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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Baltimore - 12 December, 1999 - This week, because of the sheer volume of copy that needed to be proofread and edited for this 196th edition of the mag, I impressed my helper Kevin into service. I gave him three of the pieces featured here to proofread and format for me, preparatory to beginning layout and design.Kev' asked me a few questions about my general editorial style and I explained that I try not to impact the "voice," or style of the contributors. I only mean to clean up the grammar and correct spelling errors. We put the dictionary between us and after asking me a few questions on his first piece about wording decisions, he went silent. Nothing from him for over an hour accept a couple groans, pecking away at the keyboard on the computer he uses here.
I started to get nervous. "Hey, Kev," I said, "you're too quiet over there!"
"You have to do this every weekend?" he asked.
"Yeah."
"The writers should be paying you!" he exclaimed.
I explained the hierarchy of publishing to him. How it was that the *publisher* paid the editor to turn a sow's ear... AND if the editor also happens to be the publisher... Well, you get the picture.
Kevin managed to finish working over two of the three pieces I had assigned him before it was time for him to go home. He did a decent job.
I have experimented with using other people to copyedit in the past. It's never completely worked out because most people don't write every day, and editing --- that's a stretch.
FEED THE HUNGRY. You can help someone else in this world and IT WON'T COST YOU A DIME. If you simply remember to drop by The Hunger Site every day that you surf and click a simple button ONE LESS PERSON WILL GO HUNGRY. The food is distributed by the United Nations World Food Programme and paid for through the sponsorship of companies that care. Do your part.
As this is probably the last edition that any of you will read seriously this year, what with the holidays upon us, I'm pleased that you'll find it jampacked. The theme is "FALLOUT" because the majority of the features this week are continued fallout from the so-called "Battle in Seattle." I think you'll find the electic mix of reporting on the ground and editorial commentary provocative.
The World's Magazine: g21.net
Event # 196: FALLOUT
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LAST WEEK's EDITION
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I know --- judging from this week's VOX POPULI page --- I don't need to encourage you to let us know what you think.
It has been another one of those weeks. Now that I've decided to go back to The Cube Farm, I'm awaiting the final Letter of Agreement from my new potential employer. It was supposed to come last week, so I checked the mail every day, but I learned via e-mail that it won't arrive until this week. (Yes, yes! I'll go over it with a fine-toothed comb. This is my life we are talking about here.)
Meanwhile, my Y2K travel plans have TOTALLY UNRAVELLED. Murphy's Law is in full effect. First there was the fact that I still hadn't received the Letter of Guarantee from Dragana. Panicked that I wouldn't be able to spend New Year's Eve (my fave holiday, remember?) in Belgrade at this juncture --- that jocular Aruba idea started to look better and better.
Then, early in the week, I got an e-mail from Felicity Ussher informing me that she probably wouldn't be in London when I arrived there because a sudden new development in her life meant that she'd probably be off to Spain before Christmas. Fliss apologized profusely and asked if maybe we could get together on my way out of Europe after the first of the year.
So there went my final reason for making the trip across The Pond... Now what?
I called the travel agent. Sure, we could research Aruba.
Oops! Only flights into Aruba I could get now would have to arrive by Christmas and leave on New Year's Day. Damn!
Now what? Let's try multiple destinations. ANYWHERE in the Caribbean, Amsterdam, San Francisco. I went to the American Association of Travel Agents' web site and posted a general trip request to ANY agent who could help me.
"What about Cancun? Would you consider going there? How about Montego Bay?"
Then I get an urgent e-mail from Dragana saying that her telephone line had been down for five days. She apologizes profusely for not getting back to me and says that the Letter of Guarantee is on its way. She is planning our New Year's Eve meal and looks forward to my coming over to Belgrade.
We've talked about my GUILT thing, right?
So now I don't know WHERE I'll be for New Year's Eve, or if I'll be anywhere at all. I'm calling the Serbian embassy in Ottawa as soon as I have the Letter in hand and I'll see if they can rush me a visa. But man!
Hey, Kids! Check out this page. We want you to join us.
Things That Bother Me This Week
- The travel limbo, of course.
- The illusion in Web companies that they are non-hierarchical. Turf is turf.
- That a lot of airlines have cancelled ALL their flights during the last week of the year, while insisting there is no Y2K problem. Yeah, right.
- People who don't leave VoiceMail messages.
- The invariable human reaction of starting to really warm up to a town as soon as you realize that you will be leaving it soon...
REMEMBER: Tell every single one of your friends about this Web site.
Why do we keep doing this? Because we like you.
Thanks for coming back this week."Work like you don't need the money,
"Love like you've never been hurt,
"Dance like no one is watching..."
Rod
This is another Web site made on a Macintosh.
EDITORIAL CORRECTIONS: Lots of little typos last week. I noticed that we didn't put the word "be" where it should be on the sentence linking you to our Mailing List FAQ about midweek. I erroneously capitalized the word "He" on the bio for Kevin Carey on our DAY ONE page. The word "schedule" was misspelled in our Mailing List FAQ. I apologize for the errors.
ROD AMIS has published this magazine since 1990. It first appeared as a hardcopy 'Zine. In March, 1996, he launched it here on the Web. 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.
Rod is now a columnist for the Andover News Network, where he writes on web design and development issues every Thursday. He is principal writer and Editor for IT Manager's Journal, where he reviews technology issues five days a week. His opinions on the Info Age began appearing on MethodFive's HYPER technology newsletter in March. 1999.
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