By Sheila
Lennon
'Bottom-up' journalism from the pros
Nov 15, 2002 - (Last
week's weblog)
A
smart peace movement? Bill Scher in Intervention magazine:
Critical liberals are aching for, in Cooper's words, a “smart
peace movement” -- one that can appeal to the broader public,
not just the ideologically extreme; one that recognizes that a nuclear
Iraq is a real concern and puts forth practical solutions to prevent
that from happening; one that wouldn't put Ramsey Clark and other leftists
with baggage, such as Cynthia McKinney and Al Sharpton, in front of
a microphone.
The "face" of the organization would have to be high profile
and politically diverse. It should include generals, like Anthony Zinni,
Wesley Clark and Joseph Hoar; statesmen, like Jimmy Carter; moderate
Republicans, like Rep. Jim Leach and Rep. Connie Morella; libertarian
Republicans, like Rep. Ron Paul; liberal Senators, like Carl Levin and
Jon Corzine; pro-lifers, like Rep. Dennis Kucinich; and former Clinton
aides, like Secretary Madeline Albright.
The messages of the organization need to be tailored to attract the
widest number of supporters, eschewing broadsides against America and
mockery of George Bush. Other newly established grassroots anti-war
groups have adopted this strategy, including True
Majority, MoveOn
and Veterans for Common
Sense -- all of which go so far as to leave open the possibility
of war if Iraq is proven to present a real danger.
Related: The
anti-war '60s all over again? If the Okie from Muskogee can speak out,
so can we Alexander Cockburn:
When it comes to the big themes of love and war and history, nothing
concentrates the mind like a few songs by Merle
(Haggard), whose 1969 pro-war country anthem "Okie
from Muskogee" lambasted the dope-smoking hippie peaceniks
and earned the former resident of San Quentin a full pardon from Governor
Ronald Reagan. ...
He's changed, too. "Friends... and conservatives," he said
to the crowd in the old Eureka Theatre, then he made a joke about George
Bush's colostomy. Elsewhere on tour he's derided Ashcroft and the erosion
of the Bill of Rights. There's a slab of the Right that's denouncing
America's imperial wars. That wasn't happening in the early Sixties.
If the Left could ever reach out to this Right, which it's almost constitutionally
incapable of doing, we'd have something.
Thanks for these links go to Phil Leggiere at Noosphere
Blues, who wonders if Cockburn knows about Stand
Down, the left-right no-war blog.
And if you're wondering where Vietnam
Veterans Against the War stands in all this, here's
an ad they ran in the November 11 issue of The Nation. Excerpt:: "We
know that war is blood and death and misery, not Nintendo."
Link
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Tablet
PC: First Impressions by Dan Bricklin:
Back in the early 1990's, I was heavily involved in the pen computing
world. I co-founded Slate Corporation which developed application software
for GO's Penpoint as well as Microsoft's Windows for Pen Computing and
for the Apple Newton. I was exposed to software and hardware development,
both at the OS and application level, and had experience using a wide
variety of machines. With the release of the new Tablet PCs based upon
Microsoft's new software, I felt it was appropriate for me to comment
upon that, given my perspective. You will find here my comments based
on my general feelings as well as actual experiences using various equipment.
Link
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 The
whole sun: Astronomers at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
have published the highest-resolution images of the sun ever photographed.
Link
to this item | Comment
I love (the old) ReplayTV: Steve
Outing at Poynter Institute takes issue with Wall Street Journal writer
Nick
Wingfield's conclusion,"While sales of digital videorecorders
have already changed the viewing habits of couch potatoes, the customer
base at this point mostly consists of the TV-obsessed."
Outing writes (sorry, with today's Poynter redesign there seem to be
no working permalinks at E-Media Tidbits; you'll have to search the headline
"PVRs: Not Just for TV Junkies")
"PVRs (personal video recorders) simply give control over TV viewing
— there's no longer a need to watch when networks broadcast something.
For time-starved people (like me) who don't watch much TV, a PVR is
a way to watch the few programs that are worth watching."
I agree. I don't know why I have to be in front of the TV at 8 o'clock
to watch a taped show. And when I am ready to watch TV, there's
nothing on but Hollywood Squares and infomercials. I'm not willling
to buy into a pricy new digital replay tv ($999 and up), nor sign up for
a $9.95 monthly service fee or a one-time $250 service activation fee.
So I bought a new-in-the-box but discontinued Panasonic
Showstopper ReplayTV on eBay -- no monthly fee. And now when I'm ready
to watch TV, I have hours and hours of shows in the can that I've chosen:
Every episode of The
Rockford Files, for instance (live daily at 1-2 a.m. here
in Providence). And I can make my own instant replays, since the hard
drive starts recording when you turn a channel on. On recorded shows a
"Quick Skip" advances in 30-second increments, so I can skip
the commercials. And I've added a channel splitter so I can record one
channel and watch others live on TV.
