Stop depress

The old Freeman press, unused, in 2014. It's no longer there. 

There used to be an imposing press by one side of the Freeman building, even though we haven't printed here since 2010. By the end of January —  this year —  it was finally gone, no longer a reminder of things that were.
But I still remember stopping the presses a number of times over the years, for different reasons (usually big typos or bad folios, or the very occasional big change in a story). I also remember that the myth of the editor running into the press courageously screaming "STOP THE PRESSES!" was not how things usually worked. It was too loud and nobody could hear you. You had to wave your arms like a maniac, mostly, and all you got when you did get it to stop was justified death stares from the pressmen, who were otherwise very cool guys (and yes, all guys).

I love having those memories. But I don't get depressed about not having the press. I'm not that attached to the equipment, or even the new devices. I took that photo with Google Glass, which was new tech. Now the version of Glass that I have is old tech. What's important is what we do with them, and when they go — analog or digital — we will miss them if they were used for good, while we keep aiming to do good work with the newer tools.

Anyway, that's what I tell myself when my computer crashes.

Yesterday was #dfmchat day and we talked about metrics in journalism and kind-of concluded that time well spent is very important so thank goodness a cat showed up.
The Denver Post's cakes needs to be a Tumblr, stat.
In case you missed this: Apollo.  The more things change.

The Four:
* A high school read the Pledge of Allegiance in Arabic.  Everything that happened after that was utterly predictable and all terrible.
* The American Legion Post 1026 told the Woodstock Board that it will not organize the Memorial Day parade because they have to show receipts smh. This is 'merica. Learn Arabic numbers.
* If you're new to Yesterday's Internet, Today! you'll learn that I'll often reference the Catskill Mountain Railroad Commenters. They like to hang out at the Freeman site and comment. But is it time well spent?
* Video Lottery Terminals is the most stupid technical euphemism for "gambling machines."

One cat:  Surrounded by print. But is it time well spent?


Yesterday's Internet, Today! is not depressed nor depressing. Subscribe!