As of now the Rocky is silent and Denver is a one-newspaper town.
Image of last front page
I used to work at a Scripps Paper. Their technology on the web was pretty good, they were more advanced than others. Course that wouldn't save them. The Rocky had a good reputation too, a handful of Pulitzers, and was in one of the few competitive territories left.
It's a sad day for print journalism. All those voices of good journalists, now silenced. 55 days before the paper's 150th year. Maybe some of the staffers will get get hired in an online-only outlet in Denver. Not much consolation for the families of all those employees.
It's also too bad that the Rocky wasn't the first metro daily to die recently, and it won't be the last.
Hopefully publishers of the remaining newspaper companies will see this as a memento mori, and be spurred into radical innovation and transformation.
We'll see.
February 28, 2009
e-paper at Hearst?
Perhaps the future will come sooner than I thought. Fortune says that Hearst will launch a Kindle-like reading device for periodicals. It'll be larger than a Kindle, the snazzy electronic book reader from Amazon, no mention on the price or a picture of it.
Hearst's plan to make money off its reader is to "sell the e-readers to publishers and to take a cut of the revenue derived from selling magazines and newspapers on these devices."
I guess if Hearst gets every content provider in the U.S. to sign on to use this technology, it could ride the long tail of revenue of licensing it to everyone. But the problem would be, if not everyone joins the bandwagon, will consumers pony up the dough to buy a device that will only work with Hearst content? Will Hearst subsidize the cost of the reader, like computer printer makers do? Printers don't cost the consumer much at all, but those ink cartridges sure do, and that's where the revenue comes in.
But you can't charge that much for access to information, not when there's a glut of it on the Internet, and it's practically all free.
Many unanswered questions. But I believe that the future of newspapers will using a delivery vehicle of e-ink, like in the movie Minority Report when the guy on the subway reads USA Today and the headlines and stories automatically change in real-time. Imagine if Apple does its own take on the Amazon Kindle, like it did with mp3 players and the iPod. The revolution will come.
Hearst's plan to make money off its reader is to "sell the e-readers to publishers and to take a cut of the revenue derived from selling magazines and newspapers on these devices."
I guess if Hearst gets every content provider in the U.S. to sign on to use this technology, it could ride the long tail of revenue of licensing it to everyone. But the problem would be, if not everyone joins the bandwagon, will consumers pony up the dough to buy a device that will only work with Hearst content? Will Hearst subsidize the cost of the reader, like computer printer makers do? Printers don't cost the consumer much at all, but those ink cartridges sure do, and that's where the revenue comes in.
But you can't charge that much for access to information, not when there's a glut of it on the Internet, and it's practically all free.
Many unanswered questions. But I believe that the future of newspapers will using a delivery vehicle of e-ink, like in the movie Minority Report when the guy on the subway reads USA Today and the headlines and stories automatically change in real-time. Imagine if Apple does its own take on the Amazon Kindle, like it did with mp3 players and the iPod. The revolution will come.
June 6, 2008
The future of media....
is something like this:
http://developer.yahoo.net/blog/archives/2008/06/new-york-times-api.html
The NY Times is opening up its content to be used by anyone who can write code. It's releasing an API, application programming interface, that lets people access NYT content to power other applications.
Newspapers have used mashups in other ways but this is the first time a media company is opening the gates to share its content. The exec in this interview says they'll make money off the API this way: "There may be a licensing model for commercial use but in general we plan to monetize these through increased traffic back to our site, not through licensing fees."
To me this is earthshattering - imagine the ivory tower opening up its doors for everyone to go inside. Historically newpapers have been very protective of their content, it's how they make money. I wonder how this API will change the revenue model for online news for not just the NYT but everyone else in the mass media biz.
http://developer.yahoo.net/blog/archives/2008/06/new-york-times-api.html
The NY Times is opening up its content to be used by anyone who can write code. It's releasing an API, application programming interface, that lets people access NYT content to power other applications.
Newspapers have used mashups in other ways but this is the first time a media company is opening the gates to share its content. The exec in this interview says they'll make money off the API this way: "There may be a licensing model for commercial use but in general we plan to monetize these through increased traffic back to our site, not through licensing fees."
To me this is earthshattering - imagine the ivory tower opening up its doors for everyone to go inside. Historically newpapers have been very protective of their content, it's how they make money. I wonder how this API will change the revenue model for online news for not just the NYT but everyone else in the mass media biz.
February 4, 2008
There's a first for everything
- and here's mine on multimedia reporting:
East Stuart
This launched from my old employer's Web site after I left, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. (I know, I know, I'm violating all kinds of web2.0 tenets by posting this long after it hit the web, sue me)
This is my answer to a question I asked in fall 2007 - how can you do a profile story of a neighborhood using the Web? What would it look like? What's the news hook that makes people explore it? How do you keep the journalism strong?
I don't think it's a rousing success, but I'm glad it's finished.
The most important thing I wanted in the story was to make it choose-your-own adventure. The viewer can explore the site as he/she likes. The shell of the site (the jumping-off point) is an aerial map of the neighborhood, with waypoints on the map that point to different locations with historic or future significance. There are a half-dozen gentlemen as "tour guides" who describe features of the neighborhood. I don't know if it's successful but the goal was to tell a different, more powerful story than what I could do with words, images and maps in a newspaper.
Did it work?
East Stuart
This launched from my old employer's Web site after I left, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. (I know, I know, I'm violating all kinds of web2.0 tenets by posting this long after it hit the web, sue me)
This is my answer to a question I asked in fall 2007 - how can you do a profile story of a neighborhood using the Web? What would it look like? What's the news hook that makes people explore it? How do you keep the journalism strong?
