Bookworm

Why I Enjoy Brijit (and response to Barbara Kay piece)

What makes Brijit worth reading?

• Brijit abstracts and reviews nonfiction content -- from newspapers, magazines, a few top tier blogs, radio, and television -- in no more than one hundred words.  It also rates the piece from zero to three "dots" (including half dots), with three dots being the best.
• Brijit reviews some content that isn't available online for free.  This is helpful if you're trying to decide whether to pick up the newest New Yorker or New York Review of Books, or can even help you target the choicest pieces in your slithery stacks of O magazine and Entertainment Weekly. 
• You can subscribe to RSS feeds for individual sources or particular subjects.
• The red, white, and black design is crisp and the interface is clean with a few Web 2.0 touches (for example, you can click to open or close the top headlines on the main page without a page refresh).

What if I want to write for Brijit -- how does it work?

1. Register as a writer.
2. Choose an open assignment (but make sure you can access the content first). Most assignments can be claimed by up to three individuals; a few sources call for only two submissions and one source (The Onion) calls for as many as five.
3. Read the article, listen to the audio, or watch the video.
4. Write the abstract, include relevant tags, and choose your dot rating.
5. Submit your work prior to the deadline.
6. The Brijit editors choose the best submission, edit it, and publish it on the website.
7. You can (obsessively) check the status of your submissions within your profile pages, haunt the main page for a familiar headline, or (for the more Zen among you) simply wait for the congratulatory email telling you of a published abstract.
8. Writers of published abstracts of print sources earn $5 for each; published abstracts of audio and video broadcasts earn $8.  Brijit pays by PayPal or check once a month.

Response to Barbara Kay's article

Yesterday I read an article on canada.com by Barbara Kay, who expressed her distaste for the competitive nature of writing abstracts for Brijit.com.  Her son, Jonathan Kay, gets a thrill from competing against a few other writers (in one particular case, a co-worker) for the prize of getting an abstract published, whereas Kay "shuddered at the very thought of exposing myself to such humiliation," and began talking about gender differences with regard to competition. 

1. First of all, presumably most people aren't making a game out of it the way Jonathan did (although it is very satisfying when your abstract is chosen).  Therefore, in most cases no one but you and the Brijit staff know when your lovingly crafted abstract was not the chosen one. So, really, how humiliating is that?
2. Also, we live in a world where, for better or for worse, we all find ourselves in competition for places on a sports team, for acceptances to the college of our choice, or for our dream job.  I can't imagine a safer environment than the Writers Area of Brijit.com to embrace a little private humility (when someone else writes a better abstract) and deserved, earned pride (when yours is selected and hits the front page). 
3. You can even benchmark yourself against the most successful writers to try to improve your skills.  Brijit is really an English major's dream -- you can get paid for reading and writing.
4. Kay calls the pay scale "nugatory".  Sure, most of us wouldn't be able to afford to work full time for this rate of pay or with this degree of uncertainty.  But perhaps there is sufficient benefit if you think of it differently.  Writing for Brijit causes someone to read, listen to, or watch high quality nonfiction, and hone his or her skills of critical thinking, synthesis, and concise writing.  And, if the skill is sufficient, some extra cash can be had (which is no small thing in the current economy).
5. Finally, Kay states: "Just as most war gamers are male, I bet this Brijit website has been inundated with male “reviewers” and very few women writers." I'm not privy to the overall statistics, but she might be surprised to know that, as of today's date, five of the top ten most prolific and successful writers on Brijit are women.

[Disclaimer: I am a Brijit writer.  But even if I wasn't, I'd be reading the content on the site.]

I'd buy a Kindle if. . .

• If it cost about $100.  (I do understand why they currently cost $399 -- Amazon pays for the wireless connectivity -- there is no monthly or annual fee -- you just connect.)
• If you could buy books from other vendors, not just Amazon.com (much as I love them)
• If it worked everywhere.  Right now, if you live in Montana or Alaska, you're completely out of luck, and there are wide swaths of other states where service isn't available. 

