Further to my previous post about the New York Times "pay wall" comes this article by Joshua Benton. The Times' plan --- in Canada; it goes live in the U.S. next week --- was hacked by four lines of Javascript.
And, as Benton writes, it is undone by what he calls the "Frank Rich discount" where one subscribes to the print-version Sunday Times and gets the complete digital subscription for free. This is an idea I've had for quite a while about the future of newspapering. It doesn't look like I mentioned it before, but rest assured, it was an original idea in my thoughts. I've always noted that people in our modern age do spend time with the physical Sunday paper. They do crosswords, they clip the coupons, they read about politics to go along with the Sunday morning political talk shows, they look for used furniture or jobs in the classifieds (well... there's slim pickings now on the latter score). Coming up with a pricing option centered around the Sunday paper and digital access the rest of the week would seem to be the best of both worlds. As Benton points out: it saves subscribers money, it saves the newspapers money, it allows for people to still have access to a physical paper; it gives people enough useful old paper for its sundry household uses (you really won't know how useful cheap paper is until it's gone), without being so much to have to haul to the recycle depot. The only real downside to this would be the maintenance and usage problems for web presses --- I'm not sure that a once-a-week printing schedule would be profitable. Weeklies do this now, but they're usually printed on presses that run dailies, among other ephemera printing jobs.
I just wish the Hartford Courant would do something like this, but as I wrote previously, print subscribers don't get access to the e-paper, and the Courant's current pricing schemes actually make it cheaper to get the print version, which is very expensive to produce and distribute. I really believe that people are ready to go digital, if they were given more choices and realistic prices that don't force them to subsidize other parties.
25 March 2011
20 March 2011
NYT Pay Walls
The New York Times recently unveiled their plans to introduce a so-called "pay wall" that will allow readers to access up to 20 Times stories per month for free. After this, the reader either will have to pay for a subscription plan or wait until the next month to read certain Times stories. Other features, such as classified listings, Times blogs, browser and smartphone apps, and Top News stories aren't counted among the 20 story limit.
And so, we step further into the breach of paid online newspaper content. It's been a long time coming, serving as the single biggest question mark / looming dread for the future of journalism. It is not likely to be the end of printed news, at least not in our lifetimes, and certainly not for smaller papers. Up until now, the Internet has been a vast compendium of news content --- one could find just about any story from major outlets and a lot of content from more localized papers --- all for free! It was manna from heaven! As is happening a lot lately, the harsh reality has finally hit.
The time has been overdue for a mainstream paper to set the bar for paid e-news. I don't think we can wait much longer to meander on the way to where we need to get. One outfit has to serve as a beacon in the long-indecisive online pay format and establish if the industry can sink or swim. Cutting paper and ink costs reduce a budget drastically (as our "Intro to Journalism" professor said at the time, it cost the Times $9 for the paper used for the Sunday edition. That's before anything else happened --- just the bulk paper). Papers have to pay their bills, they have to pay their staff a living wage --- and, in many cases, need to re-invest in staff after 10 years of layoffs, flat hiring and cutbacks on quality --- it would be extra special if they could turn some profits again. A broad switch to e-papers has obvious environmental benefits as well. Less demand for paper equates to fewer trees and less paper waste in landfills, as one example. One can get very involved when thinking about what a digital future would look like.
One thing that bothers me is the price on that price wall. I don't have inner knowledge on how they set the prices for the various tiers, but they're higher than I would have imagined --- especially when factoring in the savings inherent in not buying physical products, operating and renting space for the press-works, not having delivery costs, etc. As the above link states, the Times' monthly packages range from $15 to $35 based on the platform used to access it. For myself, I would probably be choosing the $20 option that would seem to cover laptop or netbook access. As a close corollary, our Hartford Courant subscription is $1.75/week ($7/month if my math is correct), with a standard subscriber discount. Sure, when the discount runs out, we have to vaguely threaten to cancel the paper, and then the deal is continued fairly seamlessly. A dirty little secret is that a paper is much more interested in keeping its subscriber base to attract advertisers than it is in collecting the relative pittance of a subscription price. A canceled account would mean that the Courant would have to start sending us packets in the mail once a week --- at their cost --- to satisfy their direct-marketing agreements. So the question stands: since production costs are less, why isn't the e-paper cheaper than a real print paper? (On a side note, as a print subscriber of the Courant, we don't get e-paper access. What's up with that?)