I don't think it's a rousing success, but I'm glad it's finished.
The most important thing I wanted in the story was to make it choose-your-own adventure. The viewer can explore the site as he/she likes. The shell of the site (the jumping-off point) is an aerial map of the neighborhood, with waypoints on the map that point to different locations with historic or future significance. There are a half-dozen gentlemen as "tour guides" who describe features of the neighborhood. I don't know if it's successful but the goal was to tell a different, more powerful story than what I could do with words, images and maps in a newspaper.
Did it work?
We're back?
Obviously for a long time this was a dead blog. Let's hope it comes back.
Quick update:
New boss: the Richmond Times-Dispatch,
signed me up at the very end of 2007.
Woohoo! Different state, different weather, different political/social zeitgeist, different size paycheck (bigger of course) and different terrain than anything I've seen before.
Old boss: Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers
almost two years there.
Onward and upward!
Quick update:
New boss: the Richmond Times-Dispatch,
signed me up at the very end of 2007.
Woohoo! Different state, different weather, different political/social zeitgeist, different size paycheck (bigger of course) and different terrain than anything I've seen before.
Old boss: Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers
almost two years there.
Onward and upward!
December 9, 2006
everything is relative
Being a journalist can be stressful, but at least in the U.S. most of us don't have to worry about this:
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB116554586173144220-SGzZDPen_os_85AmpbRiTTZEkBE_20061215.html?mod=blogs
A muckracking Russian newspaper where three of the reporters were murdered in the last six years. The story starts w/ the editor in chief wondering if he should shut down the paper - "I felt no profession was worth dying for."
Man.
I heard a talk from an investigative journalist at UC Berkeley who reported on some Mob stories. He said he wasn't really afraid of getting whacked, he was more afraid of getting sued and having his house taken.
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB116554586173144220-SGzZDPen_os_85AmpbRiTTZEkBE_20061215.html?mod=blogs
A muckracking Russian newspaper where three of the reporters were murdered in the last six years. The story starts w/ the editor in chief wondering if he should shut down the paper - "I felt no profession was worth dying for."
Man.
I heard a talk from an investigative journalist at UC Berkeley who reported on some Mob stories. He said he wasn't really afraid of getting whacked, he was more afraid of getting sued and having his house taken.
Bringing sexy back
My god, could I resume entries in this blog after ten months with a more lame pop culture reference?
Well, I'm sad to say that, yes, it's been way too long I've posted to W.D. and with ideas floating around my head the entire time, nonetheless.
A quick catch-up on the life, then:
I've been at my new job at Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers for about 10 months. I live in Port St. Lucie, FL. I've been covering City Council meetings, political shananigans, the November elections, neighborhood issues, the Planning & Zoning board, and generally all things related to peoples' tax dollars. It's been a little slow lately. We just got a new metro editor who seems really good, just the kind of person that I think should quarterback the coverage of 10 reporters.
I have a lovely girlfriend, Susie, who I met at the Sun-Sentinel. We've been together almost a year.
I had to change my California license plate to a Florida plate last month. Yikes. I want to frame/mount the old plate somewhere.
But since my idea for this blog is to focus primarily on various media-related topics rather than be a social dissemination tool, I'll bring it back to the top.
Well, I'm sad to say that, yes, it's been way too long I've posted to W.D. and with ideas floating around my head the entire time, nonetheless.
A quick catch-up on the life, then:
I've been at my new job at Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers for about 10 months. I live in Port St. Lucie, FL. I've been covering City Council meetings, political shananigans, the November elections, neighborhood issues, the Planning & Zoning board, and generally all things related to peoples' tax dollars. It's been a little slow lately. We just got a new metro editor who seems really good, just the kind of person that I think should quarterback the coverage of 10 reporters.
I have a lovely girlfriend, Susie, who I met at the Sun-Sentinel. We've been together almost a year.
I had to change my California license plate to a Florida plate last month. Yikes. I want to frame/mount the old plate somewhere.
But since my idea for this blog is to focus primarily on various media-related topics rather than be a social dissemination tool, I'll bring it back to the top.
February 13, 2006
EMPLOYMENT VICTORY
Though this post is a little late in coming b/c I've been so busy the last couple of weeks, I'm happy to announce that I am again GAINFULLY EMPLOYED at a newspaper!!!
I accepted a job last week at the Scripps Treasure Coast newspaper covering city hall in Port St. Lucie, a city north of Miami about 2.5 hrs. It's the fastest growing in the state or close to it, and the housing market is booming still. Developments are springing up like weeds, which appears to be the quality of the infrastructure as well. I actually had two job offers, one at a paper in on the gulf coast of Florida about the same size as Scripps and more resources but I'd be covering a much smaller city and different issues. It was a really hard decision to make but I think I made the right choice. More on that later.
I'm psyched to get started, my first day is Feb 27. I'll be trying to delve into city hall issues- the crime, developments, neighborhood relations w/ city hall, parks, growth of a downtown district (right now there is none), you name it.
Right now i'm in a Holiday Inn that the paper put me up at, looking for a place to live. Had to pass up a killer apt a stone's throw from the Intracoastal and Hutchinson Island, like a narrow Miami Beach but much quieter and less crowded. It was too expensive for my salary. Today is my last day to look before I fly back to Cali tomorrow to pick up some stuff and hang out w/ peeps. I fly back next Tuesday to keep looking or just relax for a few days before the job starts.
I'll post more l8r. jeez this thing isn't even remotely like a blog right now.
