"Imagining" the Future of the Newspaper

You may have heard that the San Francisco Chronicle is likely to go into bankruptcy, and sooner rather than later. In response to that news, a group of people have constructed a "Post-Chronicle" wiki and, as a group, are trying to "imagine" what a new newspaper could look like.

So far this consists of public discussions of how to manage content, distribution, and so forth. Sounds kinda like all those communal "counterculture" collectives from the 1960s -- but hey, the future's gotta start somewhere! Check it out here.

Tip o' the mug to Alexis Madrigal, who can be found here and at Twitter, which is where he "found" me (although I have no idea why.) (But I'm glad he did.)

Hawaii -- Land of Sun and . . . Snow

I'm such a doofus that I assumed Hawaii was, ya know, all sand and sun and palm trees. (I've never been there.) (*1) Nope. Astute Reader Dexter, who lives in Hawaii, set me straight by sending me some photos of the snowy slopes of Mauna Kea. The volcano sports an especially heavy blanket of snow this winter. I hunted around for some "public" images and you can see those here.

Tip o' the mug to Dexter, who often takes time out of his day to share interesting stuff with me. Lucky sod: I can see him now, laying on one of those beaches, surfing his laptop . . . .

______________________

*1: Which, yes, was stupid of me because I knew there was an observatory there and therefore there must be summit of some sort and where there is height, there is snow....

Spit-On-The-Keyboard Hilarious -- And Thank God I'm Not A Man

Oh, man (no pun intended), this is one of the funniest things I've seen in a long long time. These are ads for an Israeli brewing company. The ad campaign was called "Thank god you're a man." Click on the three black images to enlarge each -- and make sure there's no fluid in your mouth when you're looking. (Wash your brain out with soap! That was NOT a double entrendre.) Huge tip o' the mug to my pal Jay Brooks for this grand laugh-of-the-day.

Oh, The Twitt-abilities

Okay, this is the kind of thing that can/could/should make Twitter worthwhile. From David Nygren via Twitter, commenting on this story and photo in today's Times:

Are these head ads hyperlinked? . . .Will their heads explode if you click on them?

Damn! I wish I'd "tweeted" that comment! My new goal in life is to be as Twitterly-creative as David.

How DO Tom and Ray Get Those Callers?

Ever wondered how Tom and Ray Magliozzi, aka Click and Clack, The Tappet Brothers -- get all those funny phone calls? Or WHY those phone calls tend to be funny/interesting/perfect-for-the-program? Wonder no more. Great piece about Car Talk's "traffic cop."

More On Twittering From a Twitterer (Or is it "Tweeter"?)

Okay, back on the subject of Twitter -- which, ahem, some of you are urging me to at least try -- this first-hand account of its use from a fellow skeptic. Pogue's report certainly demystifies the process, because part of what's holding me back is, well, I have no idea how to do it. Or even what it's used for.

Eg, I thought it was designed for use on cell phones, and I only use a cell phone about six times a year. And I thought most people used Twitter when they're out and about: as in "Now I'm in the grocery store." "Now I'm in the check-out line." That kind of thing. And I rarely leave the house, so, ya know.... (Yes, I realize how weird that sounds. What can I say? I can't write a book while running around town, and when I'm not writing a book, I like hanging at home.)