Here's a long and thoughtful article by Gary Kamiya on Salon, titled "The Readers Strike Back." The article is as long as it is thoughtful. Kamiay brings out the many ways in which unedited, immediate and intense reader feedback (especially at newspapers & e-zines) affects writers and their craft. Here's the before…
At his recent State of the Union address, President Bush pointed out a modern American hero:
After her daughter was born, Julie Aigner-Clark searched for ways to share her love of music and art with her child. So she borrowed some equipment, and began filming children’s videos in her basement. The Baby Einstein Company was born — and in just five years her business grew to more than $20 million in sales. In November 2001, Julie sold Baby Einstein to the Walt Disney Company, and with her help Baby Einstein has grown into a $200 million business. Julie represents the great enterprising spirit of America.
What does Baby Einstein sell? An “entire line of playful and interactive DVDs, videos, books, music CDs, and toys.” It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that products this good will turn millions of babies into . . . well, pooping drooling little Einsteins. Once we harness all of the nation’s cognito-baby-power, solving of the Grand Unification Theory can’t possibly be far behind, I tell you! In fact, whenever a few of those Baby Einstein babies are together in a playpen, you’d better not stray too far away, for those moments when they collaborate and start chanting solutions to Fermat’s Theorums.
It was good to see President Bush getting solidly behind a serious educational initiative like Baby Einstein.
Or has Bush shot crookedly again? It turns out that Baby Einstein excels at convincing you to entrust your baby to the boob tube. …
Did you see Virginia Sen. Jim Webb's response to the President's State of the Union address last night? Here's the text. The President took us into this war recklessly. He disregarded warnings from the national security adviser during the first Gulf War, the chief of staff of the army, two…
Really, I did. You, too, can create a surreally attractive male or female by using the Face Laboratory run by two experimental psychologists working at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. Your hyper-attractive face will actually be made by a computer. You’ll help by choosing the “ingredients” (a few or…
I think I’ve seen one of the top ten stupidest headlines ever created (although I probably should reserve judgment, no doubt humans have not yet reached the zenith of stupidity). It is authored by someone named Charles Murray and in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal. The headline that caught my eye:…