state of the biz

Is the fate of journalism really so ominous? This mock charity ad a friend sent me sums up the feeling within the biz.

For newspapers, Buy One Anyway gets it just about right. But here and there for journalism as a whole, there are glimmers of hope. GlobalPost, which I wrote about earlier, is of interest, although it's not exactly new to imagine (read: wish) that people will want to pay for good journalism. More interesting, I think, are grant programs to help make good stories happen in light of the fact that traditional media outlets are too broke (and cheap) to fund enterprising work. Two to watch: Spot.Us and ProPublica. I haven't turned to these sources yet, in part because I'm lucky enough to get good support for my work from Wired and other outlets. But I'm definitely keeping these names close at hand, and suspect that a day or a project will come along when I will want precisely this kind of third-party aid. If these and similar programs are successful, they will make resources available for good reporting on a much wider scale than some of the uber-prestigious grantors out there, such as the Alicia Patterson Foundation.

And there's more. A fellow writer recently pointed me toward Pitchtopia. Billed as a meeting place for writers, editors and agents, the website lets writers post pitches for editors and agents to browse. It remains to be seen whether it will work. As I see it, writers will try anything and everything to get their ideas out to the world because they're always in need of writing gigs. They'll sign up in droves. On the other hand, editors may already have plenty of their own resources for finding and developing stories, as well as many capable writers in their stable. When that is the case, the incentive to sign on for--and actually use--Pitchtopia doesn't strike me as compelling. But what do I know? If this thing is good for journalism and the writing profession in general, I'd love to be wrong.

squid sucker rings and a euthanized "rule"

From the Materials Research Society:

Sucker Rings of Squid Tentacles--The individual toothed sucker rings of squid tentacles (highlighted in red) provide additional gripping power during prey capture and handling. These rings comprise a nanoscale network of parallel tubular elements, as shown in the background image which significantly alter the macromechanical properties of the resulting structure.

In other news, I presume you all saw this notice about the beloved but silly rule, i before e except after c. Don't be misled: The puny media report belies just how fired up people can get about little jingles that guide good spelling, to say nothing of good spelling itself.

tech brings the info

I don't Twitter (yet). But when Twitter and similar technologies help deliver vital info to the world, it makes the those who think Twitter-esque trends are trivial sound stunningly out of touch. Months ago, the example I spent a lot of time researching was Facebook in Egypt. Another prime example: updates from Mumbai during the terrorist attacks. Today it's Iran. Here's a sample, courtesy of Salon.com.

sareana and the relay for life

For those of you who know or know of my sister-in-law, Sareana, I wanted to let you know that she's doing well. She lives in Colorado now, and is getting stronger by the day. She's also involved in the Relay for Life. If you have a moment, please visit her site--and consider contributing. Thanks.

a rare press release

Who says press releases have to be a snooze? Here's the top of a recent gem:

April 23, 2009 -- Deteriorating screws in bridges, fish that listen in the dark, medical devices that use sound to treat disease, the detected comeback of a long-gone whale, the sound of hyenas, cheese, and bagpipes, and what evolution can teach us about cowardice. These are just a few of the topics that will be covered at the 157th meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), which convenes from May 18-22...

bee season, killing cash in wired and south carolina sleeze

I don't know whether these are really Saddam Hussein's guns, but a friend in Egypt just forwarded me this and other images describing them as such. The guns, and especially their constituent gold, provide a (weak) segue to an update about my recent essay in Wired, in which I discuss killing paper and coin currency. The reader response has been tremendous. Some people enjoyed the piece and found the essay provocative; others even cheered the idea of killing cash. Far more people, however, are calling me an idiot, facsist, liberal, fool, threat-to-privacy-and-the-2nd Amendment moron, and a few other colorful descriptors. Due to travel and deadlines, I'm rather behind on my emailing, but I promise to get back to those of you who wrote me directly (and seemed to want a reply). You can also find a bit of follow-up at The Atlantic.com and here on Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish.

Meanwhile, the shape of words is on my mind again; it's spelling bee season, after all, and we are hours from the final. Inspired by the bee, the 300th birthday of Dr. Samual Johnson, and some caffeine, I recently penned this op-ed about orthography for the Los Angeles Times.

Lastly, Craigslist popped into the news recently, when the classifieds giant announced it would remove one of the more slimy sections of the website. That makes sense, but what I found more newsworthy is the threat of criminal charges from South Carolina's apparently un-busy and clearly prissy attorney general, Henry MacMaster--followed by a countering lawsuit by Craiglist. The best part of all this silliness? According to the Wall Street Journal, MacMaster "said his office would continue to monitor the site." Perfect.