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See also Webfolio, Whimsy, + I Art Wert
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September 29, 2000 +
I got my first copy of the Daily News Express the other day.
Daily News Express is a new, free afternoon newspaper published by the New York Daily News. During weekday rush hours, News employees stand on strategic corners handing out the paper to commuters willing to grab a copy on their way to the train.
My issue, from Tuesday, is fairly lightweight -- 32 pages with lots of ads. But it's got several full-color pages, a few breaking stories, and is no worse a publication than the regular Daily News is each morning.
Back in August, the Times ran a short piece on the new paper (sorry, no link, it's a scrap of paper that's been in my day planner for a month) that noted, "The new paper ... will have a staff of about 12 reporters and will generally feature 20 pages of news and 20 pages of advertisements."
This is just food for thought, but stare at those numbers for a second. Twelve reporters, 20 pages.
Compare this to the dotcom publications that have faltered. APB Online had 185 full-time and freelance journalists, 55 of whom were on salary, before it ran out of money. No matter how good they were, and how much content they produced, there's no way they could justify such staff in the long term. Yet the Daily News is cranking out 100 pages of content a week with a fraction of APB Online's workforce numbers.
The root of the problem with the dotcom fallout is not just the sites' poor financial results but the unrealistic expectations that their own founders brought upon them.
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September 28, 2000 +
SuperCyberSuds was a good use of my afternoon today. But it was a really great place for swag.
I picked up eleven soft frisbees, three beer pint glasses, a squish ball and a squish cube, three tins of mints, five sheets of magnets, a pocket subway map, a miniature screwdriver, a host of stickers, a neat ball puzzle (to replace the one I lost at my last job) and, best of all, a business-card holder (or a whatever-you-want holder, it's sturdy enough for a cell phone) that looks like a neon green comfy chair.
It's all about the swag, kids. I have a neon green comfy chair business card holder on my desk. Who'da thunk it?
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September 27, 2000 +
I wo--er, well, actually, my mother (technically) won a TiVo yesterday. I'm still not sure I (that is, Mom) need or want one, but once word got out how easy it was to win, I (um, she, since I'm not eligible) had to see for myself.
My (her) winning entry, along with a host of other amusing entries, is posted on Metatalk here. Credit Metafilter for blowing the contest wide open this week, as well as providing background information like this news.com article on the contest.
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September 26, 2000 +
Allll-most therrrrrre....
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Today in Pathetic America: No, you can't watch the debates.
The thing about Pathetic America is that its links are skewed too much toward the New York Times. But I get my stuff from them because no one else carries such good information. For example, the piece I found today, which was a Reuters tidbit, I can't find on any other web site, including Reuters' own. What's a guy to do? Oh well -- if I'm going to be myopic, I may as well be staring at the best.
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September 25, 2000 +
Survey: More than half of U.S. adults without Internet access don't want it. I've been telling people for years that they shouldn't bother to get online if they don't see a reason to do so. Then again, sometimes the reasons don't appear until later, like my mother's use of instant messaging to talk to my brother in Hong Kong, which she couldn't have anticipated when I got her online two years ago.
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September 22, 2000 +
Don't look now, but your gadget-happy host may buy himself a Modo this weekend. Not for any good reason, mind you. Faux hipster cred and thinly veiled geekiness are not good reasons.
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September 21, 2000 +
The New York Times has published a phenomenal email roundtable discussion on file sharing and its cultural impact. The Times managed to get Hilary Rosen of the RIAA, David Boies, Senator Orrin Hatch, Kevin Smith, and Internet pundit Esther Dyson to discuss copyright and theft along with a 17-year-old from Massachusetts and a Gnutella developer. The whole discussion is worth absorbing. Agree and disagree at your leisure.
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What I don't really get is why I'd want to win a TiVo in the first place. The rules clearly state that box winners must pay for the service, anywhere from $9.95 for a month's usage to a $199 lifetime fee. I suppose it's a good deal for someone thinking of buying one, since the TiVo retails for $399, but I wasn't in the market. If I took the time to write the essay, and I won, I'd just put the thing on eBay. Or in my closet.
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September 20, 2000 +
Headline in yesterday's Silicon Alley Daily: Layoffs at Deja.com, goRefer.com, About.com, iCast, and Priceline WebHouse Club. Sounds like the profitless sector of the Internet industry is starting to face its own ugly reality. (link not currently working, sorry)
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Hey, bro! How's the humidity?
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September 19, 2000 +
In one of the more sensible dotcom maneuvers of the week, Urbanfetch is getting out of the video-rental business. (Look for Kozmo to follow suit within a month.)
Instead of tiptoeing around the decision, they're doing it in style, with their heads held (fairly) high and no shortage of honesty. The email to their users doesn't mince words (sorry, no link, they didn't post the letter on their site):
While we appreciate that rentals may be an important convenience for you from time to time, rentals actually comprise a small (less than 5%), but more importantly, unprofitable segment of our business.
Urban also threw everyone a $5 credit as an apology. Classy.
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My friend Peter, with whom I traveled to the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh last month, is chronicling the trip on Backstage.com.
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Today in Pathetic America: Scripts, X-rated jokes -- and Alec Baldwin!