Especially as an introductory price, this just isn't appealing. Especially something as tenuous as charging for something everyone's gotten for free for the past 10 to 15 years, this is the most important number that the Times needed to decide on. When I think of a pay wall my mind is flashing on the scene in "Stargate" when David Spader puts his hands into the gelatinous material as an experimentation. Wouldn't it have made more sense to let people dip a foot into the pay wall, rather than being forced to dive into it? Couldn't they at least start out with a deal for early adopters?
(Comic photo © Wiley Miller "Non Sequitur")
18 March 2011
Garden Planning
We ordered some garden products from Gurney's Seed & Nursery Co. web site yesterday, ahead of planting time. This is the time of year when ambitions are high, and the pictures in seed catalogs produce visions of grandeur. A day of rain, then two two days with temperatures in the 60s have knocked back a little more of the snow in the yard and ice on the lake. Indeed, the area I glided across last month now looks like the surface of the moon --- a dull gray with darker gradients of pockmarks where some foot had traveled, an ice-fisher drilled through or where the sun just seemed to have more effect. I've always enjoyed having the goal of walking out to the island in winter, where our dogs could run around off the leash through the massive rock outcrops, the pine needle-strewn floor under cedars, in and among the barren mountain laurel. This winter has been especially harsh, with record snowfalls and snowpacks that tested the mettle of man and machine. But there is some consolation that Punxsutawney Phil seems to have proved correct in predicting an early spring.
I wanted to try some Blue Lake pole beans this year, after having less than spectacular results with a bush bean variety last summer and in a desire to conserve some space to use for other plants. I'm planning to rip some 2'x4's in half to make something like an 8' tall arbor structure with fencing material between posts for the beans on one side and some Straight-8 cucumbers on the other. Another family member wants to try some Savoy cabbage, and I'm keen on doing some of our own romaine lettuce --- note: not a so-called spring mix --- in a side planter. Otherwise, I'm planning on putting in some of the usual Roma and Celebrity tomatoes. And as usual, I've got the large strawberry planters that I use for herbs, which this year is going to feature more dill, which I'll be using in canning some pickles. We've been steadily going through the pickles I packed last summer and they've turned out great. I'm never certain about squash and zucchini here because I haven't had great success with it after an initial couple of weeks of harvest. The borer insects and a smut-like substance (probably fungal) gets at the leaves and whatever legumes do develop from that time forward go soft and brown at the end tips. Even the butternut squash, which is supposed to be resistant to many of the problems that plaque other legumes, didn't produce very well. So, I may decide to forgo the zucchini and squash this year. Lastly, I do some rows of spinach and Swiss chard every year --- those are two favorites in this house.
It'll be something to keep from chomping at the bit and start too soon. It's usually early- to mid-May before it's safe to start planting seeds or starter plants directly in the garden soil. Until then, the soil can be amended with compost, wood stove ashes, and a load of soil from the mushroom farm down in North Franklin. There's a lot to look forward to.
I wanted to try some Blue Lake pole beans this year, after having less than spectacular results with a bush bean variety last summer and in a desire to conserve some space to use for other plants. I'm planning to rip some 2'x4's in half to make something like an 8' tall arbor structure with fencing material between posts for the beans on one side and some Straight-8 cucumbers on the other. Another family member wants to try some Savoy cabbage, and I'm keen on doing some of our own romaine lettuce --- note: not a so-called spring mix --- in a side planter. Otherwise, I'm planning on putting in some of the usual Roma and Celebrity tomatoes. And as usual, I've got the large strawberry planters that I use for herbs, which this year is going to feature more dill, which I'll be using in canning some pickles. We've been steadily going through the pickles I packed last summer and they've turned out great. I'm never certain about squash and zucchini here because I haven't had great success with it after an initial couple of weeks of harvest. The borer insects and a smut-like substance (probably fungal) gets at the leaves and whatever legumes do develop from that time forward go soft and brown at the end tips. Even the butternut squash, which is supposed to be resistant to many of the problems that plaque other legumes, didn't produce very well. So, I may decide to forgo the zucchini and squash this year. Lastly, I do some rows of spinach and Swiss chard every year --- those are two favorites in this house.