I accepted a job last week at the Scripps Treasure Coast newspaper covering city hall in Port St. Lucie, a city north of Miami about 2.5 hrs. It's the fastest growing in the state or close to it, and the housing market is booming still. Developments are springing up like weeds, which appears to be the quality of the infrastructure as well. I actually had two job offers, one at a paper in on the gulf coast of Florida about the same size as Scripps and more resources but I'd be covering a much smaller city and different issues. It was a really hard decision to make but I think I made the right choice. More on that later.
I'm psyched to get started, my first day is Feb 27. I'll be trying to delve into city hall issues- the crime, developments, neighborhood relations w/ city hall, parks, growth of a downtown district (right now there is none), you name it.
Right now i'm in a Holiday Inn that the paper put me up at, looking for a place to live. Had to pass up a killer apt a stone's throw from the Intracoastal and Hutchinson Island, like a narrow Miami Beach but much quieter and less crowded. It was too expensive for my salary. Today is my last day to look before I fly back to Cali tomorrow to pick up some stuff and hang out w/ peeps. I fly back next Tuesday to keep looking or just relax for a few days before the job starts.
I'll post more l8r. jeez this thing isn't even remotely like a blog right now.
January 19, 2006
amazon.com to do TV - well the commercials at least
http://www.southflorida.com/news/sfl-119amazon.com,0,3577898.story?coll=sfla-entertainment-headlines
amazon.com said it was going to start in June streaming webcasts w/ Bill Maher as host. the 30-min webcasts are basically advertisements for products on the site, w/ guests talking about the products and where you can buy them instantly, of course. some cross btw QVC, E!, and those infomercials for exercise machines at 3a.m.
I wonder if people will come to the site to watch. article says there will be celebrity guests like Stephen King and Rob Thomas. Would you go to amazon.com to watch an infomercial? hmmmm
I guess it'll depend on the star power of the guests, the products they're hawking, and the cheesiness of the delivery. I doubt Maher will throw in political commentary.
amazon.com said it was going to start in June streaming webcasts w/ Bill Maher as host. the 30-min webcasts are basically advertisements for products on the site, w/ guests talking about the products and where you can buy them instantly, of course. some cross btw QVC, E!, and those infomercials for exercise machines at 3a.m.
I wonder if people will come to the site to watch. article says there will be celebrity guests like Stephen King and Rob Thomas. Would you go to amazon.com to watch an infomercial? hmmmm
I guess it'll depend on the star power of the guests, the products they're hawking, and the cheesiness of the delivery. I doubt Maher will throw in political commentary.
January 18, 2006
multimedia - homeless man killed
The video from the sun-sentinel web site of the homeless guy getting beaten with a bat was viewed over 100,000 times in the first couple of days. I'm sure the other news operations saw similar activity. Crazy.
you could make a pretty good ethical case for putting the video out there for everyone to see. It really got peoples' attention. It capitalized on this gawker tendency we have towards something we know we shouldn't really be watching but can't look away either. Some people, perhaps the family of the man killed, might be angry with the way their loved one is all over the media when they just want to be out of the spotlight and grieve privately. But here's where we media outlets make the argument that if it wasn't for the video, the community wouldn't have been in such an uproar and this issue of beatings of the homeless wouldn't be out there in the spotlight.
We have to ask - is this loss of privacy for a few worth the knowledge it brought to the many? I think so. The thing about these beatings was- they were homeless men. Not housewives. not senators. people on the fringe of society, who we only think about when they ask us for change or during the holidays. Without that video, the beatings would be sooner forgotten from our minds.
Actually my bigger question is about something else entirely- with the power to find news you want to know about, being able to select it and download it off the Internet, when you want it- what does this access and power mean for us? I look to Google, who is steadily making available any information a person could possibly want, anywhere in the world. Google doesn't really create that information or analysis, but provides a better way to get it to the people who want it. Now there's a lot of overlap in information gathering we in the media do, and forgetting of work that has been done in the past, and redundant replication of stories. Will Google or the internet of the future join all our collective knowledge so we can advance faster in all areas of human endeavor?
you could make a pretty good ethical case for putting the video out there for everyone to see. It really got peoples' attention. It capitalized on this gawker tendency we have towards something we know we shouldn't really be watching but can't look away either. Some people, perhaps the family of the man killed, might be angry with the way their loved one is all over the media when they just want to be out of the spotlight and grieve privately. But here's where we media outlets make the argument that if it wasn't for the video, the community wouldn't have been in such an uproar and this issue of beatings of the homeless wouldn't be out there in the spotlight.
We have to ask - is this loss of privacy for a few worth the knowledge it brought to the many? I think so. The thing about these beatings was- they were homeless men. Not housewives. not senators. people on the fringe of society, who we only think about when they ask us for change or during the holidays. Without that video, the beatings would be sooner forgotten from our minds.
Actually my bigger question is about something else entirely- with the power to find news you want to know about, being able to select it and download it off the Internet, when you want it- what does this access and power mean for us? I look to Google, who is steadily making available any information a person could possibly want, anywhere in the world. Google doesn't really create that information or analysis, but provides a better way to get it to the people who want it. Now there's a lot of overlap in information gathering we in the media do, and forgetting of work that has been done in the past, and redundant replication of stories. Will Google or the internet of the future join all our collective knowledge so we can advance faster in all areas of human endeavor?
January 12, 2006
Homeless men beaten by teens w/ bats
On the Web site of my newspaper about an hour and a half ago this story appeared at the top, w/ video and pictures:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-112homelessbeating,0,3435973.story
It's a story about three homeless men who were beaten by young men w/ bats. One of them died at the hospital. What caught me even more from the brutality of it all was the fact we had video footage (and pics) of the beatings on the site too.
