Death by PowerPoint

Interesting article about the U.S. military and the use of PowerPoint. I find this shocking:

Last year when a military Web site, Company Command, asked an Army platoon leader in Iraq, Lt. Sam Nuxoll, how he spent most of his time, he responded, “Making PowerPoint slides.” When pressed, he said he was serious.

“I have to make a storyboard complete with digital pictures, diagrams and text summaries on just about anything that happens,” Lieutenant Nuxoll told the Web site. “Conduct a key leader engagement? Make a storyboard. Award a microgrant? Make a storyboard.”

The idea that Powerpoint has become enmeshed in military culture proves its ubiquitous destructiveness.

Longform journalism site

Here’s a great website, www.longform.org, dedicated to longform journalism — articles with more than 4,000 words. What a great idea.

I’m a big fan of brevity and clarity — but some stories cannot be told in a short space. I’ll have to lobby the editors to include links to two of my favorite pieces: “The Last Heavy Footfalls of Doc Hullender” by Thomas Lake and “Why David beat Goliath” by Malcolm Gladwell.

Regarding radical Islam and ‘South Park’

Pretty harsh column in the New York Times on Comedy Central’s decision to self-censor the episode of “South Park” featuring a Mohammad cartoon:

But there’s still a sense in which the “South Park” case is particularly illuminating. Not because it tells us anything new about the lines that writers and entertainers suddenly aren’t allowed to cross. But because it’s a reminder that Islam is just about the only place where we draw any lines at all.

Across 14 on-air years, there’s no icon “South Park” hasn’t trampled, no vein of shock-comedy (sexual, scatalogical, blasphemous) it hasn’t mined. In a less jaded era, its creators would have been the rightful heirs of Oscar Wilde or Lenny Bruce — taking frequent risks to fillet the culture’s sacred cows.

In ours, though, even Parker’s and Stone’s wildest outrages often just blur into the scenery. In a country where the latest hit movie, “Kick-Ass,” features an 11-year-old girl spitting obscenities and gutting bad guys while dressed in pedophile-bait outfits, there isn’t much room for real transgression. Our culture has few taboos that can’t be violated, and our establishment has largely given up on setting standards in the first place.

Except where Islam is concerned. There, the standards are established under threat of violence, and accepted out of a mix of self-preservation and self-loathing.

This is what decadence looks like: a frantic coarseness that “bravely” trashes its own values and traditions, and then knuckles under swiftly to totalitarianism and brute force.

Deciding to not broadcast a picture of Mohammad out of respect for the Muslim culture is a good thing. Deciding to not broadcast a picture of Mohammad because you’re afraid of being killed by fanatics is bad. Unfortunately, deciding to not publish a picture of Mohammad can be perceived either way.

Four compromises required for Mideast peace

Read this in the NY Times about a month ago:

First, Palestinian officials would have to accept that there would be no right of return for refugees of the 1948 war that established the Israeli state, and for their millions of descendants. Rather, the Palestinians would have to accept some kind of compensation.

Second, the two sides would have to share Jerusalem — Palestinians locating their capital in the east and Israelis in the west, and both signing on to some sort of international agreement on how to share the holy sites in the Old City.

Third, Israel would return to its 1967 borders — before it captured East Jerusalem and the West Bank in the Six-Day War — give or take a few negotiated settlements and territorial swaps.

Fourth, the United States or NATO would have to give Israel security guarantees, probably including stationing troops along the Jordan River, to ease Israeli fears that hostile countries could use the Palestinian state as a springboard for attacks. And finally, Arab neighbors like Saudi Arabia would recognize Israel.

That makes sense to me. Both sides would have to make weighty concessions that they don’t want to make. I don’t see any other way to move forward.

Das Boot Progretzentach

Making progress on the boat. First, I completed the steering system. Had to get creative to fit the steering shaft behind the dashboard:

There’s a few screws, some lag bolts, and some slanted pieces of wood holding that steering shaft into place — it won’t be going anywhere.

Next, I put the decking on the bow. Started by placing a big piece of plywood over the whole space and then tracing a pencil line underneath:

I cut out the piece and then glued and screwed it onto the bow. On the right side, I forgot to add 3/8″ for the inside side planking. So, it’s a little short:

I figure a little wood putty with some creative sanding and you’ll never notice. Measured the other side correctly and it fit into place perfectly:

That’s my son, Jake, wondering about the location of the steering wheel. Here’s the whole boat from the back — I added the inside of the sides and the throttle and direction controls as well:

That’s Jake showing off the strength of that bow decking. We worked on that boat a lot today — will post those pictures later. We sanded the bow and filled all the screws and small gaps with wood putty.

