Tag: New-York-Times

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Sunday Schnitzels Cripples

Regular readers will no doubt recall my previous encounters with Google Voice’s automated message taking. It seems as though my experience is not unique, as the New York Times Personal Tech section’s columnist published his Voice number and asked readers to give the message transcription feature a run for its money. The results, well, are downright hilarious. E.g.:

we hope you straight to be self evident that all manner created equal apparent out by their creator with certain valuable right the money for like 430 in the pursuit of happiness this is securities rights concert instituted mobile among the and driving their just powers from the content of the covered that whatever any former governor because destructive of the and it is the right people to offer to abolish it thank you and see if you got on the 28th sunday schnitzels cripples organizing powers and such 4 at today i’m sheltie most likely to check to see if you have any

+10 EXP and a bonus to strike for anyone that can name the founding document that comes from. *grin*

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Remember: When It Comes To Scotch Whisky, It’s All About The “e”

The Art of Manliness has an excellent primer on the subject of Scotch Whiskey. A good, quick read if you’re at all taken with the notion of taking up Scotch. And remember: It’s Scotch whisky, the only drink strong enough to change the New York Times’ style guide. Now I’ve just got to find the right occasion to polish off that bottle of Glenfiddich 15yo. Solera Reserve Brad gave me…
[Via Matt Mullenweg]

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Zounds! Google To Buy WordPress By Proxy!

WP + G = ??
Well, okay, now that I have that little bit of headline rumor-/scaremongering out of the way, I’ve got to say: interesting things are afoot in the Automattic/WordPress world these days. First off, Matt Mullenweg announced a few days ago that, effective immediately, all WordPress.com (as opposed to .org) accounts would be receiving an upgrade from 50MB of storage apiece to 3 GB apiece. Speculation ran rampant as to how such beneficence could be possible until Matt let slip that Automattic had received an additional $29-30 million in venture capital from several investment partners, including the New York Times(!).
Now add to that other blatant WAGging/punditing about Google buying the Times and you arrive at my far-fetched headline.
Yeah, I know, preposterous and beyond far-fetched. Still, it’s an interesting thought experiment to pursue, namely: what happens if Google gets ahold of the company largely behind the world’s most popular self-hosted blogging solution and owner of a direct competitor to Google’s Blogger service?
Rough-and-tumble times ahead, but I’m sure the Automattic guys will weather it just fine with those VC dollars. *grin*

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Legal Reprisals Against The Grey Lady?

Initial reader reactions to the New York Times’ blatant disregard for public safety in pursuit of an anti-Bush agenda are in, and man, are people pissed. The depth of feeling expressed in those letters-to-the-editors sparked a notion in my head: why not file a class action lawsuit against the NYT for materially damaging the government’s ability to protect US citizens from harm? Since the Times doesn’t seem to be concerned with plummeting subscription rates or angry reader mail, perhaps they will respond to people suing the pants off them. I’d say Rosen and Lichtblau’s reporting constitutes wanton disregard for the safety of their fellow citizens, made all the more heinous by the blatantly self-serving fashion in which they have pursued such reporting.
I dunno. Anyone have any thoughts on the merits of such a suit and/or the name of a lawyer that would be willing to take on such a case?