Wednesday, July 23, 2003
NealeNews
As you can see from my referrer logs, Nealenews.com is popping up. They’ve added me to their site of Canadian blogs, which is kind. It appears that they are the Canadian version of the Drudgereport.com
Pay for it
It appears that the music industy is slowly waking up to reality—witness the launch of Buymisuc.com. Finally PC users can pay for their music.
It will take a while for the prices to settle to a decent rate - for instance, 10$US for Elvis’ Top 30 Hits from two years ago seems a bit steep.
Tuesday, July 22, 2003
Wood man
I never did like Dan Rather, and obviously not too many others do either, according to this.
CBS News President Andrew Heyward admitted yesterday that he had no answers to why the “CBS Evening News with Dan Rather” continues to struggle in the ratings.
I do however like CBS News. If I ever do watch network news, it’s Peter Jennings I watch.
Looks like Dan’s boss will have to go at the same time Dan gets the chop, if it ever happens.
Wednesday, July 9, 2003
More Orwell
As you’ve read from me before, I think Orwell was a genius and to this day, his theories are constantly being illustrated. USS Clueless has some more examples.
May I offer, for your reading pleasure, an article which tries to make the case that America’s leftists are attempting to implement Orwellian Newspeak and Doublethink?
Blogiquette
An interesting post that my blogger readers may want to read…
Just a quick Venomous note to bloggers trying to draw traffic by snagging links from elsewhere without citing their source…
Most of my best posts are simple links to some of the great stuff only found in other blogs and within the comments of the posts.
Monday, July 7, 2003
Free Dominion
I found this site in my links pile. If this is all the conservative bloggers in Canada, then it’s no wonder we have a Liberal majority and splinter groups on the right.
Sad.
Saturday, July 5, 2003
Post Deathwatch
Lifesite has an interesting article summarizing the deterioration of the Post. You may wish to add it to your links - I know I have.
Unfortunately, for the second time in two years, National Post readers are disheartened to see major changes in the paper, changes that faithful readers and Post critics alike say are clearly for the worse. As London Free Press columnist Herman Goodden noted, “The death watch seems to be on again at the National Post.”
Wednesday, July 2, 2003
Lack of voice
Frum comments on the lack of an organized conservative voice in Canada, now that the Post is shedding its talent.
Yet there remains no coherent, convincing, and effective conservative voice to offset the dominant liberalism of the print media and the overwhelming liberal-leftism of the broadcast media.
Glad to see he’s a Steyn fan.
Saturday, June 28, 2003
Blogspot Exodus
There has been an exodus from some of the free blog services to Movable Type, as documented here .
A number of blogs have moved lately, sparked by Blogger’s ongoing woes, Dean’s Blogspot Jihad, and random acts of change. Here’s a brief list:
I’d like to see more of you people switch to [url=http://www.pmachine.com]http://www.pmachine.com[/url] - this is a fantastic, fast, and more versatile system with the best support anywhere.
Definitely worth a look if you are a serious blogger. They even have their own hosting.
Friday, June 27, 2003
Witches etc.
This comic from Cox & Forkum is for my wife: she gets very defensive when I joke about my worry for the anti-God sorcery in her favourite books, the Harry Potter series (the latest being Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Cdn$)). The hysteria around this book is amazing - no, I have not read it, and no, I am not one to read books (attention span problem, not to mention no time either).
This cartoon was inspired by an advertisement at NewsMax for a DVD titled, Harry Potter: Witchcraft Repackaged (Making Evil Look Innocent).
Then CNN reported that author Rowling hints she may kill Harry. I don’t know if it’s premeditated, but this is an excellent way to keep the suspense alive; it makes the life-and-death situations in the series more threatening. An interesting quote from Rowling: “I really don’t believe in magic. I believe in some kinds—the magic of imagination and the magic of love. But the magic of waving a wand and making things happen, no.”
Thursday, June 26, 2003
Google and blogs
Google is upgrading its toolbar, and adding a blog this button.
Another new feature is BlogThis, which lets people immediately create a posting on their blog about a site they are visiting. By clicking the BlogThis button on the toolbar, bloggers can automatically insert a link and highlighted text into their blog instead of having to move back and forth and cut and paste between the Web page and the blogging tools. Blogs are Web diaries that let people share their personal and professional lives through words, links, photos and so on.
