I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching the past few weeks.As I wrote here, I’m really in love with the Google Reader service, but I am also in love with the good old-fashioned newspaper.Is it possible for one man to love two news-delivery methods?
I’d like to settle this debate once-and-for-all, so I brought together the Google Reader and The Old-Fashioned Newspaper to see if we might conclude which news-delivery service is superior.
Hello, and thank you for having me.
Hi.Thanks for inviting me Mike.
Alright guys, why don’t you start by telling me in one sentence why you are a superior news-delivery service over your opponent.Old-Fashioned Newspaper, you start.
The newspaper, the only news-delivery system that is as old as this great country of ours, is the only news-delivery system that can be picked up at the corner market or delivered to your doorstep or read on the toilet.
What does history have to do with it?We’re talking about the here and now.And my free service is even better than having to run down to a market or step outside to retrieve a paper from the doorstep (which you paid to have delivered, by the way).And who is to say that Mike doesn’t occasionally read his RSS feeds on the toilet?
Guilty.
I thought we were supposed to give our answers in one sentence.The Google Reader’s last answer was 4 sentences!That’s another flaw with this new technology.They can’t understand the value of space limits.
There was a fire on Main Street, and I’ve only got 500 words to tell you all of the really important details.I’m not going to bog you down and bore you with superfluous information.
That’s why I’m better than you, Mr. Old-Fashioned Newspaper.I can deliver all of the details (even what you call the superfluous information) and let Mike decide how deeply he wants to read into a story.I’ve got unlimited space.
Next question: Why is your service an important part of our culture?
I can deliver the news just like a newspaper.But what I can do better than a newspaper is give you up-to-date information.
As soon as Britney runs into a church, I’m letting you know.
When the results from New Hampshire came in, I was the first to tell you about it.
Unlike your newspaper, that will tell you about it tomorrow morning, I can keep you in the know.
If newspapers die, America will die.Who will defend your freedoms?Will the police decide who is guilty or innocent?Who will act, like the Philadelphia Inquirer did in 1977?
Or what if federal scientists tell doctors what drugs and dosages are best for the people, and are secretly taking salaries and stock options from drug companies?Will we ever find out if you have no investigative reports like the one in The Los Angeles Times in 2003?
Or when a U.S. President decides to nullify the law and spy on American citizens without warrants—who, if not the New York Times—will let the people know?
This question is for The Old-Fashioned Newspaper: The Google Reader claims to be able to do everything you can…and then some.Are there any functions you provide that the Google Reader cannot?
I’m glad you asked that.The answer is definitely “YES.”
One thing that I do, that the Reader doesn’t, is that I can deliver all of the news to all of the people.Sure, this only-deliver-the-news-you-want stuff is cute and convenient for now, but this is just a fad.And really, at what cost does it come?
I know, Mike, that you like to read political and pop-culture news.If you opened up a newspaper you could get all of that information, plus you would be able to scan some of the headlines about stories you might not be too interested in.I help you stay informed in areas that you aren’t exactly passionate about.For example, what four teams are in the running for this year’s Super Bowl?
?
You see, if you had at least scanned my headlines today, you’d be privy to this kind of stuff.I makes you a better, more-rounded person.
Okay, this question is for The Google Reader.Your service requires an internet connection and also a small-amount of technical know-how.How does this not hurt your chances at becoming the number one news-delivery service?
Let me start by saying that setting up a Google Reader account is incredibly easy and doesn’t require too much “technical know-how.”We’ve made everything really easy and accessible to everyone.
And yes, my service requires an internet connection.But think about something: The internet was born in January 1985. Super Mario Brothers was released in 1990.The first SMS message was sent in 1992.Amazon and eBay launced in 1995.Hotmail in 1996.
People under 30, like you Mike, have been socially conditioned in a universe that requires an internet connection.People your age play computer games with mind-blowing complexity.You guys are natural users of computer and communications technology.You are digital natives—accustomed to creating content of your own (like this blog) and publishing it.Broadcast yourself, right YouTube?
Here are the top Technorati tags from yesterday:
Scrabulous
Ron Paul
Oracle Bea
YouTube
OpenId
ModBook
MySpace
Noelia
Cars
Mark Driscoll
These are topics young people care about and write about.How many stories about Scrabulous are you reading in newspapers today?Old-Fashioned Newspaper, how many of these topics were covered in today’s edition?
I’ve heard of Ron Paul.
Newspapers are dying (along with their readers).Journalism is important, but thanks to the internet its face is changing.You can find the important news and the latest celebrity gossip all on the internet.Come to me to read stuff from professional journalists and from citizens’ media in the blogosphere.
Okay, thank you both.If you could just give me a second to tally your scores.
Google Reader takes it.
It’s really true that as long as you have an internet connection, the reader can do everything your newspaper can do…and then more.
And the oh-so-humble reader didn’t even mention up above that the reader allows you to share content with your friends, add fun widgets to your own website like the one on the left of this page, use the powerful google search features, and it’s loaded with a bunch of keyboard shortcuts.
Fresh on the heels of my announcement Tuesday that I was going to make a healthy choice and start training to run a marathon, I’ve recently made another choice that is arguably less healthy.
I’ve decided to start eating chicken.
The dietary restrictions of diabetes have been pretty tough to cope with, and I’ve come to realize that the limitations of the vegetarian diet have made it even more difficult for me to add a variety of foods to my diet.