I don't care about DVDs or high-definitionTV. And I suspect others will
balk at the big bucks plus monthly fee to get the latest technology. Except,
perhaps for the wealthy, the usual early adopters -- and the truly TV-obsessed.
Link
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 700-year-old
picture of 'Mickey Mouse' found in Austrian church: Art historian
Eduard Mahlknecht ... told Austrian daily 'Krone: "St Christopher
was often depicted surrounded by various animals and sea-life, and in
this case something that resembles Mickey Mouse."
Siggi Neuschitzer, manager of the Malta Tourism Association, said: "The
similarity of the painting to Mickey Mouse is so astounding that the Disney
concern could even lose its world-wide copyright licence."
Link
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Good help is hard to find: My colleague Tim
Barmann passes along this press release from Consumer Reports:
... Highlights from our annual surveys in 2002 include:
· The number of readers dissatisfied with computer technical
support swelled
by one-third, from 24 percent in 2001 to 32 percent in this year's survey.
• Only 44 percent of the respondents who had used technical support
were
completely or very satisfied, a drop of 8 percentage points since our
survey a
year ago (and lower satisfaction than for most other services we measure).
• Manufacturers' web support had major problems. Nearly 60 percent
of those
who used it couldn't find the answer to their question.
• Phone support had its rough spots. About 33 percent of those
who phoned
said they were kept on hold for an unreasonably long period.
• E-mail support was problematic, too. Forty-one percent who
used it said the
reply they got wasn't helpful, and another 10 percent did not get a
reply at all.
• Despite the general decline, respondents ranked the support
from Apple,
Dell, and Gateway higher overall than most others.
Link
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Nov 15, 2002
Thanksgiving looms, and two opportunities cross my keyboard to help
folks whose shoes you might be thankful you're not wearing right now.
You might be the one to save Jim Almonte's life:
From my projo colleague Steve Izzo: "Here is a note from my friend
Jim who we are having the Stem Cell drive for. The RI Blood Center helped
to create a flyer
that we have been using and the family has taken out an ad
in the Providence Journal."
Jim Almonte of Smithfield -- formerly of Cranston -- is the man in need
of help. Here's his email:
Subject:: I need your help
From:"james almonte" <jtalmonte@hotmail.com>
Dear friends and family,
 |
Jim
Almonte |
As many of you know, I have been battling Hodgkin’s Disease (cancer
of the lymph nodes) for the past three years. I have been in and out
of remission three separate times and have had multiple rounds of chemotherapy,
radiation and an autologous stem cell transplant (my own stem cells).
This past May, a routine scan showed the cancer had returned again.
My next course of treatment is an allogeneic stem cell transplant (from
a donor). This is a risky procedure that gives me the best possibility
for a cure. The hope is that a donor’s stem cells will kill my
cancer cells. If the donor’s cells don’t reject me (there
is a 50% chance of that happening), I have about a 50% chance of survival
one year after transplantation.
Many of you have said, “if there is anything I can do….”
Well, there is. Last Friday as Tina and I mt with my doctor and were
getting mentally prepared for my transplant we found out that my potential
donor from Czechoslovakia was medically unable to donate. We pray that
person is not seriously ill but is just unable to donate stem cells.
For now we wait as they continue a worldwide search for my donor. I
know we have asked many of you to become a donor and many of you have.
We can’t thank those enough who already have registered. If you
are not a donor please consider becoming one.
Stem cells are the cells needed to make new healthy marrow (i.e.; immune
system, such as red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets). Several
cancers are cured by stem cells because of the ability to give the patient
such high doses of chemo and radiation it wipes out their own immune
system, but the donor’s stem cells replaces it. Or, the donor’s
stem cells actually attack and kill the patient’s cancer!
Because the donor’s cells can reject the patient, it is important
to try and get as close to an exact match as possible. The cells carry
proteins called antigens (HLAs), which determine your cell type and
only 30% of the 30,000 children and adults in need of a transplant will
find a matched donor in their families. That means there are approximately
21,000 people, like me who are in need of a donor and only 75% get a
perfect match from the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP). 25% or
5,250 people die each year because they don’t have a donor.
I was lucky. Based on the initial search of the NMDP registry worldwide,
I had two potential exact matches. Unfortunately, one was unavailable
and the other was medically unfit.
Please consider being a volunteer for the NMDP registry to become a
potential donor and truly save a life. You may not be a match for me,
but if you are fortunate enough to get the call, please do not back
out. Trust me, you don’t want to know what it feels like to be
on the other end of that. If we can make something good come out of
this by saving just one life, it will be worth it. I already know one
friend has been called as a match! The patient’s family I know,
is so grateful and I hope they have as many friends and family members
also getting on the registry, who could be the next match for me.
