Veterans

Nothing in particular prompted this, just a thought lately.  I understand why veterans don't like to talk about the military and the war except with other vets: it's a frustrating, slow and sometimes painful
process to explain things to people who haven't been there. With a vet, they can ask three questions and know more about me in the war than my parents do.

Digital publishing

Okay, so old media is finally adapting to the new world. New York Times articles no longer show up on Google searches. Full Time articles are no longer available online for free. They are getting paid for their product online. It's a good first step.

But, they are still being pretty dumb about things. Aren't they trying out their own services? Do they really think the things they're doing currently are adequate? They are still 19th century in their thinking. Here's two things they are screwing up:

1. The digital edition isn't paired with the paper edition. I have a Kindle. I have a Time subscription. But I can't get Time on my Kindle without paying for it again (same is true of the Economist). Customers
should get the digital along with the paper, and vice versa at their option. Sure, there's a place for a cheaper, digital only subscription.  So make one.

2. Digital materials aren't associated in any way the way hardcopy stories are. The great graphics they produce in hard copy aren't available online.  I can't go online and read a Time magazine as easily as I can read the paper copy at my own desk - the graphics and pictures are missing, stories aren't easy to set in the same order they are on paper, etc. The paper edition serves as a vital guide to the collection of stories for the edition. Look at Stars and Stripes (stripes.com, digital editions), which produces a pdf
version of the paper every day, searchable visually page by page, with the option to download any set of pages or the whole thing.

On a positive note, their search functions were terrible, but are getting slowly better.

The budget

Apologies my my long absence on the blog. I haven't made it regular part of
my schedule, and thus it has fallen by the wayside.

For those of you without regular contact with gov't or military workers, the
email below testifies to the current state of the budget and the havoc it
wreaks on them. Since we have no budget or continuing resolution, our
leadership has to start controlling money at a higher and higher level,
which gets more and more inefficient.

We are a teaching squadron, have probably 60-70 people working in our
building and here's how we're forced to save money, by scrimping on toner
cartridges. It's a poor plan. (This, of course, is after the last round of
personnel firings.) I'm glad Iraq will finally be wound down before the
super committee deadlocks and the real budget pain begins.

-----Original Message-----
From: X Maj USAF ACC
Sent: Monday, November 14, 2011 8:50 AM
To: ALL Personnel
Subject: HOT! Toner Use
Importance: High
[All],

We are emergency fuel on printers. The base is out of money to purchase
toner, and we were forced to return two of our four remaining toner
cartridges to the [operations group] to distribute to other squadrons.

Limit all printing to mission essential use only. If you can read it on-line
then don't print it out. Please use the Sharp copy machine in my office to
the max extent possible. It is on a DAPS contract so the toner and MX is
paid for.

When and if, Congress approves a budget we will go back to normal ops. Until
then please help us preserve what little toner we have.

-Maj X