Jersey Tawk – By Ward Peck
Tangled in the Web
It’s not always easy trying to figure out what to write here but I’ve got to fill this space and if you bear with me we’ll both get to the end in a reasonable amount of time. Whenever I have this problem I try to conduct a little research on the Web, looking for a story that interests me or annoys me and pretty soon I have my topic.
Some might refer to such an activity as “goofing off,” as opposed to “research,” but for me it is a question of timing. “Goofing off” only applies when I’m not under a deadline.
Invariably the first site I usually go to when I open my web browser is www.drudgereport.com. I usually don’t stay long, mostly I go there to see if Drudge has posted his police siren icon. If I don’t see the flashing siren, I can be reasonably sure we haven’t invaded Iran yet. The rest is usually entertainment news from British tabloids or taking out of context something Barak Obama said. Basically it’s Fox News without the moving pictures.
After my Drudge flirtation, I often check out www.NYTimes.com, but they started annoying me when they started charging for certain content. If I’m going to pay to read Tom Friedman to tell me how “the next six months” will be decisive in Iraq (as he has done in November 2003, June 2004, October 2004, September 2005, December 2005, January 2006, March 2006 and May 2006), I’ll plunk down a dollar at the corner store. Wait; maybe that’s their point. Shoot. Plus, I think they have something against Steve Jobs because their site and my Mac don’t seem to get along.
By the way, all I did was put the words “Tom Friedman the next six months,” in a search engine and viola! See? Research!
But my all time favorite website for er, research is www.wonkette.com (warning: wonkette uses four letter words. A lot of four-letter words.). Wonkette is something of a political gossip site, posting rumors, innuendo, bloopers and conspiracy theories about the Washington power elite. But Wonkette is more than just gossip; they also post a lot of news. It’s a little like having an assistant who spends all day clipping interesting news stories and putting them in a handy little binder for you. They will give you a cheeky little synopsis of a story and provide a link to the site where they found it. Most are reputable “Mainstream Media” news sources like the Times, the Washington Post or the Philadelphia Enquirer. Others are just as reputable, if not as mainstream such as Haaretz (of Jerusalem), the Journal News (of Lower Hudson Valley) and ComputerWorld.
As is the case with “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central, one of Wonkette’s best assets is its ability to deconstruct the news.
On several occasions Wonkette’s editors have posted comparisons of Newsweek magazine’s domestic and international editions. Rather than paraphrase I’ll just quote how Wonkette teased this feature on October 2006 (the “jump” they refer to is a link to the web page containing the story): “Once again, Newsweek’s U.S. editors have chosen a stupid cover for Americans while filling all three international editions with interesting, in-depth articles about disturbing topics Americans should know. Last time — just three weeks ago — the international editions’ cover story was ‘Losing Afghanistan.’ The U.S. dummies got a cover story about a lesbian who takes pictures of celebrities. It’s even worse this time around. More after the jump. Or, for U.S. readers: CLICK THESE RED WORDS! CLICK THEM WITH MOUSE, CLICK CLICK, BUY SPORTS DRINK & SNICKERS!”
It’s a great site and I encourage you to check it out, unless you’re allergic to curse words. You can spend all day following the links– I mean researching the primary source material (fair warning: any link labeled NSFW means “Not Suitable For Work,” which means naked people. Heed the warning).
Look at that, we’re at the bottom! That wasn’t so bad, right? Looks like its time for me to research the bottom of a beer glass.
It’s not always easy trying to figure out what to write here but I’ve got to fill this space and if you bear with me we’ll both get to the end in a reasonable amount of time. Whenever I have this problem I try to conduct a little research on the Web, looking for a story that interests me or annoys me and pretty soon I have my topic.
Some might refer to such an activity as “goofing off,” as opposed to “research,” but for me it is a question of timing. “Goofing off” only applies when I’m not under a deadline.
Invariably the first site I usually go to when I open my web browser is www.drudgereport.com. I usually don’t stay long, mostly I go there to see if Drudge has posted his police siren icon. If I don’t see the flashing siren, I can be reasonably sure we haven’t invaded Iran yet. The rest is usually entertainment news from British tabloids or taking out of context something Barak Obama said. Basically it’s Fox News without the moving pictures.
After my Drudge flirtation, I often check out www.NYTimes.com, but they started annoying me when they started charging for certain content. If I’m going to pay to read Tom Friedman to tell me how “the next six months” will be decisive in Iraq (as he has done in November 2003, June 2004, October 2004, September 2005, December 2005, January 2006, March 2006 and May 2006), I’ll plunk down a dollar at the corner store. Wait; maybe that’s their point. Shoot. Plus, I think they have something against Steve Jobs because their site and my Mac don’t seem to get along.
By the way, all I did was put the words “Tom Friedman the next six months,” in a search engine and viola! See? Research!
But my all time favorite website for er, research is www.wonkette.com (warning: wonkette uses four letter words. A lot of four-letter words.). Wonkette is something of a political gossip site, posting rumors, innuendo, bloopers and conspiracy theories about the Washington power elite. But Wonkette is more than just gossip; they also post a lot of news. It’s a little like having an assistant who spends all day clipping interesting news stories and putting them in a handy little binder for you. They will give you a cheeky little synopsis of a story and provide a link to the site where they found it. Most are reputable “Mainstream Media” news sources like the Times, the Washington Post or the Philadelphia Enquirer. Others are just as reputable, if not as mainstream such as Haaretz (of Jerusalem), the Journal News (of Lower Hudson Valley) and ComputerWorld.
As is the case with “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central, one of Wonkette’s best assets is its ability to deconstruct the news.
On several occasions Wonkette’s editors have posted comparisons of Newsweek magazine’s domestic and international editions. Rather than paraphrase I’ll just quote how Wonkette teased this feature on October 2006 (the “jump” they refer to is a link to the web page containing the story): “Once again, Newsweek’s U.S. editors have chosen a stupid cover for Americans while filling all three international editions with interesting, in-depth articles about disturbing topics Americans should know. Last time — just three weeks ago — the international editions’ cover story was ‘Losing Afghanistan.’ The U.S. dummies got a cover story about a lesbian who takes pictures of celebrities. It’s even worse this time around. More after the jump. Or, for U.S. readers: CLICK THESE RED WORDS! CLICK THEM WITH MOUSE, CLICK CLICK, BUY SPORTS DRINK & SNICKERS!”
It’s a great site and I encourage you to check it out, unless you’re allergic to curse words. You can spend all day following the links– I mean researching the primary source material (fair warning: any link labeled NSFW means “Not Suitable For Work,” which means naked people. Heed the warning).
Look at that, we’re at the bottom! That wasn’t so bad, right? Looks like its time for me to research the bottom of a beer glass.
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