MAIN EVENT. A Good Place to Get Started --- a.k.a "Table of Contents"
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MAIN EVENT. A Good Place to Get Started --- a.k.a "Table of Contents" |
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(Continued from the Cover)
 G21 INSIDERWorld ShakingPublisher's Note
New York - 17 March, 1999: This has been one of the toughest editions of The World's Magazine I have had to produce in recent memory.
Part of the reason is that I had a strange week (more on that below.) But that was not the core problem. The core problem had to do with my agonizing over the introductory presentation on the deaths of human rights activists this month in Colombia. No one on our staff was better qualified to cover this story than myself, but I have other commitments --- lots of them --- for other publications.
And I'm compulsive about meeting our deadlines here.
So taking on this story, and doing it the justice it deserves, produced a lot of stress for me.
There was also the pressure generated when a new writer in India, who I had commissioned to produce our long-awaited piece on Sonia Gandhi, failed to meet deadline. I had been negotiating with this individual in good faith for months to get that story. Then Monday (our deadline for Wednesday publication) rolled around and I had NADA --- and no explanatory e-mail as to why. It was a great disappointment.
But last weekend I got a chill.
On Friday, an editorial appeared for my daily column where I indulged a darker vision of our technological future. I wrote about the increasing trend toward wearable and, soon, implanted digital interfaces and the implications this trend had in the areas of personal privacy, government surveillance, et cetera.
I expected interesting commentary about that editorial, and I got quite a bit.
What I did not expect was the response to our daily Survey. With each of my editorials, I pose a Survey question related to the topic. As one reader from Australia noted, the Survey results, after the first 24-hours, for this editorial were chilling. Here they are:
DAILY EDITORIAL SURVEY
Becoming Cyber-Organisms, hooked to the Internet(work)...
Number of Votes: 51
The Australian reader noted, as should you, that NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON chose the response that our becoming cyber-organisms would never happen. We all assume that it's inevitable.
I found that chilling, as should you.
The people over at SLATE are whores. They are always looking for free links. I promised I'd give them one, so here it is: SLATE ON DOGS: "Increasingly, dogs are being talked about as if they had the same civil rights as humans and that the same rules of civil discourse apply to man and his best friends alike. . . . Wait. Why exactly can't we make blanket statements about these ankle-snapping pipe cleaners with feet?"
ABOUT THIS EDITION:
ROBIN MILLER premieres another new feature, AMERICAN DREAMS. We believe it will provide a nice humorous counterpoint to the heavy lifting which traditionally dominates our DAY ONE feature. Guest Writer RON DIENER weighs in at DAY ONE this week with an analysis of how votes for Senators are unevenly weighted and a plan for how it can be changed. HOUSE OF CARDS has two full pages of Jokes this week. And there's more! Thanks for coming back this week. We're glad you're here. We have a lot to offer this (and EVERY) week. Stick around. More importantly: TELL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS. We want you here EVERY DAY. WHY? Because we like you...
Work like you don't need the money,
ROD AMIS has published this magazine since 1990. It first appeared as a hardcopy 'Zine. In March, 1996, he launched it here on the Internet. Rod was a Contributing Editor at Suite101.com, where he wrote the " 'Net Publishing" feature. His work has been featured in the San Francisco Bay Guardian Online,NRV8, and at WebLab's Reality Check site. Rod was also a contributing writer on technology for Faulkner Information Services.
When not busy with his publishing chores at this site, and answering sixty -to- one hundred e-mails a day, he likes to throw darts; seek female companionship; and listen to Tupac, Beethoven, Philip Glass, Joni Mitchell, James Carter, Eric Clapton, Snoop Dogg, Etta James, Miles Davis, Handel, Portishead, Toots & the Maytals, Bob Marley, Sinead O'Connor, techno, house, jazz.... CREDITS || AWARDS
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BACKGROUNDS BY JEFFREY ZELDMAN PRESENTS!
DANGEROUS VISIONS AT THE DAY JOB: My Day Job is to write about technology. It's been gratifying for the most part. I have an appreciative readership, supportive publishers, and the pay's okay. I get to write about interesting topics most of the time.
