even though OpenAI rival Anthropic was likely generating around $200 million in annualized revenue at the end of last year (according to its October estimates), its projection that it would reach $850 million in annualized revenue by the end of this year surely made its mind-boggling valuation more palatable to investors.When you see the details of these AI startup funding rounds, it can sometimes feel like investors are throwing darts at nine-figure numbers on a wall. The chart suggests there's a method to the madness. Typically, startups selling to companies are valued based on the sector in which they operate. The lowest valuation multiples are accorded to startups offering industry-specific applications, while those offering more generalized applications draw a premium. The most highly valued firms are often infrastructure startups, which create the tools that developers use to build these apps. This order stems from how big the target market of these startups are, ranging from a specific industry (like healthcare or education) to all developers. We can see that general order reflected in burgeoning AI startups. For instance, Harvey, which sells an AI application for lawyers, has one of the lower multiples, while broader-reaching companies like Glean and VAST Data land higher multiples.It seems like investors aren't quite sure yet where model developers like OpenAI and Anthropic fall on this spectrum. Their costs are very different from a typical software startup due to how much computing power they need, and many investors are still worried that closed-source model developers may be overtaken by their cheaper, open-source counterparts.…MoreNews Of the WeekTed fellows resign from organisation after Bill Ackman named as speakerLucianne Walkowicz and Saeed Taji Farouky accuse Ted of taking anti-Palestinian stand over controversial billionaire's inclusionChris McGrealThe Ted organisation has been hit with resignations and criticisms after naming the controversial activist billionaire Bill Ackman, who was instrumental in forcing out Harvard's president over antisemitism allegations, among its main speakers at this year's conference.Four Ted fellows, led by the astronomer Lucianne Walkowicz and the filmmaker Saeed Taji Farouky, resigned from the group on Wednesday, accusing it of taking an anti-Palestinian stand and aligning itself “with enablers and supporters of genocide” in Gaza.“2024 main stage speaker Bill Ackman has defended Israel's genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people and has cynically weaponised antisemitism in his programme to purge American universities of Pro-Palestinian freedom of speech,” the pair wrote to Chris Anderson, who leads Ted, and Lily James Olds, director of the fellows programme.“We've become increasingly concerned about the fundamental values and moral compass of the organisation over the years, but with this year's speaker selection, it is clear Ted has crossed a red line.”The conference will be held in Vancouver, Canada, in April, under the banner The Brave and the Brilliant”. The theme of Ackman's talk has not been revealed but his selection was announced last week after he was accused of using his money and influence to help force Claudine Gay's resignation as Harvard's president following her disastrous appearance before Congress in December when she was questioned about on-campus antisemitism during the Israel-Gaza war.Ackman has taken stridently pro-Israel positions, including justifying the scale of the attacks on Gaza in which more than 25,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly civilians, and the forced removal of about 2 million Palestinians from their homes. He has described criticism of Israel as antisemitism and called for the blacklisting from employment of American students who signed petitions denouncing the offensive in Gaza in the wake of the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel.Farouky and Walkowicz's resignation letter noted that other speakers announced by Ted include the journalist Bari Weiss, who they describe as having “a long, sordid, and well-documented history of anti-Palestinian speech”, but that there are no Palestinians in the line-up.“We refuse for our work and identities to be exploited to promote the Ted brand while the organisation and its speakers generate income and advance their careers through dehumanising Palestinians and justifying their genocide,” the pair said.After the resignation letter was published, two other fellows – the entrepreneur Ayah Bdeir and cosmologist Renée Hlozek – also quit. Nearly 30 others added their names “in solidarity” without leaving Ted.