Monthly Archives: May 2003

The Dems

This entry was posted in Election 2004 on by (updated on )

There are a bunch of folks with their names up on the Democrats 2004 nomination dart board. I think it is too soon to pay much attention to most of them and have purposely avoided doing much research. Why go through the hassle, right? They will sort themselves out between now and primary time (or shortly after).

Then along comes the Patio Pundit who makes it too easy. Martin has a link to each candidates web page and a mini review of the site. Next thing I knew I was over reading Kucinich and Dean. And planning to go back for more.

Prescribed by Nurse Ratched.

Buying the Times

This entry was posted in Information on by (updated on )

I was just over at Busy, Busy, Busy reading his Shorter Bill Safire from May 15. Clicked through to read the original NY Times article and blam: hit the $ for premium content on a ten day old op ed piece (it looks like material as recent as one week old is getting moved into the premium category).

I like the NYT well enough to to frequently read the online headlines and some articles and to buy a newstand issue several times a month: no matter which side of an issue you live the articles/op eds generally make you think (oh, and now, we can search for the truth as well). If I lived in NYC or the NE US I would have a full sub to the print edition.

I do not like it well enough to continue using it as a source for material in this blog if my readers must pay $2.95/article to read linked articles.

Don’t get me wrong: the NYT certainly has every right to charge for its content. But I’m not going to pay $2.95 to read a 10 day old 700 word op ed piece and likely would not pay it for a 7000 word article. If I won’t why should I lead my readers to this choice?

Some possible consequences of this policy (didn’t I read discussion a month or so ago about concerns with charges for 90 day old content?):

The NYT will reduce their bandwidth costs due to reduced online access. Surely this is not what the charge is about, is it?

People that read blogs will skip over posts over a week old that refer to NYT articles

Bloggers will use the NYT less often as a source or quote much more extensively

(1st Option Corollary: The blogosphere’s circulatory system will be healthier due to a huge reduction in Krugman bashing)

2nd Option Corollary: Krugman will no longer be quoted out of context.

Overall NYT readership will slowly decline

To counter the previous point a viable micropayment mechanism will be developed (There is some price between $0.00 and $2.95 at which I and many others will buy the article without second thought)

The development of a viable micropayment system would make this whole exercise worth while.

Memorial Day

This entry was posted in Homeless on by (updated on )

On this Memorial Day Cowboy Kahlil reminds us that, well, let him speak for himself:

Let’s thank the living while honoring the dead. Let’s minister to their needs, bring healing where it’s possible and demonstrate our gratitude in real and meaningful ways. It’s those acts of reconciliation towards the living that bestow the highest honors of all and that demonstrate that the dead gave their all for a nation that was, and is still, worth it.

Do read the rest the post.

Caffeinated Marketing

This entry was posted in Marketing on by (updated on )

Laurence Lessig calls for us all to take pictures at our local Starbucks this weekend and Mac-a-ro-nies takes up the call.

I thought they were both doing something more then caffeine until I stopped by my local Starbucks about and hour ago and asked about this strange policy. Barrista Girl had not heard anything about people not being allowed to take pictures inside a Starbucks. Barrista Dude from the back room said, oh yeah, no pictures, no still cameras, no video cameras, and he had no clue why.

A call to Starbuck’s Customer Service number revealed that they close down at 3 PM on weekends. Check back tomorrow for what they have to say.

They must drink a special blend in their corporate offices to come up with a policy that seems so contrary to good marketing.

UPDATE (5/25) Customer service says: Starbucks does not allow pictures to be taken of specifically proprietary stuff like recipes, menu boards, etc., but has no global ban on pictures: it should be just fine for the three ladies in Lessig’s story to take each other’s picture. Folks who run into problems with this policy are encouraged to report them to Customer Service (800-235-2883) either on the spot or after the fact.