Next is building the motor well in the back and then painting everything. After that, I’ve got to build the windshield — that’ll be pretty tough because the bow decking is curved. Will require a little figuring. Hmm…

Shameless acts of unnamed sourcing

The New York Times ombudsman takes on his own paper again for its flagrant use of anonymous sourcing. Here’s the worst recent example:

Last Sunday, The Times profiled Mary Kay Gallagher, a 90-year-old real estate broker in a historic Brooklyn neighborhood. Gallagher was portrayed as tough and civic-minded. According to the article, “some say” she saved the neighborhood from apartment buildings and having its landmark homes cut into boarding houses. But it added, “Others say she unfairly steered minority buyers from the best properties.”

Neither “some” nor “others” were identified. Gallagher defended herself in the article, saying she sold to blacks, to Asians, to Jews and to Republicans. “I don’t think I’m racist,” she said.

Ben Smith, a reporter for Politico — who uses anonymous sources, and has been burned by them — wrote to say he was shocked that The Times would put Gallagher in the position of denying a faceless charge of racism, one that could get her in serious trouble if it were true. Smith, who lives in the neighborhood and knows Gallagher, said, “It strikes me as a classic trick, unworthy of The Times.”

Yes — allowing unnamed sources make personal allegations is certainly the worst journalistic violation. Nice to see Clark Hoyt using his position to push this newspaper on this issue.

Study suggests Internet not that polarizing

David Brooks summarizes a recent study that found the Internet isn’t polarizing audiences as much as feared:

This study suggests that Internet users are a bunch of ideological Jack Kerouacs. They’re not burrowing down into comforting nests. They’re cruising far and wide looking for adventure, information, combat and arousal. This does not mean they are not polarized. Looking at a site says nothing about how you process it or the character of attention you bring to it. It could be people spend a lot of time at their home sites and then go off on forays looking for things to hate. But it probably does mean they are not insecure and they are not sheltered.

If this study is correct, the Internet will not produce a cocooned public square, but a free-wheeling multilayered Mad Max public square. The study also suggests that if there is increased polarization (and there is), it’s probably not the Internet that’s causing it.

That’s good news — hard to have a conversation when nobody’s consuming the same media, and agreeing to the same set of underlying facts.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution is turning a profit

According to the paper’s public editor:

A year ago, the newspaper was losing money. Business leaders moved quickly to turn that around, making a series of painful expense cuts that included trimming home delivery to outlying regions and reducing staff. Printing was consolidated at the company’s Gwinnett County plant, meaning the downtown presses were no longer used. And so the downtown office, which was expensive to maintain and no longer fully utilized, became an obvious choice for savings.

As difficult as those cuts were, the work paid off. The AJC has been profitable for the past several months. And in the face of necessary changes, the newspaper maintained its focus on what is essential to readers: a comprehensive report with deep local news, business, sports and entertainment coverage; a diverse mix of opinion and expertise; and in-depth watchdog reporting on topics that matter to all of metro Atlanta.

The AJC has indeed been doing a good job covering the area despite its reduced staff. They also put an impressive amount of resources into investigative journalism — producing about 10 enterprise pieces a week.

I would also add that the paper has worked on listening to complaints about its liberal bias — both in the news section and on the editorial pages. The paper shifted its editorial board to the center a year ago.

The AJC should also be lauded for its embrace of networked journalism. They often use shout-outs to their Twitter followers to get information on developing stories. And anecdotal evidence shows they’re quite receptive to fixing the mistakes pointed out by their networked community. Earlier this year, I criticized a lede for unfairly portraying a suspect in a crime as guilty. They fixed it within 2 hours and alerted me via Twitter.

It appears that all these elements make for profitable journalism. Other news outlets should take note of the AJC’s approach to the news business.

Don’t makes the Internets mad

So, apparently a St. Louis Dispatch online editor helped to reveal the identity of a vulgar anonymous commenter. The move got the man fired. However, hell hath no fury like the Internets scorned. Click here to read a (vulgar) Web site that’s been set up to express the utter disdain for Kurt Greenbaum. It’s somewhat amusing, although I’m sure Kurt doesn’t feel that way.

Schteering Wheelhausen

Here’s the dashboard and steering wheel. Note the battens on the bow as well. I know that looks simple, but it took a really long time. I’ve got more photos and descriptions but will probably wait till I’m finished to post them. Next is installing the steering cable and putting the decking on the bow.