…MoreTesla's Slowdown Disqualifies It From ‘Magnificent Seven' GroupBy Martin Peers, Jan 24, 2024, 5:00pm PSTStock market pundits may want to come up with a new name for the big tech stocks driving the overall market. The “magnificent seven” descriptor—referring to Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Nvidia and Tesla—no longer seems to make much sense. I'd like to suggest that's because none of the company CEOs look like cowboy gunslingers from the 1960 movie that made the phrase famous. It's hard to imagine Steve McQueen playing Tim Cook or Andy Jassy, for instance (although Yul Brynner admittedly could have filled the role of horseback-riding Jeff Bezos).The real reason the moniker no longer works, however, is that at least one member of the group, Tesla, has had anything but a magnificent 2024 so far, and its fourth-quarter earnings report, released Wednesday, only made things worse. Before Tesla reported earnings tonight, its stock had fallen 16% so far this year, and it tumbled another 3% after hours to around $200 a share. This isn't a reaction to CEO Elon Musk's antics, which include asking for a bunch more stock, although that surely doesn't help. The stock decline reflects the slowdown in sales suffered by Tesla, which observers attribute to increased competition and a loss of government incentives. Automotive revenues, which make up the bulk of Tesla's top line, grew just 1% in the fourth quarter—down from 18% in the first quarter.In its outlook for this year issued today, the company said its growth in the volume of car sales would be lower than in 2023, and noted that its team is working on its “next-generation vehicle.” Meantime, expenses have been skyrocketing, eroding its profit margin. But our less-than-rigorous takedown of the magnificent seven branding isn't just about Tesla. If you look at the year-to-date performance of big tech stocks, or even their 2023 performance, you can see that just two tech stocks have roared this year. One is Nvidia, which is in a class of its own: up 27% since Jan. 1, thanks to its stranglehold on the specialized chips used in artificial intelligence. The other is Meta Platforms, which is up nearly 13%, reflecting confidence in its ad business.  In comparison, Microsoft and Alphabet are each up around 8%, likely thanks to expectations that AI will lift their businesses, while Apple and Amazon lag behind with year-to-date stock price rises of less than 5% each. Instead of the magnificent seven, it might be more appropriate to refer to the group as Nvidia, Meta and the humble five.… MoreTikTok's Testing 30 Minute Uploads as It Looks To Expand Its Content OptionsBy Andrew Hutchinson Content and Social Media ManagerThe next stage of TikTok is coming, with some users now seeing the option to upload 30 minute long videos in the app.As you can see in this example, shared by social media expert Matt Navarra, TikTok's currently testing the new 30 minute upload option in the beta version of the app.Which, if you've been paying attention, is not really any big surprise.TikTok has been steadily increasing its maximum post limit for years, with the platform originally starting at 15 seconds per clip, which was then extended to 60 seconds, then 3 minutes, then 5 minutes, before rising to 10 minutes in 2022.Last October, TikTok began experimenting with 15 minute uploads, so the trend towards longer clips isn't new.Though 30 minutes is likely the upper limit, based on the Chinese version of the app. Douyin, which is TikTok in China, expanded its upload limit to 30 minutes per clip in 2022, and it hasn't gone any further as yet.And presumably, Douyin has also seen good response to this longer time limit, which is why TikTok is now looking to implement the same, though it does seem like a long time to be watching a TikTok clip in-stream.Will users really warm to TV show length clips in the app?…MoreInstagram to scan under-18s' messages to protect against ‘inappropriate images'Feature will work even on encrypted messages, suggesting platform plans to implement client-side scanningAlex Hern and Dan MilmoInstagram will begin scanning messages sent to and from under-18s to protect them from “inappropriate images”, Meta has announced.The feature, being kept under wraps until later this year, would work even on encrypted messages, a spokesperson said, suggesting the company intends to implement a so-called client-side scanning service for the first time.But the update will not meet controversial demands for inappropriate messages to be reported back to Instagram servers.Instead, only a user's personal device will ever know whether or not a message has been filtered out, leading to criticism of the promise as another example of the company “grading its own homework”.“We're planning to launch a new feature designed to help protect teens from seeing unwanted and potentially inappropriate images in their messages from people they're already connected to,” the company said in a blogpost, “and to discourage them from sending these types of images themselves. We'll have more to share on this feature, which will also work in encrypted chats, later this year.”…Much MoreTiger Global Investor Relations Staff Depart After Fundraising ChallengesBy Francesca Friday and Maria HeeterJan 24, 2024, 4:46pm PSTSeveral Tiger Global Management employees focused on raising capital for the New York firm's venture funds have taken buyout offers, according to a person familiar with the matter. The departures of the staff, who worked with prospective investors, come as the firm has struggled to raise money for its latest venture capital fund after a collapse in startup valuations soured its paper returns for earlier funds.As of the second quarter of 2023, a $12.7 billion fund that Tiger started making investments from in October 2021 had a paper loss of 18%, calculated as an annualized return net of management fees, according to internal data distributed to investors in