If you are interested in donating, you can go to www.marrow.org
for information or for a facility near you. You may also contact Doreen
Travers at RI Blood Center (1-800-283-8385) or Elise Collins at the
Dana Farber Cancer Institute (617-632-4890, elise_Collins@dfci.harvard.edu).
Doreen or Elise will also be able to guide you to the right contact
people if you live outside of RI or MA. Finally, when you register,
keep in mind that chances are you may never get called but keep your
contact information up to date with the registry (see www.marrow.org).
Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.
Jim Almonte
P.S. Please forward this e-mail to as many people as possible.
If you're in Rhode Island, find out if you might be a match at one of
these three screenings, where a small amount of blood will be taken to
be tested:
• Sat. Nov. 16, 9 am to 2 pm. Care New England, Fitness
Center 2191 Post Road, Warwick
• Sun., Nov. 17, 9 am to 2 pm, Immaculate Conception Church
Saint Joseph’s Hall, 700 Oaklawn Ave., Cranston
• Wed. Nov. 20, 9 am to 3 pm. Zebra Technologies 30 Plan
Way, Warwick
If you are a match, and are asked to donate stem cells, will it hurt?
Temporarily, says this info sheet, Stem
Cell Donation Through the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP).
Link
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Rock for a Safe Home is a holiday benefit for
Rhode Island families affected by domestic violence.
Sat., Nov. 30, a clutch of bands will play The
Blackstone in Cumberland from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. -- Becky Chace Band,
Dino Club, Big Top Vertigo, The Jason Colonies Band, Young Americans,
Winterboy, Elcodrive, Mike Diplomat and The Misprints plus acoustic sets
by members of The Babyreds, The Marlowes, Holiday, Object Permanence,
Phoenix & Jen Tobey. Donation is $10. More info: (401) 726-2181.
Link
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Send
your name to Mars: NASA invites you to send your name to Mars
on the next Mars Exploration Rover-2003 mission. You have until midnight
(EST) on November 15 (Friday) to click
this link and sign up. The Martians might look you up when they land
here.
Link
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Kite
Aerial Photography: Charles C. Benton of Berkeley, Calif., has
created a comprehensive site devoted to this unusual art -- its history,
equipment and technique. The gallery
indexes his photos, mostly of California but he does go on vacation
-- and to Burning Man, too.
Benton intends to feed another hobby with this one: He will print, sign
and ship the kite aerial photograph of your choice
in return for a slide rule.
Link
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Cat
tales: My cat is my shrink, but I didn't know we could make it
official. Philadelphia psychologist Steve K.D. Eichel found it surprisingly
easy.
Zoe D. Katze has an impressive-looking set of credentials – Ph.D.,
C.Ht., DAPA. She has been board-certified by three major hypnotherapy
associations and holds diplomate status in the American Psychotherapy
Association.
Not bad for a 6-year-old house cat. And not even a pedigreed one at
that...
The name itself is the first clue as to Zoe’s true identity.
In German, "Zoe Die Katze" translates to "Zoe the Cat."
And Eichel didn’t stop there. He listed a previous job with the
St. Felix (as in "Felix the Cat") Home for Children. And he
gave her a consulting position with the Tacayllaermi Friends School,
the first name of which is "I’m really a cat" spelled
backwards.
Link
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Nov 13, 2002
Some days, my day job as features &
interactive producer here requires me to jump in and scrub the floor.
This has been such a day, with a thousand little fixes, instaconferences
and screwups draggin' me down.
I am out of time, and this page is blank. So...
The world in 30 seconds: Here's what the
left is up to, all in one place. (Here's another
place.) The right is incensed by
this and points to this
while the left counters
with this.
Helen
Thomas condemns the Bush administration, in N.Y.'s Black World
Today, whose servers seem overwhelmed by the sudden traffic to read the
story: "Veteran journalist Helen Thomas brought the grit and whir
of a White House press conference to Bartos Theater on Monday evening,
speaking with passion about ... " Keep trying.
Low carbs make an
easy diet, but I draw the line at bowls of whipped cream. (Calories
count, too!)
Want to proofread
in support of Project
Gutenberg? Many hands make light the work...
Pregnant
mom awaiting stoning overshadows Nigerian women in bathing suits.
The
human Swiss Army Knife: "An eccentric Frenchman who goes
by the name of Crazy Eric has entered the record books for the unusual
feat of carrying permanently about his body more than 1,000 useful objects."
Now that would be a good man to have around.
More Contribute
links: Macromedia man Matt
Brown's inhouse blog has assembled links to stories and tutorials
aimed at getting everyone from sysadmins to new users comfy with the as-yet-unfinished
amateur publishing desktop tool.
With any luck, normal blogging will resume tomorrow.
