Most insightful discussion of newspapers' predicament

• The Value of Information by Information Architects Japan

The plight of print newspapers and magazines are not news. Many have attempted to explain and solve the issue by pointing fingers at greedy capitalists, who load newspapers with excessive debt and then sack newspapers staff indiscriminately, resulting in compromised journalistic standards, or ungrateful web surfers who free-ride on an infrastructure that's paid for by subscribers to printed media. Others try to explore new distribution channels or to clumsily imitate their online competition.

To anyone who reads online extensively, it is clear that we value certain content more than others and, when possible, we would be more than happy to help sustain the provider of such content (e.g. iTune's $.99 apps). Also, as individuals, we instinctively treat different kinds of information with a different attitude. So how can a publisher exploit these tendencies? This article breaks content down to four categories - art, scientific, practical, and financial - and analyzes the appeal of each. Regrettably, it offers only a vague suggestion on monetization ("The trick is to connect both editions and try to bridge the transitional survival phase in which news currently is"), so I await further analysis down this promising path.

Sexiest song from a boy band

• Suga Lumps, from Season 2 of Flight of the Conchords

I first came across The New Yorker in a fairly modest way. We stayed at a relative's place for our vacation in New York last year. A copy of The New Yorker was flipped open and sat on top of a tall stack of reading materials in the bathroom, and, as a person who has to read when idle, I picked it up and started reading the opened page.

It was an amazing experience. I read quite a number of Western magazines regularly – Business Week, The Economist, Fortune, Time, Reader’s Digest – but I had never read any magazine article that spanned 20 (letter-sized) pages. The sensation was peculiar – As I continued flipping the pages, I became increasingly wary of its length but simultaneously longing for it to never end.

The New Yorker is the kind of magazine that entices you intellectually. It does not simply inform the reader – it assumes the reader is informed. Topics of its feature articles vary widely, from political affairs to artist profile to travelogue to psychology to consumerism, and the quality is perpetually excellent. Loosely related to a central theme of the issue, the simple and condensed article titles on the cover are as attractive as the sensational catchphrases on the cover of women’s magazines:

Journeys

• The World’s Most Baffling Tribe – Chronicles the work of a former-disciple-turned-opponent of Noam Chomsky, on the language of an Amazonian tribe that defies the most widely accepted linguistics theories.
• Commutes from Hell – On the life of American commuters who are on the road 5+ hours a day.
• Railroading Tibet – The myth and reality of the world’s highest railway’s impact on the Tibetan social fabric.
• My first passport – A Turkish writer recounts the process in which his first passport created and shaped his self-identity.
• Urban acrobats – Introduces the readers to parkour, a newly emerged urban physical art form that combines extreme sport and martial arts.
• I love luggage – The obligatory article on shopping. Introduces the reader to the dizzying array of suitcases that can be found in the city.

And of course, the famed New Yorker cartoons are witty and hilarious. But what I found even more entertaining are the small advertisements that occupy 1/8th of the outside column on some pages. They present the reader with so many curios he never knew he wanted. Here is a sample from, again, the issue I am reading:

• The Wallet Pen. Now, you always have a pen.
• Nifty Crosswords! Actually personalized all through! First they solve it – then they keep it!
• Swim at Home. Swim against a smooth current adjustable to any speed or ability. Ideal for exercise, therapy, and fun.
• Benchmark(er). Mark the big things in life – on the bench.
• Men’s wide shoes. EEE-EEEEEE, sizes 5 to 15.
• Replacements, Ltd. Missing a piece of your pattern? Over 11 million pieces in stock. New/used, buy/sell.

Steven Levitt, author of Freakonomics and economics professor at the University of Chicago, discussed his research on crack cocaine and the lives of gang members at TED2004. This is one of the rare academic seminars in which people laugh and actually enjoy the presentation.

Old Chinese lady: Ex-see-cus-see me.
Old Chinese lady: Ex-see-cus-see me!
Gangsta: Man, what are you excusing me about? Fck you!
Old Chinese lady: Fck me? Ok, take-a off the pant.

Stairway in silence.

Old Chinese lady: Ex-see-cus-see me!
Gangsta: Sure thing, ma'am. I'm sorry.
Chinese kid: And that's why we respect our elders.

– Canal St station (Sharon: Near Chinatown)

Cool finds of the day:


Netvibes – A truly customizable web-based homepage that lets me pool many of my RSS feeds and random snippets.

(Via The Top 100 of The Museum of Modern Betas)








Shredding scissors – Five-scissor blades on one handle. If it works as advertised, it's an excellent idea!

(Via Boingboing)

Woman: Look at all these rude motherfuckin' men! Can't get up and let none of these ladies have a seat.

Man: Having a vagina is not a disability.

– L train

Why hasn't anyone started one for HK already???

My idea of a Nick Guest (as in The Line of Beauty):


The Sartorialist:

I remember wearing this look on the first go around ( when I was in high school in '84) and now I'm hearing from a current high school kid it is "vintage", I almost punched him.