It'll be something to keep from chomping at the bit and start too soon. It's usually early- to mid-May before it's safe to start planting seeds or starter plants directly in the garden soil. Until then, the soil can be amended with compost, wood stove ashes, and a load of soil from the mushroom farm down in North Franklin. There's a lot to look forward to.
08 March 2011
The Death Penalty
As the Connecticut legislature is debating several versions of death penalty abolishment bills in committee this week --- to be fair, they are also considering death-penalty enforcement legislation to "sh-- or get off the pot" on the issue --- it may be a useful reminder to read about the failure of the legislative justice process in the neighboring state of Rhode Island. It's being reported in the Providence Journal that Michael Woodmansee, who was sentenced to 40 years in prison in 1983 for murdering a 5-year-old boy (who allegedly wrote in journals that he had eaten the body and shellacked the bones) seven years before, is now in the process of being released.
With the death penalty virtually off the books in Rhode Island (the last legal execution was in 1845, and the only provision for capital punishment, established in 1872, was for murder committed while in prison for a lifetime sentence which was never prosecuted), Woodmansee was able to plea to a murder-2 charge, bargaining with prosecutors who could only leverage against murder-1 with a lifetime sentence. There is a vocal contingent of high-ground moralists who have little or no understanding of the real-world consequences of their positions. Taking capital punishment off of the books leaves one fewer tool to use in a world that is more and more being overridden with heinous crime.
In Connecticut, where the triple-murder of the Petit family in Cheshire shocked the state (and indeed the country), Governor Dannel Malloy campaigned last year on the premise that the death penalty would be justified in heinous cases such as this. Now, Malloy reportedly supports a death penalty abolishment bill should it pass in the legislature, ostensibly with "law doesn't go into effect until [insert date here]" caveat so current death row inmates and the Cheshire murderers would still possibly face death. [Stephen Hayes was sentenced to death last year, while accused accomplice Joshua Komisarjevsky's trial is slated to begin in the coming months]. Only a fool would expect that after legal wrangling, such a grandfather clause wouldn't surely be negated. The Malloy stance is discounting the idea that another such heinous crime will ever happen again in Connecticut. A cynic would say that he flat-out lied about his support for a rare death penalty option the during the campaign. And let's not kid ourselves --- the death penalty is rare in this state, as a death row inmate literally has to beg to be put to death, as in the case of serial killer Michael Ross.
Rhody's attorney general's office is in the process of keeping Woodmansee in a mental institution in an involuntary detention on dangerousness grounds. This is a poor supplement to have to resort to from poor legislative judgment that served only to reduce penalties bit by bit, thus emboldening criminals. Woodmansee was sentenced to 40 years in prison but has received "good time" measures of 12 days per month, that have accelerated his release. This is not an unexpected result from the most liberal state in the United States. Many people in Rhode Island are up in arms about this case. How can the justice system have failed so profoundly to at least make sure this man was in prison until his dying day?
When I saw the Poirot quote from "Murder on the Orient Express" before composing a new post, it gave me a little pause. That quote actually requires a little clarification. Because in the closing, Poirot, despite having learned the truth that his fellow 12 passengers in the coach had conspired together to murder the murderer of a small girl who had escaped justice via mafia connections, lead the local police in the wrong direction. In the book, Poirot had much less of a problem with letting go this band of self-appointed jury / executioners than was shown in this movie version.
Viewing Poirot in the Woodmansee case, though, the father of the slain boy called into a radio show and said point-blank that if his son's killer (and alleged cannibalizer) is released from custody, he will murder this murderer, consequences be damned. And if it happened and I were on his jury, I would probably take a cue from Poirot. The specter of Woodmansee's release is not justice.