My favorite can't-live-without-it Firefox feature

Session restore, baby.  It's built in to the new version of Firefox.  This way you can have some always-want-open tabs launch on startup (Web mail, RSS feed reader, etc.) and you can close down quickly knowing that everything you had open will reopen in the next browser session.

A Netflix Hangover

"The digital revolution has introduced us all to the life-altering phenomenon known as asynchronous entertainment. We can now enjoy movies, TV shows and our favorite media sources wherever, whenever, we want. But a decade into this monumental shift, the drawbacks are coming into focus. Episodes of “The Daily Show” and “Letterman” pile onto our DVR television recorders like copies of The New Yorker, begging to either be consumed or wastefully discarded. Netflix movies line up on our shelves like airplanes on a runway waiting to take off. And all of those blog postings relentlessly flood into our Web browsers every hour, every day. There’s certainly not time for all of it. Is this entertainment? It feels more like homework." [MSNBC.com]

This article amused me.  It's true -- it's so easy to queue up all sorts of stuff that, unless you're unemployed or retired, you don't have a prayer of keeping up with.  And even if you are a wonderfully cultured, well-educated human being, you might sometimes opt for the middlebrow or lowbrow items and let the highbrow wait for when you aren't so tired.  (Working Mom of small child here.)

The Ultimate "Back Up Your Data" Story

"When Linda Cerniglia went back to school, it took her almost seven years to get through all the prerequisites, the labs, the research. . . she had all the research on a jump drive, a tiny, portable memory-storage device about the size of a cigarette lighter.  Another student, Neil Doldo, told her to back up the data: He had lost his jump drive with his almost-finished thesis, spent three sickening days retracing his steps searching for it, until finally his dogs Zeus and Mela tired of it and left it on the floor near the dog bed. . . One afternoon in September at Carderock Park, after doing some perfectionist tweaking of her almost-finished thesis, Cerniglia locked her things in the car. She went for a run along the C&O Canal, reveling in how great it felt to be almost done.  An hour or so later at her home in Bethesda, she realized her purse was gone. Her bank cards, driver's license, Social Security card, $1,000 worth of checks from clients -- she didn't care. But the jump drive was in the purse. And she still had not made a backup, even after hearing Doldo's "the dog ate my thesis" story."  [Washington Post]

Favorite Free Software Programs

1. Google Desktop Search -- I don't know how I ever found anything on my computer before this program existed. (Answer: I either didn't find things, or it took way too long!) It indexes your hard drive and allows you to find things rapidly using the familiar Google interface.  The newest version can also be used as a sidebar with neat little widgets that display news headlines, RSS feeds (not truly a full-blown RSS app, but you could add a few key feeds for quick access), pictures, etc., or you can display it on your taskbar, or as a free-floating toolbar.  At work, probably the 2nd and 3rd options are best; the sidebar option is too distracting (although you can set it to autohide).
2. Evernote -- Do you need a program to capture little snippets of information (you know, the ones on Post-it notes on your desk)?  Do you want to snag information from the web with a drag and a click, have it date/time stamped automatically, and automatically include a link to the website you clipped it from?  This is a great little program.  The basic version is free.  You can add toolbar buttons (or right-click menu options) to both IE and Firefox.  If you desire, you can set up categories and categorize the captured material, but you don't have to.  Oh, and it's all searchable. 
3. AOL Instant Messenger -- I use it to communicate with co-workers, friends, and family.  It's a technology that's been around for a while now, but it really is still fun.
4. iTunes -- It's not perfect, but the way it seamlessly integrates my music library and my podcasts of choice with easy (tooooo easy) access to the Music Store for buying new tunes. . . I'm using it as my player of choice these days.

Look for a post on my free favorite web sites/applications soon.  I always seem to write a lot of "summary" posts this time of year. . .

Nerd Attention Deficit Disorder

"Stop reading right now and take a look at your desktop. How many things are you doing right now in addition to reading this column? Me, I've got a terminal session open to a chat room, I'm listening to music, I've got Safari open with three tabs open where I'm watching Blogshares, tinkering with a web site, and looking at weekend movie returns. Not done yet. I've got iChat open, ESPN.COM is downloading sports new trailers in the background, and I've got two notepads open where I'm capturing random thoughts for later integration into various to do lists. Oh yeah, I'm writing this column, as well.

