Posts Tagged ‘In the News’
Thanks, but I’ll pass. – Chef creates breast milk cheese
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010Worst dad nominations open: Dad suspected of trying to cut off 1-year-old’s penis
Thursday, February 4th, 2010It doesn’t get too much worse than this.
Dad suspected of trying to cut off 1-year-old’s penis
[From Dad suspected of trying to cut off 1-year-old's penis]
Italian teen stabs dad who turns of the PlayStation
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010Warning to all dads who turn off the TV to tell their kids it’s time to put down the video game controller. This dad in Rome did just that and found himself with a knife to the neck.
ROME (Reuters) – An Italian man who argued with his son over Sony PlayStation tactics was recovering in hospital on Monday after the teenager stabbed him in the neck with a 15-inch kitchen knife, police and hospital officials said.
[From Italian teen stabs father in PlayStation row | Reuters]
And I love these last lines:
The game had been given to Mario a few days earlier, as a birthday present.
“Mario is obsessed. He’s forever playing on his PlayStation, and we bought him FIFA 2009 because we didn’t want him playing violent games,” his mother told Il Corriere.
Best laid plans go astray.
When my son is playing Lego Indiana Jones Wii, he’s in a different world. He jumps up and down talking to the screen, sweating like a madman. I know enough to gently tell him we’re turning it off in a few minutes, otherwise it is like taking a bone away from a dining dog.
But if I ever get frustrated, I’ll think twice now before I threaten to pull the plug when it’s time for dinner.
Brave New World: Second Pregnant Man, Due To Give Birth In February (PHOTOS)
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010Okay, so he, and his partner, were both born with female equipment, but this still makes for quite a headline.
Another man has gotten himself pregnant and is due to give birth next month, the UK’s Daily Mail reports.
Scott and his husband, Thomas, were both born female and have undergone surgery to become men. Scott, born Laura, had his 36DDD breasts removed but still has female sex organs as his parents couldn’t afford the full surgery.
[From Scott Moore, Second Pregnant Man, Due To Give Birth In February (PHOTOS)]
But to really get us, we want to see a man carry a baby somehow wrapped around all the rest of the stuff in this stomach and then suckle the child for six months with his God-given man-boobies. Then we’ll stop the presses.
Paid online access to New York Times – my opinion
Thursday, January 21st, 2010As a publisher, I’m happy to see the New York Times take a real lead on paid content. I’ve always thought that the Web wants to be “FREE,” but everyone knows that anything that is always given away free turns into garbage. And that’s the road most print publications are on unless they change their model. The New York Times can’t continue to create leadership journalism as it watches home delivery and newsstand sales dwindle to those few remaining octogenarians who want the inky, bulky broadsheet hanging into their cereal (Full disclosure: I’m one of them). While Google AdSense can make publishers a few dimes and nickels each month, it’s revenue potential is way over-stated and decreasing. There has to be another way.
I love the NYT solution for the following reasons:
1. It provides a benefit and distinction for home subscribers. Part of this reaction is selfish, since I’ve subscribed since I lived in New York fifteen years ago. But it stands to reason that you promote sales by giving benefits to the people who increase your value as an asset. And, advertisers like to see paid subscription since it connotes involvement.
2. It allows people to get a little bit for free. They haven’t yet said how many articles per month you will get for “free” as a non-subscriber, but it’s at least ten, that should give you enough to read your favorite columnists or features every month. Beyond that, as with public radio, you really should be donating something anyway.
3. It keeps the NYT open to Google and Bing searches. I always thought this was the way things should go. Allow the NYT to be searchable via search engines so people can find the best info online and perhaps discover the Times.
4. Most importantly, it still allows bloggers to tell the world about stories they find in the NYT, without resorting to copying articles wholesale. I often make a comment on an article, providing an interesting snipped with a link to the full article. The NYT will still allow this though clicking the link will count towards the monthly quota for unpaid users. This should help the New York Time get more readers while not destroying their model.
This is the system the New Yorker should use as well. It’s fun to send an great article to someone who is not a reader. It’s not good if someone is reading the whole thing on line while everyone else is paying. And face it, a new generation of readers is growing up and they are happy reading a book or magazine on an iPhone rather than a physical magazine.
Hats off to the New York Times.
Run the NYC Half-Marathon on March 21, 2010 to suppor the Fresh Air Fund
Saturday, January 16th, 2010A fun event to support the City’s kids. I’ll be running in place here in San Francisco!
Run the NYC Half-Marathon with The Fresh Air Fund!
On March 21st, the Fresh Air Fund-Racers will take to the streets at the NYC Half-Marathon! Thank you to the Fresh Air Fund-Racers and their supporters for participating in this world class event. You are making a huge difference in the lives of thousands of Fresh Air children!
