From: crispen@NETSQUIRREL.COM
To: TOURBUS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM
Reply-To: TOURBUS-Request@LISTSERV.AOL.COM
Subject: TOURBUS -- 3 SEPTEMBER 1998 -- SQUIRRELS / TODAY'S PAPERS / BROCK MEEKS
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TODAY'S TOURBUS STOP(S):
SQUIRRELS / TODAY'S PAPERS / BROCK MEEKS
TODAY'S TOURBUS ADDRESSES:
http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/squirrels
http://www.onelist.com/archives.cgi/squirrels
http://www.slate.com/code/todayspapers/todayspapers.asp
http://www.msnbc.com/news/192466.asp
http://www.msnbc.com/news/moremeeks_front.asp
Howdy, y'all. Before we start today's journey of our little bus of
Internet happiness, I have a quick bit of shameless self-promotion to
share with you. I am happy to announce that I have again been invited
to speak on the campus of Missouri Western State College, and the
public is invited to attend my presentation. If you are going to be
in the St. Joseph, Missouri, area on the 15th, stop by and say
"howdy."
Presentation: "The Emperor's New Computer"
Time and Date: 4:00 P.M., Tuesday, September 15
Location: Leah Spratt Multipurpose Classroom Building
Room 101 (Recital Hall)
Missouri Western State College
St. Joseph, MO
[St. Joseph is about 40 miles north of
Kansas City on I-29]
With that said, let us pay some bills and get today's tour underway.
:)
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And now, on with the show ...
-------------------
Warning: squirrels!
-------------------
It looks like Alabama's squirrels are at it again. You will remember
that the University of Alabama has had an ongoing problem with
squirrels eating through the power lines leading into the University's
computer center. Needless to say, the results are not pretty for
either the University's mainframe OR for the squirrels.
Well, not too long ago someone at the University's supersonic wind
tunnel accidentally left an exhaust vent open for a couple of weeks.
In the interim, a family of squirrels decided that the wind tunnel's
exhaust vent was a wonderful place to build their new home. As you
can probably guess by now, that was a poor decision.
What does this story have to do with today's TOURBUS post? Well,
several alert readers have informed me that there is a new email list
dedicated to the discussion of power line chomping, Mach 3 travelling
tree rats. Actually, according to the folks who run the list,
Squirrels is a list dedicated to enjoying this critter as
backyard wildlife. People on the list intentionally feed and
encourage squirrels' presence in their yards.
To subscribe to the Squirrels list, go
here
and to view the archives, go
here.
--------------
Today's Papers
--------------
If you are one of the millions of people who use the Net as a source
of news, this next TOURBUS stop is for you. Slate's "Today's Papers"
is a free digest of the day's biggest news stories.
Each night, Scott Shuger, the journalist who writes the Today's Papers
column for Slate, scans the early, online editions of newspapers like
the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the
Wall Street Journal, and even USA Today. Shuger then condenses the
major stories from each of these newspapers into an 850-word summary.
You can find that summary each day on the Web
here.
Best of all, the Web version of Shuger's Today's Papers column is
entirely free. It is also quite popular with the media. According to
an article in the latest edition of Brill's Content, the Today's
Papers column is read by 'high-powered pundits' like William F.
Buckley, Jr., New York Times assistant managing editor Allan Siegal,
and Los Angeles Times managing editor Leo Wolinsky. In other words,
Today's Papers is the media summary the media reads.
-----------
Brock Meeks
-----------
You have probably heard about the Carnegie Mellon University study
that concluded, "greater use of the Internet also was associated with
increases in depression." In other words, all of us are in a Net-
induced funk.
Of course, when I come across an Internet-related story like this,
the first question I ask is, "I wonder what Brock Meeks has to say
about this?" Meeks is currently the Chief Washington Correspondent
for MSNBC, and he is the highly caustic creator of CyberWire Dispatch
[see TOURBUS 21 January 1996]. He is also one of the few online
journalists I pay attention to. Our veteran bus riders will remember
that Meek's 7 July 1995 "PORN-O-RAMA" article exposed DOZENS of
problems with Time magazine's "Cyberporn" article (which was based on
the now infamous Rimm study).
Well, it looks like Meeks has a few words to say about the most
recent Carnegie Mellon study. You can find Meek's editorial on the
Carnegie Mellon Internet depression story on MSNBC's Opinions Page
here.
There are two things to keep in mind as you read this editorial:
1. MSNBC may tell you that you need to "download our free MSNBC
News Menu Plug-In." The plug-in really isn't necessary, so
feel free to hit "cancel."
2. The page layout for Meeks' editorials is a little strange. In
order, MSNBC shows the first paragraph of the editorial, links
to other editorials that Meeks has written, two small ads, and
then the rest of editorial's body. In other words, the
editorial's layout is a little like the layout of some of our
recent TOURBUS posts.
If you want to read some of Brock Meeks' other recent MSNBC
editorials, click on one of the links on his Internet depression
editorial page, or point your Web browser
here.
That's it for this week! Have a safe and happy weekend, and watch out
for squirrels ... and wind tunnels
TODAY'S TOURBUS STOP(S):
SQUIRRELS / TODAY'S PAPERS / BROCK MEEKS
TODAY'S TOURBUS ADDRESSES:
http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/squirrels
http://www.onelist.com/archives.cgi/squirrels
http://www.slate.com/code/todayspapers/todayspapers.asp
http://www.msnbc.com/news/192466.asp
http://www.msnbc.com/news/moremeeks_front.asp
------------------------
SOUTHERN WORD OF THE DAY
------------------------
ARMAGEDDON (phrase). Reaching a certain state.
Usage: "Armageddon sick of all them comet movies."
(Special thanks to Barry Haworth for today's wurd)
You can find *ALL* of the old Southern Words of the day here.
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=====================================================================
.~~~. ))
(\__/) .' ) )) Patrick Douglas Crispen
/o o \/ .~
{o_, \ { crispen@netsquirrel.com
/ , , ) \ http://www.netsquirrel.com/
`~ '-' \ } ))
_( ( )_.' Warning: squirrels.
'---..{____}
