By William M. Hartnett on Aug 4, 2008 in newspaper buildings | 1 Comment
The Galveston County Daily News, Virtual Earth/Live Maps. The Galveston office:
And what I think is the Texas City office:
And the Galveston office in Street View:
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By William M. Hartnett on Aug 3, 2008 in geekery, pics | 0 Comments
Toy purchases are a little out of character, what with me being, you know, 30 and all. But how awesome are these?
By William M. Hartnett on Aug 1, 2008 in newspapers, whinging | 4 Comments
More bad newspaper writing that makes my eyeballs hurt: The “Got _____?” lede. The original “got milk?” ad campaign is bad enough, but to see its udder-tainted influence afflicting the brains of newspaper reporters is worthy of an Official Hartnett Brand Writing Whinge™. Stupid, lazy, meaningless. Not much more to say about it.
Previous installments in this series of annoying writing habits include the “call it” lede, the cop-talk phrase “person of interest,” inappropriate use of “award-winning,” the very rarely accurate use of “in a wide-ranging interview” and that all-time king of writing fail, “to be sure.”
By William M. Hartnett on Aug 1, 2008 in daily links | 0 Comments
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"Voices in and around the newspaper industry would have us believe the industry is falling apart and taking its last gaps. Investors are fleeing newspaper companies, publishers are decrying the lack of newspaper advertising growth, debt challenges are plaguing many companies, and there are layoffs and buyouts everywhere. If one rationally looks at the industry, however, one sees that it is fundamentally sound, but that a unique, financially golden period in its history is ending. It is that change which is creating the bulk of the turmoil in the industry, but the biggest problem is that those working in the industry have short memories about the newspaper business and don't remember it any other way."
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"With the Pentagon perhaps just a week or so away from sending out a request for proposals on the Air Force tanker, the ongoing war of words between Boeing and Northrop backers has turned more ugly. The Boeing camp is upset at a hard-hitting radio ad from a group that calls itself "Alabamians to Build American Tankers.'' A sample from the ad: "The reason we are still trying to replace our aging refueling tankers is because Boeing executives were involved in a scandal of bribery and cheating in the last bid. Our Air Force is working hard to protect our country but it appears that Boeing's corporate policy is 'if Boeing can't win no one can' … and that means our troops lose." Woof.
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"The Chicago Fire just got a lot tougher Wednesday when the Major League Soccer team acquired striker Brian McBride in a deal with Toronto. … Despite his age (36) and some hard knocks sustained when he wore the captain’s arm band for Fulham, McBride appears as healthy and reliable a player now as he was for the U.S. national team." The man has titanium plates surgically implanted in his face.
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"With the best of intentions and concerns about ethics and standards, we've built walls between journalism and the people and places we write about. America's newspapers were founded by activists, boosters and community-builders. The institutions they built had hearts and souls that over the years have been lost, forgotten, or just thrown away."
By William M. Hartnett on Jul 31, 2008 in featured, meta | 0 Comments
And I do mean dollar. As in one. As in one dollar. As in the one dollar per week I’m hoping to make from the addition of a bit of Google Adsense to the site. I know, I know. I too have always thought it was a little cheesy to put advertising, however well targeted and unobtrusive, on a little-trafficked personal site, particularly one that is long on opinions and short on legitimately interesting or useful content. Though I do have cat pictures. Lots of cat pictures.
Ah, but here’s another of my defining personality traits: I am cheap. A moneygrubber, if you will. The temptation to claim back some of my hosting expenses, as admittedly modest as they are, just proved too much, I’m afraid. If you really hate the ads, then, I don’t know, close one eye and use your thumb to block the view. I’m not officially suggesting that you click on a few of the ads just because you think I’m such a swell dude, but on the off chance you actually run across one that looks relevant to your interests, don’t be afraid to click on it, secure in the knowledge that, in doing so, you’ll have dropped a few pennies in the ol’ tip jar.
Why, there’s $1.66 off two clicks in there already. Sodas for everyone! Or sodas for 2.76 of you, anyway.
By William M. Hartnett on Jul 30, 2008 in daily links | 0 Comments
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“While there is no denying pockets of curmudgeons remain in newsrooms, perhaps it’s time to shine a light on the need for swift change in other departments, as well.” Start with the biz-side whiz who once told me “long-term thinking is a luxury.”
By William M. Hartnett on Jul 28, 2008 in newspaper buildings | 1 Comment
As ever, I’m only pretty sure that what I have here is the correct view of The Spokesman-Review’s main office and printing plant in Spokane, Washington, as seen in Virtual Earth/Live Maps. Maybe Ryan Pitts or Colin Mulvany is out there and can correct me if I’m wrong.
And in Street View:
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