I’ve never been a huge fan of Salon.com (I remember when it was SalonMagazine.com, in fact), but as of a few weeks ago, they’ve started an innovative, though annoying and cloying, new way to view their content. To read their prime pulp, you can subscribe for “5 cents per day” or you can watch a not-very-well-produced multi-page ad for some oddball company (like today’s The Well). And then you can receive a free day-pass to their magazine (you have 18 hours to be exact). I’m very curious to see what happens with this model — Salon and its “competitor” Slate have tried many revenue models previously. David Talbot, editor of Salon.com, describes the situ here. Though forced-ad watching is ridiculous and sits too well with the Orwellian nightmare we’re all starting to live, at least I can judge whether “premium” content is worth my nickel-plus a day.

I promise after today to not post any more links about Web logs or The New York Times (well, after this month). But I believe the following link is applicable to most people interested in the Web. Technorati.com, a one-man site focusing on how Web logs are being watched, has a so-called Top 100 Interesting Recent Blogs. The top 20 feature some nicely named blogs like Karl & Cow – The Boring Weblog (#8) and OnePotMeal (#18).

What with so much of my focus on projects and life circumstances, I’ve been remiss about researching and thinking about Web logs – one of which you are reading. I believe very strongly that Web logs open up to the wired world a host of possibility and show the best of what the Internet can do. Take a good look at Photoblogs.org when you have a chance. What is interesting is that Web logs have taken the Internet around full circle in the cycle of images and text.
1992: Text-based Web emerges
1997: Image-based Web solidifies
2000: Text-based Web logs emerge
2003: Photo-based Web logs grow

No one told me but The New York Times now has a store where you can buy things like crosswords, books, and yes, t-shirts. I’m not sure why you would want a New York Times large black T, nor do I know why you would want a printed photograph of the Titanic from 1912 upon its launch, unless you were a serious Deckhairs on the Titanic fan. Well, in case you are, you might also be interested in a reproduction of the New York Times’ “Titanic Sinks” issue.

On my mother’s side of the family, my cousin passed away and I miss Cousin E. very, very much. Her daughter gave one of the most personal and touching eulogies I’ve heard.

A good piece by Bill Keller in the in the Times op/ed today. I’ve been out of commission lately with a bad flu or something but promise more interesting goodies soon.

I found Powell’s speech before the U.N. today relatively convincing. Two things scare the daylights out of me, however. One: if the evidence that Powell provided today (supposedly the very best evidence of Iraq’s denials that U.S. intelligence can muster) is the very best evidence we can muster, U.S. intelligence is probaby way in the dark about a lot of other plans around the world for war and terror. What about all the other phone calls, emails, and photographs that the intelligence community sucks in every day? Are they being warehoused on some database somewhere? Second, and more realistically, if Saddam really has tons and tons of warfare agents around, I worry seriously about our (and other nations’) troops in Iraq. You’d think that Powell, a soldier himself, would at least make mention of the horrendous dangers that might accompany any forward war.

Go ahead, type in your favorite Web site (I’d be honored if it was this one here) on Snoop’s Shizzolator and shazzam, you get your lyrics smooooth.

I’m still in a bit of shock about the Columbia disaster. There’s not much I can say that has meaning. Below is the official insignia of the mission.
Here’s what the NASA site says (in part) about the insignia: “The central element of the patch is the microgravity symbol, µg, flowing into the rays of the astronaut symbol. The mission inclination is portrayed by the 39 degree angle of the astronaut symbol to the Earth’s horizon. The sunrise is representative of the numerous experiments that are the dawn of a new era for continued microgravity research on the International Space Station and beyond. The breadth of science conducted on this mission will have widespread benefits to life on Earth and our continued exploration of space illustrated by the Earth and stars. The constellation Columba (the dove) was chosen to symbolize peace on Earth and the Space Shuttle Columbia. The seven stars also represent the mission crew members and honor the original astronauts who paved the way to make research in space possible. The Israeli flag is adjacent to the name of the payload specialist who is the first person from that country to fly on the Space Shuttle.”

I really like the idea of Top 50s, as they are semi-good gauges of what the masses like and don’t like. MyFonts.com has a Top 50, which is pretty interesting to me. Some of my old time faves are there, including at Frutiger, Trade Gothic, DIN 1451, and Windsor, all of which I use all the time.
More importantly, one can see an obvious trend toward sans serif fonts throughout all media right now. The serif font (e.g. Times Roman) is still much easier as a text font (e.g. in a newspaper or a magazine) as has been proven by many studies on perception and reading, but for some reason, probably having to do with the technological flair and look of cleanliness, sans serif is everywhere these days.