So there's about 4 photos of me at the event, and I think I'm staring into my laptop in 2 of them (I'd point out this one was taken _between_ speakers.) In my defense, everyone else in the shots is staring at the ir laptops too.
Recently in News Category
Specifically, what if The New York Times goes out of business — like, this May?
The Atlantic has a worthwhile article pondering the (very real) possibility that the NYT print edition might cease to exist by the middle of this year given their current financial situation.
One comment on the article -- it posits the HuffPo as a model for what a new, non-print NYT could be like. I hope that's wrong, given that the HuffPo for all its attention captured less than half a million dollars in revenue last year (and could make half that this year, given the lack of an election and a declining ad market.) Sure, the Times reaches 20 million online per day versus the HuffPo's 8 million or so per month, but even a multiple of say 10x the uniques isn't going to generate enough revenue to support their operation.
"The Magliozzi Brothers are qualified. They both went to MIT, and Tom has an MBA and Doctorate of Business Administration from Boston University. They have long railed against SUVs and called for increased fuel efficiency. Tom doesn't even own a car, and Ray drives a 1987 Dodge Colt Vista, which he bought for $100. These guys are not automotive industry insiders and will be on our side."
- John McGrath in the Facebook Group "Click and Clack for Car Czar"
If we're going to blow $15 billion on Detroit, we might as well at least get a laugh or two out of it. One things for sure - they can't do any worse than the current guys in charge. As someone who worked with these guys many years ago (on the original version of CarTalk.com), I wholeheartedly endorse the nomination.
"If I were locked inside the bathroom all day, I'd swallow the shampoo,
too. Although most animal-behavior problems are believed to have
genetic roots, their expressions are typically triggered by the
unnatural lives that people force their pets to lead."
The NYT has a great article for this weekend's magazine section on pharmaceuticals for pets. Dog diet pills may be a joke, but other pharmaceuticals are definitely merited; it's unfortunate though that some people will choose pills as a shortcut for proper training, exercise and discipline.
As for Mochi, he stays off the drugs. That leaves at least one kind of small object that he doesn't continually have in his mouth...
The NYT has a great article for this weekend's magazine section on pharmaceuticals for pets. Dog diet pills may be a joke, but other pharmaceuticals are definitely merited; it's unfortunate though that some people will choose pills as a shortcut for proper training, exercise and discipline.
As for Mochi, he stays off the drugs. That leaves at least one kind of small object that he doesn't continually have in his mouth...
"Should the applicants decide to apply again, they must make appointments using our on-line appointment system."
- Debra Heien, chief of the consular section for the U.S. in Nigeria
Three West African bushmen recruited to build an authentic mud-hut village at the Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia were denied visas because they are too poor and inarticulate. Consulate officials noted that the bushmen (who were recruited specifically for their knowledge of how to build traditional native mud housing) could not demonstrate a bank account and e-mail address, mortgage, or lease agreement that would demonstrate residence in Western terms, and they could reapply using the consulate's web page.
I'm guessing they're probably not heavy web users. But who knows.
Frustrated emergency-room doctor Paul Hochfeld explores why U.S. health care costs so much and argues that a single-payer system is a good solution.
"The majority of Americans want some form of a national health plan. Lobbyists continue to foster the political wisdom (myth?) that embracing anything that resembles a single payer system is political suicide. Reality check: our health care system will remain broken until the focus shifts from profits to health. That won't happen until somebody, other than insurance companies, takes control. This is now a political problem. Our citizens need to make enough noise and put enough pressure on our politicians to get them to listen to us, instead of the lobbyists."
"The majority of Americans want some form of a national health plan. Lobbyists continue to foster the political wisdom (myth?) that embracing anything that resembles a single payer system is political suicide. Reality check: our health care system will remain broken until the focus shifts from profits to health. That won't happen until somebody, other than insurance companies, takes control. This is now a political problem. Our citizens need to make enough noise and put enough pressure on our politicians to get them to listen to us, instead of the lobbyists."
Too funny to pass up: WolfpacksforTruth.org: The Real Story on George Bush's "Wolves" Commercial
(Update) There's another funny send-up at The Poor Man.
On a more serious note, here's the FactCheck analysis of the Bush "Wolfpack" advertisement.
David Brooks examines the state of nation's work culture and ethic in his essay A Nation of Grinders, which ran in today's Times magazine.
"Four-fifths of American college students, according to a Jobtrak.com study, believe it will take them 10 years or less to achieve their career goals. Three-quarters of U.S. college students expect to become millionaires, and 52 percent expect to have achieved this stratospheric status by the time they are 50. "
If that's a current survey, I can only imagine what the numbers would have looked like back in 1997, when I left college. The generation now about to turn 30 has felt this crash more than anyone. We graduated from college at the height of the bubble, when hopes (and expectations, too) were at their highest. Five to ten years, and often several jobs later, many of us are still looking for the success and security that felt somewhat closer before we even began our career paths.
At the same time, I have to say I prefer the sentiment that success should be the actual result of work and execution rather than luck, which so much of late 90's success seemed to revolve around. I figure it's better for me: I'm not the type to ever win the lottery, but if it's about work, at least I have a fair chance.
The real problem our culture has with the idea that success should be based on hard work, integrity, consistency? It doesn't play well to the masses, and it doesn't make for good television. Ever notice in most of our television shows, nobody really seems to have a job? Do the characters in "Friends" ever miss dinner because they have to work late, or fly to three cities in a week so they can make enough to pay for an apartment half the size of the one on the show? Of course not. That's no fun.
I was sitting around having beers this week with a couple of guys who are, by all measures, immensely successful in their careers. They were trying to figure out how real people live in New York in their twenties, work a casual job and still pay their rent without going massively into the red. I have to admit, I'm not sure either how it works. Can anyone explain? Maybe I just need to watch more television.
"...people who live in Manhattan or Los Angeles or San Francisco or even Dallas have to keep reminding themselves that their experience is not typical. In most places in America, there are no massive concentrations of rich people and hence no Madison Avenue boutiques, no fine art galleries, no personal shoppers. There is just the country club, and certain social pressures to be just this affluent, to prove you are a success, and no more so."
Fortune replies to the Harvard Business Review's argument that high-tech is becoming another factor of production. It covers most of the points that I raised previously. It's always to know you're not just a ranting lunatic (or at least, there are others ranting from the same perspective.)
First off, a big congratulations to my sister Vanessa, who will be getting her undergraduate diploma from Barnard today (campus-wide graduation is tomorrow), as well as my buddies in the business school who are getting their degrees -- including my high school buddy Jeremy.
Jeremy's lucky enough to already have a job lined up (and a nice one at that) but the Times is reporting that despite many new graduates wanting to go on to grad school rather than try to find a job, "the market value of advanced degrees is unlikely to rise enough to make the investments worth it." They're particularly highlighting medical and law degrees, but I can tell you that the number of people applying to business school has been up for the last 2-3 years as well (although I don't know if the number of graduates will rise.)
I'm halfway through my second post-graduate degree (years ago I earned a masters from Columbia in journalism, an industry that always has an oversupply of labor.) If the value of advanced degrees is declining, does that mean I'm losing value twice as fast?
