"Magazine" originally meant a storehouse for supplies -- especially weapons and ammunition. So magazines held a variety of things in all shapes and sizes. For most people today, "magazine" means a periodic publication filled with -- you guessed it -- a variety of items in all shapes and sizes. Today, small is the new big.

We decided about 18 months ago to create a new kind of website here at Hammock.com. As individuals, we were using lots of new online media approaches and technology -- and were incorporating them into work we were doing for clients. Our site, while attractive, was not a reflection of where we are -- as a company or as individuals. So we headed into a new direction.

[After the jump, read more about how Hammock.com is evolving.]

It's been a while since I've made an "audio post" to a blog (I'm more "video" these days). However, some recent blog posts and Twitter comments by Patrick Ruffini inspired me to dust-off the Skype account and Audio Hijack software and give him a call. In 2004 Ruffini had the very Web 1.0 title "webmaster" for the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign. Despite the title, he ushered in some very Web 2.0 features and approaches to the site -- and the campaign. Over 30,000 off-line "meetup-like" volunteer gatherings were organized on the site and over 5,000 websites and weblogs hosted the badges and widgets (remember, this was in 2004) that Ruffini's team developed using RSS and XML. After the election, he ran the Inauguration website and later had a two-year stint as eCampaign Director for the GOP.

After the jump, read more and listen to the interview.

Last week I caught up with our own Summer Huggins to ask her a few questions about how she uses Flickr in anticipation of the release of a podcast she’d be featured on about the subject.

But as I prepared my interview questions, I didn’t know what to ask. What's not to understand about Flickr? You post your pictures, send the link to mom and dad, and cross your fingers that their e-mail client allows them to click on the link.

1. Podcasting: Perhaps one of the best known of the new casting models, podcasting is simply the idea of distributing MP3 (audio) files in a way that listeners can subscribe to and "catch" them when you distribute a new one. There are lots of options on how to distribute such content, but iTunes, email or attaching a file to a blog post can provide most everyone in your audience a way to receive such content in the way they choose. Links: Our favorite Podcast tool, and What is Podcasting? by Make Magazine's Phillip Torrone.

2. Videocasting: Sometimes, called video podcasting, the idea is the same. A video file can be distributed through various channels (email, iTunes, attaching to blog posts, posting on video hosting services or social networking sites) so that your audience can receive them when you release them, not just when they land on your website.

3. IMcasting: Do you have customers, members, students, fans, employees who communicate via instant messaging? A simple way to cast to these in your audience is through the microblogging service Twitter. Link: Twitter.com FAQ: How to Twitter via IM (scroll down).

4. SMScasting: What about those in your audience who communicate primarily via text messaging? Services like Twitter allow your customers and members to following you via text messaging as well as IM. Link: Twitter.com FAQ: How to Twitter via SMS (text-messaging) (scroll down).

5. PDFcasting: Did you know you could distribute a PDF or digital magazine via iTunes or RSS feed? Well, you do now. No longer do you have to limit your audience to subscribing to a digital publication via email or, worse, coming to your site to download it. The idea also works for PowerPoint presentations or Excel documents. Simply enclose (attach) a document with anything that generates an RSS feed (a blog post, for example) and you can start document-casting immediately.

6. Photocasting: Like with audio or video podcasting, you now have several ways to distribute photography in a way that fits into how your customers and members are experiencing photography online. And by photography, we mean any form of visual content that your customers or members may enjoy -- or find important -- to receive from you. Link: Share Business Images by Photocasting (Apple.com)

7. Screensaver-casting: While the idea has been around for a long time -- some of the earliest forms of push media used the concept -- we're testing some early versions of such tools, including FlickrFan (now, Mac only) that distribute content in ways that will make it easy for members, customers or employees to view ever-changing content (headlines, photography, web links) while their computer monitor or Internet-connected HDTV is in a rest mode. Link: FlickrFan Turns Any Photostream Into a Mac Screen Saver

8. Linkcasting: One of those easy-to-overlook content ideas is the low-effort, high-reward service you provide when you share current links to content on the web that your audience will find engaging. In addition to emailing links, take advantage of the wide array of ways to feed links to your customer or member's desktop. Link: Here's a "feed" of links we maintain related to media industry news.