With the death penalty virtually off the books in Rhode Island (the last legal execution was in 1845, and the only provision for capital punishment, established in 1872, was for murder committed while in prison for a lifetime sentence which was never prosecuted), Woodmansee was able to plea to a murder-2 charge, bargaining with prosecutors who could only leverage against murder-1 with a lifetime sentence. There is a vocal contingent of high-ground moralists who have little or no understanding of the real-world consequences of their positions. Taking capital punishment off of the books leaves one fewer tool to use in a world that is more and more being overridden with heinous crime.
In Connecticut, where the triple-murder of the Petit family in Cheshire shocked the state (and indeed the country), Governor Dannel Malloy campaigned last year on the premise that the death penalty would be justified in heinous cases such as this. Now, Malloy reportedly supports a death penalty abolishment bill should it pass in the legislature, ostensibly with "law doesn't go into effect until [insert date here]" caveat so current death row inmates and the Cheshire murderers would still possibly face death. [Stephen Hayes was sentenced to death last year, while accused accomplice Joshua Komisarjevsky's trial is slated to begin in the coming months]. Only a fool would expect that after legal wrangling, such a grandfather clause wouldn't surely be negated. The Malloy stance is discounting the idea that another such heinous crime will ever happen again in Connecticut. A cynic would say that he flat-out lied about his support for a rare death penalty option the during the campaign. And let's not kid ourselves --- the death penalty is rare in this state, as a death row inmate literally has to beg to be put to death, as in the case of serial killer Michael Ross.
Rhody's attorney general's office is in the process of keeping Woodmansee in a mental institution in an involuntary detention on dangerousness grounds. This is a poor supplement to have to resort to from poor legislative judgment that served only to reduce penalties bit by bit, thus emboldening criminals. Woodmansee was sentenced to 40 years in prison but has received "good time" measures of 12 days per month, that have accelerated his release. This is not an unexpected result from the most liberal state in the United States. Many people in Rhode Island are up in arms about this case. How can the justice system have failed so profoundly to at least make sure this man was in prison until his dying day?
When I saw the Poirot quote from "Murder on the Orient Express" before composing a new post, it gave me a little pause. That quote actually requires a little clarification. Because in the closing, Poirot, despite having learned the truth that his fellow 12 passengers in the coach had conspired together to murder the murderer of a small girl who had escaped justice via mafia connections, lead the local police in the wrong direction. In the book, Poirot had much less of a problem with letting go this band of self-appointed jury / executioners than was shown in this movie version.
Viewing Poirot in the Woodmansee case, though, the father of the slain boy called into a radio show and said point-blank that if his son's killer (and alleged cannibalizer) is released from custody, he will murder this murderer, consequences be damned. And if it happened and I were on his jury, I would probably take a cue from Poirot. The specter of Woodmansee's release is not justice.
05 March 2011
"No! No! No, you behave like this and we become just... savages in the street! The juries and executioners, they elect themselves! No... it is medieval!
The rule of law, it must be held high and if it falls you pick it up and hold it even higher!
The rule of law, it must be held high and if it falls you pick it up and hold it even higher!
For all of society, all civilized people will have nothing to shelter them if it is destroyed!"
--- Hercule Poirot in "Murder on the Orient Express"
(Photo © ITV / PBS Masterpiece Mystery)
04 March 2011
Movie Review: "Gnomeo and Juliet" & "The Illusionist" (2010)
As one can imagine, "Gnomeo and Juliet" borrows heavily from the Shakespeare tragedy. It's the Reds versus the Blues in a duplex backyard rivalry. The two owners don't like each other, their yard decor takes it a step beyond. In the "Toy Story" conceit, garden gnomes come to life when people aren't looking. And so, Gnomeo and Juliet meet and fall in love, amid their families' feud. The violence of the original story is replaced by some more benign ceramic damage, and a visit with the Bard himself leads to the question whether tragedy can be turned into happily-ever-after.