France wants to sell millions of surplus flu shots – they can send 4 directly to our house!
Sunday, January 3rd, 2010We haven’t gotten any shots out here in far-flung San Francisco, so we’ve been waiting anxiously for a wave of swinish flu to break over our shores. So far, lot’s of other childhood coughs and sniffles, but no porcine fevers. However, to be on the safe side, and be four more defense links in the chain, I’d love to get us all innoculated. I doubt France is selling these through Amazon though.
France wants to sell millions of surplus flu shots
PARIS
Sun Jan 3, 2010PARIS (Reuters) – France is looking to sell millions of surplus vaccines for the H1N1 flu strain after ordering many more shots than it actually needed, officials said on Sunday.
[From France wants to sell millions of surplus flu shots | Reuters]
What does everyone else think? Are you still worried about Swine Flu where you are?
Watch your phone! A cautionary tale…
Friday, December 11th, 2009Imagine holding up five crisp $100 bills in a crowd and you have an idea of the potential for a quick loss of your iPhone or Blackberry.
My wife, while riding the bus, lost hers in just this way last week. She was sitting opposite the middle doors of the bus and was checking her email. The bus stopped, a kid grabbed the phone, and she watched in shock as he ran out the doors just as they closed. She, at first didn’t even realize what happened and neither did any of her fellow riders. When she spoke to ATT and to have the phone shut off, they related to her that this type of crime is on the rise.
With the proliferation of devices that fit nicely into our lives and provide multimedia experiences wherever we are comes an increased risk of theft. A while back it was simple iPod with their tell-tale white headphones, and now it is iPhones and the like, because people are often standing in a crowded space holding on with one hand, often while completely unaware of their surroundings. The police are even busting iPhone theft rings, organized to steal and traffic in phones, especially those stolen directly from retail stores.
During this crowded holiday season, just keep it in mind, and hold on to the phone a bit tighter or more discretely. It’s too bad that it’s a threat, but you’re better off protecting it than funding someone else’s holiday shopping at your expense.
Kids define “evolution”
Saturday, November 14th, 2009We loved the new book by Charlie’s Playhouse on the Giant Timeline. Now, to get people thinking about Darwin’s discovery and the importance of this concept, Charlie’s Playhouse is sponsoring a contest to collect kids’ ideas on evolution.
Hoping to initiate lively conversation about evolution between parents and their children, the Ask the Kids Project begins today and will culminate on Nov. 24, the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s “The Origin of Species.” Parents are being asked to submit by the deadline of Nov. 16 their children’s honest responses to the question online at http://www.charliesplayhouse.com/ask-the-kids.php. Then, on the 24th, Charlie’s Playhouse will post and distribute a professionally-edited video compilation of the submitted responses. 
Following are a few real-life examples the company collected from kids:“Evolution is accidental copies of DNA in a bad way and then results in changes and sometimes the changes can be helpful or the changes can lead to extinction. I think Charles Darwin can explain it better.”“Something about the evolutionary war.”
“Well, one thing’s for sure, it’s not the cave times when they had to sleep on rocks.”
“The first living things appeared, like medusa and the first fish. And fish evolved. And fish became something very important: a sleepwalker.”
“Evolution is candy.”
“Ummm, it’s science.”
“You mean like when we were animals and now we’re humans?”
“I have no idea.”
“When animals change to adapt to the weather!”
Children’s Defense Fund asking for help to insure kids
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009Having lived in France and seeing how a nationalized insurance plan works, I’m a big advocate of universal coverage for all Americans, rich, poor, illegal immigrant or whatever. You may not agree for whatever reason and I can respect that since it’s a complicated issue. But I would think one thing all Americans could agree on is the need for universal coverage of children who, through no fault of their own, might not have coverage. While the country has real financial woes today, I can’t imagine how, as wealthy as we are, we can actually let American kids die for lack of insurance. Emergency rooms are not the answer. They need real care for chronic and serious ongoing ailments, not just for emergencies.
The Children’s Defense Fund, a non-profit child advocacy organization that has worked relentlessly since 1973 to ensure a level playing field for children, has launched an urgent digital campaign to mobilize thousands of supporters nationwide in Champions for Children’s Health Stroller Brigades to tell Congress that health care reform must provide all children with the care they need no matter where they live.
I want to help spread awareness about the inequity in the proposed health reform legislation and show supporters how to communicate directly with their Members of Congress. If you want to get involved, visit their site here: http://www.childrensdefense.org/strollerbrigade/
An astonishing 8.1 million uninsured – and millions more underinsured – children could be left worse off after health care reform – a fact that has received little attention in the mainstream media.
We need to take action and to let our Senators and Representatives know that we demand that children not be left behind in health care reform now.
Thanks for considering joining this effort.
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