Of course I watched the video, like probably most ppl who will happen to look at the site today and see the story. After seeing the grainy security camera footage, I wondered, is this voyeurism? The police give us the footage so of course we're running it; i'm sure it's on TV too. Reminds me of ethics discussions we had in journalism school.
hmmmm, the Sun-Sentinel, which didn't run a story we had exclusively of a little girl w/ a facial tumor b/c the accompanying photo was too startling, but we post the video of this guy getting the crap beaten out of him. inconsistencies, inconsistencies.
I wonder how many times the video will be watched/emailed. i should be able to get #'s tomorrow.
it's interesting to see the power of the internet at work; the fact that we can access this stuff in the first place, that it's instant, and available from anywhere in the world.
well, back to work. The possibilities and implications of online media is something I'll be writing about more to be sure.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-112homelessbeating,0,3435973.story
It's a story about three homeless men who were beaten by young men w/ bats. One of them died at the hospital. What caught me even more from the brutality of it all was the fact we had video footage (and pics) of the beatings on the site too.
Of course I watched the video, like probably most ppl who will happen to look at the site today and see the story. After seeing the grainy security camera footage, I wondered, is this voyeurism? The police give us the footage so of course we're running it; i'm sure it's on TV too. Reminds me of ethics discussions we had in journalism school.
hmmmm, the Sun-Sentinel, which didn't run a story we had exclusively of a little girl w/ a facial tumor b/c the accompanying photo was too startling, but we post the video of this guy getting the crap beaten out of him. inconsistencies, inconsistencies.
I wonder how many times the video will be watched/emailed. i should be able to get #'s tomorrow.
it's interesting to see the power of the internet at work; the fact that we can access this stuff in the first place, that it's instant, and available from anywhere in the world.
well, back to work. The possibilities and implications of online media is something I'll be writing about more to be sure.
January 2, 2006
Party with the beautiful people
I celebrated New Year's by going to an "A-List" party at a swank hotel in South Beach.
This is partying at a new level.
General admission tickets sold for $200.
Those two benjamins got you all you could drink at the bar til midnight, if you could fight through the insane lines at the bar.
Fortunately I went with my cousin Darin who went in w/ some friends from his work. They got a cabana with bottle service, the works. Of course we had to dress big too.
The theme of the party at the hotel, the Raleigh, was about circuses or mardi gras. There were dancers and allegedly fire breathers and other such performers though I never saw them, because I was hanging out at the cabana around midnight.
I kept wondering what kind of people just shell out this kind of money for a night's worth of partying. Well, some really beautiful people did. Some average people. Tourists, locals, people visiting friends in town. Yuppies. Traveling nurses. Businessmen. Hey Craig David showed up too.Joe sang a couple tunes at a tent next to the pool with pink inflatable balloons in the shape of giant jacks or those metal objects the Germans laid on the beach to obstruct the Allies on D-Day.
Yes, I'd say a good time was had by all.
The next morning, or afternoon rather, after robotically eating a couple slices of Pizza Rustica that I bought on the way home to my cousin's hotel, I went to the beach. Bought a Sunday Miami Herald.
I took a swim in the water, which was actually fairly cold. Cold by South Florida standards was in the low 70's. At Atlantic City it's about 43 degrees. hah.
I'd like to say that going in the ocean that bright January 1st afternoon symbolized a rebirth or cleansing or some metaphorical crap, but basically it felt good and now, on the 2nd, I appear to have a headcold.
New Years Resolutions to come soon.
December 28, 2005
So you think you can report....
Today (Wednesday) was my last day as a municipal government reporter at the Sun-Sentinel. It's been a long but rewarding three months. Ever since they extended my internship after September, I've been covering city government in four cities clustered south of Fort Lauderdale - Hallandale Beach, Dania Beach, West Park, and Pembroke Park. It was my first real "beat" - in my past reporting internships I covered health as a general topic or was a generalist. The city beat reporters are sort of the foot soldiers of the paper, the ones writing about city commission meetings and what the elected officials decide to do with taxpayer money, spotlighting the movers and shakers in the community, and the ones who do the story on anything that happens within city borders really.
On any given day I was picking up police blotters - the listings of nonviolent crimes that readers seem to like to read - calling the mayor or city manager for an update on something, going to commission meetings which can last several hours, talking to business owners, residents, tourists, driving around, reading some document or Web site, or writing a story. It was busy, busy. In the beginning it was a lot of jumping around, trying to make sure I wasn't overlooking something in one city at the expense of another. By the time I started to hit a groove, my time was up.
One story I was proud of was when Hallandale fired two police officers for abusing a man they arrested, choking and tasering him 15 times one night in April.
Another was a few stories on Dania Beach's efforts to revitalize their gritty downtown area even through seizing property through eminent domain. They also sacrificed a historic hotel that had housed people barely able to scrape by, favoring a new project boasting market-rate condos.
I also liked writing about a French family with a little girl who traveled to Pembroke Park each year for special therapy to overcome her cerebral palsy.
I feel fortunate to have come across these stories and to learn from my mistakes. I also feel more confident in organizing my time and resources because, well, with four cities, you have four sets of elected officials and staff, four sets of issues, four separate little fiefdoms. Ideally there would be one reporter for each city, which we used to have in the office. Now people have to double up, or quad up in my case. At least if I get hired somewhere else to do local government, one or two cities will be cake. At least I hope.
At the end of the day today I sent emails to each of the four city managers telling them I was leaving and to forward any upcoming info to my editor. I never told them I was an intern. Partly I think that was because I didn't want to seem like an amateur. But also I think I was trying to mentally picture myself being a staff writer, or getting hired on as a staff writer. And no reason to tell them I was an intern if I was hired at some point- there'd be a seamless transition. Of course, they didn't hire me. At least not yet.