Folks, this isn't multi-tasking. This is advanced case of Nerd Attention Deficiency Disorder. I am unable to function at my desktop unless I've got, at least, five things going on at the same time. If your count came close, you're probably afflicted, as well. Most excellent." [Rands in Repose, a 2003 entry; related: Repetitive Information Injury from the same source]

iTunes playing Christmas music, Outlook open for email & calendar, three browser windows open to things I want to read, work portal open, my department's page open, and a dormant IM window.  *giggle*  And this is a slow day.  How about you?

Adobe and Macromedia Are One

I'd read that Macromedia and Adobe were joining forces, but had forgotten whose name would encompass the new entity.  When you go to http://www.macromedia.com/ now, you see the Adobe logo and next to it the phrase "Formerly Macromedia".  I have to say, the name Adobe is probably better known and more distinctive.  Probably a good choice.

Here's a peek at which product teams will be working together:
"The Creative Solutions Business Unit will provide solutions for creatives and designers with leading brands such as Adobe® Creative Suite, Macromedia® Studio, Adobe Photoshop®, Adobe InDesign®, Macromedia Dreamweaver®, Macromedia Flash®, Adobe Premiere® Pro, and Adobe After Effects® software. The Enterprise and Developer Solutions Business Unit will provide solutions for enterprise developers with products such as Adobe LiveCycle™ and the Macromedia Flex™ product line. The Knowledge Worker Solutions Business Unit will provide collaboration and communication solutions with products such as Adobe Acrobat® and Macromedia Breeze® software. The Mobile and Device Solutions Business Unit will provide solutions for mobile and wireless device developers such as Macromedia Flash Lite™ and Macromedia FlashCast™ software. The Platform Business Unit will focus on advancing Adobe's PDF and Flash-based technology platforms as standards for creating, managing, and delivering compelling, actionable applications and content to any desktop or device. The Print and Classic Publishing Solutions Business Unit will provide print and online publishing solutions and e-learning tools with products such as Adobe PostScript® technology as well as Adobe FrameMaker®, Adobe PageMaker®, Macromedia Contribute™, and Macromedia Captivate™ software." [Adobe]

Dark Underbelly of Technology?

Tony Long writes:

". . .[H]uman beings are not meant to go as fast as modern technology compels them to go. Technology might make it possible to work at warp speed, yes, but that doesn't make it healthy. And just because the latest software makes it feasible to double your workload (or "productivity," to you middle-management types), that shouldn't give the boss the right to expect you will.

With cell phones, IM and all the personal-this and personal-that, we're connected all the time, or "24/7" as the unfortunate jargon has it. Is being connected 24/7 a good thing? Isn't it healthy to be "off the grid" now and then? If you can't answer "yes" to that question, you may be a tech dynamo, my friend, but please stay the hell out of my cafe."

Technology was supposed to free us, not enslave us. The promise of technology was the promise of an efficient workplace and more freedom to pursue the things that enrich us as human beings. Well, technology has freed us all right -- permanently, in some cases. How many jobs have simply disappeared, made obsolete overnight by computers that don't mind working 24/7, don't expect a union wage and never bitch about working conditions? How many companies have made such enormous investments in the latest technology that they now consider their human employees expendable? Too many, that's how many.

Technology, specifically computer technology, was going to help the environment, too, by eliminating the need for paper and saving all those trees. A few more trees may be standing, somewhere, but as landfills fill up with junked monitors, CPUs and printers (many perfectly functional but discarded simply because something more way-cool came along), it's hard to see where the environment -- your environment, incidentally -- has benefited much.

Anything that diminishes the value of a single human being poses a threat to a rational, humane society. When technology can cure a disease or help you with your homework or bring a little joy to a shut-in, that's great. But when it costs you your job, or trashes the environment, or takes you out of the real world in favor of a virtual one, or drives your blood pressure through the roof, it's a monster." [Wired News]