Another case of prosecutors abusing the intent of a law...
The Associated Press: NJ girl, 14, arrested after posting nude pics: "TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A 14-year-old New Jersey girl has been accused of child pornography after posting nearly 30 explicit nude pictures of herself on MySpace.com — charges that could force her to register as a sex offender if convicted."
An amusing look at language and our tendency to make nouns into verbs.
Verbing Weirds Language - LexiBlog - The Official Blog of Leximo, a World Social Dictionary: “The plain fact is, I don’t know. Fads and fashions come and go in English usage, just as they do with clothing; yesterday’s paisley shirt evolves into today’s Patagonia vest. I’m not an English teacher anymore, partly because I’m not sure I speak English anymore, at least not the English spoken by others, like the flight attendant. I feel a sense of disequilibrium when I watch TV cooking shows and food gets “plated”—not electroplated (like covered in chrome), but meaning, I think, that “a minuscule portion of food gets arranged artfully on a plate by a tony sous-chef.” Then, I know I speak a different tongue.”
I love books. I love my hard copies and I love my Kindle. One of my favorite sections of The New York Times is the book reviews. I understand the decision of The Washington Post but, it is a sad day none-the-less.
Washington Post to End Book World as Stand-Alone Section - ArtsBeat Blog - NYTimes.com: "In another sign that literary criticism is losing its profile in newspapers, The Washington Post has decided to shutter the print version of Book World, its Sunday stand-alone book review section, and shift reviews to space inside two other sections of the paper."
Clay Shirky's article on newspapers provides a common-sense look at the transition journalism faces during the second Gutenberg revolution...
Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable « Clay Shirky: "If you want to know why newspapers are in such trouble, the most salient fact is this: Printing presses are terrifically expensive to set up and to run. This bit of economics, normal since Gutenberg, limits competition while creating positive returns to scale for the press owner, a happy pair of economic effects that feed on each other. In a notional town with two perfectly balanced newspapers, one paper would eventually generate some small advantage — a breaking story, a key interview — at which point both advertisers and readers would come to prefer it, however slightly. That paper would in turn find it easier to capture the next dollar of advertising, at lower expense, than the competition. This would increase its dominance, which would further deepen those preferences, repeat chorus. The end result is either geographic or demographic segmentation among papers, or one paper holding a monopoly on the local mainstream audience.
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Society doesn’t need newspapers. What we need is journalism. For a century, the imperatives to strengthen journalism and to strengthen newspapers have been so tightly wound as to be indistinguishable. That’s been a fine accident to have, but when that accident stops, as it is stopping before our eyes, we’re going to need lots of other ways to strengthen journalism instead."
Will San Francisco lose its major paper?
Chronicle workers vote 10 to 1 for concessions: "Saturday's agreement came 18 days after the Hearst Corp., owner of The Chronicle, announced that it would be forced to sell or close the 144-year-old newspaper if it could not achieve significant savings 'within weeks' through a mixture of union and nonunion staff reductions and other cost-saving measures.
The newspaper lost more than $50 million in 2008 and is on track to sink deeper into the red this year, Hearst said. The private New York company, which publishes 15 other papers, said The Chronicle has been losing money since 2001."
Some interesting commentary by Shelby Steele...
Why the GOP Can't Win With Minorities - WSJ.com: "So here stands contemporary American conservatism amidst its cultural liabilities and, now, its electoral failures -- with no mechanism to redeem America of its shames, atavistically resisted by minorities, and vulnerable to stigmatization as a bigoted and imperialistic political orientation. Today's liberalism may stand on decades of failed ideas, but it is failure in the name of American redemption. It remains competitive with -- even ascendant over -- conservatism because it addresses America's moral accountability to its past with moral activism. This is the left's great power, and a good part of the reason Barack Obama is now the president of the United States. No matter his failures -- or the fruitlessness of his extravagant and scatter-gun governmental activism -- he redeems America of an ugly past. How does conservatism compete with this?"
Seattle Paper Stops Printing and Shifts to Web - NYTimes.com
Another newspaper goes web only. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer was a number 2 newspaper in a 2 newspaper town. When I moved to NC, Raleigh was a two newspaper town. The News and Observer ended up buying The Raleigh Times which ended up all but disappearing (some of the columnists from the Times continued their columns for their new master). But, like they say, that was then, this is now. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer follows The Christian Science Monitor (and PC Magazine) in going all online. I know many people bemoan the loss of traditional newsprint newspapers, but change is inevitable and newspapers must remember they are in the news and communication business and not in the printed newsprint business. Yes, there is something nice about the feel and smell of a fresh newspaper in the morning with your juice and coffee but for me that has been limited to vacation time and not a part of my normal routine. On the other hand I do subscribe to The New York Times on my Kindle. It is nice to have it available in that format as well as on the Web. I am still waiting for The News and Observer to be available for a Kindle subscription.
I do have The News and Observer on my Kindle, but I use my free and great ebook management software to download the RSS feed and create the paper for me. But, this version (which is free) isn't as good as the newspapers especially made for the Kindle. I love how the newspapers sections and articles are laid out for easy navigation. So, yes, I am willing to pay for this content. I will gladly pay for my subscription to The News and Observer when they make it available.
Oh, and I did send some money to the developer of the ebook management software I use. He may make it available for free. but it is fantastic and worth supporting its development.
We may be a little late to the show...
Join the FSF in calling on libraries to eliminate DRM - Free Software Foundation: "Join the Free Software Foundation and DefectiveByDesign.org this Saturday (2/9/2008) at the Boston Public Library to demand that they remove DRM technology from their collection! You may remember that two years ago we sent a letter to the Boston Public Library. This time around we are taking a more direct approach, by reaching out the public, and handing out flyers about DRM to concerned patrons. We will be gathering outside the entrance at the main branch of the Boston Public Library (700 Boylston St., Boston MA 02116) from 1pm until 3pm on Saturday, February 9th, 2008."
But do what you can to elimination DRM (Digital Restrictions Management) in your life. My greatest hurdle right now is Amazon! Yes, Amazon! The offer music in DRM free mp3s but their books have DRM. What's up with that!