In any case, as I left the office for the last time, I felt happy to be out but sad too. I kinda missed the 10 hour or 12 hour days. Talking to residents. Being plugged into what was happening. I had only just begun to scratch the surface of my cities.
On any given day I was picking up police blotters - the listings of nonviolent crimes that readers seem to like to read - calling the mayor or city manager for an update on something, going to commission meetings which can last several hours, talking to business owners, residents, tourists, driving around, reading some document or Web site, or writing a story. It was busy, busy. In the beginning it was a lot of jumping around, trying to make sure I wasn't overlooking something in one city at the expense of another. By the time I started to hit a groove, my time was up.
One story I was proud of was when Hallandale fired two police officers for abusing a man they arrested, choking and tasering him 15 times one night in April.
Another was a few stories on Dania Beach's efforts to revitalize their gritty downtown area even through seizing property through eminent domain. They also sacrificed a historic hotel that had housed people barely able to scrape by, favoring a new project boasting market-rate condos.
I also liked writing about a French family with a little girl who traveled to Pembroke Park each year for special therapy to overcome her cerebral palsy.
I feel fortunate to have come across these stories and to learn from my mistakes. I also feel more confident in organizing my time and resources because, well, with four cities, you have four sets of elected officials and staff, four sets of issues, four separate little fiefdoms. Ideally there would be one reporter for each city, which we used to have in the office. Now people have to double up, or quad up in my case. At least if I get hired somewhere else to do local government, one or two cities will be cake. At least I hope.
At the end of the day today I sent emails to each of the four city managers telling them I was leaving and to forward any upcoming info to my editor. I never told them I was an intern. Partly I think that was because I didn't want to seem like an amateur. But also I think I was trying to mentally picture myself being a staff writer, or getting hired on as a staff writer. And no reason to tell them I was an intern if I was hired at some point- there'd be a seamless transition. Of course, they didn't hire me. At least not yet.
In any case, as I left the office for the last time, I felt happy to be out but sad too. I kinda missed the 10 hour or 12 hour days. Talking to residents. Being plugged into what was happening. I had only just begun to scratch the surface of my cities.
December 25, 2005
December 8, 2005
flying on coke
So I'm at my desk eating a Wendy's spicy chicken meal and reading some document simultaneously to maximize my work time....sad isn't it....and I look at my iced tea cup, which has a bright label on it proclaiming, "Buy 32 drinks = 1 FREE 1-way ticket"
Hmmm, I thought in between parsing sentences of a land use plan amendment ordinance.
Free flight eh? 32 drinks eh? SOUNDS LIKE A SCAM!
But upon closer examination, it seemed like you really can fly on airTran anywhere they fly after sending in 32 drink upc codes. Who's heard of airTran, please raise your hands. Seeing no one, I now close the public hearing. Sorry, I have city government meetings on the brain.
I googled "wendys free flight" and came up with the promotion on the first hit. airTran appears to be a discount airline with ATL as its hub. And they fly to Ft. Lauderdale, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, all the places I want to be. You can't fly from SF to LA without going through Atlanta but hey should be a nice trip.
A 20-oz drink at Wendy's probably costs $1.90 or so, call it two bucks. 2 times 32 = 64. 64 dollars in change from between my car's seat and the floor don't seem too bad for a free flight. that's 128 bucks for a roundtrip. And all the soda I could drink in several months. Oh wait, maybe you need to buy a meal to get the cup. and the deal expires at the end of the year or whenever Wendy's runs out of cups with the offer on the side.
hmmm, how to beat the deadline.
well, simply buy Wendy's for everyone in the office, that's it.
could come up with the goods in a couple days.
get everyone obese off of square burgers.
sounds like a plan.
Hmmm, I thought in between parsing sentences of a land use plan amendment ordinance.
Free flight eh? 32 drinks eh? SOUNDS LIKE A SCAM!
But upon closer examination, it seemed like you really can fly on airTran anywhere they fly after sending in 32 drink upc codes. Who's heard of airTran, please raise your hands. Seeing no one, I now close the public hearing. Sorry, I have city government meetings on the brain.
I googled "wendys free flight" and came up with the promotion on the first hit. airTran appears to be a discount airline with ATL as its hub. And they fly to Ft. Lauderdale, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, all the places I want to be. You can't fly from SF to LA without going through Atlanta but hey should be a nice trip.
A 20-oz drink at Wendy's probably costs $1.90 or so, call it two bucks. 2 times 32 = 64. 64 dollars in change from between my car's seat and the floor don't seem too bad for a free flight. that's 128 bucks for a roundtrip. And all the soda I could drink in several months. Oh wait, maybe you need to buy a meal to get the cup. and the deal expires at the end of the year or whenever Wendy's runs out of cups with the offer on the side.
hmmm, how to beat the deadline.
well, simply buy Wendy's for everyone in the office, that's it.
could come up with the goods in a couple days.
get everyone obese off of square burgers.
sounds like a plan.
December 3, 2005
News from the front (page, that is)
Woohoo! First time I hit the front page of the paper, today:
"Two Hallandale officers fired over Taser use"
The competition had a story but I got it better, this time around.
How'd I celebrate? I came home from the office after editing the story, at 10:45 pm, cracked open a Sierra Nevada, cooked some speghetti, and watched Leno and Conan. yeah.
HALLANDALE BEACH - Two city police officers were fired Friday after being accused of choking and using a Taser on a man in a holding cell more than 10 times in less than five minutes.
The Broward County State Attorney's Office charged Officer Talous Cirilo with three counts of misdemeanor battery, and Officer Mary Hagopian with one count of misdemeanor battery. Hagopian was a 15-year veteran, and Cirilo was employed for three or four years, said Police Chief Tom Magill. Their arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 21.
