The Digital Desk

Everything you ever wanted to know about NewsOK.com

Another commenting discussion — a NewsOK reader weighs in August 27, 2010 | Comment on this article

I spoke with a NewsOK user yesterday. He called to express his concern about an article we had on the site the day before. He questioned our decision to allow comments on this story: Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper wrecks motorcycle on I-40, flown to hospital He knew our site well. He knew our commenting and... Read More

New ‘know it’ communities launched on NewsOK

August 26, 2010 We launched a series of new ‘know it‘ comunities this week, bringing our total number of know its to 41. But there is something quite different about these ‘know it’ communities. The ones we launched this week are centered around geographic communities in and around central Oklahoma: EdmondNormanMidwest... Read More

‘The Gunny’ writes my blogs for me August 23, 2010 I’m always giving people reasons to visit NewsOK.com on a regular basis, but I rarely take the approach of “The Gunny” R. Lee Ermey, the quintessential drill sergeant from the movie Full Metal Jacket. You better be watching NewsOK! I might just have to come out and knock on your door and adjust that... Read More

A happy winner of a MOOD giveaway August 20, 2010 We have a MOOD giveaway each week. It can be found on our MOOD website, which contains lots of great information about fashion, culture and cuisine. It’s a site that works in conjunction with our weekly MOOD print section on Thursdays in The Oklahoman. After a recent giveaway, I received this message from the... Read More

Two hidden gems on NewsOK.com today August 18, 2010 I look at virtually every page on NewsOK, just so I always know what every page looks like. I work on a schedule, looking at a handful (actually, more than a handful) of pages every day. It only takes a few minutes a day that way, and the process of evaluating every page on NewsOK.com’s massive site never seems... Read More

High school district previews available on NewsOK

August 16, 2010 The high school football season is getting close. I know because I’ve been following the daily district previews produced by our hard-working Varsity reporters in the past few weeks. It all began on July 17 with District c-4 (look out for Maud). District 3A-2 was released today (the coaches like Madill).... Read More

It’s official – I’m an iPhone 4 user August 13, 2010 I should note, for the record, that I am officially (finally) an iPhone 4 owner. After much deliberation, I chose to go with the iPhone over the HTC Evo. It was not an easy decision – and it became more difficult because it was a decision I needed to make four separate times after complications with AT&T... Read More

Reviewing the week I lost — the week of Taco Tuesday August 12, 2010 I was vacationing during the first week of August, so I missed the ‘Taco Debacle.’ Food Dude Dave Cathey reported on the fight between Taco John and the Iguana Mexican Lounge on his blog. OKC Central star Steve Lackmeyer reported on the controversy in a NewsOK article. Then he wrapped it up nicely with a... Read More

Store is open for the NewsOK iPhone app

July 21, 2010 We launched an iPhone application about a month ago. There wasn’t a lot of fanfare. There was no ticker-tape parade. We didn’t shout it from the mountain tops. But we did launch the product. It happened right before the iPhone 4 was released. The new iPhone operating system gave us a few hiccups. Frankly,... Read More

Ryne Sandberg ages on NewsOK.com

July 20, 2010 I grew up as a child spending many sweltering summer afternoons watching the Chicago Cubs on WGN. And as a result, Ryne Sandberg was my first sports hero. I’ve recently given up on following baseball. I’m a big sports fan, but something had to give, and baseball has been dropped from my sports to-do list.... Read More

Restaurants page added to NewsOK lineup July 19, 2010 We added something new to Life this week. And when I say, ‘Life,’ I’m referring to the Life navigation on NewsOK.com. We added restaurants to the LIFE sub-navigation on NewsOK to complement our already deep food and recipes coverage we’ve always had. It’s something we had to do. The Food/Recipes... Read More

Search the candidates in Oklahoma with our 2010 Elections Page

July 14, 2010 You’ve seen the yard signs. You’ve probably had some people stop and talk to you while you were mowing your yard. You know it’s coming quickly. It’s the 2010 elections. I know. If you’re not a political junkie, you might not be all that excited. The primary that’s scheduled for July 27 has a lot... Read More

NewsOK customer misses Story Wall project July 02, 2010 A NewsOK user contacted us on Twitter yesterday: @NewsOK Just wondering, is the StoryWall dead? I thought it was really snazzy, what happened? http://bit.ly/StoryWall Coincidentally, we had just been speaking about a Story Wall project for later this summer. So we told him: @DarrenWasHere No, not dead.... Read More

Decision time: iPhone, Evo, iPad or Blackberry?

July 01, 2010 So my Blackberry finally took all the beatings it could handle. I was in my driveway a few weeks back saying good-bye to friends who had stopped for a visit. I pulled the Blackberry out of my pocket and it slipped out of my hand. As the phone hung in mid-air, I swung my hand down to catch it (I’m quite the... Read More

Flying with the Thunderbirds June 24, 2010 I took the family to see the air show at Tinker Air Force Base last Saturday. It was hot — really, really, really hot. But it was fun. Frankly, I wasn’t very excited about the show. I was going because my boys would have fun. But when I saw the planes — the power and the acrobatics — up close, it was... Read More

Getting to know those that make comments on news websites June 23, 2010 Last week, Boston.com ran a story that many of us in the news industry found fascinating. It was about those who spend a lot of their free time participating in comments on news websites like Boston.com (or NewsOK.com) I think many news consumers would find it equally fascinating, since those are the... Read More

A comment about our comments June 22, 2010 I received this piece of feedback from a NewsOK user in the state of Washington. Thanks to whoever is responsible for deciding to disable comments on stories such as crimes and deaths. We don’t need to read the hateful comments, speculation, personal agendas, etc that people put out on other newspapers’... Read More

Conference realignment was fast and accurate on NewsOK June 18, 2010 Yesterday, I admitted to being a soccer fan. That’s the truth. But I’m also a big sports fan in general. I followed the conference realignment mess intently. And frankly, I was rooting for the PAC 16 to become reality. I can tell you this, though. The coverage offered on the NewsOK sports pages was... Read More

World Cup coverage — made specifically for NewsOK’s soccer fans

June 17, 2010 It’s true. I’m a World Cup fan. I’m even a general soccer fan. I don’t wear soccer jerseys, speak with a fake European accent or sneer at fellow Americans that prefer not to follow soccer. But I am a soccer fan. I actually followed the World Cup qualification matches over the course of the last two... Read More

A look back at NewsOK coverage the June 14 floods June 16, 2010 A thunderstorm hit on Monday morning. No big deal, right? It happens. We’ll deal with it. Then, it kept raining. And it kept raining. Pretty soon, all of us in the Oklahoma City area were affected. What was an innocent thunderstorm became a dangerous flood. NewsOK sprang into action. By mid-morning, as... Read More