I originally became a vegetarian, with the help of Joan and John Robbins, back in 2003. I decided to go meat-free mostly because I felt that I had a social responsibility to do so. I respect all beings and I think that humans are responsible for a disproportionate amount of suffering that animals endure (pollution, endangering of species, imposing cruelty upon them in factory famrs). Going veg was, for me, a way to simply opt-out of that process. A drop in the huge bucket? Probably.
So what now? Am I a total hypocrite? Will I try to justify eating chickens with some sort of half-assed rationalization.
Nope.
Chickens are animals, and most of them are slaughtered in pretty inhumane factory farms. Many of them don’t see the light of day and we could still feed about 800 million more from the grain that we feed to livestock each year here in the U.S.
I’ll work on the half-assed rationalization and get back to you.
Vinyl Sleeve Heads – I’m not too sure where this one originated, but I found it at Yadogg’s blog, so that’s where I’m linking. This is one of those ideas that I really wish I had either thought of, or had something to contribute to.
Tribbit.com – This isn’t your typical online greeting card. With Tribbit you can add photos, words, voice recordings, and you can add virtual signatures and messages from multiple people. You know how that card is passed around the office and everyone scribbles a meaningless message onto it? Now you can do it online!
Project Hello – In an effort to give homeless individuals a name, Project Hello has distributed more than 5,000 posters of those familiar “Hello, my name is…” stickers to people living on the streets. Their site is an interesting read.
Clever Hippo – I know, I know. Who needs another search engine? But this one is different. Clever Hippo is a search engine just for applications and widgets. Search just for your blog hosting software (i.e. blogger, wordpress, etc) or you can search for applications for facebook or myspace.
This is a lofty goal…I know. But what’s the use of goals if they are all easy to obtain?
I’m going to run a marathon. A real marathon. Not some 1/2 marathon or one of those small potatoes walk-for-a-cause photo-ops where people bring their kids in strollers. I’m talking a 26 mile run. I’m going to do the P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Marathon on January 18, 2009.
I’ve got a lot of training a head of me. I’m currently running less than 26 miles in a week! But I’ve found a few websites that give you a training regimen to follow, and most of them are 6 month regimens…so I think I can make it. I kicked up my normal routine today by a mile, and I’m going to slowly increase until I’m at about 6 or 7 miles in a day.
I’ve returned from the long camping trip with my dad. The place that we camped was nestled into a very cold canyon…each day the sun went down and it got really cold at about 3:30 in the afternoon.
The nights were practically unbearable. I was unable to test my blood-sugar when we were there. When I took my blood-glucose monitor out to test, I received an error that said “TEMPERATURE ERROR: Please see manual and re-test.”
Here are pictures for you to look through. They are mostly boring landscape type photos.
My dad’s birthday is on Sunday, and he asked me to spend the weekend with him camping. 4 days in the middle-of-nowhere. 4 days.
He is bringing his hunting stuff…which means I’ll be spending a lot of time alone. If I were to hunt with him I’d probably yell, “Run! He’s going to shoot you!” if any animals came near.
He’s telling me that deer and havalina are in season right now.
Luckily I’m getting ready to start the fourth Harry Potter novel…so I can read during the day time. And I can hike and take some photographs too. Expect to see some of the photographs here and on my flickr page.
I made some great sugar-free sugar cookies–which I like to call oxymoron cookies. They came out a little buttery, and if I hadn’t sprinkled Splenda on top of these bad boys, they would have made a nice little bisquit to dip into soup or something.
For you diabetics, these cookies have about 48 calories, 6 grams of carbs, Carb Choices: 0.
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup Splenda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup egg beaters (or 1 egg)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cup cake flour
3/4 cup white whole wheat flour (or whole wheat flour)
1st: beat butter with an electric mixer on high speed for 30 seconds. Add the sugar, baking powder, and salt; beat until fluffy. Add oil, egg, vanilla; beat until combined. Beat in flours; use a wooden spoon to stir in remaining flour. Divide in half. Cover; chill for 1 to 2 hours or until easy to handle.
2nd: preheat you oven to 375. You can roll out the dough and use cookie cutters or just ball the dough up like I did.
3rd: bake for 7 or 8 minutes or until firm. Transfer to a cooling rack; cool.
It’s pretty tough to type with a band aide on the tip of your index finger. For starters, I can’t feel the little braille bump on the “F” key that lets me know that I’m using my home keys properly. And I am a fast typer, and since I’m not using my index finger to its full-potential I keep lightly tapping keys with the index and it’s not registering, and I have to go back and re-type words.
On Wednesday I hung out with Mr. D, and he made dinner. As he was cooking I volunteered to cut up the onions and the garlic. As I was doing so I sliced off the tip of my index finger. His knives are really sharp.
Don’t tell him this, but I’m pretty sure my finger tip made it into his frying pan. I guess it wasn’t a vegetarian meal after all.
I read here that speech that Barack Obama gave after taking Iowa made Chris Matthews cry (there’s a lot of crying going on in politics lately…what’s with that?!). So I jumped over to Obama’s YouTube page and checked out the speech.
I’ve embedded it here for you to check out if you’re interested:
There are some inspirational quotations that could be pulled from this. I was particularly moved by the “this is a historic moment” type of talk. I’m also moved by these quotations:
“We’re choosing hope over fear.”
“9/11 is not a way to scare up votes, but a challenge that should unite America and the world against the common threats of the 21st century.”
“Hope is what led me here today. With a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas, and a story that could only happen in the United States of America.”
Hello, and thank you for having me.
Hi. Thanks for inviting me Mike.
?
Google Reader takes it.