"I can't have that in this organization," said City Manager Mike Good, who authorized the firings. "I won't tolerate it."
Their lawyer on Friday said the decision to fire Cirilo and Hagopian was "bogus."
"No way did the city do a thorough investigation," said Barbara Duffy, general council for the Broward County Police Benevolent Association who represented Cirilo and Hagopian. "I'm not aware of any other state attorneys' offices that charge cops for doing their jobs."
The officers have 15 days to challenge the firings.
The dismissals come at a time when police use of Tasers faces mounting criticism. Critics contend that the stun guns are sometimes misused and that the unregulated weapons may be unsafe. The manufacturer, Taser International of Scottsdale, Ariz., contends the devices are safe.
On the morning of April 1, police noticed two men fighting in the back seat of a car on Federal Highway and pulled over the driver, officials said. Cirilo arrested Michael Brack, 23, for domestic violence for the alleged fight with his brother. Brack struggled with officers at the scene, and at some point Cirilo shoved a Taser against Brack's body three times and activated the electricity, police said.
After Brack was arrested and placed in a holding cell, Cirilo choked the handcuffed man, Good said. That incident was recorded by video camera. After being fingerprinted, Brack was led out of sight of the camera, then choked unconscious by Cirilo, Good said.
When Brack woke up, he kicked his cell, prompting Cirilo and Hagopian to shock him with a Taser more than 10 times in four minutes, 22 seconds, officials said. Two Community Service Aides saw the incidents, they said.
Hagopian, who as an acting sergeant was a supervisor at the time, used her body to shield the service aides from entering the room as Cirilo choked Brack, according to a police statement. One of the aides said he saw Hagopian with a Taser in each hand, shocking Brack multiple times.
In June, Internal Affairs presented its case to the state attorney's office, Magill said. The state charged Cirilo and Hagopian in October. On Nov. 16, Magill told the city manager he should fire the two officers.
"We can't accept that behavior," Magill said Friday. "I'm extremely disappointed. We hired them, trained them, did the best we could."
City officials held a meeting on Monday to allow the officers to defend themselves, but only their lawyer, Duffy, showed up.
City Manager Good fired the officers Friday.
Neither officer has a criminal record in Florida. Neither did Brack, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The domestic violence charge was dropped.
Magill said it took eight months to discipline the officers because the state attorney working the case was promoted and the case was given to someone else; the Tasered man, Brack, left South Florida; and Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma took up city police resources.
Every Hallandale officer who carries a Taser goes through a four-hour training session by in-house instructors, said Assistant Police Chief James Kirchoff. About 70 patrol officers carry the devices.
More than 7,000 law enforcement agencies, including the majority of the police agencies in South Florida, use the devices. Critics point out that more than 100 people nationwide have died shortly after being shocked by a Taser.
In Florida, at least 24 people have died since 2001 after being zapped, more than in any other state. Medical examiners attributed most of those deaths to other causes, such as the presence of drugs, including cocaine.
Kirchoff said that the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Police Executive Research Forum recently put out new Taser guidelines, which the city follows.
After the April incident the department put out a memo telling officers not to "dry tase" a person as Cirilo did when Brack was arrested, Magill said. During a dry tase the electrified darts are not fired; the Taser is pressed against a person's body and activated.
News researchers Barbara Hijek and Bill Lucey contributed to this story.
Chris Young can be reached at ciyoung@sun-sentinel.com or 954-385-7916.
"Two Hallandale officers fired over Taser use"
The competition had a story but I got it better, this time around.
How'd I celebrate? I came home from the office after editing the story, at 10:45 pm, cracked open a Sierra Nevada, cooked some speghetti, and watched Leno and Conan. yeah.
HALLANDALE BEACH - Two city police officers were fired Friday after being accused of choking and using a Taser on a man in a holding cell more than 10 times in less than five minutes.
The Broward County State Attorney's Office charged Officer Talous Cirilo with three counts of misdemeanor battery, and Officer Mary Hagopian with one count of misdemeanor battery. Hagopian was a 15-year veteran, and Cirilo was employed for three or four years, said Police Chief Tom Magill. Their arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 21.
"I can't have that in this organization," said City Manager Mike Good, who authorized the firings. "I won't tolerate it."
Their lawyer on Friday said the decision to fire Cirilo and Hagopian was "bogus."
"No way did the city do a thorough investigation," said Barbara Duffy, general council for the Broward County Police Benevolent Association who represented Cirilo and Hagopian. "I'm not aware of any other state attorneys' offices that charge cops for doing their jobs."
The officers have 15 days to challenge the firings.
The dismissals come at a time when police use of Tasers faces mounting criticism. Critics contend that the stun guns are sometimes misused and that the unregulated weapons may be unsafe. The manufacturer, Taser International of Scottsdale, Ariz., contends the devices are safe.
On the morning of April 1, police noticed two men fighting in the back seat of a car on Federal Highway and pulled over the driver, officials said. Cirilo arrested Michael Brack, 23, for domestic violence for the alleged fight with his brother. Brack struggled with officers at the scene, and at some point Cirilo shoved a Taser against Brack's body three times and activated the electricity, police said.
After Brack was arrested and placed in a holding cell, Cirilo choked the handcuffed man, Good said. That incident was recorded by video camera. After being fingerprinted, Brack was led out of sight of the camera, then choked unconscious by Cirilo, Good said.
When Brack woke up, he kicked his cell, prompting Cirilo and Hagopian to shock him with a Taser more than 10 times in four minutes, 22 seconds, officials said. Two Community Service Aides saw the incidents, they said.
Hagopian, who as an acting sergeant was a supervisor at the time, used her body to shield the service aides from entering the room as Cirilo choked Brack, according to a police statement. One of the aides said he saw Hagopian with a Taser in each hand, shocking Brack multiple times.