the fund. That's a slight improvement from six months earlier, when the 2021 fund showed a loss of 20%. The fund's performance is in the bottom quartile of funds started that year, the document said, and has also lagged the S&P 500's annualized net return in the same period.The Takeaway• Tiger employee buyouts are the latest example of VC cost-cutting• Tiger's $12.7 billion had lost 18% on paper as of June* Tiger could soon show a $350 million gain from OpenAI stakeAs of June 30, 2023, the $12.7 billion fund hadn't returned any cash to investors, which isn't unusual for such a young fund. But the paper losses are closely guarded secrets that reflect the kind of write-downs other venture firms have been making over the past two years as tech valuations have fallen.It isn't clear how big Tiger's investor relations team is, but the departures are the latest example of belt-tightening across the venture industry. Firms are raising smaller funds and striking fewer deals, reducing the need for sprawling support staff—including those who help firms raise money from pension funds and endowments...MoreWorldcoin hints at new Orb for a friendlier iris-scanning experienceby Vivian NguyenThe next-gen device will feature various colors and shapes to enhance its visual appeal.Worldcoin, an iris biometric crypto project, is set to launch a new Orb that aims to offer a more user-friendly iris-scanning experience, said Alex Blania, CEO and co-founder of Tools for Humanity, the developer behind the project, in an exclusive interview with TechCrunch today.“The next Orb will roll out in the first half of this year and will feature alternative colors and form factors in an effort to look ‘much more friendly,'” Blania explained. “Overall, it is going to look way more tuned down and similar to an Apple product.”Blania acknowledges that the initial design of the Orb predated his time at the company. “The new orb is coming and the next iterations will look quite different,” he remarked during a fireside chat at a recent StrictlyVC event, signaling a departure from the current, more controversial design.The goal of Worldcoin, as described by Blania, is to reach billions of users as fast as possible.“The thesis is very simple. We race toward billions of users as fast as we possibly can,” said Blania.Founded by Blania, Sam Altman, and Max Novendstern, Tools for Humanity has raised around $250 million from prominent investors like a16z and Bain Capital Crypto, among others. The project is famous for its unique Orb device designed to scan people's irises and assign them a “World ID,” granting access to Worldcoin's application and a digital passport. Worldcoin's vision is to authenticate individual identities and prevent the creation of multiple accounts.The current design of the Orb has been a topic of much debate due to its intimidating look, similar to a prop from a sci-fi movie, according to Blania. The company has also faced criticism for its beta testing approaches in developing economies and concerns over privacy and data security.Despite some skepticism, the Orb has seen practical use. At the StrictlyVC event in downtown San Francisco, a Tools for Humanity employee reported that a “couple dozen” attendees scanned their iris to receive a World ID. There has also been “field testing” of the new Orb design.…MoreStartup of the WeekLoyalty Startup Bilt Rewards Hits $3.1B Valuation After $200M RoundChris MetinkoJanuary 24, 2024Bilt Rewards, a loyalty rewards startup, raised a $200 million round led by General Catalyst at a $3.1 billion valuation — more than double the number after its last fundraising in 2022.The round also included participation from Eldridge Industries, Left Lane Capital, Camber Creek and Prosus Ventures.The New York-based startup allows consumers to earn rewards on the rent they pay. Bilt plans to use some of the proceeds to expand its network to include local dining, grocery stores, ridesharing and other retail purchases.“We're not just building a loyalty program; we're creating a community-centric ecosystem that benefits everyone from renters to local businesses,” said founder and CEO Ankur Jain.The company also appointed some big names to roles in the company. Bilt named Ken Chenault, former chairman and CEO of American Express, as its chairman, and Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the NFL, as an independent director.Big moneyThe company reported its annualized member spend is nearing $20 billion. It also became profitable on an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization basis last year.Those metrics must have impressed investors, as Bilt has seen its valuation shoot up after raising a $150 million Series B at a pre-money valuation of $1.4 billion in October 2022. Founded in 2021, the company has raised a total of $413 million, per Crunchbase.Last year was a slow go for loyalty startups. Such companies raised only $74 million, per Crunchbase data. However in 2022, loyalty startups raised more than a half-billion dollars thanks to big raises that included Bilt's Series B and Madison, Wisconsin-based Fetch's $240 million Series E.With this fundraise, things are looking up for loyalty startups again.X of the Week This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thatwastheweek.substack.com/subscribe

