When Google announced this week that it would be shutting down Reader, I took it as another indignity to be borne. I’ve seen services I like shut down, sold, and screwed up beyond recognition. And that’s just the Google stuff! Reader occupies a default tab in my Web browser. I check it first thing in the morning, and return to it all day. I have created something over 20 folders to sort my reading matter, which includes mainstream news sites, friends’ blogs, niche tech content, and long-tail feeds about things you do not care about at all. In short, RSS…
Category: Politics and Public Affairs
Hi again, dear friends. I’ve been using Google Reader a lot lately. The decision was forced upon me when NewsGator, maker of my preferred newsreader, NetNewswire, went and killed off its own feed-syncing service in favor of a connection to Google Reader. I can understand why they did it, but, like most people, I hate change when it affects me. I found my old Google Reader account, cleaned it out, and synced it to my NNW stuff. In the process, I discovered the fun of sharing news stories with friends, via the Reader Web page. I still read a lot…
Blog Bullets: iPhone, Fundraising, and Social Media Skills Development
Posted in New Media and Tech, and Politics and Public Affairs
Time once again for a very irregular feature, in which I rattle off some short comments about a variety of seemingly random subjects. If you listen to my podcast, think of it as a text-y Lightning Round(tm). iPhone 3.1, the “oh yeah, that” of yesterday’s Apple announcement, features a bunch of accessibility updates that make me extremely happy, and more likely to use accessibility on a regular basis. These are genuinely updates, not new features, but they are the kind of thing you get in a .1 release that shows Apple’s commitment to accessibility that is useful, not just window-dressing.…
Susan Boyle and the Idolatry of Perfection
Posted in Access and Disability, and Politics and Public Affairs
I avoided what’s being called the Susan Boyle Phenomenon as long as I could. I first learned about it from distant acquaintances on Twitter, then from some fellow book club members. More links followed, all pointing to a video of a woman appearing on an American Idol-like TV show called Britain’s Got Talent. Words like “amazing”, “inspiring” and “it gave me chills” accompanied each link, along with an admonition that I “must watch this!” The trouble with “amazing” and “inspiring” is that they are most often applied to disabled people by their non-disabled observers. You’ll have to trust me on…
Like any good progressive, I despise conservative talk radio. I don’t hate that it exists. I hate that most of it is so driven by anger, spite, and mean-spiritedness, and a fact-free appeal to the lesser natures of its audience. I don’t like talk radio, but I understand it. And the thing I understand most clearly is that it is a business, whose goal is to attract listeners who will buy the products of its advertisers. Political power for the host, and persuading people to like or agree are way down the list of things a smart, profitable talker wants…
Blog Bullets
Posted in Politics and Public Affairs, and Random Personal Nonsense
Shorter, more frequent blog posts: New Year’s resolution, or crazy pipe dream? Dunno yet. I’ve been thinking about several topics this week, and here’s my a quick roundup. My dad continues to struggle. From rehab this week, where he had been struggling to get stronger and recover from both a stroke and a brain injury caused by a fall, he went to the hospital when an ulcer began to bleed. It’s really hard for him to be confined (and that’s the way he feels it) in hospitals. And my mom is sooooo tired. Christmas is coming, yo. No one is…
I was reading a Robert Scoble blog post just now. Honestly, that’s something I try to avoid, but what can I say, I’m very click-y today. Scoble was reminding us of his idea that the United States needs a chief technology officer (CTO)., and that he thinks Creative Commons founder Lawrence Lessig is just the guy to take that on. While I’m not hear to advocate for or against Mr. Lessig being offered such a position, the idea reminded me of something that is critical in my personal political decision-making, particularly at the presidential level, who will run the government…
On a purely emotional level, I wanted to like Sarah Palin. She’s energetic, she’s interesting, she’s my age, and she talks about the things I care about, namely reform of government. And I suspected that her approach to governing included a healthy dollop of civility. Also good, in my book. On the other hand, I’m a Democrat, and there’s no chance I’ll be voting for Palin and John McCain. My party has a point when it notes Palin’s lack of national experience, and the briefness of her executive experience. And yes, this “goes to judgment” where John McCain is concerned,…
veepPhone
Posted in New Media and Tech, and Politics and Public Affairs
The collective press, and even my Twitter stream has been infected by veepstakes fever, mostly on the Obama side. It’s become a little annoying at this point, I’ll admit. And by the way, I haven’t given my cell number to the Obama campaign for this purpose, though I’ve been on his text message list in the past. What I realized this morning, as I read the Mashable story about fake iPhone lines in Poland, is how similar this week’s veep frenzy has been to the run-up to an Apple launch. Of course, the iPhone lines are not Apple’s doing, but…