In June, Internal Affairs presented its case to the state attorney's office, Magill said. The state charged Cirilo and Hagopian in October. On Nov. 16, Magill told the city manager he should fire the two officers.
"We can't accept that behavior," Magill said Friday. "I'm extremely disappointed. We hired them, trained them, did the best we could."
City officials held a meeting on Monday to allow the officers to defend themselves, but only their lawyer, Duffy, showed up.
City Manager Good fired the officers Friday.
Neither officer has a criminal record in Florida. Neither did Brack, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The domestic violence charge was dropped.
Magill said it took eight months to discipline the officers because the state attorney working the case was promoted and the case was given to someone else; the Tasered man, Brack, left South Florida; and Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma took up city police resources.
Every Hallandale officer who carries a Taser goes through a four-hour training session by in-house instructors, said Assistant Police Chief James Kirchoff. About 70 patrol officers carry the devices.
More than 7,000 law enforcement agencies, including the majority of the police agencies in South Florida, use the devices. Critics point out that more than 100 people nationwide have died shortly after being shocked by a Taser.
In Florida, at least 24 people have died since 2001 after being zapped, more than in any other state. Medical examiners attributed most of those deaths to other causes, such as the presence of drugs, including cocaine.
Kirchoff said that the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Police Executive Research Forum recently put out new Taser guidelines, which the city follows.
After the April incident the department put out a memo telling officers not to "dry tase" a person as Cirilo did when Brack was arrested, Magill said. During a dry tase the electrified darts are not fired; the Taser is pressed against a person's body and activated.
News researchers Barbara Hijek and Bill Lucey contributed to this story.
Chris Young can be reached at ciyoung@sun-sentinel.com or 954-385-7916.
Copyright © 2005, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
November 24, 2005
Gotta start listening to more Prarie Home Companion
Garrison Keillor, bless your heart. If only Generation iPod saw eye-to-eye with you. Scroll down to section in red (emphasis mine).
Garrison Keillor, Tribune Media Services
Published November 23, 2005
Pause to give thanks for simple things
Garrison Keillor, Tribune Media Services
Published November 23, 2005
Family, friends, good health (knock on wood), lots to be thankful for, including this $1.59 rollerball pen and its flowing cursive line that makes me feel as elegant as Michel de Montaigne.
Gratitude makes sense for an American. We occupy a bountiful country of great civility (yes, really) and robustness and freedom, and if not the No. 1 Country in the World, nonetheless it has some great stuff, including Lake Superior, the Supreme Court, the Four Tops ("Baby, I Need Your Lovin'") and the World's Largest Ball of Twine Ever Rolled by One Man (12 feet in diameter) in Darwin, Minn. Cawker City, Kan., claims a bigger one, but it's more oblong and was done by committee.
Truly, we should be thankful. And we do try to be. But the English language is so rich in terms of complaint and insult and groaning and rather sparse in the Exaltation Department, so the Lord doesn't get praised as he should.
Instead, we bellyache, we kvetch, we get our undies in a bunch. After all, we're descended from people who considered rejoicing to be bad luck: It tempts fate.
So they grumbled about the weather, politicians, children, popular music, new cars, anything modern, and complained about their health year after year until they died and went to heaven, where no doubt they are a little edgy even now--nice place, paradise--a little surprised at who else is here, harrumph, harrumph, but never mind--plenty of bliss, no tears and so forth--not sure how long it can last, but we shall see.
As for me, I am grateful for the functional. In our home, we are going through a series of malfunctioning coffeemakers that sputter and vomit quarts of hot brown sediment on the kitchen counter and floor, and that makes me grateful for things like this pen, which really is a pleasure. Or Google, which can bring up 2.3 million references in .03 seconds, none of which sheds light on the subject, but they distract you so that instead of writing about "The Mill on the Floss" by George Eliot, you get interested in dental hygiene.
I'm glad for the e-ticket, which frees us from standing in line at the airline counter so that we can swiftly go stand in line at the security check.
And let us all be thankful for the newspaper, a truly useful object. The press is the watchdog of a free society, and while TV reporters are styling their hair and practicing winsome facial expressions, newspaper reporters are on the phone, knocking on doors, doing the work, holding power accountable. And you read their work and absorb something from it, or not, and then you spread the newspaper out on the floor and it absorbs paint drips, or you pack it in a box around fragile objects, or you roll it up and swat cockroaches, or stuff it into cracks to keep the wind out, or stuff it under the kindling and light the fire--one simple thing with six distinct uses. Or you can recycle it and it will transcend into cardboard.
You can't do that with images on a screen.
These days I am grateful beyond words for a swimming teacher, Alyssa, who is a functional person of a very high order. Twice a week, she takes my sandy-haired, gap-tooth daughter in tow and puts her through her paces.
Alyssa is young, blonde, brimming with confidence, with broad shoulders and a car horn voice. She hollers, "Kickickickickickkick" and "GOGOGOGOGOGOGOGO," and the little girl puts her head down and swims for all she's worth.
A few months ago, she was timid in the water, like me, and now she is a fish, all thanks to her wonderful teacher, a taskmaster with a sense of humor, who is in the pool with her pupils, unlike the Schwimmfuehrer of my youth who strode alongside the pool and showered us with contempt and ridicule.
Alyssa's gift is enormous to us. My daughter gets a taste of discipline and success, and this makes me very happy. So much that is dismal and destructive in the world, but for me, the joy of a 7-year-old girl putting on her swim goggles almost makes up for it.