Headlines from the past remind me that 2024 could be a great year The following is a guest column from our friend and industry expert, Kevin Slimp! Making bold predictions is easy. This year, I've paid close attention to forecasts by respected sportswriters in national print and online publications to see how my football bowl predictions match up against their predictions. Some of you probably did the same thing. I was surprised that I correctly predicted the winners of the bowl games at a much higher rate than any of the national sportswriters I followed. There are still a few...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

The Recorder, a local newspaper covering three rural counties in western Virginia, was recently featured in a PBS NewsHour segment about the sustainability of local journalism. Additionally, The Recorder was singled out this year as one of 17 “Bright Spots” for local news outlets, as part of the 2023 "State of Local News Project" published by the Local News Initiative at Northeastern University's Medill School of Journalism. The report, in addition to providing detailed data on many downward trends in the publishing space, also highlights news outlets that are progressing towards stable, sustainable models while providing their communities with excellent...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

Happy Thanksgiving! As we gather to celebrate this season of gratitude and community, it's the perfect time to reflect on how we share stories and connect with readers. Today, we're showcasing the versatility and visual appeal of our NextGen gallery plugin through a series of imaginative Thanksgiving images created with a dash of AI. To learn how you can showcase your stories, check out our walkthrough on using NextGen Gallery. Image SlideshowArticle LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

A powerful way to expand your newspaper's reach beyond your community and local readers is to submit your content to news aggregate platforms like Apple News and Google News, who will redistribute it across their networks of users. This can help improve your publication's search engine rankings and web traffic, which in turn can help increase your advertising revenue. We wrote a post about How to Appear in Google News last summer, and we'll go over how to set up your site for inclusion in Apple News below. The ‘Publish to Apple News' plugin enables WordPress sites with approved Apple News channels...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

In the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence (AI), publishers are finding themselves at a crossroads. The emergence of generative artificial intelligence (G-AI) systems has brought about a technological revolution, but with it comes a pressing question: How do we protect our creative content in this new digital age? The Challenge: A recent white paper by the News-Media Alliance highlights a critical issue facing publishers today—the pervasive copying of expressive works by G-AI systems. These systems, which include large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, are trained on vast amounts of data, often without the consent or compensation of the original...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

The rise of artificial intelligence in search engines is a game-changer for news publishers. Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE) is a clear indicator that AI's role in content dissemination is growing. While this presents challenges, it also opens up a realm of strategic possibilities. This blog post aims to expand on specific strategies that publishers can implement to mitigate the potential negative impacts on their traffic and to thrive in this new AI-driven environment. [source] Understanding Google's SGE AI-Powered Summaries: Google's SGE leverages AI to generate concise summaries for search queries, providing users with quick information without the need to...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

