Battlestar Galactica costume by Anovos, spotted at San Diego Comic-Con 2012. Cost is $1,250 without the insignia pins, which add another $320 to price. Costume is produced in Canada by same company that did them […]
Category: Media
Writers, Be Present!
Use present tense as much as you can. Present tense gives your writing more impact, authority. People live in the present, not the past. Write for them that way.
As an editor, I see way too much stuff like: “Jack is taking the water up the hill”, when “Jack takes the water up the hill” is so much better.
Paywalls are killing my Budget
I just cancelled the Sunday New York Times and took digital-only (browser and smartphone) for $15 a month, discounted by half for 12 weeks. My most recent home delivery bill was $33 and some change. For Sundays! A promotion cutting the price in half for 6 months expired in April. I’m not eligible for another deal, and I don’t get $7-plus a week value from Sundays and all-access digital.
I’ve subscribed to the Times since 2001.
Picture Perfect
I enjoy the camera on the Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone so much, my Fujifilm FinePix X100 is on Craigslist. I just don’t have time to dedicate to photography, and the camera I have with […]
Spider at Dusk
I was out looking for my daughter’s cat and saw a huge spider in a web. Believe it or not, I snapped this with the Nexus S smartphone.
Single Sourcing Is the Source of News Evil
I am mortified by lazy reporting this morning. I’ve been looking over stories about Verizon requesting a California judge reject Apple’s request to bar numerous Galaxy-branded smartphones or tablets from selling in the United States. I have yet to find one story that cites the original source—Verizon’s filing. They all instead refer to a FOSS Patents blog post. According to the court calendar, a motion hearing is scheduled for October 13 (I looked).
FOSS Patents is not credible-enough source, because its story on this topic, as with others, is generally one person’s perspective. More importantly, in this case, original source material should be available through the court’s PACER system, which is where I assume FOSS got the Verizon filing (I don’t know).
The Survivor
My daughter’s cat, Kuma, caught this little sparrow, which she rescued and I later took to a wildlife shelter. (Featured Image was taken using Fujifilm X100. Vitals: f/4, ISO 200, 1/179 sec, 28mm; 3:42 p.m. […]
Luminox A.1847 Field Chronograph
On Aug. 1, 2011, I sold my 11.6-inch MacBook Air to a friend. I let him pay in Amazon bucks (e.g., gift certificate), which I used to buy my daughter a LensBaby fisheye lens and […]
The Orphan
While my wife and I visited Ocean Beach Pet Supply, a woman and her daughter brought in a kitten. The woman claimed some guy driving by handed it to her, told her he found it […]
Coon with a View
I am getting a late start this morning. Our Maine Coon, Kuma, climbed his first tree today and couldn’t get down. A young woman walking her dog helped our boy reach the ground. Big as […]
Pitch-me Journalism is Anything but Journalism
So, let me understand. David Pogue, the popular blogger contracted by the New York Times, shills for public-relations companies—demonstrating gross conflict of interest—and the consequence is what? He’s barred from making certain PR-influenced speeches?
The Times doesn’t go nearly far enough. The excuse: “Pogue is a freelancer, not a staffer. Philip B. Corbett, associate managing editor for standards, noted that under the policy freelancers are held to the same standards as staff members ‘when they are on Times assignments’. In this case, he wasn’t on assignment for The Times”.
Someone Should kick Michael Arrington’s Arrogant Ass
A month ago, April, 27, 2011, Michael Arrington posted “An Update To My Investment Policy”, which not surprisingly generated negative reaction from established journalists. I wanted to respond right away, but I’ve been too busy at Betanews, where new editorial responsibilities add to writing.
The issue is a long-standing one of debate regarding TechCrunch’s founder—that he invests in, or has other business dealings with, some of the companies he writes about.