Coughlin Unplugged

Computers

Quit Whining and Enjoy the Music

Submitted by Dan Coughlin on Fri, 09/04/2009 - 3:02pm

I wanted to write this a couple of days ago, but my damnable machine locked me out of my own blog. I hate this damn thing. I truly do. I yearn for the good old days when I wrote my story on a mechanical Underwood or Royal typewriter that went tappetty-tap as each letter was imprinted on paper. Then I would personally hand that paper to a copy editor who would use a pencil to correct any typos before rolling it up into a cannister and sending it up a vacuum tube to the composing room where it would be set in lead type on a Linotype machine that went clackety-clack.

Kick-Off to the Coughlin Blog

Submitted by Dan Coughlin on Wed, 08/19/2009 - 11:45am

Welcome to the show. This is something I vowed never to do. I have already learned a valuable lesson -- don't make promises you can't keep, not even to yourself.

I am now a blogger. I have caved in. I have sold out. This from a guy who has been contemptuous toward the internet for several reasons.

In the first place, the internet is like the backyard fence where gossip and vitriol are spread with neither accountability nor responsibility. It is virtually impossible for someone who is slandered or libeled to obtain satisfaction. Not even Tim Misny can make them pay because he can't find them. Nobody can. Internet "journalists" hide behind code names and slang handles. Who are these people? Where do they live? What do they look like? What are their credentials? Do they practice the rules of journalism, such as rule number one: Make sure you're right? Are they serious about this or is this their hobby? Are they screwballs? Are they in therapy? Should they be in therapy?