In the news Register for our Online Summits: Design + Accessibility, and Design + AI! CreativePro Magazine October 2023: Accessibility for Newbies All about Adobe InDesign 2024 (v19.0) Adobe MAX 2023 review and ID Tips from Attendees Obscure Feature of the Week: Show Structure Sponsor for this episode >>  Priint:Suite is an enterprise platform that reduces the time to create marketing publications up to 80% and enables creative marketers to focus on being creative.  Automate layouts following business/layout rules without limits on creative freedom. Instantly create personalized or language variants. Learn more about where and how to use it with InDesign here!  Links mentioned in this podcast The Design + Data Summit (on-demand) The Design + Accessibility Summit The Design + AI Summit CreativePro Week 2024: July 8-12, 2024 (DC and Online) What's new in InDesign 2024 https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/whats-new.html Request a feature in InDesign https://indesign.uservoice.com/forums/601021-adobe-indesign-feature-requests David's conversation with Priint CEO of Priint USA: https://creativepro.com/creativepro-conversations-integrate-data-and-design-with-priintsuite/ Adam Pratt, CEO of Chaos to Memories Sarah Hyndman, author of Passive Aggressive Fonts and Why Fonts Matter Mark Heaps, Groq How to print a page range: https://creativepro.com/tip-of-the-week-the-easy-way-to-print-a-page-range/ Friendly Alien Easter Egg: https://creativepro.com/tip-of-the-week-friendly-alien-easter-egg/ Obscure Feature: Show Structure https://creativepro.com/getting-started-with-xml-in-indesign/ How to use Quick Apply to open or close Structure panel: https://creativepro.com/using-quick-apply-for-menu-commands/  

Our-Hometown has been collaborating with a new customer, Main Street Media of Tennessee, on consolidating their 17 individual newspaper websites into a single, multi-publication online presence. This process included custom development for managing the publication content, custom user roles, article templates, plus a major expansion of our Reverse Publishing feature set. As we went through the process, it was a massive undertaking, probably a bigger undertaking than I anticipated it was going to be at the time we started. As we came up with issues, I think you guys were very attentive. Dave Gould, Publisher Reverse Publishing Reverse publishing at...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

Today I traveled up I-15N from Salt Lake to Brigham City, UT for a visit with Casey at Box Elder News Journal. My first objective was to put a face to the name.  Casey Claybaugh, who's been the publisher of the paper since 2009, switched to OHT in the middle of the COVID shutdown, so I wasn't doing any in-person onboarding.  But I knew someday I would find an opportunity to make the trip. First leg of the Our Hometown Road Show My second objective was to conduct research on print circulation systems for integration into Memberpress.  We are trying...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

Introduction Adobe Express continues to evolve as the premier AI-powered creative platform, integrating new features that simplify and enhance all aspects of digital content creation. The latest release introduces generative AI capabilities and enhancements like Generative Fill, and Text to Template that remove creative barriers and streamline workflows. In this post, we'll explore how to utilize these new tools to work faster, smarter, and more intuitively. We'll also take a look at the Content Scheduler, allowing you to leverage all of the creative power of Adobe Express and then publish your content across all your favorite social platforms. With Adobe...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

Our-Hometown has recently been collaborating with a new customer, Main Street Media of Tennessee on consolidating their 17 individual newspaper websites into a single, multi-publication online presence. This process included custom development for managing the publication content, custom user roles, article templates, plus a customized expansion of our Reverse Publishing feature set. As we went through the process, it was a massive undertaking, probably a bigger undertaking than I anticipated it was going to be at the time we started. As we came up with issues, I think you guys were very attentive.Dave Gould, Publisher Content Management Shared ContentContent ReviewEnhanced...Article LinkLet us know your thoughts about this episode by reaching out on Social Media!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourhometownincInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhometownwebpublishing/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourhometownincLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-hometown-com/..........Our Hometown Web Publishing is The Last Newspaper CMS & Website You'll Ever Need.  We help you generate revenue, engage with readers, and increase efficiency with Our Hometown's Digital & PrePress CMS features to fit your needs & budget.OHT's Web Publishing Platform is:-Powered with WordPress-Hosted on Amazon Web Services-Integrated with Adobe InDesign & Google Drivehttps://our-hometown.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKw6KpKUiQkWldrX2-J1Kag?view_as=subscriberOur-Hometown can be reached via email for comments or questions at: ops@Our-Hometown.com