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September 18, 2000 +
"I suspect that no good comes from America's essential prudishness." -- Movie producer and executive Sean Daniel on sex and nudity in films popular with teenagers, who also smartly notes: "Who's kidding who? The reality of teenage life is R-rated."
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Today's links are onnafyah. William Safire's fantastic essay on Slurvian examines the fine points of local New York accents, although Safire forgot my personal favorite, stancleaclosindoh. Ah, fuggedaboudit.
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September 17, 2000 +
Self-congratulatory announcement: For the first time since the current design launched in January the Ideapad has a new header graphic. (cue applause) But wait, there's more! The journal has been separated for good and given its own name -- the Journal, so clever -- as has Pathetic America.
Look for more fine-tuning in the next few weeks as I clean things up a little better, notably to the section-by-section navigation.
And hey, have you seen my chatty revised home page yet?
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September 15, 2000 +
Spotted on a mailing list I'm on: "Don't ask me; I'm still waiting for push technology to change my life."
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Today in Pathetic America: Bush tries to save his debate face; Gore and Lieberman think they're funny.
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September 14, 2000 +
Dotcomfailures.com, just like the kid who points and laughs when you stumble into dog doo, then steps in it himself.
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Today in Pathetic America: Why was a local debate on national television?
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September 13, 2000 +
Pathetic America strikes again: Presidential candidate George Bush was outraged at the suggestion his latest campaign ad uses "subliminable" messages (audio available).
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More Pathetic America (now its own web page): Poll Shows Gore Overcoming Voter Concerns on Likability. Because who needs issues when everyone just gosh darn likes the guy?
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September 11, 2000 +
I think I'm going to start an image gallery for web designers entitled "Why We Browser Test." Exhibit A: ESPN.com (espn.go.com), Monday, Sept. 11, 2000, 9:51 a.m., Netscape 4.7/Mac.
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Don't know if anyone's noticed, but Ticketmaster does a very nice job with its online ordering system. Only in Ticketmaster's world, though, can $26 x 2 = $63.50.
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September 9, 2000 +
Well, now. It seems Republican vice-presidential candidate Dick Cheney has not voted in 14 of the last 16 elections held. America is pathetic.
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September 8, 2000 +
Hey hey, the 'Pad's gone searchable! Look for your favorite entries, your name, or whatever else suits your fancy. (Inspiration, once again, from Jason)
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I received email this morning from AOL Instant Messaging Services, addressed to gusytw at netwert.com, welcoming screen name hfh56yhdhj to AOL IM.
Well, Mr./Ms. hfh56yhdhj, whoever you are, make yourself at home. I'm normally on AOL IM as wertheimerdavid, so do say hi the next time you're online. And quit spoofing my domain name in your email address.
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Rebecca on weblogs. Of particular note is the four-paragraph segment (about halfway down) beginning with "Shortly after I began producing," which speaks for this site as well as any.
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September 7, 2000 +
(All of today's commentary started with a visit to Robot Wisdom, which I really should visit more often.)
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If you break your $250 Visor and it's not your fault, you can get a new one for $85. I imagine they're not losing money on the replacements, only selling at factory cost -- which makes the $250 retail price a hefty markup.
Gerald Fisk's busted Visor, while in worse shape than the non-working one in my New York office, pretty much sums up my opinion of the thing.
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So there's this woman, Courtney, who does the always-on-webcam thing like the famous Jennicam, right? And she's got this fiance, right? And somehow, Jenni has managed to steal the guy away from Courtney, and now the wedding's off and he's in love with Jenni instead. (The real fun is in the realization that the Washington Post found this worthy of a 1,000-word expose.)
My question is, what kind of man makes a habit of dating webcam-addicted women?
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September 6, 2000 +
Journalism money line of the day: "The beauty of [baseball in September] is that even with the end so close, so much remains possible. There is so much going on, so much to track that even former Rangers owner George W. Bush got into the spirit of the month when he made his own September callup by promoting New York Times reporter Adam Clymer to major league asshole after a strong season at Triple-A Tidewater."
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Fun for your whole mouth: Name That Candy Bar! Mmmm... candy bars. (I knew 12 out of 24, by the way.) (via Fark)
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September 4, 2000 +
Have you noticed the similarity between the kicker line of Carl's latest Industry Standard column and an anecdote I told in my interviews piece? (Don't worry, it's cool; Carl noticed it first.)
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New mini-essay: I wonder. Sometimes curiosity has poignancy.
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September 1, 2000 +
Join the netWert literacy movement: For the first time in years, I'm reading books. I have free time (business trip) and momentum (plowed through two books since I left New York) and I don't want to stop.
Problem is, I don't know what to read. There are obviously scores of great books I can tackle, but rather than tackle "Ulysses" this weekend, I want to ease myself into my book-reading.
So I need suggestions! I read High Fidelity last week and loved it -- the combination of contemporary pop culture and romance was right up my alley. I also read Carl Hiaasen's Lucky You, which was enjoyable but a little too straightforward. I think my next pickup will be an Elmore Leonard novel, but I haven't decided.
Know of anything that will tickle my fancy? Please, please let me know. (I hardly ever use boldface, so you can tell how serious I am about this.)
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The Gettysburg Powerpoint Presentation, a reminder that not all the world's great works of the future need to be done on a computer. (via Sylloge)
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