The Daily Read
We are defined by our habits and god knows I'm a creature of habit. There are certain websites I go to almost daily, for information and entertainment. In no particular order, here's my daily reading list. This will go a long way to explaining why I hold the peculiar opinions that I do.
Slashdot.org
"News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters," is their tagline. Where else can you read about programming, intellectual property law, the latest video game or the politics of anti-terrorism? The stories are good, but the reader comments are where the real fun is. Geek cred at Slashdot can in part be determined by how low your user ID is (indicating how long you've had an account): mine is in the low 70,000's; account numbers are now in the millions range.
Comics Curmudgeon
Every few days Josh Fruhlinger waxes eloquently about ... oh hell, he waxes snarkily, about the daily funny pages. He spares no one. His favorites are the "soap opera" strips like Mary Worth, Rex Morgan, MD, and Apartment 3-G, which he skewers regularly (and affectionately). I'm in withdrawal on days when he doesn't post. Reader comments are also a hoot. Coincidentally, Mr. Fruhlinger is also a frequent Slashdot contributor.
Salon
This is a more recent favorite: news, entertainment, politics and the like. They have a decidedly liberal tilt, which (not surprisingly) doesn't bother me at all. I get email updates from them which I usually read in bed on my iPhone before getting up for coffee. There has been more than one morning when I arrived slightly late to my office because I had to finish some article before I got out of bed. A well-designed site with fresh, interesting content. Of course I go here every day.
My Yahoo!
Okay - a little explanation: I've had a Yahoo! account since the web ran on 14,400 modems. It hosts one of my two primary email addresses. Even though the user base seems to be composed largely of dirt clods (based on a random sampling of news story comments) their portal is easy to configure and has a lot of content options. Before I took up residence on Yahoo! (the exclamation mark is part of their name, by the way) my start page was on My Netscape. How old does that make me?
Infospigot: the Chronicles
I first met Dan Brekke, your host on Infospigot, my first day of class at Talala Elementary school, in Park Forest, Illinois. He's now a journalist at KQED in San Francisco. In addition to being a gifted writer, he's a fabulous photographer, and often posts pictures of things encountered during his days. Dan has the journalist's gift of making the most mundane of things seem fascinating. Blame him for whatever liberal tendencies you may detect in me.
Cracked
Okay, you may remember Cracked magazine from your youth as a slightly crappy knockoff of Mad magazine. Well, several ups and downs, owners and bankruptcies later, the printed version is no more. But the website is pretty damned funny, in a sophomoric sort of way. Their stock in trade is lists: 6 Things Social Networking Sites Need to Stop Doing, 5 Real Deleted Bible Scenes In Which Jesus Kicks Some Ass, The 7 Most Terrifying Sex Toys Ever Patented (hey, I never said it was Tolstoy). Meanwhile, Mad is now owned by DC Comics, which in turn is a division of Time-Warner - bo-ring. Give me Cracked.com's slightly ragged funk. A guilty pleasure.
Slickdeals
Lots of reader-reported sales, coupons, specials, and deals. Hey, everybody loves a bargain.
The Whited Sepulchre
What can I say - the Whited Sepulchre is a Libertarian evangelist, a political fundamentalist, a rabble-rouser of the first degree. I find him occasionally funny, mostly infuriating. I read him anyway, and fling my contrary opinions back in the comments. I actually know (in the Real World) this guy. Despite the fact that he and I are diametrically opposed on so many issues, in person he is a prince among men.
Well there you have it. What do you read every day?
Slashdot.org
"News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters," is their tagline. Where else can you read about programming, intellectual property law, the latest video game or the politics of anti-terrorism? The stories are good, but the reader comments are where the real fun is. Geek cred at Slashdot can in part be determined by how low your user ID is (indicating how long you've had an account): mine is in the low 70,000's; account numbers are now in the millions range.
Comics Curmudgeon
Every few days Josh Fruhlinger waxes eloquently about ... oh hell, he waxes snarkily, about the daily funny pages. He spares no one. His favorites are the "soap opera" strips like Mary Worth, Rex Morgan, MD, and Apartment 3-G, which he skewers regularly (and affectionately). I'm in withdrawal on days when he doesn't post. Reader comments are also a hoot. Coincidentally, Mr. Fruhlinger is also a frequent Slashdot contributor.
Salon
This is a more recent favorite: news, entertainment, politics and the like. They have a decidedly liberal tilt, which (not surprisingly) doesn't bother me at all. I get email updates from them which I usually read in bed on my iPhone before getting up for coffee. There has been more than one morning when I arrived slightly late to my office because I had to finish some article before I got out of bed. A well-designed site with fresh, interesting content. Of course I go here every day.
My Yahoo!
Okay - a little explanation: I've had a Yahoo! account since the web ran on 14,400 modems. It hosts one of my two primary email addresses. Even though the user base seems to be composed largely of dirt clods (based on a random sampling of news story comments) their portal is easy to configure and has a lot of content options. Before I took up residence on Yahoo! (the exclamation mark is part of their name, by the way) my start page was on My Netscape. How old does that make me?
Infospigot: the Chronicles
I first met Dan Brekke, your host on Infospigot, my first day of class at Talala Elementary school, in Park Forest, Illinois. He's now a journalist at KQED in San Francisco. In addition to being a gifted writer, he's a fabulous photographer, and often posts pictures of things encountered during his days. Dan has the journalist's gift of making the most mundane of things seem fascinating. Blame him for whatever liberal tendencies you may detect in me.
Cracked
Okay, you may remember Cracked magazine from your youth as a slightly crappy knockoff of Mad magazine. Well, several ups and downs, owners and bankruptcies later, the printed version is no more. But the website is pretty damned funny, in a sophomoric sort of way. Their stock in trade is lists: 6 Things Social Networking Sites Need to Stop Doing, 5 Real Deleted Bible Scenes In Which Jesus Kicks Some Ass, The 7 Most Terrifying Sex Toys Ever Patented (hey, I never said it was Tolstoy). Meanwhile, Mad is now owned by DC Comics, which in turn is a division of Time-Warner - bo-ring. Give me Cracked.com's slightly ragged funk. A guilty pleasure.
Slickdeals
Lots of reader-reported sales, coupons, specials, and deals. Hey, everybody loves a bargain.
The Whited Sepulchre
What can I say - the Whited Sepulchre is a Libertarian evangelist, a political fundamentalist, a rabble-rouser of the first degree. I find him occasionally funny, mostly infuriating. I read him anyway, and fling my contrary opinions back in the comments. I actually know (in the Real World) this guy. Despite the fact that he and I are diametrically opposed on so many issues, in person he is a prince among men.
Well there you have it. What do you read every day?
Comments
BoingBoing
Mint
GoogleDocs (in conjunction with Mint)
Woot
Kol
Joystiq
SiriusXM - Lifetime subscription
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Postsecret - on Sundays
Spokeo - Occasionally
Amazon - (in conjunction with Amazon Prime)