More Notable Items
–Yikes: The NYTimes’s David Carr reports that “the legacy of the Lingua Franca, a literate magazine for academics and like-minded folks that closed in 2001 and went into bankruptcy, lives on, but perhaps not in the way that its contributors may have hoped. The bankruptcy trustee in charge of the case, Robert Geltzer, has served summons to many freelance writers who collected fees from the magazine when it was in its death throes. The demand: If the fees are not returned, he is threatening to sue.”
–Topix.net is an interesting new site. It aggregates news according to topic and geographic location. I’ve spent some time on the site and I think it’s pretty cool, but tell me this: can’t I just as easily go to Google News and do a search on whatever I’m looking for? (And speaking of Google News, it’s not without its problems: the search feature is without equal, but they really need a person–a real, live person, not an algorithm–to organize the most important content on their front page. What they’ve got up there now is a poor representation of the most vital news. Nick Denton expounded on this point a while back.)
UPDATE (1/19): I’ve been doing some more thinking about Topix. The depth and breadth of the service is considerable, but wouldn’t it be useful if you could personalize what you see on the site, much like My Yahoo? Turns out, according to Topix’s FAQ, that they’re planning that. Good.
–Here’re some amazing photos of Sadam Hussein just after his capture. My favorite: Saddam in his living room. What I find absolutely astounding is that it appears that they found the notorious Butcher of Baghdad living not in a spider hole–but in my old beloved bachelor pad here in DC! The napkins, the air conditioner, the Formula 409, the coffee maker. Apparently Saddam and I share decorating tastes. Sadly.
