First the demise of printed computer magazines. I was a computer guy for my second career as an IT guy at NASA and was a faithful subscriber to a number of publications (I saved the last printed edition of PC Magazine!). Since that career spanned the transition from print to online, I have really mixed feelings about it. There is a much wider variety of information out there so you can almost always find the very specific thing you are looking for, but that comes at the price of a lot of crap that you have to wade through, mostly stuff of very little value because it was published to make a quick buck as a scaffold for advertising. While the web certainly has democratized (really disintermediated) the information flow, that removed the often very valuable curation that print publications provided and since there was fairly vibrant competition in the space, it didn't get stale. But to paraphrase the parable of the Chinese farmer - is it good news or is it bad news? It's too soon to tell.
Second, I'm also a long time bike rider and I really wish the brouhaha over White's Ferry would get worked out. Beyond the historic value and for some commuters, it's a fantastic resource for bike riders as it adds some interest and a deviation from really busy/far apart river crossings for riding in the area and is (was) heavily used by touring cyclists. Being interested in the subject, I have tried to follow it in detail and read as much on it as I could. It's been a while, but my impression is that it's not clear cut and there certainly are special interests being plied here. That said, the last thing I remember was some nominal increase in the fare was proposed, but rejected and that seems silly. We pay huge amounts to cross other bridges (been across the GW bridge in NYC recently? $20) so given the limited use and complexity of operating this old Ferry and its value for the users, why not pay more. I certainly would. And who cares if some adjacent land owner is making a buck (or three). Welcome to the USA!
A couple of good ones here!
First the demise of printed computer magazines. I was a computer guy for my second career as an IT guy at NASA and was a faithful subscriber to a number of publications (I saved the last printed edition of PC Magazine!). Since that career spanned the transition from print to online, I have really mixed feelings about it. There is a much wider variety of information out there so you can almost always find the very specific thing you are looking for, but that comes at the price of a lot of crap that you have to wade through, mostly stuff of very little value because it was published to make a quick buck as a scaffold for advertising. While the web certainly has democratized (really disintermediated) the information flow, that removed the often very valuable curation that print publications provided and since there was fairly vibrant competition in the space, it didn't get stale. But to paraphrase the parable of the Chinese farmer - is it good news or is it bad news? It's too soon to tell.
Second, I'm also a long time bike rider and I really wish the brouhaha over White's Ferry would get worked out. Beyond the historic value and for some commuters, it's a fantastic resource for bike riders as it adds some interest and a deviation from really busy/far apart river crossings for riding in the area and is (was) heavily used by touring cyclists. Being interested in the subject, I have tried to follow it in detail and read as much on it as I could. It's been a while, but my impression is that it's not clear cut and there certainly are special interests being plied here. That said, the last thing I remember was some nominal increase in the fare was proposed, but rejected and that seems silly. We pay huge amounts to cross other bridges (been across the GW bridge in NYC recently? $20) so given the limited use and complexity of operating this old Ferry and its value for the users, why not pay more. I certainly would. And who cares if some adjacent land owner is making a buck (or three). Welcome to the USA!