Al Swearengen doesn't like anything, and Stellar.io knows this.

Kottke invited me to use Stellar a couple months ago, and I've started to really enjoy it. I wasn't sure how much I'd use it at first because I'm not a huge Flickr user, and I haven't historically used the "Favorite" buttons on other sites I do use. I also have a hard enough time keeping up with all the other properties I follow. That said, I find myself looking forward to checking my flow because the content bubbling up there is different from what I'm currently seeing on Twitter, Tumblr, and RSS. Here's Jason's post introducing Stellar.

If you're in already, you can follow me here.

Kottke designed the Gawker logo.

Both times I was editing Kottke, some of my favorite posts were the skateboarding videos posted late night. (Who am I kidding, all of my posts were my favorites) (They were). In any case, here are 3 skateboard videos I saw recently, 2 of which are from JK himself.


Via MattonlyMoore.

Another video featuring the use of 2 skateboards at once. The use of 'Shot Through the Heart' is an inspired choice, especially because it ends about 30 seconds before the end of the video.

Via Kottke.

This dude makes me a little nervous.

Via Kottke.

Roger Federer hit another shot between his legs. Now he's just showing off. Here's last year's.



Via Jonah Keri.

You know those t-shirts with (usually) 4 names on them? Here's a list of a lot of them. My favorite is Van Halen.

Via Kottke.

The first 20 seconds or so of this video are the goldest of gold. The rest isn't bad either. It's always nice to see someone succeed.



Via Kottke

I like This American Life
I like Infographics.
I like This American Infographic.

Via Kottke

Photo by Flickr user danielweir.esq
It's important to note when discussing the problems at newspapers that spending on advertising is down almost EVERYWHERE, not just in newspapers. Industries that are dependent on ad dollars, of which Big Newspaper is just one, are all hurting. Yes, circulation is down, but there aren't less people reading the news necessarily, there are just less people subscribing to newspapers. If newspapers were able to charge higher fees for online advertising, they'd be in much better shape, obviously.

On that note, I noticed I had about a zillion tabs open related to the newspaper industry and I thought I'd collect them all here.

Via Daring Fireball, The Awl, demanding context from how bi-annual newspaper circulation numbers are typically reported, put together a chart showing newspaper circulation over the last 2 decades. It's pretty if you like looking at line graphs with dramatically plummeting line graphs. The LA Times' fall is breathtaking in its suddenness, and circulation is down 10% across the board.

In supporting Steve Coll's idea that newspapers should be nonprofits and in attempting to determine the value of local newspapers, Clay Shirky decides to do a "news biopsy" on his hometown newspaper, the Columbia Daily Tribune. From his biopsy, he finds that only 1/6 of the newspaper is "created news" or content created by the newspaper's 6 reporters and those 6 reporters work for a newspaper with 59 employees.

The city desk editors and the copy chief make the work...more valuable than it would otherwise be. But you can pick any multiplier you like for necessary editorial and support staff and that number, times six reporters, won’t be a big number. In particular, it won’t be 59, or anywhere near it.

His conclusion? "There are dozen or so reporters and editors in Columbia, Missouri, whose daily and public work is critical to the orderly functioning of that town, and those people are trapped inside a burning business model."

Also commenting on the "the power and necessity of local reporting" Esquire.com uses the recent Samoan earthquake/tsunami as an example of the big guys besting the little guys.

Newsosaur looked into pay walls and found that paywalls might never come because publishers are realizing they can't afford to lose the traffic a paywall would cost. Which is good news, because some columnists are quitting over paywalls. At the end of the Newsosaur's piece, there is bleating from Stephen Brill that, “You are misinformed about folks being less inclined” to add paywalls. Stephen Brill, by the way, founded Journalism Online, a company dedicated to helping publishers charge consumers for content, so, you know, he might be biased. (Journalism Online has a funny section of their site called Why Readers Will Pay For Online News, which features several different newspapers talking about why people SHOULD pay for news, but not why they WILL. That's a distinction worth making.)

Finally, via Kottke, Daniel Gross has a piece in Slate that says despite the falling circulations numbers, it's not as bad as you think. Several publishers were able to raise subscription revenue by raising subscription costs enough to make up for canceled subscriptions. "This is the new emerging model—cutting costs, raising prices."

I debated whether to include this last one because I kind of hate Megan McArdle's writing. I figured since I had already read her post and linked it, I'd leave it there for you to decide if you want to read it or not. Here's Megan McArdle doing what she does best, spewing confusing nonsense. She doesn't add anything to the conversation, but wants you to know she's very concerned about the future of journalism.

20 years ago, East German officials made the decision that East German citizens would be allowed to visit West Germany and West Berlin. East Berliners streamed to the Berlin Wall and West Berliners greeted them warmly on the other side.

10 years ago, I was in Berlin on the anniversary, and saw The Scorpions play 'Winds of Change' at the Brandenburg Gate accompanied by Mstislav Rostropovich and 165 other cellists. It was the most metal moment of my life. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find any video or photos of the event.

This year, they celebrated with U2, for whom, ironically, a wall was PUT UP.