Times Reader is the stupidest idea in news

September 27, 2009 @ 3:08 am

Check this ridiculous news out: The New York Times is attempting to con some folks into paying $3.45 a week for news that’s already mostly free. If there ever was a sign that “The Gray Lady” wasn’t quite understanding the digital revolution, then this certainly is it. In an attempt to seem hip and relevant, the Times is offering this already-outdated subscription-based model to people who supposedly like to log online, download all the day’s news, and then go offline for the rest of the day in some secluded part of the world where there is no internet.

Now, I understand that you can’t always be connected to receive the news as it happens (and if you’re in that small percentage of the population, then this app might appeal to you), but if you really are concerned about receiving breaking news as it gets reported by The New York Times (and strictly by The New York Times only), then chances are that you’re probably already always connected. And if you’re always connected, then you’ll know that ALL breaking news on The New York Times is ABSOLUTELY FREE.

Oh, and big deal — so you can do The New York Times’ crossword puzzle with slightly more ease than with pencil on paper…psssht. The fact that that point even makes it into the video just shows how lame and retarded this Times Reader app is. Absolutely useless to about 100% of the people I know.

Free 2-year subscription to Time Out New York

June 22, 2009 @ 7:17 pm

free-time-out-new-york

The Tribeca Film Festival is thanking the public for their support by giving out free 2-year subscriptions to Time Out New York. All you have to do is go to this link, fill in your mailing information, and you’ll start receiving your free issues in about 4 weeks.

I just did it, and so should you!

How to make your subscribed videos in YouTube open in new tabs

February 13, 2009 @ 1:13 pm

youtube-subscription-links

I know that many of you go to YouTube on a daily basis, and if you actually make use of the ’subscribe’ button on the site, you’ll know that YouTube has a really stupid way of displaying the videos in the Subscriptions section (link only works if you’re logged in to YouTube).

The problem, for those who don’t know, is that YouTube makes every single link to the videos a special javascript link which ultimately prevents you from opening multiple videos at once in browser tabs. If you try to open a video in a new tab from the subscriptions area, you’re simply brought to the subscriptions page yet again in the new tab.

To fix this really stupid problem, just install this Greasemonkey script and start opening those links in new tabs. Of course, to use that script, you have to have the Greasemonkey add-on for Firefox installed first.