Is Canva's AI a game-changer? Can it compete with the major players in the creative space like Adobe and Dall-E? We're exploring Canva's AI tools to see its capabilities and how viable Canva is to help you create quick but effective creatives. Newsletter: Sign up for our free daily newsletterMore on this Episode: Episode PageJoin the discussion: Ask Jordan questions about Canva and AIUpcoming Episodes: Check out the upcoming Everyday AI Livestream lineupWebsite: YourEverydayAI.comEmail The Show: info@youreverydayai.comConnect with Jordan on LinkedInTimestamps:[00:01:25] Daily AI news[00:03:30] Canva's position in the creative space[00:07:45] Creating designs with Magic Design [00:12:45] Using Magic Write[00:15:55] AI image generator[00:18:50] AI image editing tools[00:23:00] Magic Grab featureTopics Covered in This Episode: 1. Canva AI and its Effectiveness2. Canva's Dominance in the Design Scene3. Canva's AI Image Generator4. Canva's Magic Grab FeatureKeywords:Canva, swap out photos, edit headings, text creation feature, presentation, history of artificial intelligence, edit text, small font size, Volion Group, AI-driven stock picking, beating the market, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Bing's AI chat, Copilot, blank presentation, LinkedIn live stream, AI photo generator, game changer, Adobe Photoshop, design makers, podcast, magic design button, Google BARD, AI chatbot, memory feature, custom instructions, OpenAI's ChatGPT platform, small businesses, Adobe Photoshop, design programs, QuarkXPress, Freeport, Illinois, Adobe Suites, dominant, Photoshop, generative fill, online version, Adobe InDesign, design elements, erased images, beta, magic grab, designers, creatives, marketing, advertising, foreground, background, rule of thirds, product images, social media, time-saving feature, entire presentation, AI inside a photo, extensive design experience, slow programs Get more out of ChatGPT by learning our PPP method in this live, interactive and free training! Sign up now: https://youreverydayai.com/ppp-registration/

In this episode, we break down the process of how we wrote The Pragmatic Podcaster book, discuss how writing is similar to programming, talk about tools (Adobe InDesign, Kindle Create), describe the process of getting an e-book and a print version on Amazon, and muse about Google Ads that didn't generate any sales for us. ✉️ Subscribe to Metacast newsletter: https://www.metacastpodcast.com

Elizabeth Chappell and Shannon Boyer share what changes are taking place this year in The Quilt Pattern Writing Course and why. So what is The Quilt Pattern Writing Course all about?  This course is for those who are serious about quilt pattern writing and selling patterns...for those who want to design without limits! In the course, you will learn how to use Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign, plus much, much more! Interested in Ghost Writing or Tech Writing? This will also be covered in this course. Be sure to tune in and find out what The Quilt Pattern Writing Course is all about and if this course is for you!   Turn your CRAFT into a CAREER! Did you find this podcast helpful? Find more creative business takeaways, tutorials, courses, plus much more below.  SHOW NOTES: https://quilterscandy.com/podcast/ QUILTERS CANDY WEBSITE: https://quilterscandy.com/ INSTAGRAM: Craft to Career Podcast @crafttocareer Quilters Candy @quilters_candy  

In this episode, I'm thrilled to bring you a 3x guest—none other than the Adobe guru herself, Julie Shaffer, FSMPS, CPSM!