Thanks be to God for the teachers of the world.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Gratitude makes sense for an American. We occupy a bountiful country of great civility (yes, really) and robustness and freedom, and if not the No. 1 Country in the World, nonetheless it has some great stuff, including Lake Superior, the Supreme Court, the Four Tops ("Baby, I Need Your Lovin'") and the World's Largest Ball of Twine Ever Rolled by One Man (12 feet in diameter) in Darwin, Minn. Cawker City, Kan., claims a bigger one, but it's more oblong and was done by committee.
Truly, we should be thankful. And we do try to be. But the English language is so rich in terms of complaint and insult and groaning and rather sparse in the Exaltation Department, so the Lord doesn't get praised as he should.
Instead, we bellyache, we kvetch, we get our undies in a bunch. After all, we're descended from people who considered rejoicing to be bad luck: It tempts fate.
So they grumbled about the weather, politicians, children, popular music, new cars, anything modern, and complained about their health year after year until they died and went to heaven, where no doubt they are a little edgy even now--nice place, paradise--a little surprised at who else is here, harrumph, harrumph, but never mind--plenty of bliss, no tears and so forth--not sure how long it can last, but we shall see.
As for me, I am grateful for the functional. In our home, we are going through a series of malfunctioning coffeemakers that sputter and vomit quarts of hot brown sediment on the kitchen counter and floor, and that makes me grateful for things like this pen, which really is a pleasure. Or Google, which can bring up 2.3 million references in .03 seconds, none of which sheds light on the subject, but they distract you so that instead of writing about "The Mill on the Floss" by George Eliot, you get interested in dental hygiene.
I'm glad for the e-ticket, which frees us from standing in line at the airline counter so that we can swiftly go stand in line at the security check.
And let us all be thankful for the newspaper, a truly useful object. The press is the watchdog of a free society, and while TV reporters are styling their hair and practicing winsome facial expressions, newspaper reporters are on the phone, knocking on doors, doing the work, holding power accountable. And you read their work and absorb something from it, or not, and then you spread the newspaper out on the floor and it absorbs paint drips, or you pack it in a box around fragile objects, or you roll it up and swat cockroaches, or stuff it into cracks to keep the wind out, or stuff it under the kindling and light the fire--one simple thing with six distinct uses. Or you can recycle it and it will transcend into cardboard.
You can't do that with images on a screen.
These days I am grateful beyond words for a swimming teacher, Alyssa, who is a functional person of a very high order. Twice a week, she takes my sandy-haired, gap-tooth daughter in tow and puts her through her paces.
Alyssa is young, blonde, brimming with confidence, with broad shoulders and a car horn voice. She hollers, "Kickickickickickkick" and "GOGOGOGOGOGOGOGO," and the little girl puts her head down and swims for all she's worth.
A few months ago, she was timid in the water, like me, and now she is a fish, all thanks to her wonderful teacher, a taskmaster with a sense of humor, who is in the pool with her pupils, unlike the Schwimmfuehrer of my youth who strode alongside the pool and showered us with contempt and ridicule.
Alyssa's gift is enormous to us. My daughter gets a taste of discipline and success, and this makes me very happy. So much that is dismal and destructive in the world, but for me, the joy of a 7-year-old girl putting on her swim goggles almost makes up for it.
Thanks be to God for the teachers of the world.
Happy Thanksgiving.
November 23, 2005
Pre-Turkey day at the airport
I'm typing away at my laptop at Ft. Lauderdale airport like some kind of road warrior. The place has free wireless in all terminals as a male voice tells me over the PA system. The only catch is it's slow as molasses.
Fortunately, what's not slow as molasses is the security line I got through. I came to the airport about 1'45" before my flight, which is extremely unlike me. I normally like cutting it so that I join the tail end of my boarding group on the plane without ever needing to sit on some uncomfortable chair. But with the holiday flight and bad weather in the midwest and all, I figured better safe than sorry. This just goes to show I should continue getting to the airport with eight minutes to spare because I got through security in 52 seconds without a wait and my gate was mere feet away, on supposedly the worst travel day of the year. But I don't want to jinx it because we still have to go through Chicago.
BTW, for some reason I always order cranberry juice when I fly. Or ginger ale. I never drink either of those beverages when my feet are on solid earth. I wonder why. Is anybody else like that?
Fortunately, what's not slow as molasses is the security line I got through. I came to the airport about 1'45" before my flight, which is extremely unlike me. I normally like cutting it so that I join the tail end of my boarding group on the plane without ever needing to sit on some uncomfortable chair. But with the holiday flight and bad weather in the midwest and all, I figured better safe than sorry. This just goes to show I should continue getting to the airport with eight minutes to spare because I got through security in 52 seconds without a wait and my gate was mere feet away, on supposedly the worst travel day of the year. But I don't want to jinx it because we still have to go through Chicago.
BTW, for some reason I always order cranberry juice when I fly. Or ginger ale. I never drink either of those beverages when my feet are on solid earth. I wonder why. Is anybody else like that?
November 16, 2005
'cane time II
Right outside my porch....
These trees hit that nice pristine '65 Mustang that my landlady owns. But somehow it wasn't even scratched.
I didn't put the plastic lawn chair there for dramatic effect like some paparrazzi disaster photographer. That's where the chair landed.
'cane time
I didn't have this blog when Hurricane Wilma smacked South Florida but I figured I might as well blog it a bit. Of course, a picture is worth a thousand words so:
in the aftermath, here's a tree that fell right at my landlady's front door. That's the hurricane shutter on the right, the white awning there. It was lowered over the window before the storm so that any debris, such as that tree right at my landlady's door, wouldn't break the window and bring rain and hell's breath into the home. The neighbor put it back up for some reason after the storm passed. I couldn't even get from my front door to the front yard because so many trees had fallen on the path.
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