I took Microsoft’s new search engine for a spin tonight and can’t say I was impressed. Looked a lot like Google but it’s hard to knock them for that. And it probably does some things that Google doesn’t but I didn’t take the time to try find out what they might be. I did an image search for “Steve Mays” and came up with two photos that truly capture the real me. But I’m a Google Boy to the very end.
I don’t know Halley Suitt but I’ve been reading her blog for a few years and, well, I feel like I know her. Last week she wrote about a cancer scare. Today she reported that it was just that, a scare. And added: “Gives you a whole new appreciation for…everything.”
This small, common incident seems so…out of balance. On the front end is this awful, hellish possibility. At the other end is a nice, normal mammogram. Everything’s okay. Normal life resumes. Does the good news really balance the bad? I hope so, for Halley.
Regular readers know I’m a big fan of George Carlin (and letting other people doing my thinking) so I would have bought his new book, When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?, even if Wal-Mart hadn’t banned it. And I couldn’t get past the acknowledgments without finding something worth writing down:
“Of course the people don’t want war. But after all, it’s the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it’s always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it’s a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger.” –Hermann Goring at the Nuremberg Trials
I think I’m gonna need a fresh highlighter.
“…this election was tipped because of an outpouring of support for George Bush by people who don’t just favor different policies than I do – they favor a whole different kind of America. We don’t just disagree on what America should be doing; we disagree on what America is. It seemed as if they were voting for what team they were on. This was not an election. This was station identification.”
The full article is worth a read. [Thanks to John for the link]
NYU economics professor Nicholas Economides describes the Internet (35 years old in September) in terms of the industries it’s displacing. The U. S. Postal Service is becoming obsolete. In the last five years, more than one out of every 10 radio listeners between the ages of 25 and 34 have stopped listening (Clear Channel, Citadel and Cumulus Media have seen share prices drop 23%, 40% and 26% respectively in the last year). Newspapers have watched revenue from help-wanted ads plummet by more than $3.7 billion in the last five years. And telephone service is almost certain to see some big heavy changes.
Our polls don’t open until 6:00 a.m. but I was there at 5:00 a.m. No other voters. No poll workers. Just me. By the time they opened the door to let us in, there was probably 150 people lined up.
By the time I cast my ballot at 6:02 a.m., there were easily 200 people in line (photo above).
Never again will I say it doesn’t matter who wins.
Okay, here’s the plan for tomorrow. I plan to be at the polls no later than 5:30 a.m. Polls open at 6:00 and I expect there to be a line when I get there. Not sure how much work I’ll get done during the day because the temptation to follow The Story will be strong. Our four state news networks will be reporting throughout the evening and I’ll be helping get as much of that online as possible. I’ll be pleased and surprised if it doesn’t turn into an all-nighter. Might be a bit before I get back here.
Musicologist, Barbeque God and Good Friend Terry McVey has been recognized by the Missouri Bar for “outstanding legal service.” Terry was presented with a Pro Bono Publico Award (no connection to Irish rock singer) for outstanding pro bono service to indigent or low-income persons in need of legal assistance. These awards are presented to three persons a year–one each from St. Louis and Kansas City and outstate Missouri. This is the first time the award has been given to an attorney in the Bootheel.
When I first started working at the radio station (1972), we were required to take transmitter readings every 15 minutes. Keeping the transmitter on was the number one –and obvious– priority. And I guess that’s still true for radio stations today. No transmitter…no radio. But not for TV.
On Monday we noticed we were not receiving the local ABC affiliate. Just static. We watch very little network TV these days but still try to catch Peter Jennings and we’re hanging in for the final season of NYPD Blue. So I called the TV station and asked the lady who answered the phone what was going on.
“One of our transmitter tubes went out over the weekend but you can get us on the cable,” she explained.
“I don’t have cable,” I infomed her.
“So, how do you watch us?”
“I have an antenna.”
“Oh. Well, we should have the transmitter working again by the end of the week.”
This struck me as something of a revelation. The TV station wasn’t concerned that their trasmitter was down. The “signal” (content) was getting out via cable. I wanted to ask her about the rural viewers that don’t have cable but there aren’t enough of us to pose a problem.
I started wondering what does the local TV station add to the content mix? Their local newscast. Local weather. Bunch of local commercials. It just feels like those local affiliates are becoming less important every day.
All of this reminded me of ABC Now, the network’s effort to deliver content by non-traditional means. How much would I pay to be able to download World News Tonight directly from the network? Or NYPD Blue? I’m already doing this with XM and it works just fine, thank you.
In conclusion, I guess I’m no more concerned about the TV station transmitter being dark than they are.