I'm not the foremost authority on animated movies (again, that may be my little niece) but "Gnomeo..." just doesn't work on several levels. I'm not saying that it's terrible, unenjoyable for its target audience, or that I'm expecting animation to be high art. British films have never been a detractor in my book --- I am a PBS Masterpiece Classic/Mystery acolyte --- but this was almost cloyingly so. The Elton John caricatures and songs were just plopped in to take up minutes. This is a movie that invites comparison and especially at the Shakespeare scene, requires a bit of extra-textual knowledge to make some of the jokes amusing (such as one red gnome wearing a pair of Speedos the Borat way). I'm not sure the people behind "Gnomeo..." are precisely aware of who they intend their audience to be. At times, I imagine that this story is difficult to follow for animation's usual target audience (to pull some numbers out of a hat, ages 2-12). If you're an adult, it's a bit pedantic. As ratings go, my thumb is dangling sideways, trending down.
If you're looking for a great animation that can actually count as higher art, I would definitely recommend this year's Oscar-nominated "The Illusionist" instead. While there's nothing untoward in it, this one really isn't for the kids. It may be unfair pitting these two movies against each other, but no one ever said life is fair.
The relationship between the magician and the char-girl is a bit complicated to figure out. That's one of the things that most stuck in my craw as I was watching and for a while afterward. The nature of their bond at times seems father-daughter and at other times, husband-wife. They sleep in separate rooms of the short-lease flats. She cooks some meals, but otherwise spends her days walking around trying to look pretty and staring at the newest items she wants. As performance artist acts lose favor to rockabillies, the lanky magician plays to smaller audiences then picks up odd jobs to buy her clothes. The viewer is left to wonder what exactly the magician is getting out of this relationship. It reminded me a great deal of the narrative of Theodore Dreiser's "Sister Carrie" with the way its female protaganist is mostly viewed as an object to possess and upkeep, where sex is implied, but never mentioned.
"The Illusionist" is artistically exceptional to anyone who grew up watching throwback animation, as opposed to the saccharine look of "Gnomeo..." or "Toy Story." There is not much dialogue, and much of what there is consists of grunts, French or English with heavy accents. A bit surprisingly, though, it works wonderfully.
I'm not the foremost authority on animated movies (again, that may be my little niece) but "Gnomeo..." just doesn't work on several levels. I'm not saying that it's terrible, unenjoyable for its target audience, or that I'm expecting animation to be high art. British films have never been a detractor in my book --- I am a PBS Masterpiece Classic/Mystery acolyte --- but this was almost cloyingly so. The Elton John caricatures and songs were just plopped in to take up minutes. This is a movie that invites comparison and especially at the Shakespeare scene, requires a bit of extra-textual knowledge to make some of the jokes amusing (such as one red gnome wearing a pair of Speedos the Borat way). I'm not sure the people behind "Gnomeo..." are precisely aware of who they intend their audience to be. At times, I imagine that this story is difficult to follow for animation's usual target audience (to pull some numbers out of a hat, ages 2-12). If you're an adult, it's a bit pedantic. As ratings go, my thumb is dangling sideways, trending down.
If you're looking for a great animation that can actually count as higher art, I would definitely recommend this year's Oscar-nominated "The Illusionist" instead. While there's nothing untoward in it, this one really isn't for the kids. It may be unfair pitting these two movies against each other, but no one ever said life is fair.
The relationship between the magician and the char-girl is a bit complicated to figure out. That's one of the things that most stuck in my craw as I was watching and for a while afterward. The nature of their bond at times seems father-daughter and at other times, husband-wife. They sleep in separate rooms of the short-lease flats. She cooks some meals, but otherwise spends her days walking around trying to look pretty and staring at the newest items she wants. As performance artist acts lose favor to rockabillies, the lanky magician plays to smaller audiences then picks up odd jobs to buy her clothes. The viewer is left to wonder what exactly the magician is getting out of this relationship. It reminded me a great deal of the narrative of Theodore Dreiser's "Sister Carrie" with the way its female protaganist is mostly viewed as an object to possess and upkeep, where sex is implied, but never mentioned.
"The Illusionist" is artistically exceptional to anyone who grew up watching throwback animation, as opposed to the saccharine look of "Gnomeo..." or "Toy Story." There is not much dialogue, and much of what there is consists of grunts, French or English with heavy accents. A bit surprisingly, though, it works wonderfully.
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