Link
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Nov 12, 2002
Web publishing for all: The Web is full
of programmers who know how to make web pages, but people who might offer
compelling content are often barred from participation by a lack of coding
savvy.
I downloaded Macromedia Contribute
yesterday, a day after I'd received an email from a retired journalist
asking how he could have a cheap website for his writings. I sent him
the link and suggested he play with it, since it's a free demo till its
official release Dec. 2.
Its main purpose is to permit clients to make simple changes to their
websites themselves, even if they know no html. But my retired friend,
and his other friend, could simply use a design like
my personal site; as a friend I could copy what I've made, modify
it for his needs, change the colors and basic type, put the unchanging
parts into an uneditable area and let him type his changes -- or drag
a Word file -- into the page and publish it.
(I make both this blog and my personal site in Dreamweaver
and upload them via ftp to the web. Dreamweaver's learning curve is steep
and includes many functions I'll never use. Contribute is Dreamweaver
Lite, a tool for those who want to add and update their content.)
If you or your organization have wanted a simple website -- or a blog
-- but didn't know where to start, download this and try the tutorials.
(You'll still need a host, but good basic accounts can be had for less
than $5 a month as long as you don't want shopping carts and scripts.
A group of writers could even share an account, with each writer linked
on the main page to his or her own section.)
When launched, the program will cost $99. For those who will be administering
such sites, Contribute includes a free upgrade to Dreamweaver MX.
Those who can make simple sites might find themselves launching dozens
of friends and good causes onto the web without having to hold their hands
forever after. It seems worth doing.
Link
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WOPN: Freenode radio "plays only free
music provided to us by the artists," says the
FAQ.
From the mission
statement:
WOPN aims to provide music, news, and entertainment to anyone who cares
to listen. We utilize the Ogg
Vorbis codec, a free (as in freedom *and* as in beer) audio codec
capable of producing compressed music files of superior quality and
smaller size than mp3s. ... There are no royalty fees for encoding your
audio into this format, unlike mp3, and there are no royalty fees for
using it to stream or play music.
You can listen with WinAmp. And they're looking for artists and "Ogg
Jays."
Link
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Wireless blogging: Folks with Hiptops are blogging
here at Hiptop Nation. Many seem
to be sending tiny photos of their lunch, along with short messages.
Oliver
Tylmann, posting at infosync, points there, and notes,
Are you scared yet?
This is exactly what journalists should be worried about. In a few
years, millions of people will have mobile phones with high-quality
integrated digital cameras. Whenever something happens anywhere in the
world, pictures and eyewitness accounts will be up there on the web
for everyone to see in no time. Of course, journalists will still rush
to the scene to get the scoop - but the scoop will already be long gone,
and journalists will almost never be the first on the scene anymore.
It might not be good spelling or reporting, and it might not be objective,
but it will be diverse, real and full of emotions. That's the new way
of spreading the news fast - so welcome the wireless blog, everyone.
Journalists have almost never been the first on the scene, and I've actually
not heard any journalists say they're afraid of bloggers, any more they're
afraid of talk radio.
But I hope these devices will eventually make larger photos, so those
on the scene have documentary evidence that can be clearly seen in other
media.
Remember the Rodney
King video, filmed by amateur photographer George Holliday?
Link
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Mozilla Sidebar extension: Speaking of Dreamweaver,
there's an extension
at Yaromat to put into your page that will let Mozilla users add you
to their sidebar.
MOZILLA SIDEBAR || This adds any URL to the Mozilla M9.x or Netscape
6.x sidebar. A full URL is nessessary (http://...) You can see an example
on the yaromat.com homepage.
I'm using Mozilla 1.2b, and it works there too. If you're browsing with
Mozilla, you can see it in action at yaromat.com.
To learn how to build a html page that will display properly in the sidebar,
go
here.
I've been adding rss headline feeds and other useful tools to my browser
sidebar -- some rss feeds work, some don't, so I've been unwilling to
write a full-blown "how to" -- but after I make such a sidebar
item for this page, I'll probably write about others I've been able to
add. There are a couple of sites that make it easy.
Link
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Meet those who share your war views: An email
from Scott Heiferman of MeetUP
notes,
...if your town doesn't have organized Iraq-related gatherings and
you want to connect with local people that share your view, see how
people are using http://nowarwithiraq.meetup.com
& http://protectfreedom.meetup.com.
History says that democracy happens most powerfully when people gather
in real life.)
Link
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PBS's
Bill Moyers on the election: "And if you like God in government,
get ready for the Rapture."
Moyers is very afraid.
Link
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WirelessAddict.net
previews gadgets, has a few hardware reviews and some dedicated forums.
Worth sniffing around. Jerome Neuveglise, the man behind it, also runs
PocketMovies.net which offers
clips and trailers for Pocket PCs.
Link
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Subterranean Homepage News
by Sheila Lennon
features & interactive producer of projo.com
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