Google can only raise the profile of blogs - they sure have come a long way quickly.
Darwin Awards
Here’s a story that hopefully the kid will be around to read when he’s old enough (and far away enough from his parents) to read.
A husband thinks he should be prosecuted for his wife’s alleged failure to stop driving while she breastfed their baby on the Ohio Turnpike. Catherine Nicole Donkers, 29, is to go on trial Aug. 6 on misdemeanour charges of child
Saturday, June 21, 2003
Whither the Post
Canada’s only (former) conservative newspaper, the National Post, seems to be whithering away and preparing to merge with the Toronto Star. Enter Stage Right reports that Mark Steyn has removed the National Post logo from his website.
THIS RELATIONSHIP IS OVER: Well, since none of my other fellow Canadian bloggers have noticed this, I’m afraid I’m going to have say the Last Rites. Ladies and gentlemen, Mark Steyn and the National Post are now officially finished with each other.
Christie Blatchford is also leaving, heading to the Globe.
I’d be surprised if the Post made it to the end of the year in its current form.
Thursday, June 19, 2003
Too little, too late
I don’t have a grey dish (don’t have time to watch TV), but if I was a serious TVphile, I’d get one. The cable cos just don’t offer the channels I want - although they’ve applied to the CRTC.
To combat satellite TV piracy and to give a boost to the struggling digital tier of cable services, the country’s major cable companies are applying to directly import and carry 17 U.S. channels, including such coveted services as HBO, Showtime, ESPN and Fox News.
It’ll take an eternity to get an answer - which means the cable cos will lose even more business. When will Canucks be able to get what they want?
Tuesday, June 10, 2003
Expensive PC
Is this political correctness or super-paranoid management worried about sexual harassment going amok? Is this a million dollar pinch in the ass?
“Mair’s departure follows complaints by his female producer about his behaviour,” CBC Vancouver reported yesterday. “Dallas Brodie accused Mair of forcing her to get his coffee, and swearing in her presence.”
If so, that’s one expensive buyout over nothing....to get a coffee? Hope he lands on air soon somewhere else.
Monday, June 9, 2003
Opposing Forces
Heard a paradoxical set of radio commercials today. One was from the NY Medical Associations, belaboring (sorry) the point that obstetricians could not afford to practice in NYState due to $100 000 liability insurance premiums.
The very next ad was from a lawyer, advertising his services, saying if you are injured and want the biggest settlement, come see him!
So what do you want? A big settlement for your injury or your negligence suit against your doctor, or do you want someone to help deliver your baby?
It seems you can’t have both these days.
Sunday, June 8, 2003
Blogger influence
Samizdata.net - Bloggers breaking out is an interesting post about how blogs are starting to get noticed by the mainstream media - and even influencing it.
The article is focussed on the fall on former New York Times editor, Howell Raines and unequivocally places the responsibility for his downfall on the Blogosphere:
Saturday, June 7, 2003
Mainstream
I doubt blogging will ever become too mainstream, however this story illustrates how some bloggers do go over to the dark side.
If you haven’t heard of him/her/it, then you’ve spent too long in the real world and you need to download the new frontiers of the universe onto your hard drives. Salam Pax is a blog.
The power of blogs is it makes it so easy to write and publish. That is its inherent weakness, too - so the trick is to cut through the noise and find what’s good. My attempt at cutting through the noise is the blogroll at the left.
Monday, June 2, 2003
Decline of Big Media
Jim Currie has a great piece on the decline of the Big Media and the corresponding rise of the independent media - like the blogsphere.
Accusations of factual error are easy to make on the net...you can link directly to your source and let a blog’s reader decide. This has lead to a new mode of argument where people who accept and promogate silly ideas - for instance that Robert Fisk is a credible source - are handed their heads. In fact, in the blogosphere this process is called fisking simply because Robert has been so wrong - factually - so often.
Antisemitism at Chicago Tribune
lgf: Antisemitism at Chicago Tribune is a disturbing entry about what appears to be a disturbing paper.
Hard to believe in 2003—which shows that the Jewish struggle never seems to end.